LEVITICUS 14 SET FREE FROM SIN2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Leviticus 14 Set Free From Sin

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018. Well, this morning as we look at Leviticus chapter 14, continuing our journey through the Bible in three years, and as Jonathan mentioned earlier,

These chapters can be a little bit challenging for us and wondering why are we reading these things and lots of things about clean and unclean this week in the book of Leviticus and different aspects of the ceremonial life that God had called the nation of Israel to.

And lots of things that the Lord can speak through the midst of those things. But as I was preparing to share with you this morning, the Lord really had this subject on my heart throughout the week. And as we looked at chapter 13 and then also chapter 14 in the reading this week,

dealing with this subject of leprosy. Now, I've titled the message this morning, Set Free from Sin. But I'd like to take a moment and just allow you to appreciate that in talking about leprosy, I chose a nice picture for the background, right?

I don't know if you've ever looked at leprosy and what that might look like. It causes some pretty ugly sores, some open wounds, some oozing pus. I could have put that on the screen and just want to give you a chance to say thank you for not making you look at that. Set free from sin is what we want to talk about in looking at leprosy because we

Well, there's some practical things about leprosy for sure that are included here in Leviticus. And we need to understand that God was establishing a spiritual thing, but he was also establishing a community. He was establishing sanity, you know, and cleanliness. He was accomplishing a lot in the giving of the law. It was, you know, partly for their relationship with God, but it was also partly for their protection and just, you know,

living together as a people, because he was setting up a government. He was setting up a community. He was setting up a people. And some of these laws are practical, but all of them also have spiritual significance. And this morning, as we talk about leprosy, I'll be focusing primarily on the spiritual side of things, because, well, there is some parallels with the idea of leprosy and the idea of sin.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. He says,

There is a vivid picture of sin in this issue of leprosy. Now, in the Bible, as we talk about leprosy, the Bible uses leprosy, the word leprosy, in more of a general term, more than a specific term. So there is the specific disease called leprosy, but more general.

typically called Hansen's disease today, that still exists and still goes on and still is an issue throughout the world. But the Bible, when it talks about leprosy, isn't necessarily only limited to that particular disease, that particular condition. As you look at chapter 13, you see that God's also dealing with things that we would probably call mold or mildew, as he talks about, you know, leprosy in the garments or in the house,

And so we need to understand leprosy is not so much that specific disease, but that it's an infectious disease. It's something that grabs a hold and then spreads and brings corruption and decay to

you know, to the whole entity that it has infected. And so whether that be a garment or whether that be a home or whether that be a person with, you know, some type of infection, that is the idea there. And so there is this idea of this disease that grabs a hold and begins to spread and corrupts the whole thing entirely, right?

that is really what is vividly pictured for us in leprosy and paints the picture for us of the issue of sin, the devastation of sin, and the need to be delivered from sin. Because if not, well, we are in a terrible condition. The prophet Isaiah describes this a little bit in Isaiah chapter one, as he is inspired by the Lord to address the nation. He says, "'Alas, sinful nation.'"

He says you're a people laden, just overwhelmed with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corruptors.

And as he begins to address this nation that is wicked, that has just been away from the Lord for so long and allowed sin to take such a hold in their lives, he goes on in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 6, to describe that this way. He says,

They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment.

He graphically describes the health condition of the nation of Israel. Now he's talking about their spiritual condition, but he uses these terms of open source, from head to toe. There's no health, no soundness, that there is this corruption, this disease, these wounds that are continuing to progressively get worse and worse and worse. And that picture's for us.

The reality of sin stands in contradiction, not in contradiction, but in contrast to the deliverance from sin and the freedom from sin that we have in Jesus Christ and that is pictured for us here in Leviticus chapter 14.

And so there's a lot of things that I'm not going to talk about regarding leprosy today. There's a lot of things that we're not going to get into and plenty there for you to explore on your own if you want to dig in a little bit. But I would ask you to think about leprosy in regard to a few things this morning. First of all, I would ask you to think about leprosy in regard to our salvation.

