Sin Offering

Worship in the Sacrifices

April 22, 2001

Show Allen and Borror book Worship the Missing Jewel

Their book provoked a great deal of interest in the subject of worship. In fact we have had virtual worship wars in the decades since. Unfortunately most have the changes have been man centred rather than God centred and therefore worship is still the missing jewel.

Where can we go to find out about acceptable worship? We could go to any of hundreds of seminars - but they would only end up telling us what kind of worship service our culture wants.

I want to know what worship our God wants!

I thought we would go back to the OT to the place where God first lays out how he desires to be approached. Now don’t panic, we’re not going to spend endless months on the sacrifices. But I want to look at what I believe is a theology of approach or worship. How does a sinner come near to a holy God?

Sin offering/ guilt offering

burnt offering/ grain offering

peace offering

Day of Atonement

Ordination of Priests

Major festivals

All begin with a sin offering

The offerings

Leviticus 5:5

Leviticus 6:1-5

What is the point of the Old Testament offerings.

Whenever, an OT saint attempted to come into the presence of a Holy God, he began with a offering to make atonement. Before adoration, before praise, before rejoicing was confession and atonement.

The New Testament equivalent

Hebrews 10:1-4; 11-14

We too are only able to approach a Holy God through the mediation of a sacrifice. In our case it is not a bull or a lamb, it is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:19-20

The application to Worship

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1. In our present form of worship how do we implement confession?

Communion

2. Do we barge into the presence of a holy God?

We need to remember that our access was bought at a terrible price.

We need to prepare our hearts before we ever enter corporate worship.

3. Do we consider worship only to have occurred when we have been uplifted spiritually?

Can true worship have occurred when I come out feeling conviction of sin, remorse for my transgressions, sorrow for my failings? Yes.

In fact of all the aspects of worship which may be the missing Jewel, genuine confession and repentance may well be the greatest lost jewel. We have equated true worship only with a feel good program that leaves everyone with warm fuzzies when its over.

Well sometimes those who have truly encountered the Divine are those like Isaiah who say "Woe is Me. I am undone."