Day of Atonement: Are you a holy person?
Pastor
Mark
Vander Wel has been donating his excavator and other
equipment for our use. Yesterday he came
and ran it as well. This is an
incredible cost savings to us.
Another
family recently donated $8,000 and had their employer match it. We appreciate those who make those kinds of
extra efforts to bless this work.
Annual
Business Meeting—Elections and Totem Lake Property purchase.
Prayer for the teachers. Judy Raynor
praying for the public school teachers.
Paul Moody praying for Private educators. Marshall Flowers praying for higher education.
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur as
it is written in most calendars today, is the holiest day of the biblical
year. It is comparable to Good Friday,
Easter, and the day of our salvation all rolled into one. In Old Testament times, this was the day when
the sins of the people were forgiven.
Because of its importance, God gave
some very special instructions about how the High Priest, Aaron, should
approach his work on this day. In fact,
there are 16 steps that he had to take to properly do his Priestly work on that
holiest of days.
The instructions for Aaron were
actually given to Moses following the death of the two sons of Aaron who had
also been priests. Leviticus 16:1-3
(page 82) gives us the summary.
The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two
sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Moses:
"Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the
The failure of the two sons of Aaron
was that they did not distinguish between what was holy and what was
common. When they offered the incense
before they Lord, God struck them both dead with fire
from the presence of God. Leviticus 10
has the account.
1 Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added
incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his
command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them,
and they died before the LORD. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what
the LORD spoke of when he said: "'Among those who
approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be
honored.'" [1]
The question I would like to pose to
you today is a simple one: Are you a
holy[2]
person? It is a very important question
because the lesson of this day is that you cannot just approach God any old way
you please. It is very important to God
that you be holy. Let me read a few
Scriptures that make this point:
·
Lev
·
Lev 19:1-2 “The LORD said
to Moses, 2 "Speak to the entire assembly of
·
Heb
·
1 Pet 1:14-16 “As obedient
children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in
ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you
do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I
am holy." (NIV)
·
Matt 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
will see God.”
·
Rev 4:7-8 “The first
living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a
face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all
around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
·
The Spirit of God is
referred to as the Holy Spirit.
If these things are true, then God requires holiness
from us because he himself is holy. It
is one of the most fundamental aspects of who he is. It is one element of his unchanging nature.
For all its importance, I don’t see much energy
being expended on becoming holy. It is
not a value that is highly prized in this culture. When I hear people worship, using songs that
speak of the holiness of God, it seems like eyes glaze over. It seems mostly contentless
and without spiritual substance.
What seems to be missing is the profound inner
desire to be holy. Even more, few seem
to want to be known as desiring to be holy.
What would be the harm if someone thought of you as holy? Is that bad?
Holiness is, first of all, something which is
imparted to us through the blood of Jesus.
Beyond that, it is something we offer to God by way of the choices we
make.
If you feel very polluted and un-holy, that can
change here this morning. That is the
message of the Day of Atonement as well.
We can be forgiven of our sins.
That comes through faith in Jesus.
We can be holy. That comes
through letting the Holy Spirit speak to us about our lives, choices, values,
and purposes.
[1] The
passage continues: “Aaron remained
silent. 4 Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel,
and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away
from the front of the sanctuary." 5 So they came and carried them, still
in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron
and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar,
"Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the
whole community. But your relatives, all the house of
[2] Moral and ethical wholeness or perfection; freedom from moral evil. Holiness is one of the essential elements of God's nature required of His people. Holiness may also be rendered "sanctification" or "godliness." The word holy denotes that which is "sanctified" or "set apart" for divine service. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)