Humbled Before God on the Day of Atonement - Leviticus 23: 26-32

1:33All of our courses and degrees are available as well through live synchronous zooming. So, even if you're not prepared to launch into a degree, we seek to be an encouragement to local churches and to believers who are seeking to grow in their understanding of Scripture and invite you to consider checking out our website at shepherds.edu to learn more about our programs. As Pastor Thomas mentioned, one of the things I really love to do, and something that we're committed to doing at Shepherds Seminary, is to not only teach students about the land of the Bible, but I don't know why, but my slides keep advancing. Maybe we'll have to fix that somehow, but without me touching it, that we not only like to teach our students about the land of the Bible, we like to teach them in the land of the Bible. There's nothing quite like taking people to these biblical sites and encouraging them that the scriptures are accurate and are historically reliable, and that archaeology is nothing we have to fear because even as secular archaeologists continue to excavate and find new finds, can I encourage you? They're never going to find the bones of Jesus.

3:00And that this is something you can't do with a Book of Mormon or other so-called religious documents. But as we excavate, I mean, this is one reason I dig archaeology, you just find, you just find things that happen to correspond to the truth of Scripture. We just had one of our largest community classes where people zoomed, even from here and elsewhere, to participate with one of our archaeology faculty, Joel Kramer. And it was our largest Zoom class we've ever had, with I think right around 100 students just taking that class. So, again, I'd encourage you, if you're at all interested, maybe I could say it like this: if you're healthy and ready to travel, then have we got an opportunity for you? You can pick up one of these brochures that speak about our upcoming trip to the seven churches. And it will be a precursor to your pastor's excellent messages. We were kind of saying that maybe he really needs to go as a work trip to study in advance. And I mean, how can you really teach about the vision from Patmos without going into the cave where it really happened? So maybe you'll be able to join us for that. Well, today I'd like to turn your attention to God's word in Leviticus chapter 23.

4:25This morning in our Sunday school hour, we began to examine the Feast of Trumpets. Summoned before God at the Feast of Trumpets. This morning we will consider further in that chapter in Leviticus 23 as it speaks about the only of the seven festivals that is not a feast but is a fast. And we will consider the theme, humbled before God on the day of atonement. And tonight, the focus changes as we will look further in Leviticus chapter 23 at these fall festivals and consider the Feast of Tabernacles celebrating before God at the Feast of Tabernacles. So you've heard my three-point outline already.

5:13From Sunday school to this service and this evening, we're focused on the feast from Leviticus 23, but perhaps the feast that many believers are less familiar with. You see, many of the feasts that are mentioned in this chapter, we read about more in the New Testament related to the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost, that all really relate to events in the first coming or first advent of our Messiah, Jesus. John the Baptizer says in John's Gospel, John 1:29, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Elsewhere, Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 that Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. It's for this reason that believers. In the local church, they should have already put out from their midst those sinning believers who were unrepentant but calling themselves believers, yet unsubmissive to the claims of Christ upon their life, because not only has Christ our Passover already been sacrificed for us, but we should remove the old leaven because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The feast of unleavened bread then also relates to this concept of sin and its removal in the life of the believer and within the life of the believing congregation. But further, first fruits is also mentioned in the New Testament. In fact, in the resurrection chapter of the Bible, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, twice, Paul mentions that Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection. He is not the last to rise from the dead. He's the first to rise from the dead, never to die again. You see, Jesus Himself did raise others from the dead. The apostles had raised people from the dead. And yet, those people continue to live their life and then die in their old age. Here, Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection because he is the first to be raised and never die again. But thankfully, he's not the last fruits. You also, if you know him today, you will receive a resurrection of the body, and that. Resurrected body will never die again. This all relates to the festival of first fruits that was celebrated and commanded in Leviticus chapter 23. But wait, there is more. Because on the day of first fruits, the Israelites were commanded to begin counting for a period of seven weeks. Many of these festivals relate to the number seven and are based on a festival that is so important in the Jewish calendar that it occurs every week on the seventh day. It's the Shabbat or the Sabbath. It is that day which even its name means seventh. It is the derivative of other seven-like terms. So whether it's the Sabbath, Shabbat, or a whole week consisting of seven days is a Shavuah, a week. The feast of weeks, you know it as Pentecost, is Shavuot.

