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is chapter 19 Leviticus chapter 19 remember that we are in what's been called in common parlance the Holiness code it begins in chapter 17 essentially up until that point you have uh commands and exhortations and laws regulating corporate worship the law concerning sacrifice the law concerning the priesthood the law concerning the day of atonement and after that day of atonement that high point in chapter 16 then from 17 and following we see laws and Commandments given to regulate the individual and the family and the soci societal conduct of the children of Israel they were in fact God's covenant people and we ought to appreciate that it's God the Lord who is commanding them here specifically in chapter 19 we saw in chapter 18 the emphasis was on laws concerning sexual uh immorality and remember by way of of review the reason why the Canaanites were expelled from the land if you look back at leit Leviticus 18 verse 24 do not defile yourselves with any of these things for by all these the nation are defiled which I am casting out before you for the land is defiled therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it and the land vomits out its inhabitants so this was not an arbitrary judgment or capriciousness on the part of God rather he takes Israel and uses them as an instrument of judgment to dispossess the land of the Canaanites now Israel goes into the land but then they take on the characteristics of the Canaanites and thus they are in turn vomited out of land again God is Not arbitrary in the way that he meets out his justice but it's a good thing for us to remember in Leviticus chap 18 because I think Bible readers at times look at the conquest and say well that doesn't seem fair here's a nice group of innocent people sort of minding their own business they built houses they built cities they they they dug Wells they they grew uh Vines and and and Fields and all that sort of thing and now God the the god of Israel just says go go in and utterly dispossess the land was judgment it's the expression or demonstration of God's righteousness now when we come to Leviticus chapter 19 we need to remember that the Bible does is not a Systematic Theology it yields Systematic Theology but it in and of itself is not a systematical theological treatment in other words when we come to chapter 19 you'll see a mingling of what's called moral law and ceremonial law typically the way we operate is we say okay these are moral laws these are ceremonial laws and these are judicial laws to some degree we have that in Exodus in Exodus chap 20 you have moral law in Exodus CH 21-23 you have judicial law and then in Exodus 25 to 40 you have ceremonial law so there is more of a clear-cut distinction there but in the rest of the pentat we see this mingling of laws together and so there are other theological and covenantal concerns that help us to sort of navigate between what is binding for us in the New Covenant versus what is no longer binding because it passed away with the old Covenant there's a lot of moral law here in chapter 19 that still obtains for us in this new covenant setting but there's also ceremonial and it's not even the case that it's half the chapter is moral and half the chapter is ceremonial it sort of looks that way there's a bit of uh ceremonial uh uh put in the first part of the section as well so I want to just read 19 to 8 uh 19 verse1 to verse 18 that'll be our Focus tonight so beginning in 191 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them you shall be holy for I the Lord your God am Holy every one of you shall rever his mother and his father and keep my sabbaths I am the Lord your God do not turn to Idols nor make for yourselves molded Gods I am the Lord your God and if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord you shall offer it of your own free will it shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the next day and if and if any remains until the third day it shall be burned in the fire and if it is eaten at all on the third day is it is an Abomination it shall not be accepted therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity because he has profane the hallowed offering of the Lord and that person shall be cut off from his people when you reap the Harvest of your land you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field nor shall you gather the gleanings of your Harvest and you shall not glean your Vineyard nor shall you gather every grape of your Vineyard you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger I am the Lord your God you shall not steal nor deal falsely nor lie to one another and you shall not swear by my name falsely nor shall you profane the name of your God I am the Lord You shall not cheat your neighbor nor Rob him the wages of him who is higher shall not remain with you all night until morning you shall not curse the deaf nor put a stumbling block before the blind but shall fear your God I am the Lord you shall do no Injustice in judgment you shall not be partial to the poor nor honor the person of the mighty in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor you shall not go about as a tail Bearer among your people nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor I am the Lord You shall not hate your brother