What we're gonna look at here in this chapter, boy, it pictures really vividly what Christ has done for us in setting us free from sin and death. And our salvation is pictured in this cleansing ritual for the leper. Secondly, I would ask you to consider the sin that we struggle with currently, that even though we are delivered from sin in that we've believed in Jesus Christ, there are issues that we face and there are things that threaten us

to come in, take control of us, and destroy our lives just like leprosy can. And how to approach that is important to consider as we look at these things. And then thirdly, I would ask you to consider other people around us, that there are people in your lives who are, you know, this description of the infection, this description, it's a vivid picture of how sin has taken hold in their lives.

And we need the reminder that God is desiring to work and wanting to work and able to work even in the situations that we might deem as absolutely hopeless, that there are opportunities for us. We have been set free from sin. We can be set free from sin and the people around us

God desires to set them free from sin. And so we're going to walk through some of these verses here in Leviticus chapter 14 and consider a few different things in regard to leprosy and the picture of sin and what God wants to say to us about that. And first of all, we're going to look at verses one through four. And here's point number one, God miraculously sets you free.

As we talk about the issue of leprosy, as we talk about that in relation to what sin is and how God works in our lives, we need to understand right off the bat that deliverance and what God wants to do in our lives is absolutely and without question miraculous. In verse one and two, it says, "'Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "'This shall be the law of the leper "'for the day of his cleansing. "'He shall be brought to the priest.'"

Chapter 13 describes how to deal with someone who's come, you know, it's come out that he is infected with leprosy. How to deal with someone who has contracted leprosy. That's what I was trying to say. And the isolation, the separation, and the steps that need to be taken. And then chapter 14 now is going to say, okay, now when that person with leprosy has been healed, and you might wonder where's, you know, chapter 13 and a half where it describes how

how someone is healed from leprosy in order to head into chapter 14 and say, okay, now here's what you do now that they've been healed. But how does that healing take place? Well, it's been well noted throughout the years that there was no way. They didn't have a method for addressing this disease, these infections in their day. Now,

We live in a modern era and we have some antibiotics to deal with infections and the spreading and that definitely helps. In fact, even the literal disease called Hansen's disease, we know it also as leprosy,

There are a combination of antibiotics that can address that disease and bring a healing from it. But for them, there was no method. There was no like, okay, here's what you need to do. Here's, you know, take this plant and, you know, rub it on the wound. And, you know, there was no instruction for here's how to heal that. There was no, here's how to set the bone. You know, some types of things, there could be that instruction and there was that expectation.

Yeah, you broke your bone, but you will be healed and you will go on with life. But when someone contracted leprosy, it was essentially a death sentence. There was no cure. Time didn't cure it. It didn't, you know, you cut your arm over time. That heals for them with this kind of disease. It was a disease. If you got it, you were going to die. There was no way around it. There was no hope for that. There was no...

remedies that they could apply. Couldn't spray Windex on it. You know, you could, whatever, whatever your home remedy of choice is, you know, there was nothing to do except for wait out the process. And yet here God speaks of on the day of his cleansing, when he's been healed, how has he been healed? Well, God doesn't say that. He doesn't provide a solution so that every leper is healed. But what God does in this is he reserves the right to

to work miraculously. And you need to know that God always reserves the right to work miraculously, to do the unthinkable, to do the impossible. And in your planning and in your estimation of situations in your own life and in other people's lives, you need to always factor that in and leave room for the reality that God can work miraculously.

For them, there was a hopeless situation. If you came down with leprosy, it was hopeless. There was nothing that could be done. And sometimes in our lives, that's how we conclude, you know, the evaluation of something that we face. We can come to this same, you know, it's just hopeless. There's nothing that can be done. Sometimes when we are dealing with friends or family, people around us that are caught up in things

very serious and difficult situations, incredibly complex issues that they face, and we can easily come to that same kind of attitude. Here is a hopeless situation. There's just nothing that can be done. You might look at your marriage and just think, it is just hopeless. There is no way to recover from the years of damage that we have inflicted upon each other. It's just hopeless.

hopeless. Or you might look at a person addicted to drugs and say, there is just no way. They've been living that way for 30 years. It's just impossible. It's hopeless. Or you might say that about some sinful habits or this or that. But don't forget, God reserves the right to work miraculously.

And there is no situation that is beyond his capacity to be able to bring a deliverance and a healing and a restoration that we can't even imagine. I think of the demoniac that Jesus met on the Sea of Galilee. Remember, he crossed over the Sea of Galilee to the Gadarenes, and there was that demoniac, that guy. He was infected, right? But not with leprosy. He was infected with demons, a legion of demons.

