The Priesthood (Exodus 28-30, 39:1-31)

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Good morning. Go ahead, grab your Bibles. You can turn to page 66 if you’re using one of the black pew Bibles there in front of you. Have you ever had the experience of being somewhere and thinking to yourself, I don’t belong here. I shouldn’t be in this position. I feel this way every time I’m in a fancy restaurant. Because I am. I know inevitably I will be super underdressed. I’ve never been told I’m overdressed for anything. So I know right there that I’m going to feel different. But whether it’s a fancy restaurant, it’s like a fundraiser for, you know, something where there’s lots of money going on a reception. If I walk in and I see a table with lots of plates and bowls and utensils, I’m like, I don’t even know what to do with these. I have one utensil and one plate that I use most of the time. So how am I supposed to start? Where am I supposed to go? And then if you throw, like a warm towel in front of me, or you come and scrape crumbs off in front of me before the next course, like I’m looking for the nearest exit because I don’t know what to do with that that is not me. And I just I have this when I’m in these places, I feel like somebody’s watching me and ready to come tell me You shouldn’t be here, to which I would say, yep, you’re right. And I leave, because it just is that moment I’m like, What am I doing here? So one of these places I was for a fundraiser recently, just to give you an example, was a cheesecake that was being auctioned off, and they were gonna bring the cheesecake to your table, cut slices for everybody there. The opening bid started $1,500 so apparently, this thing was made out of gold and diamonds. It eventually got up to $7,500 needless, to say, our table did not have cheesecake that night. So fill in the place where you go, the people that you’re with, where you stand there, you say, I just I don’t feel like I belong here, that I should be in this place with these people. Now multiply that by 1000 by a million, and maybe we start to understand what Aaron and his sons were feeling when God said you’re going to be my priests, you’re going to come into my presence. I don’t belong here. That’s the call that they’ve received. And so that’s what we’re looking at this morning, is the priesthood, the priesthood that is established here by God for the people of Israel, coming on the heels of the instructions we saw last week for the tabernacle. And the tabernacle, of course, is the place where God would dwell with His people, where his presence was going to be. And so we had a lot of detailed instructions on what this place was going to look like. It is the focal point of Israel’s worship, and this week, we’re going to be tasked with looking at those who minister in the tabernacle, the priests, and what do they do? What is their purpose? What is their role as priests or mediators between Israel and God? And similar to the last few weeks, we are covering four chapters, and so I’m not going to read every verse, hopefully you read those in preparation for today, but you can see in your outline, we’re doing some very similar to what we did last week. We’re just kind of, kind of look at these three chapters at the beginning. We’re not going to get into 39 that’s kind of when the priesthood was actually established, but we’re going to look at the three chapters, look at the details. What does it say about the priests? What were they supposed to wear? All these different details that we’re going to get. And then we’re going to walk through the priesthood, kind of as it unfolds throughout Scripture. And so let’s start first by looking at chapter 28 starting in verse one. And I’m going to jump around so I’m going to try to tell you, Hey, we’re going to this verse. So just try to track as best you can as I read. But we’re going to start by looking at the garments for the priests chapter 28 starting in verse one. Have Aaron, your brother, brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor, tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make a breast piece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother, Aaron and his son, so they may serve me as priests. So let’s stop there for a second. Moses is called his brother and his sons in to serve as priests to the nation of Israel. Back in Exodus 19, we saw that Israel itself was called to be a priesthood, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation before other nations. So that just means as a nation Israel set apart to serve God and to hopefully other people would see them and be drawn to this God that they follow. And now is God sets up in Israel another priesthood with Aaron and his sons to serve in the priestly role in the tabernacle. And so Brandon said the tabernacle last week was a visual aid showing us this is who God is. Yes, this is what he’s like. This is what it looks like to approach Him in worship, and we continue with that in a visual aid of what do we need to do to actually approach God? What does that look like here? What does it look like in our life? So what you wear communicates something. So if you’re going to job interview, you’re going to wear certain clothes that maybe you don’t wear it typically, or you have a uniform for a team, or another job that you’re in. So when people see you, they say, Oh, they’re a part of this, or this is the type of work that they do. And so here we start to get the garments that the priests are supposed to wear, because these garments were special. They were unique. And it was communicating to these men and the people that these guys had a unique role and responsibility to play in God’s dwelling place. So let’s look at these garments in more detail. Look at verse six, and I’m going to jump around here. So I’ll try and tell you where we’re going make the ephod of gold and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen the work of skilled hands jump down to leaven, engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal, then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as Memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord, look at verse 15, fashion a breast piece for making decisions the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod of gold and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and of finely twisted linen. Verse 17, then mount four rows of precious stones on it. And then there’s a list of the stones. Verse 21 there are to be 12 Stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of the 12 Tribes. And then we’ll finish up 29 through 30. Whenever Aaron enters the holy place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breast piece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord also put the Urim and Thummim in the breast piece, so that they may be over over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord. We’ll stop there. So the ephod is this sleeveless apron that’s put over the head, and then there’s these shoulder straps, and two onyx stones would be on there with six names of the sons of Israel on each one, and then these 12 stones on the breast piece. It would have been a very appealing, startling kind of image to see these four rows of three stones, again, representing the sons of Israel. So every time Aaron entered God’s presence, he was bearing these names. He was walking in and saying, I am representing the nation, the people of Israel. What’s interesting about the breast piece is it would have been kind of folded and kind of inside, would have been these things called Urim and Thummim, which is not something we’re used to. There’s actually not a lot of detail about these in Scripture, but they are mentioned multiple times. And so a lot of commentators think it was kind of maybe a black and a white stone that were that were used think about casting lots for helping to make decisions. Israelites did not believe in chance. So even though they used these things, they thought this was a means of how God would would tell them what they are called to do, because God has control over everything. He’s sovereign. So these were used to kind of make more yes and no decisions, these kind of tough ones in life, not ones like, who should I marry? What job should I take? What should I do to this person? You know, not those types of things. It was more for the yes and no questions. You got to think about it. They’re just starting to get the law. So when they’re thinking, What does God want us to do. They’re using these means to make decisions. And so they would put them in Aaron would put this in the breast piece over his heart, as a way to say, we want to do what God’s will is. Which makes me wonder, like, what is that? What do we have to do with that? Like, that’s different. Well, the thing is, right now what we have is God’s word, very black and white on what he says. We have the Holy Spirit if you’re in Christ, who is in your life to help you discern. And then we have the community of believers around us. And so for a lot of times, we might have decisions that aren’t the black and white issues of Scripture, that we know what God says to do, but maybe you have three ministry options before you, three very good ministry options before you, and you don’t know what to do, so you go to God’s Word, you pray, you gather with God’s people, you find out what they think, and then you make a decision, and you trust the Lord with that decision. But that’s what it looks like for us for those kind of moments that aren’t necessarily laid out for us in Scripture. So we have the ephod, we have the breast piece. Let’s keep reading verse 31 make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth. Then we find out some more instructions about these pomegranates and bells that are meant to be at the bottom of the robe. Look at verse 35
Aaron must wear it when he ministers, the sound of the bells will. Be heard when he enters the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he will not die, make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as a seal holy to the Lord. Fasten a blue cord to it, to attach it to the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban. It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts. The Israelites consecrate whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually, so that they will be acceptable to the Lord. So we get this robe with these bells on the bottom that would be worn to the holy place. Maybe you’ve heard before, when the priest would go into the most holy place, these bells would let people know he’s still worshiping. He’s still walking around. If you didn’t hear the bells, then the thought was he died. And so they’d have something there so they can get him because they can’t walk into the most holy place. So you got these bells here. Then we finished with this gold seal on this turban that’s put over the forehead that says holy to the Lord. So if it’s not clear enough by these garments and the attention to detail that this priest is holy to the Lord. This seal certainly will, and it says Aaron will bear the guilt of others. So the gifts that people were bringing were mostly for atoning for their sins, to make atonement for them, to cover over them, their sin, their guilt and their shame. And this would be a sacrifice of blood right from an animal, and they would receive forgiveness, but only God could deal with this. Only God could forgive. And so Aaron is representing the people. He is their mediator, coming before God to say, I’m representing Israel. And then he would represent God to Israel. Now, without Aaron having the seal of holy to the Lord. People sacrifices and offerings would not be accepted by God. So listen how Alec motor explains the importance of being holy to the Lord. He says, but just as Aaron was accepted under the holiness of the medallion he