8:26And a sabbatical year is called a Shabbaton. You hear that rut, like based on the number seven, Sheva. So from the day of first fruits, the Israelites were commanded to begin counting for seven weeks. And as I like to say, math majors, how many days is that? 49. And the next day you have this huge celebration on the Pentecostas, or 50 days, on the 50th day, Pentecost. All of these then relate to the first coming of our. Our Messiah. But do you know that the next event that we look forward to is the fact that we will hear the trumpet sound and that there will be a time of terrible tribulation that will ensue, which is known as the time of Jacob's trouble, a time of difficulty which God will bring upon especially the people of Israel to promote repentance, to humble them before the Lord, so that they are prepared to receive the Messiah at the end of the tribulation period when they will look on him whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, as we read about in Zechariah 12, verse 10. Thankfully, Zechariah's prophecy went on to also say that there will come a time after the coming of Messiah and the reception of his people Israel when all the nations will go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booz, Sukkot, and to gather into God's tabernacle year after year in Jerusalem. For a thousand years, this will take place. We'll study more about that this evening. But today I'd like to turn our focus to the Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur in Hebrew. It is celebrated, it is observed. It's really not a time of celebration so much as it is a time of observance because its tone, unlike all the other seven festivals, is more somber. Notice the songs that were sung this morning related to humbling ourselves and seeking God's mercy. And that's very much what this passage calls for in Leviticus chapter 23, where we begin to read about the Day of Atonement, verses 26 and following. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying.

10:53By the way, let's stop there just for a moment because would you believe that the book of Leviticus actually contains more direct speech from God Himself than any other book? Someone has put it like this: if you want to know about God, read the New Testament. But if you want to know God and His character and how He revealed Himself, the words He spoke Himself about Himself, read the Old Testament. There He is on full display as the one who is speaking, and Moses simply records what the Lord spoke. In fact, for those who've taken Hebrew classes in seminary, perhaps this is like the most welcomed verse to see on the quizzes because it occurs all over the place. In Exodus and Numbers and Leviticus and Deuteronomy, these books often record how the Lord spoke to Moses saying. So, grammatically and in terms of their vocabulary, when you see these words, you're just so grateful. I finally something I understand because this comes up a thousand times. More in the Torah. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, What did he say? He said, on exactly the tenth day of this seventh month, and by the way, here's the number seven repeated again. The number seven is repeated so often in Leviticus 23. Both the seventh-day Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the book, and then seven festivals on the annual cycle of the calendar are mentioned, and many of them, in fact, the very first one occurs on the 14th day of the first month, so that's a derivative, a multiple of seven. And so the number seven, it's like repetitively redundant from the department of redundancy department. Again, you know, like if you didn't catch this, God is doing something really important and emphasizing. I mean, there wasn't the ability to change the font in the scroll to underline. They hadn't thought of that yet, apparently. They didn't have yellow highlight.

13:05There wasn't bold print, but there was repetition. And so it's as if you have the creation week, seven days. You have these festivals built around the number seven. You have the tribulation period of the future, which will last for a period of seven years. And seven seems to be the number of Completion, that God's program will become complete, that all that He promised He will do, that all of His promises are going to be fulfilled completely. And thus, it was so important to teach the Israelites that the numbers of Scripture really matter, and that the teaching that is a part of those numbers really matters. And thus, this command in verse 27: on exactly the 10th day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. Neither shall you do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. Notice this concept of judgment, of potential destruction, of being cut off from God's promises.

14:41And yet, the command with it, you shall do no work at all. It's as if this is both an invitation into God's rest, but in order to receive God's rest, one has to give up their own. Self-effort. I believe it was just a week ago or so that Pastor Thomas was speaking to the women's Bible study about entering into God's rest. You know, one truth about God's rest is that if you keep trying to please him and do the work yourself, you're not resting in him. I'm reminded of what I heard about an ancient announcer who would come and give the words of the king who was off fighting the battle. And that announcer, that ambassador, that spokesperson for the king would come with one of two types of news. He would either come with military advice back to the residents of the city, he might say something like, Look, you know, the battle isn't going very well, and that back wall of the city is fragile, and you really need to put up some rock and sand up against there and fortify it. And in fact, that one gate, you might want to really be sure that it's completely closed. Bring in a whole bunch of water and goods because the city is going to be under siege. Here's some military advice. This is what you need to do.