in your heart you shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him you shall not take Vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself I am the Lord amen so as I said various commands various exhortations various demands made by God for the Covenant people on how they are to live their lives as individuals and as families and as a society so we'll notice first the emphasis on religious observances in verses 1 to8 and then secondly the emphasis on neighborly love in verses 9 to8 but note the introduction in verses 1 and 2 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel it's important that we remember this is a command from God this isn't a command from their federal government it's not a command from their their their Central bureaucracy it is rather the god of Heaven and Earth commanding his Covenant people on how how they're supposed to conduct themselves in the land that the Lord is giving them now certainly the judges and those people involved in enforcement would certainly carry out the law of God and the penalties for violation of the law of God but these commands do not originate with the Civil Authority these commands origin originate with God most high to his people and so I think that's important because we don't have a command from the government on how to be charitable to our fellows God gives us that God encourages Us in that God tells us to be charitable to be kind and to be gracious to one another so when we look at this particular section remember the Lord spoke to Moses the demands for his people in this particular situation now in terms of the list of religious observances we see that in verses 2B to a the first is the pursuit of Holiness again this is called the Holiness code and that is for a reason the idea of Holiness does include moral Purity to be sure but at its core it is separation it's to be separate from and that's a constant imperative in The Book of Leviticus for the children of Israel to be separate from the Nations around them that would be reflected in what they eat uh what they ate it would be reflected in how they worshiped how they sacrificed it would be reflected in in in various things that affected the body politic so they were to be Sanctified they were to be set apart they were to be holy and the reason is for I the Lord your God am Holy if you go back to chapter 11 you see the same emphasis on Holiness for the people of Israel specifically in verses 44 and 45 for I am the Lord your God you shall therefore consecrate yourselves and you shall be holy for I am Holy neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth for I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God you shall therefore be holy for I am Holy the same demand is made in chapter 20 specifically at verse 26 and you shall be holy to me for I the Lord am Holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine again some of the laws in the the ceremonial aspect in terms of the pentiuk seem a bit odd to us but when you remember that they were to set the nation apart from the Nations around them then it helps us to appreciate and understand what's happening in terms of this Holiness code now when we turn to the New Testament we see a similar EMP emphasis in both Paul and Peter in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1 Peter or Paul says therefore having these promises beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God yes pursue moral Purity pursue that separateness from the Sinners around you now the separateness does not mean withdrawal doesn't mean go live on the top of a mountain it doesn't mean buy an island it doesn't mean get into a spacecraft and go to the go to Mars so that you can be away from all the filthy disgusting Sinners know the idea is to be in the world but not of it and to make sure that we are by God's grace keeping ourselves unspotted from it Peter does the same thing in 1 Peter chap 1 specifically in verse 1 13 He says therefore G up the loins of your mind be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you is Holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am Holy so he invokes that principle from The Book of Leviticus and he brings it into a new covenant is setting so what obtained for the old Covenant Israelites is true for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of Holiness and one man makes this observation a man by the name of Herz he's quoted by a commentator that I use called wenom I don't have hurts but I thought wham's use of hurts was very good so I wanted to read that he says Holiness is thus not so much an abstract or a Mystic idea we need to appreciate that what is holiness it's not abstract when you read Leviticus 19 you see concreteness you see tangible you see real life application so holiness is thus not so much an abstract or a Mystic idea I need to just let go and let God and he'll put into me what Holiness is and how I'm supposed to function no we're to understand what the will of the Lord is remember from Ephesians 5 see then that you walk circumspectly knowing what the will of the Lord is he goes on to say as a regulative principle in the everyday lives of men and women he says Holiness is thus attained not by flight from the world I think that has been undertaken by people we need we need to separate ourselves from all those all those