wore, so the people were accepted because their names were part of his dress. In other words, both his true reality and all their inadequacies were brought under the same wondrous covering, and they were accepted in the beloved just as we were. That’s what’s happening as Aaron enters into the presence of God. And imagine Aaron, who’s going to be the high priest, and his sons, the other priests are hearing these instructions, and they must have been struck with different emotions, and probably on the extremes, the one extreme meaning, wow. This is amazing, the attention to detail, the uniqueness of these garments and what God is calling us to do. And at the same time, I don’t belong here. I shouldn’t be the one representing the people before God. I’ve sinned five times, 10 times this morning. How am I supposed to do this? And so these are the emotions that they’re dealing with, the emotions that we have as we walk with Christ as well. And they would be right. It is an honor to serve the Lord in this way, and you’re going to have those feelings. If I don’t deserve this, you certainly can’t earn it. It’s given to you by God, and when God calls them, he’s going to equip them for this ministry, but he’s also going to prepare them. He’s going to make sure that they know he is with them, and He has prepared them for this role. Which leads us to chapter 29 the consecration of the priests, the moment where God says, I’m going to make you holy for what I’m calling you to do. So this is a long chapter for this. I’m just going to read verses one through nine, because it’s a nice summary of really kind of everything we see in chapters 28, through 30. We kind of get to see what the ceremony is going to look like. So we can’t dive deep into everything in this chapter, but I want to just highlight these nine verses because this really tells us what God is doing, how he is consecrating them, setting them apart for the priesthood. So let’s start in verse one. This is what you are to do to consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two rams without defect, and from the finest wheat flour, make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in and thin loaves without yeast, and brush with olive oil, put them in a basket and present them along with the bowl and the two RAMs. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breast piece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband, put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban. Take the anointing oil and anoint Him by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. So what’s happening in this moment is answering the very important question that we all need to ask is, how can I approach God in worship? Or how should I approach God in worship? And the first thing we see is it requires blood. It requires. Sacrifice. Look at Hebrews nine. Verse 22 says, in fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood. There is no forgiveness. So in chapter 29 we start off with these sacrifices of a bull and two rams in the place of the priests. It’s been this way since the beginning. God told Adam and Eve, don’t eat from this tree, and if you do, you will die. And ever since then, every single person after them says, we’ve all sinned. We’ve all sinned fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of the payment for that sin is death. This is what we’re born into. And the priests then have to do something to make themselves able to approach God. And so it says that they put their hands on the head of the bull, and they put their hands on the head of the two rams to symbolize the transfer of their sins, their guilt, to this animal, so that this animal would represent them and would go to the slaughter in their place. Their blood spilled so theirs wouldn’t have to. The animal’s blood spilled so theirs wouldn’t have to. And then they can approach God. The second thing we see is that we approach God in full devotion. One of these rams that sacrifice is burned up completely, showing that God requires all of us, not just a part of us, not just the easy parts that we want to give to the Lord. He wants everything we see this also in the second realm, where the blood is taken, and it says that the blood is put on the right ears, the right thumb and the right big toe of Aaron and his sons. And you’re like, what I mean, did anybody else not? Do not think that as you read this and you’re thinking, Okay, what is the significance there? Well, the right side was the the side of honor, but also they put it on their head, their hands and their feet, to say, all of Aaron and his sons are devoted to the Lord. Their whole life, their whole body is his to do what He has called them to do. So they’re fully devoted, fully consecrated to the Lord. The third kind of sacrifice that we get, offerings that we get are these fellowship offerings, or wave offerings, showing that they understood that everything they had was from God. And so they present it to him and wave it before him as an offering, and then they would partake together in eating some of the bread. They would partake together and eat of some of the meat from the sacrifices, sharing a meal, as we’ve already talked about in the series, with the Lord, before the Lord, and with each other. And there’s something beautiful about God’s people gathering together to share a meal and celebrating what God has done, who he is in our lives, and what brings us together as brothers and sisters in Christ, which is exactly the meal we’re going to eat here in a little bit to say, I’m a brother and sister in Christ because of His body and His blood that was shed for us. It is a family meal. It is an offering. It is a way to say thank you for all that the Lord has done for us. The last we see in chapter 29 the fourth way to approach God. It is ongoing sacrifices. In verse 38 it kind of moves from consecrating the priest to what’s going to happen every day. And what we