16:13Or he could come back with completely different advice. He could say, rather, a completely different announcement. He could say, because of nothing you have done, but because our king has won the battle for us. We have rest. Rest from war. You see, friends, this is good news. It's not just advice. The gospel is good news. You see, because of nothing we do, but because of what He has done completely, we are able to enter into His rest. And thus, the Day of Atonement emphasizes this issue of doing no work at all on this special day. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. Verse 32: It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest to you. And you shall humble your souls on the ninth of the month at evening. From evening until evening, you shall keep your Sabbath. By the way, this mention of evening to evening goes all the way back to the creation week. Do you remember in Genesis chapter 1? And it was evening and it was morning, day 1. That's how Hebrew time is kept. It's from the evening until the next evening. The Sabbath day actually is celebrated by families even to this day on Friday evening at twilight. And that is what was commanded earlier in this chapter for the celebration of the Passover on the eve of Passover at twilight. In the evening, that's when the celebration occurs. And similarly, based upon that Genesis chapter 1 timeframe where the next day really is. Beginning already the evening before, so the rest is to begin as a perpetual Sabbath from evening until evening. You shall keep your Sabbath. Notice a few of these biblical instructions regarding Yom Kippur. By the way, I have pictured here a friend of mine. We were on faculty together at Moody Bible Institute for many years, and he now is a professor at the Master Seminary, Kevin Zuber, who just came out with a really good book, by the way. And I needed him to pose just before a morning lecture, and now I'm using that photo with you this morning. But he's wearing the simple white linen ephod, like the priest would wear only on the Day of Atonement. Because this was a day when, again, no work at all was to be done by the Israelite. All work was forbidden. And they were to humble themselves. In fact, the word can be translated to afflict yourself, and thus it is customary on this day to fast rather than to feast. Because if feasting is a symbol of joy, and we'll talk about that with a great feast associated with tabernacles tonight, a harvest festival, with all the wonderful goods of the land being celebrated. No, when you humble yourself and afflict yourself, it is associated then with fasting. And also, the high priest was to lay aside his beautiful, festive garments in exchange for a simple white linen. In Ephod. Again, the high priest was also to present an offering. Isn't it interesting, once again, that unlike many of the other festivals where the Israelites were commanded to do, to observe, to bring, no, no, no, this time the Israelites are to rest, and the high priest is to do the work for them. In fact, the high priest was to present an offering. And of all the seven festivals mentioned in Leviticus 23, this is the only one that gets its own special chapter in the book of Leviticus. You could turn to Leviticus chapter 16, the Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement passage, where we read there about two goats that were to be offered. One was a goat for a sin offering. This goat was often called the goat for the Lord, La'Adonai, for the Lord. Whereas the other was a scapegoat that would go out into the wilderness east of Jerusalem, out into the same wilderness in which our Lord was tempted, out toward the Dead Sea. That was a scapegoat, often referred to as La'azazel. So one goat, La Adonai, for the Lord, and one goat, La Azazel, as a scapegoat. The high priest, then, was to wear a simple white robe. And this is so different from the festive occasions where the garments of the high priests were just so ornate with beautiful stones representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel. And with the royal blue colors and such, as these artists' conceptions display. It was as if it was a royal garment, more fanciful than most kings would wear when the festive garments of the high priests were adorning them. But on this one day, on the Day of Atonement, on Yom Kippur, he was to strip himself of all of the finery and come humbly.