Godless Sinners well how are we going to win them to the Lord Jesus Christ if we separate ourselves from them there has to be a way to navigate so on the one hand we're friendly toward them we're even friends with them we show the love of Christ to them and as we have opportunity we hold out the word of God to them but we're not affected in a negative way by their conduct in other words we need to be able to maintain that particular uh uh balance so he says Holiness is thus attained not by flight from the world nor by Monk likee renunciation of Human Relationships of family or station see the monks thought as long as I'm on my own out in the wilderness I'll be all right well the monk always had his own heart he always had his own remaining corruption he always had that same proness to wander and proness to leave the God that he loved I think it was Justin the man who translated the Latin Vulgate said when he was out in the wilderness he had you know fantasies about dancing girls well you wouldn't think out in the middle of the Wilderness under a baking sun that would be where your mind went but that's where his mind went so the idea of monery is not the antidote to the sinfulness of this present evil age we need to be able to conduct ourselves in light of a passage like Leviticus 19 us especially in this new covenant situation where we have the the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all of our sin and the power of the Holy Spirit to comply now certainly The Remnant had that Holy Spirit but we have him in a fuller measure today so he goes Holiness is thus uh attained not by flight from the world nor by monk-like renunciation of human relation relationships of family or station but by the spirit in which we fulfill the obligations of life in its simplest and communist Details In This Way by doing justly loving mercy and walking humbly with our God is everyday life transfigured now of course he's invoking there Micah the prophet in chapter 5 Micah chapter 5 or six rather summarizes this Micah 6:8 he has shown you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God and I think Micah 68 it's really necessary to understand what's happening in Micah 6 1 to 7 because basically what you have is a covenant lawsuit Micah is prosecuting attorney on behalf of Yahweh and he is up braiding the children of Israel for their rebellion and their sin and their transgression against the god of the Covenant if you notice in verse one hear now what the Lord says arise plead your case before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice here oh you mountains the Lord's complaint and you strong foundations of the Earth for the Lord has a complaint against his people and He will contend with Israel oh my people what have I done to you and how have I wearied you testify against me for I brought you up from the land of Egypt I redeemed you from the house of bondage and I sent before you Moses Aaron and Miriam oh my people remember now what Bao king of Moab counseled and what balum the son of Bor answered him from aesa Grove to gilgal that you may know the righteousness of the Lord see God says what have I done what have I done to weary you so as to provoke from you this constant rebellion and this constant unfaithfulness relative to the terms of the Covenant notice now with reference to verse six basically what Micah is doing is personifying the people now uh uh as they approach God so the people say with what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams 10,000 rivers of oil shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul this is insincerity this is wretchedness this is indicative that God's uh lawsuit with them is absolutely Ely appropriate and fitting and and right should I come to him what basically what will it take to get him off of our backs and when they say shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul of course not and it's on the heels of that that verse eight comes he has shown you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God this isn't new stuff this isn't brand new revelation you have departed you have gone aaring you have not been holy as I the Lord your God am Holy so when we go back to Leviticus chapter 19 the first order of business is the pursuit of Holiness now notice secondly reverence for parents in chapter 19 at verse 3 a every one of you shall Revere his father or his mother and his father father interesting that mother comes first mother is the priority there probably because the mother has the most sort of truck with the child when he or she is younger but as well in a society that might have been heavy-handed in terms of patriarchy never forget the mother and the fact that she Bears the authority of God most high in the family just as the father does we ought not to forget that now of course this is the fifth commandment this is Exodus 20 :s 12 uh Deuteronomy 5:1 16 and then the Apostle Paul applies it to Ephesian Christians to to Gentiles in Ephesus so we know that the moral law does transcend whatever Covenant there's a a a transcend a a covenantal sort of application in the old and in the new and we see that there in uh Ephesians chapter 6 notice in verse one children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth and you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord interesting