Four Blemishes That Are Not Accepted At The Altar

I. EXORDIUM:

Do you have blemishes?

Yes. I glory and proud of all my blemishes. 2 Corinthians 12:9

2 Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified Bible)

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To prove that GOD uses the weak and insignificant person of this world to overcome the world.

1 Corinthians 1:28 (Amplified Bible)

And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are,

IV. TEXT:

Leviticus 21:18 (Amplified Bible)

For no man who has a blemish shall approach [God’s altar to serve as priest], a man blind or lame, or he who has a disfigured face or a limb too long,

V. THESIS:

Praise, worship and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are My Grace, Strength and Power in my life, I therefore glory in my weaknesses and infirmities so that the Power and Strength of the LORD JESUS may rest on my body.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified Bible)

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

VI. TITLE:

Four blemishes that are not accepted at the altar

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Moses

B. Keywords: Access and Holiness

C. Name: derived from tribe of Levi

D. Central Person: high priest

E. Subject Matter: Digest of Divine Laws

F. Central Theme: Holy (mentioned 80 times (NIV)

G. Companion Book: Hebrews

H. Date of Writing: 1490 B.C.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

Leviticus 21:18 (King James Version)

For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

A. Blemished man can't approach GOD

"For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach:"

The LORD JESUS CHRIST looks on His Church, His Bride as spotless.

Song of Songs 5:2 (Amplified Bible)

I went to sleep, but my heart stayed awake. [I dreamed that I heard] the voice of my beloved as he knocked [at the door of my mother’s cottage]. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my spotless one [he said], for I am wet with the [heavy] night dew; my hair is covered with it.

Job 11:13-16 (Amplified Bible)

If you set your heart aright and stretch out your hands to [God],

If you put sin out of your hand and far away from you and let not evil dwell in your tents;

Then can you lift up your face to Him without stain [of sin, and unashamed]; yes, you shall be steadfast and secure; you shall not fear.

For you shall forget your misery; you shall remember it as waters that pass away.

The LORD JESUS will do marvelous things for you. But you have to do these things first: (Job 11:13-16)

1. Set your heart aright

2. Stretch your hands to GOD - reach out to GOD

3. Put sin out of your hand far away from you

4. Let not evil dwell in your tents (bodies) - use your bodies as living sacrifice

Romans 12:1 (Amplified Bible)

I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

Galatians 2:20 (Amplified Bible)

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

5. Then GOD will approach you, accept you.