21:30It is fascinating that this Talmudic tradition is recorded in a document that is very authoritative among rabbinical students, the Babylonian Talmud, in a tractate that deals with the Day of Atonement. This quote is found, and it speaks of a time period that you might be familiar with. Let's just read this kind of obscure citation from the Talmud for a moment and enter into this ancient tradition of the rabbis. Our rabbis taught during the last 40 years before the destruction of the temple, certain things would happen. Now, situate yourself, when would this have been, historically speaking? The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem not only occurred by the Babylonians in 586 BC, but this is speaking about the destruction of the second temple, this temple that would have been standing. In Jesus' day, the temple that he predicted would be destroyed. Our rabbis taught that 40 years before the destruction of the temple, that destruction occurred in 70 AD.

22:44This Talmudic tractate mentions that certain things occurred over and over and over again during a 40-year period. First of all, there was a lot that would be cast to determine which of the scapegoats would be La'Adonai for the Lord versus which of the goats would be a scapegoat, La'azazel. Which goat would be for the Lord and which would be for a scapegoat. Apparently, according to this Talmudic tradition, the lot, which was cast, maybe think of it something like casting a dice or the dice or something like this, that you would gain some sort of instruction about which goat should, you know, and there were only two options, it's head or tail. Which goat is it? And so apparently the high priest would hold a certain lot, an instruction, which goat goes to the Lord as a whole burnt offering and which goat goes to the wilderness. And again, you only get two options for the Lord and out to the wilderness.

24:00But for 40 years, the lot for the Lord did not come up in the right hand implied. It only came up in the left hand. Now, I personally am left-handed, and yet in the Middle East, I'm aware of quite a bit of tradition about the left hand being a left hand of dishonor, whereas the right hand is the hand of honor. Sit thou at my right hand is a sign of blessing. Can you imagine if someone said, sit thou at my left hand? You know, it's dishonor.

24:34Here, it's as if, for no apparent reason, for 40 years in a row, you're flipping the quarter, if you will, and it's always ending up tails, never heads. For 40 years in a row, it's always that the goat that was to be offered as a whole burnt sacrifice to the Lord always comes up in the left hand. Well, that's strange. I mean, just statistically, it's very strange. But what else was happening? Continue on reading. Nor did the crimson-colored strap become white. This is relating to another tradition that said the other goat, not the goat for the Lord, but the scapegoat, would be sent off into the wilderness with a red or crimson-colored strap around its neck. And as the goat on the altar in Jerusalem was sacrificed as a whole-burnt offering, Offering, and as the blood was being taken to be sprinkled on the mercy seat, and as atonement was being made for the nation, the crimson-colored strap would turn white miraculously as it was going as a scapegoat into the wilderness. But for 40 years, this never happened. For 40 years, it never happened. Further, the text goes on to say, nor did the westernmost light shine. The westernmost light.

26:02Again, this relates to things going on in the temple. Because when you enter the temple, you're entering from the east and you're entering into toward God's presence going west. You are coming in through the one entry on the east, and you come to the altar to first deal with the issue of sin. Then you go to the labor, that wash basin, if you will, that deals with cleansing. And then and only then do you enter the holy place in which you have the golden candlestick, the temple menorah, and across from it, the table of what kind of bread? Show bread. It's being shown, even in a dark tent, because this illuminated lampstand is showing. It's illuminating so that you can see the bread. Not that the Israelites offered to God so that they would appease their deity, but that bread is a symbol of God's provision for Israel and what he has done. For them.

27:02And then, of course, you have the altar of incense, and then behind the veil, the Holy of Holies. The westernmost light is a reference to the temple menorah, or golden candlesticks that illuminated the holy place. But here we read in this Talmudic tradition that for 40 years before the temple was destroyed, they would keep going out. Nor did the westernmost light shine. The priest's job was to keep that candelabra lit. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be? Like those birthday candles that can never stay lit long enough for you to get the song sung?