see happening every day is there supposed to be a regular morning and evening sacrifice, two lambs, a year old, every day to again, show the people. This is what is required of you to approach God. So how we approach God matters. It’s not something we do flippantly. There’s a warning throughout these chapters over a half dozen times. It says, if they don’t do this, they could die. If they don’t wear the right thing, do the right thing, they could lose their lives. Or if the people don’t do the right things, they could be cut off from their people. So we need to take God’s word seriously, when he says, This is how you approach me in worship, and then you can experience the beauty of what it means to be with God, which is exactly what he wants for us. Look at chapter 29 verse 45 to 46 basically exactly what we heard last week. He says, Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. Why does he want this? Because he wants us. He wants to be in relationship with us. He wants us to approach him. But he we need to listen to how we’re supposed to do that. And so he’s consequent. He’s setting aside these priests so that they can help people approach God. And so we’re going to finish up here in chapter 30 with the tools of the priests. And I’m going to read a bunch of different verses here again. Try and keep you on track. We’re going to look at these tools. And so I want to highlight some of the verses as we go. So looking at verse one first, me. Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. Verse seven, Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. Look at verse 11. Then the Lord said to Moses, when you take a census of the Israelites, to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted, there is no plate, then no plague will come on them. When you number them. Verse 16, receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord making atonement for their lives. Then the Lord said to Moses, make a bronze basin with its bronze stand for washing. Place it between the tents of meeting and the altar and put water in it. And then look at verse 30, anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. We’ll pause there. There are a number of other things that we see in this text, things that they are supposed to make things that they’re supposed to do as part of serving in the tabernacle, part part of their priestly duties. The incense, usually in Scripture, symbolizes the prayers of God’s people. So Aaron here is starting this incense, and it’s going up before the Lord to kind of say that the people are praying, the people are bringing their requests before God. And the only type of there’s a recipe given here. There’s this, the only one that you’re supposed to use for this incense. So again, very clear instructions only this in this place for these people. And it’s the same way with the oil, the anointing oil that we see here at the end of the chapter. It’s one recipe. It’s used for this purpose, to anoint Aaron and his sons, to anoint the priests. And then we read a little bit about atonement money, which was an act of worship, acknowledging not only God’s salvation, which he has brought his people out of Israel, but also his provision. And as we talked about, giving reveals a lot about your heart, so were the people willing to give back to the Lord what was already his to say, thank you for saving us. And then be able to fund the building of the tabernacle and these garments and these different tools that the priests would use, and then we get the basin for washing, for repeated washings, Aaron and his sons are going to wash themselves a lot, because when they approach God, they need to be clean water, and washing is used throughout Scripture to show how we are to approach God to be cleansed and purified. It’s a symbol of the change and transformation that takes place in our lives when we come to God. One more thing about anointing. Anointing was important in the Old Testament. Anointing wasn’t just pouring oil on someone’s head. It was given for a very special purpose. So we see here it’s the priests. We see Samuel anoint King Saul, and then he anoints King David. And so when people were anointed, there was this weight that came with it, like this person has been anointed, meaning God has set this person aside for a special purpose. And so people would pay attention to their lives, what was happening, what was going on, what were they going to do? And later in the Old Testament, we start hearing about this Messiah, Messiah, meaning the Anointed One who would come and deliver his people. And that’s exactly what happens when the angel comes to announce the shepherds the birth of Jesus. Says, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the anointed one, the one you’ve been waiting for, the long expected savior, Jesus. And so when we think about anointing, we think what is happening in this moment. And we think to the anointed one, Jesus, Christ, coming the Messiah. There was no mistake about it. This was the one that was promised. He was the anointed one, and he’s more than just that, though he’s also the mediator. And I mean capital M, he is the mediator, a priest who has come to fulfill everything. We’ve just read, everything that the priests were doing. He has fulfilled the entire priesthood. And so we need to walk through the rest of Scripture now and kind of see how this unfolds. And so we’re going to just look at the priesthood, kind of in your notes there, you probably see that heading the priesthood. We’re just going to kind of walk through some different parts of Scripture to see how this happens. But the priesthood all culminates in Jesus. Paul draws our attention to this in First Timothy two. He says, For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind. Aaron, nope. Caiaphas, no. There is one God and one mediator between God mankind, the man Christ, Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom. For all