Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20071031.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Leviticus: Fellowship With A Holy God
Part I: Acceptable Relationship With A Holy God, Leviticus 1:1-7:38
F. Clarifications Of The Offerings, Leviticus 6:8-7:38
1. Clarification Of The Burnt Offering: CONSISTENT Wholehearted Devotion To God
(Leviticus 6:8-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. In her letter to me regarding my recent Churchwide birthday celebration, my Mother relayed her hope that I would finish my ministry well, to be found faithful to the Word of God and the Lord in the end.
    2. Her desire is what God would wish for each of His children; every one of us should have that as his goal as revealed in God's addendum to His instructions regarding the burnt offering (as follows):
  2. Clarification Of The Burnt Offering: CONSISTENT Wholehearted Devotion To God, Lev. 6:8-13.
    1. When the Lord had finished outlining the laws of the offerings to make for personal fellowship with Him, as in the case of the Ten Commandments back in Exodus 20:22-24:11, God wanted further clarifications on each sacrifice so the worshiper could understand His full intent behind each required function.
    2. In the case of the burnt offering, the Lord added His comments in Leviticus 6:8-13, and those comments reveal the need for the believer to be consistent in his wholehearted devotion to the Lord (as follows):
      1. We recall from God's instruction to Moses in Leviticus 1:3-17 on the burnt offering sacrifice that the sacrifice taught the following two key truths on wholehearted devotion to the Lord:
        1. First of all, Christ as our Substitutionary Sacrifice for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:4-6) met the just requirements of God of wholehearted devotion to the Lord's will in that He willingly obeyed the Father in going to the cross to die for us, Hebrews 10:5-7; Philippians 2:8. Because of that devotion, Christ's atonement satisfied the wrath of Almighty God for the believer's waywardness that had led him to fail to seek after God in his former unsaved state, cf. Romans 3:11b.
        2. Second, that ministry of Christ acts as an example for the believer's life: as Christ wholeheartedly gave Himself to do the Father's will in the Incarnation, so the believer, like His Lord, is to commit himself wholeheartedly to do the Father's will in his Christian walk, Romans 12:1-2.
        3. According to the context that follows Romans 12:1-2, this commitment involves using our spiritual gifts for service in the local body (Rom. 12:3-8), and living a godly life in relationship to our society (Rom. 12:9-21), our government (Rom. 13:1-14) and other believers (Rom. 14:1-15:13).
      2. However, God's added clarification of the burnt offering in Leviticus 6:8-13 focuses on the need for us to be as consistent in our wholehearted devotion as was our Lord to the will of the Father:
        1. When the burnt offering was consumed upon the bronze altar, the Lord did not want it to be only partially consumed and then discarded. He wanted the carcass to stay burning, fueled by added firewood until the next morning when the carcass had been reduced to mere ashes, Levicitus 6:8-9.
        2. Then, to signify the holiness of even the remaining ashes, the priest was to put on his holy linen garments just to take up those ashes and put them in a container beside the altar, Leviticus 6:10.
        3. The priest would then change into regular clothes to carry the ashes from the altar for disposal in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp, Leviticus 6:11. Thus, even in discarding the ashes, God emphasized the constancy of the wholehearted devotion signaled in the past day's sacrifice.
        4. Last, the fire that was used in the burnt offering was never to die out, but be fed by firewood to show the constancy of the wholehearted devotion God required in His people, Leviticus 6:12-13.
Lesson: Fellowship with a righteous God demands not only that we rely on Christ's wholehearted atonement for our salvation and a life subsequently lived in equal wholeheartedness to Him, and that in the realms of service in the local church, life before society, life before the government and before other believers, but that we ALWAYS live in WHOLEHEARTED DEVOTION to the Lord in EACH realm!

Application: As we commit our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit to God, may we rely on the Holy Spirit to STAY thus COMMITTED in FAITHFULNESS, be it relative to service in the local church, to society, to the government or to other believers, Galatians 5:22-23!