You might remember the account for it's when Jesus cast the demons out and they went into the pigs and then ran off the cliff. That guy, that demoniac was, well, that was a hopeless situation if there ever was one. It describes the things that they had tried to do. The community around this guy had tried to heal him. They tried to bind him. They tried to chain him. They tried to fix him. They tried to correct him. They tried to help him. And nothing anybody could do

was helping. He broke the chains. He was just tormented in this condition. And we can look at that situation and say it was hopeless. But now enter Jesus. And no longer is the situation hopeless because, well, God can work miraculously. And this is really important for us to remember as we consider these things this morning because, well, I want to encourage you to ask God to work miraculously.

It's not just that God can work miraculously. It's not just that, you know, God can hypothetically work in hopeless situations, but that there is an opportunity, a need, you might say, for us to invite God to work in those hopeless situations. In Luke chapter 5, we have a recording of one of the encounters that Jesus had with lepers, right?

And this particular leper in Luke chapter 5, it tells us in verse 12 of Luke 5, it happened when he was in a certain city that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus and he fell on his face and implored him saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Here was this leper in this hopeless situation, but he heard about Jesus and

He heard about maybe other miracles that Jesus had done. I don't know. He heard about the teachings of Jesus. Somehow this guy believes that Jesus has the power to do something that nobody else can do. There was no doctor he could go to. There was no, you know, nothing he could do. It was hopeless, but he knows that Jesus can help him.

And he goes to Jesus. He approaches Jesus. He goes out of his way. And it's kind of, you know, breaking some of the rules of the day that, you know, they weren't supposed to get this close to people and so on and so forth. But he draws near to Jesus and says, Lord, if you are willing, you're able to. You have the capacity. You can work miraculously. If that's your will, you can make me clean. And it tells us that Jesus says, I am willing.

He touches him and he says, be cleansed. And he's healed from this disease that has no cure. He wasn't coming to Jesus for medication, although medication isn't wrong, but Jesus didn't have the snake oil that he needed to get better. That's not why he was coming to Jesus. He was coming to Jesus because he believed you have the power of God to bring a complete healing. And if that's God's will, if that's what God wants, you can do it. Lord, would you heal me? And Jesus says, yes, I'm willing.

That is what God wants for you. I will heal you. And he was cleansed at that time. God is able to work miraculously. But what's interesting about this account here in Luke chapter five with this leper is that he approached Jesus and asked to be healed. He asked to be cleansed. You know, James tells us that sometimes we ask or we have not because we ask not.

There are things sometimes that God wants to do in our lives. There are hopeless situations that God's willing to resolve if we would ask. I mean, the implication, and maybe that's too light of a word here in Luke chapter 5 verse 12, if this leper would not have asked, he would not have been healed. Not that Jesus couldn't, and not that Jesus never had times where he just, you know, was led by the Spirit, led by the Father, and said, you know, go heal that person.

That could have happened, but the way that this is laid out, that's not how God had it planned. That's not what God wanted to do. This leper was only going to be healed if he would ask. So this morning, I want to encourage you to ask as we consider this idea of leprosy and sin and how devastating sin can be, but also how it can bring that sense of hopelessness.

How it can bring that sense of there's just no getting around this. There's just no way to fix this.

I would encourage you this morning to not give up and not remain in that hopeless condition, but to look to the Lord and ask God to work miraculously. In verse three, it says, the priest shall go out of the camp and the priest shall examine him. And indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed, two living and clean birds, cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop.

So now here we have, okay, here's the possibility someone is healed. We don't know how, but apparently God can work miracles. So if that's the case, let the leper announce, ask the priest to come. Hey, can you come check me out? Because I've been healed of my leprosy. And the priest is now to go out and notice what it says in verse three, and the priest shall examine him.

this is really important stuff to consider. This is really important stuff for us to grasp hold of. As we read through Leviticus, I know some of it can be challenging, but listen, God is revealing his character and his nature in these things, in his giving of these laws and setting up the society of the nation of Israel. We learn a lot about who God is. And something important that we learn about God here is that when God works miraculously, he is not afraid for that to be examined, right?