people, like Paul knows the sacrificial system. He knows the priesthood. And he’s saying, guess what? There is one, there’s one. And so is Paul looking at the whole Old Testament and saying the priesthood has ended, yes and no. As far as what we’ve just read, these multiple priests over multiple years, multiple sacrifices, daily sacrifices, all these different things. Yes, that has ended, but the priesthood of Jesus is here and here forever, established forever. So there’s many places we could go to show this truth, but no better than the book of Hebrews. In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is called the merciful and faithful high priest over and over again. He’s the Forever high priest. He is a better high priest, superior in all ways. So that’s great. It calls him that. But how is Jesus the better priest? How is he the better high priest? We got five things for you. First, Jesus is the perfect priest. He’s the perfect priest because he lived a perfect life. Aaron represents the people of Israel as one sinner. For many sinners, that’s what he’s doing. He’s like, I’m a sinner. I’m walking into God’s presence representing a nation of sinners. And if you’ve been with us, you know that these people that he’s representing are forgetful, complaining. They’re ungrateful for everything the Lord has done, and they’re constantly pulled back to a life of slavery. They keep falling flat on their face. This is who Aaron is representing. Aaron and his sons, fallen people before a perfect God representing fallen people. And then we have Jesus, the perfect priest, the one who not only represents but fulfills everything you and I were supposed to do perfectly. So he’s the one that goes in and says, This is what it looks like, and I have done it for them like we didn’t do it. He did it all. Hebrews tells us he was tempted in every way, as we are, as Israel was, and yet he did not sin. He stood firm in the wilderness when Satan tempted him three times. He was completely obedient to his parents as he grew up and he finished the work his father sent him to do the 10 Commandments we just read about a few weeks ago. Yeah, he fulfilled those perfectly everything, whether it’s his head, his heart, his hands. He did everything perfectly as the priest. So he goes in before the Lord as the perfect priest to say, this is what I have done for them. I have lived that perfect life which Aaron and his sons could never do. Second, Jesus is the eternal priest. Aaron died, his sons died, and every priest after died, the priesthood didn’t that kept going, but someone else had to come and pick up that office and take it. But each individual’s time ended, and the priesthood of Aaron and his sons was given to the next one. But listen to Jesus’ priesthood in Hebrews seven now, there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office. But because Jesus lives forever, he has 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. Aaron and his sons died, the office continued the Old Testament priests would intercede for their people for a time, Jesus is still interceding for us. Now, like today, as we sit here, Jesus is praying for us. He’s saying, I am the perfect priest. I have done everything that they were supposed to do, and so when we sin, He says, I paid for that. He’s praying for us now, interceding for us, because it’s a permanent priesthood. Third, Jesus is the giving priest, which might sound a little weird for a second here, but stay with me, the priest in chapter 29 had to take their hands, lay their hands on the bull and the two rams and transfer their sin symbolically to this animal. So this animal would take those sins for them as their blood was spilled. It was like Aaron’s blood. It was like his son’s blood. So their guilt before the Lord was taken to this animal. But when Jesus went to the cross, look at Second Corinthians five. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So here’s the beautiful thing, there was no sin for Jesus to transfer to us. Instead, he says, you put your hands on me, you transfer all your sin, all the punishment that you deserve, to me and. I’m going to go to the cross, and that would have been amazing. But then he also said, Guess what, I’m going to transfer something to you, and I’m going to transfer my perfect record to you, my perfect righteousness, so that it’s like you, like you lived my life. That is what he has done. He is a giving priest who gives of himself. Fourth Jesus is the priest and the sacrifice. So these earthly priests were just like us. They had to sacrifice animals for their life before they would sacrifice them for others. So think about it a couple weeks ago, or in a couple weeks, we’re going to see Aaron, the high priest, the mediator of Israel, the one who’s supposed to serve the true God, Yahweh. And what does he do? In a couple chapters, he’s going to make a golden calf and tell the people, this is your God. This is the God that took you about of Egypt. This is who God chose as the mediator for the people. It gets worse, though, because Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offer unauthorized fire before the Lord, and the Lord consumes them because they don’t take their priestly duties seriously. Eli, a future priest, has two wicked sons who are disrespectful to the Lord, who disobey His laws, and they are killed for it, many priests, prophets and kings, the shepherds of Israel were rebuked by the prophets throughout the Old Testament for their pride, for their greed, for their blatant disrespect of God and His word over and over again. So of course, they need to offer sacrifices for themselves. We would need to do the same thing, because this is what we do. And then we want to approach God, but the great high priest, Jesus is the high priest and the sacrifice. Look at Hebrews seven again. Talking About Jesus truly meets our need, one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins, once