In The Presence of The Lord

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

If you remember, my main goal for this series of conversations that we've, while we've been in the book of Leviticus is for you to see the beauty of Leviticus and the incredible links that god goes through to have relationship with us. When we look at the book of Leviticus or if you're doing the Bible in a year, there we get bogged down. We get burned out. It seems repetitive. It seems so so foreign and disconnected from us.

But as we spend time in the book of Leviticus, my goal is that you would see how much great stuff there is for us in the book of Leviticus even though it was written to a people thirty five hundred years ago. It was written to them but it is for us today and I'll I'll say it one more time. I want you to be able to see the beauty of the book of Leviticus and the incredible links that god goes through to have relationship with us and as they say in the Bible project, the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. That's right. Week one, just by way of quick review, week one, we saw that Leviticus is a divine blueprint for holiness, showing Israel how to create a sacred environment where god can dwell among his people.

And then we talked about this idea that and this is not on the screen, but that first yeah. This is not on the screen. But for a life giving relationship with God, something has to die. That's just the way that he set it up. In order for there to be a life giving relationship with god, something has to die and if you have not previously thought of that, or if you have a hard time with that, then go back, listen to these other messages, allow yourself to soak into this series and wrestle with it.

This is how he set up relationship. The Bible says and we know that god is holy. He is completely set set apart different from us. There's a great book by AW Tozar and the name of that book is. Knowledge of the whole.

Is that a title of the book? It's wonderful. Oh, okay. No. Oh, maybe it was you that was reading it.

Knowledge of the holy. Okay. It is so good. It's so rich and meaty Talking about just like just straight like mainline doctrine of of the nature and character of god and so, when we get into relationship with Jesus, when we begin to follow him, when we draw close to him, we realize that in order for there to be relationship with Jesus, something or someone has to die. Like entering into the Thunderdome in that movie Mad Max.

Two men enter, one man leaves. Week two, we talked about how the god of the bible is a consuming fire who will never compromise holiness for love. So god, within his own heart, there's a great dilemma. How can a god who is described as love have a relationship with a sinful man without compromising the character attribute of holiness. It is the greatest problem ever thought of, ever bumped up against in the history of humankind.

Quantum computing, easy. General AI, easy. Interstellar travel, easy. Compared to this problem, how does a holy god embrace a sinful man without compromising his nature and character? So we talked about that week two.

Week three, we talked about how the blood brings us closer to god, and I think I have this quote up there. So through this animal and the surrender of its life Okay. Okay. I'll just read it to you. So through this animal and the surrender of its life, I, through it, get to go into the presence of the lord.

And if you're like, uh-huh. Go back and listen to it. Renee spoke last week. And this week, we're going to we're going to look at two we're gonna take week one to look at one specific sacrifice, and I don't know if we'll do it next week or or the week following. You've never had so much fun spending this long in the book of Leviticus, and everybody said Amen.

There you go. So we're gonna look at one of two specific sacrifices in the book of Leviticus. And if you're taking notes, at the top of your notes, you can write the title of our conversation this morning. In the presence of the lord. That's the title of our conversation this morning.

In the presence of the lord. And I told you to open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. Let's click on chapter seven. And would somebody please read verses 11 through 17. Jay's got the mic.

And he will volunteer somebody who gets to read. Oh, did I see Zoe raise her hand? I don't know, maybe I missed it. Jay's we'll see if Jay's gonna be nice or not. Jay's gonna be nice.

Thank you, Elisha.

This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer to the Lord. If he offers it for thanks for thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Okay. I've known Elisha for a long time, so I can say this to Elisha. Don't read it like you're reading from a phone book.

I can really butter this up

if you want me to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, try again. You can read slow. This is not a hamburger from Wendy's. This is a steak from gum barrel.

This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings

I love it.

Which he shall offer to the lord.

There you go.

If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. Besides the cakes, as his offerings, he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.

It's great.

And from it, he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the lord. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for Thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers a sacrifice.

But on the next day, the reminder of it also may be eaten. The remainder of it also may be eaten. The remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.

Okay. Get it? Yeah. Here we go. I like what do you know what translation you're reading from?

New King. New King oh, hardcore. Yeah. He's not using the weight rack. He's just going like straight straight free weights.

None of this nautilus machine stuff like I use in the NLT. He shall lift a heave offering. Heave. Yeah. Heave.

How many of your translations use the word heave? I mean, you guys are hardcore. The who? English. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. No. No. That's a good one. Where does it say what verse did you read heap?

And let's 14. Verse 14. So, Kimberly, look. Oh, peace, guilt. Yes.