in terms of the Holiness code the way that we conduct ourselves as individuals as families and societies right after be holy for I the Lord your God am Holy we find this emphasis on children obeying or revering specifically rever his mother mother or his mother and his father again the basic building block in society is the family the family deteriorates then there is chaos if the family deteriorates then there is there is confusion when the family deteriorates it kind of looks like Western Civilization right now so we need to be very concerned about this in terms of the emphases in the church today we ought to preach the fifth commandment and we ought to as well understand the application of the fifth commandment it's not simply parents and children but as well it's superiors and inferiors and that language is not calculated to make you feel bad if you're an inferior basically the idea is is that there is to be subordination in terms of God's uh structures in society you see it in family you see it in society you see it in the workplace superiors and inferiors the fifth commandment teaches that insubordination is rebellion against the living and true God we see that with reference to the Civil state in Romans chap 13 let every soul be subject to the governing authorities for there is no Authority except from God and those which exist are established by God Jesus speaking his wisdom in Proverbs 8 says by me King's Reign Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that after his fall and then after his recovery he confesses that it's God who raises up civil government so this idea of subordination it is inherent in the fifth command commment here the specific application is every one of you shall rever his mother and father now in terms of the New Testament we have it in Ephesians 6 and then again in Colossians 3 specifically the word obey means precisely what it says and it involves to honor or reverence them in other words to have the proper attitude toward your parents or your Superior as well with reference to children to provide for their material needs in their old age when Paul comes to deal with it in 1 Timothy 5 before he gets to the qualifications of a widow to be placed on the church's list in terms of provision he first addresses the family if a man does not provide for his own he's worse than an Infidel he's denied the faith in other words the family is the first place where widows ought to be covered where widows ought to be taken care of obviously widowers as well so to honor reverence them to provide for their material needs in old age to obey them this speaks concerning actions toward parents and to give thanks to them and for them be thankful to God for your parents now there's an obvious qualification built in to the superior and inferior sort of structure in scripture if the superior commands you to sin you must obey God rather than men if the superior commands the inferior to sin you must obey God rather than men you see the principle in Acts 5 the apostles are told by the Sanhedrin no longer to preach the gospel they say nope you don't have that Authority you're in the wrong lane we're going to go ahead and obey God and not you at this particular juncture if a parent is telling their child to sin then that child is Duty bound to obey God so reverence for parents is basic and foundational in terms of this Holiness code now notice third you've got the observance of the Sabbath now it's sabbaths plural because there were other sabbaths than the one day in seven Sabbath that we find in the old Covenant now this is grounded in we'll just deal with the one day in 7 sa uh Sabbath grounded in the fourth Commandment so Exodus 20: 8-1 and Deuteronomy chap 5: 12- 15 now I'm just going to read the chapter or the paragraph from our confession that I think summarizes well the concept of Sabbath keeping in the New Covenant because as New Covenant Believers in a Reformed Baptist Church we subscribe to the second London Confession and it is a sabbatarian document there are those who believe that this is to judaize the New Covenant there are those who believe that this is legalistic to invoke sabbatarianism for the New Covenant people of God well again listen to the confession then I'll Trace out just a brief biblical Theology of the Sabbath it says as it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the wor worship of God so by his word in a positive moral and Perpetual commandment binding all men in all a ages he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week which is called the Lord's day and it is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath the observation of the last day of the weak being abolished so basically what the fourth Commandment is it's a moral law and a moral law is trans covenantal whever you are in the grand scheme of things if you're in the old Covenant or you're the New Covenant the moral law is binding on you the Ten Commandments are binding on all men at all times in every place that's the scope it is universal in terms of the obligation of the creature to the Creator basically the moral law was given to Adam in the garden it is summarized by God at SI and again we see TR trans covenantal application in the New Covenant you see the apostles working with the Ten Commandments Paul for instance in Romans 13 when