for all, when he offered himself, no other priest could do that. Only Jesus could and then Jesus, the spirit Anointed One, is the last one. In Chapter 30, we see the priest needed to be washed and cleansed to enter the presence of God, and they had to be anointed with this special oil used only for this purpose, representing the anointing of God, of His Spirit on them. Even better than that in Jesus, Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John for a baptism of repentance, although Jesus had nothing to repent of. So He’s baptized so that he could fully identify with us, so that he could go in the water and show the death that he was going to die, not only himself, but also for us, and then he was going to come back out of that water, because he was going to come out of that grave three days later. So he has to identify with us, and we also know in that water that washing cleanses and purifies us to approach God. And as soon as Jesus is baptized, he doesn’t get an oil that represents the spirit. He gets the Spirit Himself coming down like a dove on him. And the father says, This is my Son in whom I am well pleased that is a different anointing. So the instructions for the high priest, we’re not going to get there today, but I’ll just mention in Leviticus 16. So in that priesthood, this all culminates in Leviticus 16, which is the Day of Atonement, where the high priest is told you are going to go into the most holy place where God’s presence dwells one time a year to offer a sacrifice just one man in one place one day of the year. And you’re going to offer the sacrifice that’s going to tone for the sins of the people for the entire year, and then you’re going to do it again the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. And even in this most holy of days, we find this in Hebrews 10. It says, but those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. So what hope do we have day after day, year after year, we have to keep offering them. The writer of Hebrews goes on to explain the difference with the once and for all sacrifice. When he says, their sins and loss lawless acts, I will remember no more and where these have been forgiven. Sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. Day after day, year after year, nope, one time in one place, on a cross, and it was done. It was finished, and so we can be forgiven. Thanks be to God. Hebrews 912, 14 says this, I want you to just listen. Very carefully, says he did not enter by means of blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place, once for all, by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkle on those who are ceremonially unclean, Sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from Acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. Did you hear that? I’m gonna read that again, verse 14. How much more than will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself unblemished to God, perfect, cleanse our consciences from Acts that lead to death, all of our sin, so that we may serve the living God, not I’m going to save them. They can do their own thing. He saves us so that we can serve Him. He has made us holy. He has He has made us holy so that not only can we approach him, but we can serve Him. That’s the big idea today. That’s the big idea. You are holy. So do the work of a priest. You are holy. So do the work of a priest. Now, maybe you’re like me in that restaurant. I don’t belong here. What do you mean? I’m holy. I don’t feel holy. I look back at the last week, I don’t see a whole lot of holiness there. Well, Jesus says, when you are in Him, when you believed in his life, death and resurrection, He makes you holy and He gives you His Spirit, you have been consecrated, set apart. So, yes, we don’t walk around with these gold plates on our forehead that say holy to the Lord. Guess what? We have something better than that. Way better Ephesians, one says that when you believe in Jesus Christ, you are marked in him with a seal, a seal just like the seal above the high priest’s head. That seal is the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. So we do need to walk around with gold at our foreheads. We have the Spirit of God in us, dwelling with us, tabernacling with us, in our hearts, in our lives. But then what does the Spirit do? Titus three says this about God. It says God’s mercy. He saved us in His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus, Christ, our Savior. So when he saves us, He washes us, he renews us through His Holy Spirit, who he pours out on us. Does that not sound like anointing? He pours him out on us, washing us, purifying us for the work that God has for us. So Jesus’ sacrifice, he sacrifices for us. He washes us, he purifies us, and then he anoints us with His Spirit. So the Israelites were supposed to be this kind of royal priesthood, this holy nation to others. And Peter picks this up. We’ve looked at this verse already in this series. First, Peter, two, nine, but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God’s special possession. This is for us, the church, Christians who call in the name of Jesus, now that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. We are a royal priesthood. You are holy. So do the work of a priest. What is the work of a priest? What are we supposed to do with this? This is the idea of the priesthood of all believers in Scripture, the priesthood of all believers. If I could sum it up what it means to do the work of a priesthood would be this, represent Jesus in all aspects of life. Okay, you represent Jesus in all aspects of life. You are holy, so fully devote yourselves to the work of the Lord. You’re not gonna put blood on your ears and your big toe and your thumb, but you’re leaning look at yourself and say, No, this is this is all for him. Like the blood sacrifices ended with Jesus on the cross. That is the last blood that has ever been shed for us. Do you