Okay. Okay. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Some of them call it free will offering. Free will. Yeah. 14? 14.

Verse 14. Elisha says heave. Passion translation? Okay. Oh, okay.

This. My gosh. Give me a Bible. You, out from underneath the bar. You're going back to PVC.

Oh, I love this church. Alright. So, let's take a look at that passage that we read. It's not there's not a ton there, but I would like to see what observations from the text you can make. What stands out to you.

A detail. Again, you don't need to dive into like some type of deep spiritual significance, but what details or what stands out to you as interesting about this passage? I'd love to hear from you.

Something that stands out to me is how specific it is. Day one, this. Day two, this. Day three, this. No exception.

Specificity. Very good. What

like, can you point to me where you see that day one, day two?

Oh, it was towards the end.

Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm picking

up what you're seventeen?

Yes.

Any oh, starting at seventeen. It no. It's a third hold on.

Sixteen. You gotta eat the whole thing day one.

Yeah. Day one, whole thing. Day two, specific. Day three, burn it. Like Yes.

Just specific. That's what stood out to me.

I like details. Specifics there. Yes. I love it. We're gonna come back we're gonna come back to that.

What else do you notice about the text? This is what helps you to engage with the text as you are thinking about details. Chris Bates.

Well, it it mentions yeast.

Okay.

Which in Exodus, they didn't.

Yeah. Let's let's see that. Where where where where you see that?

In Exodus?

No. No. No. In this.

Oh, I'm in the NLT. Uh-huh. 14.

1212 or 13. This is without yeast. Leavened bread.

There we go. Yeah.

Made with with yeast.

Which is done slowly

Yeah.

In contrast to them getting out to the desert where they spent all that time.

I did not see that in verse 13. This peace offering of thanksgiving must be accompanied by loaves of bread made with yeast. Yeah. Oh my gosh. We got bread with yeast.

We got bread without yeast. You gotta not get them confused. Yes. What do you see?

This is not from me. This is from my Bible has little, like, extra excerpts on the side.

Mhmm.

And it brings up the yeast, and it says, since the bread with yeast mentioned here was not burned on the altar, the prohibition in Leviticus and Exodus did not apply.

I don't know. So here's what here's what either happens, and we'd need to get really detailed. The loaves of bread that are made with the yeast, they are either, and I think it's both, heaved, which would we think of the it's easiest to think of in terms of waived, which means it's presented to the Lord. And you physically take it and go, like that. And then that part of that comes back to you.

Part of that is given to the priests for their food. Because if you burn the bread, yeast or without yeast, and then give it to the priest, he's like, I could have burned that on my own. Thanks, dude. So isn't it interesting that some of the offerings required by the Old Testament literally require you to show them, present them, wave them to the Lord. Look.

The my first fruits of the grape harvest. My best heads of grain from the fall harvest. Similarly, this is my first born male son to be redeemed on the eighth day and brought into the community of Israel through the covenant by entering into the covenant through the shedding of blood through the process of circumcision Mary and Joseph did that with little baby Jesus on day eight. They presented him to the priest, to the lord. This is partly why, partly why we do baby dedications at tribe.

In a way, in a way, we are showing off that baby to our tribe. Yes. Are dedicating him to the lord that we would pray over him and as a community of people, we would join our faith together that at the earliest age possible that they would surrender their life to the lord But in some ways, also, we're presenting that baby to the lord. This is a gift that you have given me. This is your child, and I wanna raise this child in fear, in admonition of the lord.

That's a for the lord is laid on the altar consumed. It is burned and then the smoke rises. I like that. I like that.

I would say all the sacrifices, all the rituals are a way for us to remember what God did, and that's why he has us do them. It's all because we forget we're human. We forget everything, and we forget how god works. And how many times does the bible say remember this? Do this in remembrance of me.

Do this to remember. It's because we forget. And That's what we're doing. And I think it's easy for us to go, oh, this is I believe this concept that he's trying to show. I don't need to do the ritual.

I don't need to show it physically. I just think it in my mind and believe it. But I think the rituals do have a place and have a purpose for us to visually see the concept and how it works and what God's really doing.

I love it. Right? Hand it right back.

In reading Leviticus, especially today, I've had the question

the last time you said that in church? As I've been reading through the book of Leviticus, I love it.

The question has popped up in my mind this morning. What about I you know, I don't know what the distribution of wealth was like among these people, but, like, what about the people who couldn't offer the requirements for these things, especially in the offership the offer of, like, fellowship for Thanksgiving? It's something that's beautiful and that, you know, everyone may want to do. Like, what what about those people?