he wants to Define love he doesn't just make something up he invokes The Ten Commandments that passage in Ephesians chapter 6 he takes the fifth commandment and applies it to to Gentile children in Ephesus so the moral law is binding on all men at all times in every place now the fourth Commandment had also a positive or a ceremonial aspect positive law is something that is commanded by God for a particular time and purpose for instance the prohibition against eating from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil is a positive law it's not necessarily Wicked to eat fruit from a tree but in that particular setting because God forbid it and prohibited Adam from eating it that was positive law so positive positive law does shift in terms of Covenant for instance positive law regulating Worship in the old Covenant positive law dictated sacrifice you see it in Leviticus 1 to uh Leviticus 1 to8 uh positive law in the old Covenant demanded uh priesthood with a high priest positive law in the old Covenant demanded certain feast days it demanded the day of atonement yam kapor positive law demanded uh sacrifice it demanded uh incense it demanded a central Sanctuary so that's positive law within the context of old Covenant worship positive law regulates when we get to the New Covenant we still have the mandate to worship but positive law looks differently we no longer have a functioning priesthood in a central Sanctuary offering up sacrifices and incense to God most high there's the spiritual application of course that the church or that the apostles make relative to the church at worship but New Covenant worship is exponentially exponentially much more simple than old Covenant worship we pray the word we sing the word we preach the word we read the word and we see the word it's word centered we in other words we go to the New Covenant and we say what does God command in terms of us gathering together for worship so positive law affected the way persons Worship in the old Covenant positive law affects the way people worship in the New Covenant so the Sabbath moral law one day out of seven man must worship His God now in terms of the old Covenant positive law dictated that it would be on Saturday in the New Covenant positive law dictates that it's on Sunday now in terms of the biblical rationale or Theology of the Sabbath it does not begin at Exodus 20 see often times people say well that was only for the Jews well again the the giving of the law at sin and then repeated then again on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 5 is simply again the the the the moral law of God given to Adam codified at SI and binding on all men in all ages in all places Sabbath begins in the garden and if you really want to develop a Theology of Christian Sabbath you need to go back to ex uh Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 to3 God created God finished and then God rested he blessed the Sabbath he set it apart we see uh Genesis 4 at the end of days Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to the Lord now the end of days there does not mean the end of all days it probably means the end of the days of the week and Adam had taught them that at the end of the days of the week they were supposed to worship God the way that Adam was uh in tune with how God designated Sabbath then you get to Exodus 16 in the Gathering of Mana they were supposed to collect double on Friday why so they wouldn't break the Sabbath on Saturday you see it codified in Exodus chap 20 two or Exodus 20 and then Deuteronomy 5 two reasons are given for Sabbath in The Exodus 20 passage it's creation for in six days the Lord created the heavens and the Earth in the seventh he rested the seventh was a Sabbath in Deuteronomy 5 the argument is redemption so when you think Sabbath two themes ought to promote themselves in your mind creation and Redemption those are the the the the means or those were the rationale behind Sabbath keeping as given to the people of Israel you move through scripture you'll see again it's moral law the the prophets up braid the children of Israel for violating and breaking the Sabbath and Isaiah the prophet around 56 and 58 you see uh the the reality that Sabbath is going to extend end even into the New Covenant again chapters 56 and 58 when you get to the life and Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ you have first his statement in Matthew 5:17 to20 do not think that I came to abolish the law I did not come to abolish it but to fulfill it now again I think he fulfills the ceremonial law and the judicial law expires with the Commonwealth of Israel but in terms of that moral law it is trans covenantal he doesn't fulfill it to do away with it he doesn't fulfill it so that we no longer are bound by it he doesn't fulfill it so that we can now go out and break the Sabbath or we can now go out and commit adulter or we can now go out and engage in Theft he fulfills it he confirms it he strengthens it he demonstrates for us that this is not at odds with the principle of the Christian Gospel and then you see Jesus Waring with the Pharisees in his Earthly Ministry very often over Sabbath and one man has well said if Jesus was going to do away with the Sabbath and abolish the the Sabbath why did he spend so much time defending the Sabbath in Mark 2 he