get that? Years the Israelites are looking at all this blood, and he got on that cross and said, That’s it. You never have to do that again. We don’t have to transfer anything to an animal or anything. It’s done. It’s finished. They have ended. The blood sacrifices are gone. He is the high priest the once and for all sacrifice. But then Romans 12 tells us we are to offer our bodies, head, hands, feet, as a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice. Again, these are the places in Scripture like, excuse me, a living sacrifice, because he has shed the blood, but our whole life now is devoted to him. It is sacrificial. I have to get up and say, Lord, I want all of me to be for you today, and that means sacrificing all the things I want, all the things that other people are calling to me to do. And say, this is for you, because he says in Romans 12 one, offer your bodies the living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. We say, Lord, you have given everything for me, so I’m going to give my whole life to serving you. You, and look what Hebrews 13 says should be on the screen for you through Jesus. Therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly can profess his name and do not forget to do good and to share with others for which such with such sacrifices God is pleased. That’s what priests do. Openly profess the name of Jesus to do good to others, to share with others. And so I just have a few questions here I want to ask you as you think through your priestly responsibility before those in the church and outside the church. So just some diagnostic questions you might need to ask yourself this morning. And I hope in asking these questions, it clarifies for you what it looks like to be a priest. If someone has a question about the word or they have a need in their life, do they come to you because they know you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you know how to bring someone to God? Can you walk somebody through the truth of the gospel and call them to respond, profess his name, and call them to respond to the gospel. Can you do that? Are you comfortable with that? Third, if someone in the church needs help remembering who they are, that they are holy, are you comfortable speaking the truth of God’s word to tell them that they are a child of God, that they are holy to the Lord, if someone in the church needs to be rebuked, are you able to speak the truth in love and remind them of what a sacrificial a sacrificial life looks like? And finally, are you modeling living your life for Jesus, because that’s what Aaron was supposed to do. That’s the high priest were meant to do, to be that example, to help people see who God is, and then bring them to him, to make them approach, be able to approach God. And so that’s our role now, because we are holy. So we do the work of a priest in all of these questions, you know what’s great about them? Not one of those questions is really about you. All of those questions get back to Jesus and the truth of who he is and what he has done. The work of the priest is not to say, look at me and how good I am, but rather to say, I’m just like you. I can’t approach God either on my own. I need a savior and a high priest. I know who he is. Let me tell you about him. Point them to him. That’s what a priest does. Points past ourselves up to our Savior. If you’re here this morning, you’re like me at the beginning, where you again, you feel like you’re here today, and you’re thinking somebody’s going to come up to me and say, I don’t belong here. We’ve all felt that way because we’re all in the same place. We were all in the same place saying, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t belong here, but you’re in good company, because there is nothing for you to do. It’s been done already, all that punishment for your sin, all that guilt and shame that you feel was paid for by Christ on the cross. And so this Christmas, I hope you would surrender your life to the mediator and the Messiah who was born for you, and then you can experience the true joy that is found in Christmas because it’s found in Jesus and Jesus alone. So maybe this morning you need to hear this. Maybe you’re struggling. Maybe you don’t see those things your life happening in the way that you want them to happen, or as fast as you want them to happen. You are holy, set apart through Christ. This is what He has called he has done for us, made us holy so that we can follow him. So as we leave this place today, let’s do the work of a priest, pointing everyone we know to Jesus, Christ, our Savior, Messiah and mediator. Let’s pray. Jesus we are grateful to be able to sing songs come thou long expected Jesus, the one who for years, people were waiting for and waiting for and waiting for, and then you came in the way that you did, in a way that nobody expected. And then you did things for us that we could never do for ourself. As we celebrate this Advent season, as we’ve read these verses throughout this series, anticipating the coming of Jesus, Lord, I pray that you would grab hold of our hearts, our heads, our hands, our feet, and we say, Lord, I want to be fully devoted to you, that this Christmas season has always been and always will be about you and what you have done, and the fact that we can walk out of here this morning through Jesus Christ and say, I am holy. What do you have for me to do today, Lord, Holy Spirit. You are in us. You are with us, and we need you to remind us of this truth every day, every hour, every minute, so that we know we are holy to the Lord and called to live for him. And we pray, Lord, as we go from here, that if there in our life that needs to hear that truth, that we would take that step of courage to tell them the truth of Jesus Christ and to see them follow you. There’s no greater priestly work that we can do than to point people to you, Lord. We love you. We pray this in Jesus name, amen.