Oh, man. Alright. This is fantastic, and we're gonna get deeper into this, but let me share with you a provision in the law. The law requires, for example, sin offering that a bull or a calf be slain. And then the law says, but if you can't afford a bull or a calf, then a goat or a ram.

And then the law says, but if you can't afford that that, then a turtle dove. What did Mary and Joseph bring to the temple when they were presenting Jesus? The New Testament tells us. They brought a bull. They brought a ram.

They brought two turtle doves. They brought two turtle doves playing telling the educated reader their economic status. So there's provision in the law for your economic status. And and we're gonna see something in this. You touched on it and and you're you're kinda dancing around there.

But I'll so hold on to that question. We're gonna answer it more fully. Okay. Look at verse 12. Verse 12.

Regardless of how your translation says this, this is a do I have to I might need to sneeze. Verse 12, this is a free will offering, an expression of thanksgiving. This offering is voluntary. Some offerings are mandatory either yearly, some offerings are compulsory as the result of sin. This offering is different and unique.

This is what would be known as a free will offering. Out of my own free will, as either the fulfillment of a vow or by way of saying thank you. And we could sit here all day and think of occasions to say thank you to the Lord. Lord, thank you for this job that I applied for and I got it. Wow.

Free will offering. Lord, thank you for a good report from the doctor. Wow. Free will offering, Thanksgiving offering. Thank you that I passed my freshman year of high school at the community school.

Free will offering. Okay? And with this offering, there are a variety of things that you need to bring to present your offering. Cakes, little candies and goodies, like some some cakes made with yeast, some without, and then a sacrifice of some type. We see in previous chapters the type of sacrifices that are acceptable to the lord for this kind of offering.

We don't have time to go back and chase those down but you can look at them in previous chapters of the book of Leviticus. You your wife gives birth to a son. On the eighth day, you redeem him or a daughter, whatever. You get a baby. Whoo hoo.

That is a big cause and reason to celebrate. I hear a little baby. You you bring a bull to sacrifice to the lord by telling by way of telling him, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Not a weak measly one. Not like a one with like a little critchy hoof and he's got teeth missing and he kinda scraggly, patchy hide, and all the very best from your herd. You bring it to the lord. It is sacrificed, so it is killed. The priest takes some of the blood, sprinkles it onto the altar, then you hand him the cakes, and he waves some of those.

Some of those he receives. Others without yeast are placed on the altar. Some, a very limited portion of that animal is placed on the altar. But there are two very interesting specific conditions for this sacrifice that Amanda was touching on. Look at verse 15 and tell me what is the specific interesting condition.

What do you see? It all has to be eaten. Question comes up in your mind. Yeah. Other than why.

Why why is the why will be answered. Okay. So it's fresh. A cow brought to the Lord as a free will thanksgiving offering. Verse 15, we just read it.

What is the special condition? It has to be eaten. It has to be eaten on that day. What question comes up into your mind? Who eats it?

Who eats it? There you go. Say it out loud, Ella. You can say one more time in the mic.

How am I supposed to eat all that?

How do I eat an entire cow in one day? So here's the question. How do you eat a cow in one day? Ella, say it again.

You invite a lot of people to help you eat it.

Now look at this. And if you eat it all, it's free. And you get a big belt buckle. Okay. Listen.

Listen. Listen. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse seven and eight. We're getting into the richness of the beauty of this offering in this passage. This is so beautiful.

Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse seven and eighteen. It's up on the screen. There in the presence of the lord, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in everything you have put your hand to because the lord your god has blessed you. Verse 18, you must oh, yeah. Sorry.

There's a space there. You must eat these in the presence of the lord your god at the place he will choose. Eat them with who? Friends. Your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites in your towns celebrating in the presence of the Lord your God in all you do.

Now can servants be members of the Jewish community? Can they be captive slaves from other nations? Are those captive slaves from other nations circumcised and Jews by way of the covenant? No. So the idea is invite your wife, your kids, everybody in community.

Now, how about that for distribution of wealth? You have a baby and I get to reap the rewards from a big old block party barbecue. Everybody gets to enjoy in this particular sacrifice. We gotta eat it all, you guys. Yeah.

But, I mean, I wanna nope. Don't hold back. Feast. Enjoy. Celebrate.

