Tonight, if you're a visitor, we've been working some time through the book of Exodus. We're getting there. We really are. And tonight we're at chapter 29. This is the second book of the Bible, Exodus. We're in chapter 29, and we're finishing and concluding this chapter tonight. And soon enough, we'll be in the great event of Exodus and a few chapters, the golden calf. But tonight, we pick up again at verse 22, and we'll read to the end of the chapter. We're dealing with the ordination of the priests to remind you where we are in this particular section of Exodus, why a ministry was set apart, and why the priestly ministry and how serious ordination was. We looked at last time how important ordination was, setting aside men whom God had appointed to serve, and tonight we're looking at the great reason for this. the reason he was giving the priesthood. And so I've titled the sermon, The Dwelling of God. This is the Word of God beginning at verse 22 of Exodus, chapter 29. You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them and the right thigh, for it is the ram of ordination, and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. You shall put all these in the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons and wave them for the wave offering before the Lord. Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the Lord. It's a food offering to the Lord. You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord and it shall be your portion and you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priest portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination from what was Aaron's and his sons. It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord. The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him. They shall be anointed with them and ordained in them. The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place, shall wear them seven days. You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. And Aaron and his son shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration. But an outsider shall not eat of them because they are holy. And if any of the flesh for the ordination of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten because it's holy. Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons according to all that I've commanded you. Through seven days you shall ordain them. And every day you shall offer a bowl as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar when you make the atonement for it and shall anoint it to consecrate it. Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whoever touches the altar shall become holy. Now this is what you shall offer on the altar. Two lambs a year old, day by day, regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. And with the first lamb a tenth sea of fine flour mingled with the fourth of a hint of beaten oil and a fourth of a hint of wine for a drink offering. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight and shall offer it with grain offering and its drink offering and in the morning for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord where I will meet with you to speak with you there. There I will meet with the people of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting in the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word tonight. I was at the gas station the other day and I was pumping gas and I was listening to some guy pull up playing and blaring a country western song and he had his cowboy hat on and he was really going at it and i uh listed looked up the song that that he was singing and here's the words lord when i die i want to live on the outskirts of heaven where there's dirt roads for miles hay in the fields and fish in the river where there's dogwood trees and honeybees and blue skies and green grass forever. Lord, when I die, I want to live on the outskirts of heaven. Now, it says in the King James, in the Almighty's kingdom, he mentions a mansion that he's built just for me. Now, I'll gladly trade it for a farmhouse with acreage and a backyard that's shaded and a squeaky front porch swing. That's where I want to hang my wings. When I die, I want to live on the outskirts of heaven. What a stupid song. Does he really know what he's asking? And this guy's blaring it at the gas station. Does he know what he's asking for? I want to live outside of heaven. On the outskirts. Outside the border. I don't really want to be near you, the Lord. I really don't want to be near you. I'll pass on the house you're building for me. For me, I'll pass on being in that house. Let me have my land, my porch, my swing, all this, some country land, some roads. That just fits the American dream, doesn't it? He's so American. We should be learning by now what heaven is and we should be learning from Exodus what the goal is of the Lord. He's coming to dwell with His people. That's a remarkable thing that he's doing. That's what Exodus is all about. What makes heaven desirable is him. And this is what's happening in Exodus. The beauty of it is, did you notice the ending of this, is that God is saying, I am going to dwell with you and I have chosen to be your God. Wow. The danger is we go through all this detail and we read all that stuff that I just read, important as it all is, is that we forget the intention of all of this. This holy God of Israel wants to dwell with His people. He wants to be with His people. And it's as if at the end of all this instruction, we're coming to the close of this section, at the end of all this instruction in verse 42, He reminds Israel what this is all about. Why is God doing all of this? Why did He bring them out of Egypt? Why are we gathering? Why are we doing all of this? What about all this instruction? Why does he give all this instruction? Did you notice the very end of this, how all of a sudden he was explaining the reason for this? In verse 42, what the Lord says, this shall be continually a burnt offering throughout your generations. Notice this in verse 42. A burnt offering throughout at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord where, You can read right over this. I will meet with you. I'm going to meet with you. I'm going to speak to you there. There I will meet with the people of Israel and this whole structure is going to be sanctified by my glory because where I am, that's what happens. That's why instructions were very important. I will consecrate the tent of meeting in the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and I've decided and chosen to be their God. They need to know this. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who delivered them, who saved them. That's what this is all about. I'm coming here to be with them So they would know me, enjoy me, worship me, and know that I'm their God. This is getting to some real purpose in Exodus, isn't it? What an amazing section to open up with tonight. Are you moved by that? And if the Christian ministry is so much more glorious, as the New Testament says, then we have made a real strong case that you're in the most holy place tonight. that God is with you right now, that God is meeting with you, that He's speaking to you, that He's doing something for you. Let me tonight go through some of this so that we see that ultimate goal that is here, that it was God's intention to come and to dwell with His people, that He saved them to be a worshiping people that they would enjoy Him and there would be that communion and fellowship. This means that the entire priesthood tonight was designed and set up to teach them this. To make this possible. He wanted them to be a part of this. God is constructing this tabernacle in the wilderness and He's setting up priests that were ministering on behalf of the people and serving and coming to the Lord and bringing the offerings. And all of this stuff that's described here was describing the nearness of God and the ministry that they were involved with making and declaring the Lord was with them. What a scene. In certain ways, chapter 29, the first thing he does is make this presence possible by setting up this priestly ministry. And that's why we spent some time reading this particular section tonight on all the detail for the priests. it's not mindless detail it's not unimportant there was a seven-day ordination process for the priests and that's where we pick up tonight really with we looked at some sacrifices last time um we're in the third sacrifice tonight you'll notice here the second ram it's called the ram of ordination it was called a wave offering you'll notice here and what he focuses on an offering which were to involve god's people in this and had been set up giving to the lord had the specific function of being a part and understanding what the lord had set apart to minister his presence and minister his gospel ministry to them in verse 22 we see some of these details that they were commanded to take the fat of the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails and the fatty lobe and the kidneys and the fat on them and the right thigh. And you'll notice one loaf of bread, one cake with oil, one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread. All of that was to be put in Aaron's hands. So they would take all these things, they would put it in Aaron's hands and there would be this wave offering where they would offer this to the Lord and the meaning in verse 25 is you shall receive back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It's an offering made by fire. Now, this particular offering, you'll notice here, the ram of ordination, the ram of filling, is meant that the things were placed in their hands to be offered and the priests would give back to the Lord. Not that the Lord needed this. The first thing God wanted to happen what he wanted to instruct the people in was that the best the fattest the juiciest parts of the ram were to be offered to him why well you'll notice in verse 26 that moses himself then was to be given a portion of the offering the best of the ram and from that verse 27 the the breast of the wave offering was to be taken as an offering and it was to then be for Aaron and his sons. Notice verse 28. It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. It's a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings. It's this heave offering to the Lord. Now this is all important. What is God teaching us here? Why all this emphasis on offering right at the beginning here in this ordination process? Notice the priests were waving the offerings of the people back to the Lord. The giving, first and foremost, as giving always has been in the Scriptures, giving was intended to be a way for God's people to say thank you. was always intended that way for all that they had been given the lord knew there was that desire remember in the prayer tonight i'm praying and i'm agonizing over this continuous struggle that we have with regard to sin and we feel like we never ever really show this god that we're very thankful this is one way you can do it there's one way that god taught israel to do it it would be a sign of their faith and their trust in him but they would give back to the lord they would give to him, and that would be a demonstration of their gratitude for all that he had blessed them with. He gave them that opportunity. He gave them that avenue to say thank you. Giving today gets a bad rap. There have been too many TV preachers who've asked for stuff, right? There's been too much funny business with the whole thing. But we have to remember that it was not viewed that way in the old testament giving was always viewed as a part of being able to say lord we're so grateful for all that you've blessed us with um it's just fascinating that as you go on when the people are building the tabernacle and all this construction of the tabernacle goes on remember um what happened later on um with the contributions for the tabernacle they made so many contributions for the