says the Sabbath or man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for the man and notice he didn't say Sabbath was made for the Jew Sabbath was made for Israel Sabbath was made at SI it was made for man or the man namely Adam in the garden based on the pattern that God most high had given to him so Jesus defends sabbatarianism in his Earthly Ministry and then we see I would suggest that Hebrews 4 provides the rationale or the theology behind the day change it's a bit of a tough one when you first read the chapter I think it Bears a bit of explanation that's outside of our our sort of range tonight but I think Hebrews 4 legitimizes the day change but we certainly see with three specific texts an emphasis upon the Lord's day we know that Jesus rose again on the first day of creation or on the first day of the week so you've got God Sabbath thing on the last day of the creation week Christ takes his position of rest on that first day of the week I think that's what Hebrews 4 is doing theologically we've got old creation New Creation the theme of redemption is is is conspicuous there as well so Jesus raises or is R risen again on the on the first day of the week and then you have these references to the Lord's day three times in scripture you've got 20 and: 7 Paul and the the Brethren are in traz on the Lord's day they break bread together they had been for an entire week there but they meet specifically on that first day of the week 1 Corinthians chapter 16 the Apostle says gather up money on the the the first day of the week set it apart and then you've got Revelation 1:1 John is in the spirit on the Lord's day now that's not the great as eschatological day there it's the day that belongs specifically to the Lord so in 1 Corinthians 10 you have or 1 Corinthians 11 you have the Lord's supper and in Revelation 1 you have the Lord's day that same word is where we get the word Kirk and it means belonging to in a special way so God owns that supper over and above all other suppers and he owns that day over above over and above all other days so the Theology of Sabbath is there again they would say some would say this is to judaize the old test uh the the the New Covenant we are not telling people that you have to keep the Commandment in order to be saved it like the other Commandments fall into that normative use for the Blood Bought Spirit-filled child of God the go uh the the Lord Jesus points us to the law as a pattern of sanctification on how then we're supposed to live so sabbatarianism is not just a Puritan invention but it comes from exog Jesus it comes from theological and as well covenantal considerations with reference to God's holy law so the pursuit of Holiness the reverence for parents the observance of the Sabbath and then notice fourthly the proh prohibition of idolatry the prohibition of idolatry in verse four do not turn to Idols nor make for yourselves molded Gods I am the Lord your God now this basically uh replicates or this basically rehearses both the first and the second commandments think at times we think that the first and the second commandments are a bit redundant well in Exodus uh 20: 3-6 and then Deuteronomy 5: 7-10 you have the first and the second commandments but here's the difference between the two Commandments the first deals with the object of our worship the first deals with the object of our worship you shall have no other gods before me or you shall have no other gods besides me you're not supposed to go after moak you're not supposed to go after ashra you're not supposed to go after Baal you're not supposed to go after Mamon you're not supposed to go after any cre creaturely thing you're to have no other gods before me so commandment One deals with the worship of the living and true God commandment two deals with the manner in which we worship that living and true God so we are not to worship the true God in a false way we're not supposed to worship ship a false god in a true way and conversely we're not supposed to worship the true God in a false way so commandment number two deals with the manner you're not supposed to try to picture him you're not supposed to make Idols you're not supposed to try to visualize it you're not supposed to try to engage in this Mystic approach where you have this contact supernaturally no it is word based you saw no form but you heard the word according to Deuteronomy chter 4 so when we find this do not turn to Idols nor make for yourselves molded Gods I am the Lord your God if we just stop for a moment we see the thrust thus far in terms of the body politic the people of Israel the Covenant Community taking occupation of the promised land these things would be crucial for their Covenant Fidelity before God but as well for their consistency toward one another in the land that the Lord had given them if they turn to Idols that's an act of treason remember remember this was a Theocratic Nation this eventually they have a monarchy but it's always a theocracy in the old Covenant God rules directly through the sitting King God rules directly through the judges God rules directly through the the the various Servants of the the most high in fact in Exodus you see that things are conducted in the sight of of the Elohim they're probably the judges the Earthly judges they are Servants of God most high so it