It sounds like such an awesome party and kinda going off like what Logan was saying, like, thinking about, like, the kind of offerings you you bring typically reflect your societal status or can show, like, where you're at. And so I can't help, but whether whether I'm throwing the parties or showing up to the parties, like, I know my flesh is just wanna be like, oh, like, they're just trying to look like, oh, I'm so blessed or whatever. Like, look at me. Like, I'm up I'm up here. Or if I'm throwing them, I I feel like I'd be self conscious of, like, what do people think about me?

I'm always, like, throwing these massive parties for the Lord. I guess I just struggle with, like, how do you get around that and and kinda live above reproach to be able to give these free roll offerings and invite everybody into that.

We're gonna read deep, deep, deep into the text using our imaginations. But within the community of the lord, would you put up, the the the bottom line, the goodness of god is intended to be shared in the context of community? The ideal scenario is whether you are having the big whole cow barbecue and you're throwing it, or you've been invited to your nephew's house who can only roast a goat. The purpose is not the quality or type of meat, but it is the celebration within the context of community itself. And if you are a good Jew, like good barbecue is good barbecue.

Right? And, if you're a good Jew, I would like to think that you can throw a big cow barbecue one week and then attend a goat barbecue the next with the same attitude of celebration. Here's the bottom line. The goodness of God is intended to be shared in the community. Whoever was talking about, like, working out in isolation, I think maybe you, Renee.

This flies in the face of that. The command is consume the entire animal in one day. And if it's a big animal, alright, fine, you can have two days. A two day party. We're talking sausage links for breakfast, get that brisket going, eat it all the next day.

And then, very reasonable. I mean, they didn't have refrigerators. So on the third day, it's no good. It must be burned. But think about this, Logan.

The command is it's all gotta be eaten. Think about the parable that Jesus tells. Go out and invite. The the king is ready for a big party. Go invite all the nobles.

The nobles had stuff to do. The the servant comes back and he goes, they all had excuses and the king's like, man, my house will be full for this banquet. Go into the highways, the byways, the the country lanes, the hedgerows, go underneath the bridge, go to the homeless shelters, bring everybody. That's what Jesus Jesus was thinking about this free will offering. It's all gotta be consumed.

I have two more verses. Psalms one zero seven. This is worth turning to. At least write the address down in in your notes. Psalms one zero seven verse one and two and then verse twenty one and twenty two.

I'm putting them all together. Psalms one zero seven, give thanks to the lord for he is good. His faithful love endures. How long? Forever.

Forever. Has the lord redeemed you? Has god done anything good in your life? Then, speak out. Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.

Let them praise the lord for his great love. This is, in fact, in your notes, you can write Psalms one zero seven verse one and two in in your bible. Has the lord redeemed you? Then speak out. Invite everybody in your world.

In your own way, Stephanie, with your own personality, has the Lord been good to you? That should be screamed from the top of your lungs in whatever way is appropriate at your architect firm so that everybody gets to see and at least hear about the goodness of the lord and then you invite them to feast on the goodness that you're celebrating. In whatever context and way that looks. And then let them praise the lord. I am so glad you had a son because this barbecue tastes great.

Verse 22, let them, this is the redeemed of the lord, offer sacrifices of Thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts Remember on Bilbo Baggins' 11 birthday or whatever it was and just before he put the ring on, he's like, and disappeared. The the part Gandalf was shooting off fireworks, and there were, like, mugs of ale being sloshed around, and everybody, everybody in the shire was celebrating. That's the idea. Then let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. Can you imagine coming to church and singing loud in worship out of obligation.

That's why the lord says what Jacob says. Your sacrifice is like blep. I want your heart. If you're doing this out of rote obligation, but that's why I will always go to a church and be a part of a church with a community of people that understand, have experienced the goodness of the Lord in their life. And then when we come together in community, we share.

We actually get to feast. Don't imagine like like you're bringing, you're bringing a goat to to church on Sunday. That sounds funny. Imagine you're bringing a goat that was just sacrificed like, look how the lord has been good to me and you're you're sharing it with people with your voice and you're bringing a ram and you're bringing a bull. There's all this meat and all of this singing within the context of community and imagine one person poor among us who has had a bad week, whereas not been able to see or has had difficulty seeing the goodness of the Lord in their life that week.

They still get to come and feast. Okay. Revelation three twenty. Jesus says this, look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends.

Jesus, the esteemed guest of honor. You have been so good to me this week. I'm bringing a sacrifice, thanksgiving to you. Imagine Jesus taking pleasure and enjoyment in getting to eat with you and celebrating the goodness that he's the source of. He loves it.

Remember when your kids were little and they were like, mom, I wanna bake with you, and you're doing like 99% of the work? And then, like like, they put it in the oven, it comes out, they pull a cookie off the sheet and give it to you. What do you do with that cookie? And how do you emote?