tabernacle Moses we'll see this and we'll come to this had to say stop giving it's enough it's really beautiful it wasn't a bondage they were there was this moment of a real sense of God's presence that God was among them and that there was a sweet communion and that they were giving in gratitude for what God was setting up what was he setting up a place for him to dwell among them it's a beautiful thing when you think about the whole thing the whole picture that's going on here god was given the very best parts as an act of gratitude understanding that god himself had promised to give him to them he had forgiven their sins think of the priests here walking up there bearing on their shoulders their names and close to their heart on those stones their names of the children of israel bearing them up to the lord showing that there was a ministry of bringing his people into his presence notice he's commanding here um uh a wave offering what did god do with it god would then take the gifts of the people this is remarkable he would then take the gifts of the people and give it to the priests you'll notice that there uh to the priests who were set apart to serve them so he says it shall be from the children of israel for aaron and his sons by a statute forever so in other words god received the gifts the generous portions and he gave back to the priests why because he had set them apart to give their lives specifically to set apart to minister all these blessings back to them This is so wonderful. This generous share would go right back to the priests so that they could devote their lives to serve them and represent them in His presence. It taught them how God provides for them and that the priests had to live dependent on the offerings of the people. We live dependent on the generosity of God, don't we? The whole system is displaying something. As the priests were set apart and didn't work and the people provided, it demonstrated, didn't it, they had to live dependent on the offerings just as the people lived dependent on the Lord's provisions. It was a visual of how God provides constantly, constantly. Salvation is a free gift to us. You didn't earn that. When God brought you out of Egypt, so to speak, what I mean is brought you out of your sins and the dominion and out of the world and opened up your eyes and saved you. He set apart people to minister to you, didn't He? We just think this is automatic. We think this is a right. You didn't set this up. I didn't set this up. I can say honestly, I didn't even really choose it. i don't know that i would be doing this i did choose it because the lord put that burden in my heart the lord put that desire in my heart but it was his calling and so think about the beauty of salvation that he he sets apart people and a ministry that are intended to ultimately bless you think about think about the ministry of the gospel to you think about all that happens in this ministry of what goes on elders who pray for you everyone somewhat scared of elders uh we're trying to break down that fear among our young people they're not men out to get you when you come to profess your faith trust me this is the greatest day for us these men are set apart to love you to pray for you to care for you to lead you in god's word to help you when you're struggling I would love it if our young people could say, I so see God's blessing to me in these men that I'm going to call my elder and just talk to him when I'm struggling. Wouldn't that be awesome? We have that kind of relationship. Or, when we looked at the diaconate and said, I know when I have a need, they're not there to judge me. It's not a ministry of scrutiny. It's a ministry of mercy to help me with needs in this life. It's all set up to be a blessing, isn't it? It's all set up to be a blessing. Or when you look at your pastor, who sometimes has to speak the truth, always speak the truth, but has to speak the truth in ways that are confronted and that press you, you say, that man really loves me because his ultimate goal is my salvation, not to get me. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Our giving into that reflects something. See? Our giving reflects something. It reflects how thankful we are for all His blessing to us. For all His salvation to us. Remember, Paul was talking about giving and he said this principle in the New Testament. It comes right out of this. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the Gospel should get their living by the gospel. And he would talk about this in the New Testament about how we are supported and how we are provided for. This all demonstrated something that was put in place that meant the Lord was near. The Lord was with us. The Lord is caring for us. The Lord is shepherding us. It's not me ultimately who's doing the shepherding. I'm an ambassador and a representative of of the the true shepherd the lord jesus christ he's your shepherd the second way the lord demonstrated his presence was the introduction of a covenant meal here this is really beautiful too uh with the priests and the lord you'll notice the ordination continued you notice that the holy garments were put on them and in verse 29 it says that they were on shall be on his sons that come after him so this ceremony would happen and all the priests would wear these garments for seven days and they would sit down and they would have a covenant meal eating these things verse 33 you'll notice uh it says um and they shall eat these things by which the atonement was made at their ordination and consecration um they shall be dressed seven days and then the priest ate a communion meal with God seven days during their ordination when I was a kid I never understood how the church worked I just it always seemed so scary to me and it always seemed like where does this stuff come from why do we do what we do and why do we have these men that walk out of this door here and why all this stuff who put all this in in place why does a pat