is most crucial that the people of Israel do not turn to Idols nor make for themselves molded Gods one they would be cut off but two they run the risk of spreading that filth throughout the rest of the body politic what happens the the the the sin of man is like Gang Green it it spreads I mean when we come to the New Covenant and the Lord Jesus teaches the principle of church discipline in Matthew chapter 18 we're supposed to take that seriously one for the glory of God two for the repentance of The Sinner who is aing but three for the purity of the church if we have stuff unchecked then we might just get affected by it as well and so it was crucial that they not make Idols or make for themselves molded Gods because God was in fact their God and and here I just want to read a quote this is a quote I typically invoke when I preach on idolatry it's from John stot and his commentary on the book of Acts I think it's from acts 17 that when when Paul is in Athens and his spirit is provoked with him within him as he sees the city given over to Idols he says all idolatry whether ancient or modern primitive or sophisticated is inexcusable whether the images are metal or mental material objects of worship or unworthy Concepts in the mind for idolatry is the attempt either to localize God confining him within the limits which we impose whereas he is the cre of the universe or to domesticate god making him dependent on us taming him whereas he is the sustainer of human life or to alienate God blaming him for his distance and silence whereas he is the ruler of Nations and not far from any of us or to Dethrone God demoting him to some image of our own contrivance or craft whereas he is our father from whom we derive our being in brief all idolatry tried tries to minimize the gulf between the Creator and his creatures in order to bring him under our control more than that it actually reverses the respective positions of God and us so that instead of our humbly acknowledging that God has created and rules us we presume to imagine that we can create and Rule God there is no logic in idolatry it is a perverse Topsy Turvy expression of our human Rebellion against God I think he's bang on and I think that's a big problem in our modern generation yeah the vice list in Romans chapter 1 it flows from a commitment to that which is not God when we as a people reject the living and true God we end up with societies that look very much like ours look and that's precisely the emphasis of Paul in Romans 1 well then this last bit we'll stop here we'll look at the emphasis on neighborly love next week in verse 9 to8 but notice in verses 5 to8 again we have some ceremonial law thrown in here with reference to the the children of Israel notice and if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord you shall offer it of your own free will again something most crucial in terms of that offering it wasn't you know with gun to head it wasn't you know with arm turned up on the back it was with a desire to to glorify God remember the peace offering is something that the children of Israel brought that they with the priest got to participate in it was a time of Peace a time of Fellowship a time of of enjoyment of the things of god notice however there is specification it shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the next day and if any remains until the third day it shall be burned in the fire and if it is eaten at all on the third day it is an Abomination it shall not be accepted therefore everyone one who eats it shall bear his iniquity because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord and that person shall be cut off from his people now when we read that here in Leviticus 19 we might go that's a bit harsh no it's not harsh at all remember in chapter uh 3 God gave detailed instructions on how to do the peace offering and then again in chapter 7 detailed instructions for the priests on how to De uh uh deal with the peace offering so so the children of Israel making it to Leviticus they would not be surprised by this and they would not for a moment say well that seems a bit harsh that seems a bit contrary no they'd already seen the legislation given they'd already seen it it enacted at the end of chapter n and God's approval of their sacrifice and then they saw what Disobedience looked like in Leviticus chapter 10 with the account of naab and Abu so they would have it in their heads that whatever God commanded relative to the ingesting of this particular peace offering we're going to follow that and we're going to seek to be faithful with reference to our god so as I said next week we'll take up 9 to 18 where we have emphasis on neighborly love within the Covenant Community I'll pray and then if there's any questions we can deal with that Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for the practicality of This Book of Leviticus we see its New Covenant application so clearly in just a few passages that we have considered give us Grace God to to receive your word with joy and with Thanksgiving give us Grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to comply and to perfect Holiness in the fear of God as Paul commends and we ask that you would go with us we ask that you'd watch over all the brothers and the sisters in our local church and we pray through Jesus Christ