27:51Like, wait, wait, it kept going. No, no, and you got to re-light, relight, and for 40 years, the candle kept going out. And the doors of the temple. Yet another problem. Like, something is broken. This is what the Talmud is acknowledging. Something is wrong with the temple. I mean, the lot comes up in the left hand all the time, and the crimson-colored strap doesn't turn white, and the light keeps going out, and the doors of the temple would open by themselves. You see, the temple. Was this sacred place where God's presence is behind the veil. And when Herod beautified the temple, there were these beautiful golden doors and such, and all the doors keeping the holiness of God, sort of signifying its protected status. But the doors would just fly open. And they did this until Rabbi Yochonon ben Zakai rebuked the doors, saying, Temple, temple, why wilt thou be the alarmer thyself? I know about thee that thou wilt be destroyed, for Zechariah ben Edo has already prophesied concerning thee, Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Now, by the way, the word Lebanon is code, it seems, in the Talmud for the temple, because the temple was built with cedars from Lebanon, but also because the word Levonah is a word for frankincense, or one of the key incense that was offered on the altar of incense in the temple, and because the word Lebanon also has as its word the word Levan, which is the color white, like the simple linen ephod of the high priest, a symbol of purity and humility.

29:52All of this suggests that the rabbis knew that something is wrong with the temple. And once again, Could I get some help from some math majors here? For about how long was this going on in the first sentence? For 40 years before the destruction of the temple. If the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, we're talking about what was going on along about 30-ish AD. You see, even the New Testament talks about the crucifixion week. And at the very moment, when he said, it is finished, the veil of the temple was rent in two. It's like the door started opening by themselves, and that all of the sacrifices that were once acceptable to God are now no longer acceptable to God because the ultimate acceptable sacrifice has now been offered.

30:50You see, even today, there are rabbinic traditions associated with the Day of Atonement. For instance, the Kaparot ceremony in the most orthodox of communities, it is acknowledged that although the same rabbi who was referenced in the previous citation, Jochanon ben Zakai, pronounced after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD that God no longer requires blood sacrifices but will accept prayer and good deeds in their place. Like, wait, how? Where did you read that? You can't read that in the Torah in God's instructions. No, certain ultra-Orthodox are still aware that what was written in Leviticus is still written in Leviticus, that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. And so they have a ceremony, even without a temple, where they take a chicken and sacrifice it, and with the blood spurting out, they wave it over themselves and their family, and they say some blessing, essentially, May our sins go upon this fowl, and may we have atonement.

32:10The copperote ceremony. Others have a practice of listing off their various sins in the form of the Hebrew alphabet, where they might begin with all the sins beginning with, for instance, like our letter A and B and C and D and so forth, to list out the sins in the Alchet prayer, or to ask that God would release them from all of their vows in the Kol Nidre prayers. Further, it's common to read the book of Jonah in the synagogue on the Day of Atonement because the hope is that just as God pronounced judgment on the Ninevites through Jonah, when there was from the king, The desire to repent, there was, on the part of God, the desire to relent.

33:07The hope would be that reading the book of Jonah would be a reminder of God's willingness to forgive sins. And for many people, it is during this time of year, in the fall of the year, by the way, last Wednesday was the Day of Atonement in the Jewish community all around the world. These things were being done, and it was the culmination, really, of a 10-day period from the day of the Feast of Trumpets beginning on the first day of the seventh month, all the way to the tenth day, Yom Kippur, a day of fasting, a day of prayers, when, after hearing the trumpet blast at the Feast of Trumpet, that signified for them this warning of God's judgment, a war cry, if you will, and a witness that God is looking, He's examining. Well, then the judgments associated with the Day of Atonement ensue.

34:03And yet, for all of this tradition, the New Covenant Scriptures, in fact, the book that was especially written to Jewish believers in the New Testament era, the book called Hebrews, maybe you thought that was really about coffee. My mother told me, Tim, you're going to make the coffee tomorrow morning because it's biblical. I said, Really? She said, Yeah, look. And she opened and said, He brews. And I don't think that's what it's really about. But I made the coffee anyway. And today, we want to turn to Hebrews chapter 9 and just examine those words that our pastor read for us this morning. In Hebrews chapter 9, we really are looking at the day of atonement on display being fulfilled ultimately. Remember, we mentioned that Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us? Remember that we mentioned that he is without sin, and that's why he was able to be our unblemished, even unleavened sacrifice? That he's also the firstfruits of the resurrection, and that his Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost at the end of the counting of seven weeks. Well, also, we are looking forward to his coming one day at the sound of the trumpet blast, and we know that he is the one who provides ultimate atonement for Jews and Gentiles alike, but for many who had in their own tradition and at the commandment of the Lord Himself from the book of Leviticus had been celebrating an annual atonement that was made when the high priest would bring the blood of the goat for the Lord to be sprinkled on the mercy seat and would thank God for that atonement. The book of Hebrews reminds us that we have an even better and even more permanent atonement that is not done. Year after year, but is done once for all. Read with me from Hebrews chapter 9, verse 1. Now, even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. Again, first it was the tabernacle, but then made permanent under Solomon as a temple.