why are we laying hands on people, which we're going to do in January when new men are set up here. Why does a pastor have to go through all that? Imagine an Israelite here asking those questions. What in the world does all this mean? Mom, dad, what's going on? We look at ministry as sort of something that's out there and far from us and something that we don't quite understand. It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. That's one thing I think we can do a lot better job of as elders and deacons and pastors, as I'm trying to explain tonight, of making the ministry clear to you to understand it, to be a blessing to you, and that it's not something foreign or scary or something. It's meant to be for you. Well, here we are, and think about all this stuff. Ceremonies, seven-day robings, eatings, cleansing of the altar. They then sit down and eat. On those garments were what? their names this is for them this is what priests do um there's there's things happening through the work of the priests the people had fellowship and communion with god now now now now we'll come back to this so when all the priests were cleansed and sanctified and sat down with god and ate the covenant meal those priests were representing the people whose names are all over them they saw in that that god himself was with them and communing with them we're going to come to some amazing sections here and we have looked in back in chapter 24 when this did happen his presence was there he was feeding them in the wilderness what is one of the greatest ways to encourage people well i'll tell you the greatest way to encourage you is so that you know this going out this week and you know when you come back next week you're meeting with god a real understanding we didn't set this up we didn't make this up we didn't put a sacrament table here we didn't invent baptism or the lord's supper that the lord set this up so that you would know you're really meeting with him the greatest encouragement is that you're not alone in this life you're not going through this life on your own the lord's presence is with you that's the last thing jesus said in the great commission lo i'm with you always he wasn't joking with you god delights to be with you there's going to be a day when it's face to face in the resurrection that's what makes heaven so glorious right now it's spirit and truth isn't it you're not alone the priesthood was meant to encourage them in the ministry of the gospel they didn't put that in place that was his ministry to them his think now the whole picture what have we learned they're bearing sins they're making atonement they are covered in blood remember blood was put on those beautiful garments splat splat splat they're walking up covered in blood carrying the people right on up into the presence of God and then sitting down and commuting with them in a meal. Well, God was always setting before the people that a provision had to be made for God to dwell with them. Blood's all over them. You now understand what all this is saying. Israel was being taught the gospel. And what's a sad thing we have seen happen with ministries? Well, we can start with Israel. What happened to the ministry of the priesthood in Israel? This is where some people, maybe you're a visitor tonight and you stand back and you say, I've seen so much chicanery in the Christian church. I've seen so much goofiness. I've seen so much abuse. I have a hard time believing any of this. This is where Israel helps us a little bit. When we look at the Old Testament and Israel under the law, what happened to the priesthood? As I was thinking about it, you have a summary section captured and you know it well in this. Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They didn't know the Lord. And the priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was still boiling and he'd thrust it in the pan or the kettle or the cauldron or the pot and the priest would take for himself all that the flesh hook brought up. So they did it in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, give meat for roasting to the priest for he will not take boiled meat from you but raw. And if the man said to him, they should really burn the fat first, then you may take as much as your heart desires. He would then answer him, No, but you must give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force. Corrupt. They weren't in it for the people. They were all in it for their own gain, and the Lord says, I'm done with this. That's what happened, and what you're seeing happen with Jesus in the gospel, with all the religious leaders of Israel. The whole thing became corrupt, and these shepherds lost the sheep. They didn't love them, and they didn't give the ministry to them as he wanted. the people then were burdened. Who wants to give to that? The fat belonged to the Lord and the priests due to their greed totally abused the offerings of God's people so that no one even wanted to give. That's where the old covenant went. Maybe you've seen this in Christian churches. Maybe you've seen we're all fallen men and you've seen abuses. And it's a sad thing. when a church doesn't give i've always thought that a healthy sign of a church that's functioning well are people who are joyfully coming to the house of the lord and receiving from him forgiveness and grace and wanting to see that ministry flourish beyond these walls right wanting to see everyone come in and receive it i'm going to give to that that's healthy that's beautiful That's the intention. But men mess it up. So that in the last book of the Bible, Malachi, listen to Malachi. This is in the Old Testament. And now you priests, this warning is for you. If you don't listen and you will not resolve to honor my name, says the Lord, I'll send curse on you and I'll curse your blessings. Yes, I've already cursed them because you have not resolved to honor me. I sent you this warning that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord Almighty. My covenant was with them, a covenant of life and peace. I gave them to him. This called for reverence, and he reverenced me and stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and turned many from sin. That's the ministry. For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge. Because He's the messenger of the Lord Almighty. The people and people seek instruction from His mouth. But you've turned from the way and that by your teaching you've caused many to stumble. Well, that's just everything this morning, wasn't it? That's why truth matters. You violated the covenant with Levi, says the Lord Almighty. So I've caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people because you've not followed my ways. Shown partiality in matters of the law. and then mess up the ministry. He makes something beautiful. Look what we do. Well, all that to say tonight, you needed a more perfect high priest, didn't you? Who would recover the ministry of the gospel to the people. What is so powerful about Jesus' priesthood? Well, where do you find selfishness? He gave you everything. God wanted them to know that He always had a continual ministry to them. Don't you find it interesting that this section has at the end of it, I want you to sacrifice a lamb morning and night perpetually. And that's going to be a sweet-smelling aroma to me. The smoke of the sacrifice would go up, be a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. As the priest ministered those sacrifices, it all anticipated something. It all anticipated that when John would look at Jesus, he'd say, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He's our priest. He's our high priest. Who shed his own blood right up on into the presence of God and he bore our sins on his back for us. So that when Paul would think of Jesus in Ephesians, he would say, He is a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Hebrews would say it's evident that our Lord arose from Judah of which the tribe of Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And yet it's far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek, this is a whole other subject, but I just want to show you, there arises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indestructible life he testifies you are a priest forever according to the order of melchizedek a perfect high priest who constantly sympathizes with you for you in all your weaknesses who is tempted in every way yet never sinned and bore your sins all the way up to give you a great gift What has Jesus done for you? He's carried you close to His heart all the way up Golgotha. Shed His blood. And in the midst of that, He instituted a what? A meal. A meal. We call it the Lord's Supper. A meal that has opened it up for all of you. All of you to come. All of you to eat. He didn't just give you a meal just like the priest that sat down and ate it. Think of what He did. The eternal high priest has invited you so that you get the privilege every time the supper is served to commune and all the people of God get to know God Himself is with us. He is feeding you. You know how blessed you are? This is His ministry to you. That's for present. Soon we'll be in glory. I love the story of John Patton, a missionary years ago to the cannibals and the natives. He tells the first time he gave the Lord's Supper to them, believing the gospel. For years, he says, we toiled and prayed and taught for this. Sought for this. At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, but now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love. I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus Himself. Imagine that. He's with you. This is His ministry to you. It's not gone away. How do you value it? It's a lot of wonderful things He's done for you. You have a high priest who constantly ministers, who prays for you, who intercedes and mediates for you, whose one sacrifice on the cross has covered you forever. Do you ever think that when you eat the bread and drink, it's the very encouragement that God Himself is with you? Feeding you? feeding your souls christ has invited us to his table promises that he's made atonement for our sins that he is our altar and that his garments are given to make us all kings and priests to our god so don't forget the bigger picture of all this tonight that's what i close with don't forget the bigger picture of what all this is saying to us the blessing of christ's work is that you don't get to live on the outskirts of heaven you get to go right before the face of god and enjoy him god himself is with us let us now adore him and with all appear before him god is in his temple let all the world keep silence prostrate lie with deepest reverence him alone god we own He's our God and Savior. We should praise His name forever. Let's pray to Him. Heavenly Father, thank You for encouraging us with something that is hard for us and complex, and yet the bigger picture is not hard to discern. We want a ministry here where the people so understand it. Understand the fight for the truth. Understand what You set us apart as pastors to speak the truth to not be compromised to not be shallow to be direct and exposing of what's right and what's wrong so that people would know the Savior and that the people here would understand the work of the elders and the deacons that's all a ministry of righteousness to us and that we would faithfully do that because we're great sinners and could fall any minute representing the true shepherd the true High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us in this because who's sufficient for these things? We're weak and we're great sinners. May your people have a greater understanding tonight through this of how blessed they are and all you've done for them to set up this ministry. To help them along the way until we are looking and gazing upon the face of our High Priest forever and enjoying that meal in heaven. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.