She didn't say you did such a

good Yeah. Wow. This is the best cookie I've ever had. That's how good of a dad he is. Come on.

I will share and and we will share a meal together. Last verse, Philippians two seventeen. Paul is speaking, but I will rejoice even if I lose my life, Pouring it out like a liquid offering to god. Just like your faithful service is an offering to god and I want all of you to share that joy. Here is the idea.

He two men enter. He lays down his life for you to redeem you. You've been set free. You get to live. Out of thanksgiving and thankfulness, what is the only reasonable thing for you to do for him?

Lay down your life for him. That's why Paul says, Jesus poured out his blood for me on the cross to redeem me from the penalty of sin which is eternal forever separation from god. I so get that in the deepness down into the marrow of my bones. The only only reasonable response is for me to take my entire life pour it out as a Thanksgiving, a drink offering to the lord. He lays down his life for you.

You lay down your life for him. This is the goodness of God. Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God. Oh, he's so faithful. He's so faithful, friends.

And when we come together in the context of this community, this gathering I mean, I think that's why, like, potlucks have been so enduring at church. You know? You're bringing your buffalo chicken dip. You're bringing beanie weenies in a crock pot. You're bringing potato salad.

I Oh, still got another service to go before I can eat lunch. Lord, you are so good. You are so good. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

That's that's the right and reasonable response. Let's take a moment. And in this this particular moment, let's express our love and gratitude towards him in just the stillness of our heart. Sometimes we're vocal. In this moment, in the stillness of our heart, let's present to him and Please take these two little turtledoves of my little life and receive it.

Got no money. I've got no fame. I've got no pedigree. I got no fancy degree. I got no influence, but I give you just the two little turtle doves of my life.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't deserve your goodness. I'm so so thankful for you.

Just wanna clean wide the door of my heart and invite you to come in. We can

don't

nibble together on your these little chicken wings. You Amen. The redeemed of the world cease. Lord, we tell you thank you, and we worship you by singing songs together and worship that Connor led us in. Lord, worship you by honoring the word that is preached and discussed today.

Lord, we want, we joyfully look forward to another way of express expressing our worship and thankfulness to you. By surrendering a portion of our finances. It's all yours anyway. And so Lord, by way of telling you that we love you and we trust you. We bring our tithes and offerings as a sacrifice to you.

We lay them on your altar, Lord, and we step away. And we tell you thank you. God, I ask that you would receive the offering of people's tithes and worship. That it would be a pleasing aroma in your nostrils. And that you would use the finances from today's tithe and or offering to make your name famous here at Tribe, in Jackson Hall, the surrounding region, including Foundation for Nations, and to the ir to We're And do family.

We're Whether it is a big old yoked up bull or a little turtle dove. The fact that you would bring an offering of your finances is the most important. And some of you come to the altar every week and you're like, and you just turn around and walk away. There's nothing to lay on that altar. They sung on the altar.

Abandon the mentality of, well, once I'm in once fill in the blank happens, then I'll be in a position to give. Abandon that. The provision in the law allows for a turtle dove. Everybody has a turtle dove to be able to give. How do you give that turtle dove?

Well, you jam him in the little box right there. Or you can jam him in that box right outside of the TMC. You can electronically jam him in your phone by sending a text to 84321. You can also go on our website, tribejh.com to give. The lord bless your financial giving today.

Okay? Announcements are come back next week because I've already gone over time. There will be prayer in the VIP room today if you need it back there. If you don't need prayer, you can like scoot this way. Lanisha will be in the prayer room.

If there's anything that you need prayer for. Lanisha and her team would love to agree with you in prayer. You can also take advantage of that prayer card right there on your seat. You can fill it out and it can be a wave like Thanksgiving offering or a need that you may have and wave it right into that little box there. It is truly a delight for our staff team to take these prayer cards seriously on Monday.

We pray for them and lift them up. Would that be alright if I prayed for you this week? Stand up. We would so be on time if you didn't make me preach two messages today. I forgive you.

Lord Jesus, I command a blessing over each and every person somebody next to you and put a hand on their shoulder like we're all family. There we go. Lord, we just enter into the to physical right now. And I just ask that you would bless the person to our left, bless the person to our right, lord. I command a blessing, your blessing over their life.

Give us a great week and keep it and Lord, just keep dangling spring over our heads because we know that it's coming. We love you too, Jesus. We pray these things in Jesus name, the strong son of god and everybody said, amen. I love you so very much. Have a great week and remember, you got this.