36:19For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread. This is called the holy place. And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding manna and Aaron's rod, which budded, and the tables of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.

36:50But of these things we cannot now speak in detail, although I'm really tempted to speak about a few details. Remember what Isaiah said in chapter 6 about these cherubim that he saw above the altar, above the mercy seat? How that with they had six wings and with two they covered their eyes and with two they covered their feet and with two they flew. I mean these majestic beings that even by the word cherovim, this speaks of the word as its root word, the word for a sword. It's as if they were protecting the holiness of God.

37:26But we can't speak of this in detail. Instead, Let's press on in verse 6. Now, when these things have been thus prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. But into the second, the Holy of Holies, only the high priest enters. And do you notice? Only once a year. And not without taking blood. In other words, he just doesn't go ahead and go in there and hang out. No, no, no. He goes with blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

38:10This was the form of tabernacle worship, of later temple worship, which God had ordained for the Israelites to prepare them to see the seriousness of sin and the holiness of God on physical display. And yet, through that, to teach that God's holiness can ultimately be appeased by one sacrifice. In fact, only one man, the high priest, on only one day a year, on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, could go into this only one place to make that atonement, into the Holy of Holies.

38:56It's a reminder that the high priest, once again, laid Laid aside his robe, just like the king in Jonah 3:6. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from the throne and laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on ashes. In other words, he repented. We continue to note that Jesus says in John 13, verses 3 and 4, about Jesus, it is written, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, he rose from supper and laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself about. Well, what can we learn from the feast of Israel, and specifically from the one that is a fast and not a feast, from the day of atonement? From many passages in the New Testament, but to just a few, we would allude. We're reminded that when it comes to our salvation, we do no work at all to receive our salvation. It was done for us by our ultimate high priest. In fact, Messiah Jesus humbled himself to the point of death and was afflicted for our transgressions.

40:14On this day, when many people around the world fast and pray all day in the synagogue, I mentioned earlier that one specific individual who was known to be an outspoken atheist, he showed up at the synagogue. To pray on the Day of Atonement. And they asked him, What are you doing here? And he said, Just in case. You see, there's such uncertainty, and this is such an important day. But not just a day to humble yourself and to feel that you need to fast in order to receive God's forgiveness, because our ultimate sacrifice, He humbled Himself to the point of death and was afflicted for our transgressions. In fact, our high priest offered Himself as the ultimate atoning sacrifice for sin, removing it far from us.

41:11And we can thank our Lord that He is the one who laid aside the robes of His glory to make atonement for us. When it comes to the humility that is called for on the Day of Atonement, you and I can never humble ourselves enough that maybe we communicate how sorry we are for our sins, how repentant we are. No, no, no. The issue is not your sincerity or mine. The issue is the adequacy of His sacrifice, because He is the one who was ultimately humbled before God on the Day of Atonement. Friend, will you humble yourself before Him today and know His forgiveness? Let's pray.

41:57Lord, as we come before you, As we approach your throne of grace, we recognize that you are, through the blood of the Lamb, you are inviting us into your holy of holies to experience the joy of your salvation, to know experientially what it means to have sins forgiven, to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Lord, if there is one here who has never bowed the knee before you, who has never humbled themselves before you, who might be trusting in their own righteousness, who might be thinking that perhaps if I do a little more, if I give a little more, if I serve a little more, if I, I, I, I, perhaps today would be a day in which they learn how to enter into your rest, to know that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to your mercy that you save us.

43:02Thank you, Lord, that the blood of our Lamb, the Lord Jesus, has been applied to the mercy seat of your justice so that we, the guilty, can go free. We thank you for our atonement. In Jesus' name, amen.