that there is a real verifiable result that comes from the miraculous working of God. Sometimes we as Christians, we kind of get too weird in our heads about things. We kind of get superstitious about things. We kind of get off kilter in regard to the realities of faith. Now, of course,

I'm sure you're familiar with. There are those who say, look, if there's no sin in your life and you have faith, then you're always going to be healed. And if there's issues in your life and sickness in your life, then it's a lack of faith or it's an issue of sin. And that is not at all biblical. And we might deny that. And yet at the same time, there are those who would approach a situation like this. Okay, so there's someone. We'll call him Joe. And Joe is sick. He's asked the church for prayer. We've been praying with Joe. He's got this terminal illness.

been a real struggle for him. He shows up to church one day and says, hey, guess what? The Lord healed me. Whoa, praise the Lord. And we rejoice and we celebrate, right? Wow, what did your doctor say? Oh, I'm not going back to the doctor. Well, why not? Well, that would be a lack of faith and I don't want God to give me the disease again because I don't have that much faith, you know. So I know he healed me. I don't need the doctor to tell me he healed me. I know God healed me. And there is this kind of superstitious idea, kind of not consistent with God's nature and character idea that

If you go back to the doctor, if you get the test done, if you have it checked out, that means you don't have faith and then God's going to give you the disease back because although he healed you, you know, you didn't believe and so you got it back now. Listen, when God heals someone of leprosy, he says, call the priest and get examined.

It reveals that when God works, it's a real work. It's not a hypothetical work. It's not just in your imagination. It's not, well, only if you continue to maintain this level of faith, then you'll continue to be healed. That is not. God says, no, hey, I'm going to do a physical healing.

get examined. Have it checked out. Let the doctors be shown that God works these kinds of miracles. But you don't have to live under this idea, this supposition that, well, it's up to you to maintain that kind of faith or otherwise you're not going to keep your healing. That is not at all the way that God works. But listen, it's not just about physical things. Listen, when God works miraculously bringing deliverance in someone's life, when God delivers you from sin and

Well, it's also the kind of miracle that can be verified. What the Lord is saying here is that there's going to be evidence in your life. It's going to be demonstrated. There's going to be a change that your friends and family who've known you are going to look and say, whoa, you've been behaving differently. There's some changes going on here. There's some things that have taken place.

It is not consistent with scripture for someone to say, I've become a Christian. I've believed in Jesus Christ. And then their life to look identical to the life that they had before they made that profession of faith. That's not consistent with what the Bible teaches. And what the Bible teaches is when God delivers us, when God does a redeeming work, a transforming work in us, there is a real, examinable, verifiable transformation that takes place.

It can be checked out. It can be seen. It's evidence. It's validated. God miraculously sets you free for real. There's real change. There's real miracles. There's real transformation that takes place. This is true in our salvation. It's also true in things that we face on an ongoing basis. Listen, God wants to do a work. He doesn't always heal us of every physical thing, but sometimes he does, and he's not afraid for that to be tested and examined.

He does want to work miraculously in the issues and struggles that we have in morality and walking with God and the things that we face of a sin nature. And when God works miraculously in those ways, there's real change that happens in our lives.

As we consider the people around us, as we consider the lives of our friends and family that, you know, we see them caught up and wrapped up and they're just entangled. It's got a grip on them. And God wants to work and can work miraculously in their life. And when he does, it's not going to just be, you know, just trust me. I know everything looks exactly the same and I live exactly the same and I do the same things and I talk the same way. But, you know, inside, you know, there's a real change. It doesn't work that way, but

That change, it starts within, and then it begins to shine outward. It is a transformation that takes place as God works miraculously in our lives. And so as we talk about this idea of leprosy and being set free from sin, first of all, I would encourage you to ask God for miracles. And don't be afraid to let those be tested. Let that be examined. God really does, for real, in actuality, actual supernatural things happen.

physically, emotionally, spiritually, in the lives of his people. Well, moving on to verses 5 through 11, we're going to see point number 2 as we talk about this idea of leprosy and being set free from sin. Here we see that Jesus declares that you are free. Here we have a declaration of cleansing that takes place.

It's a declaration of cleansing for the leper. Sticking in verse four for just a second, it says, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop. Then verse five, and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it

the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy. And notice, and shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. Here God sets in order the ceremony that is to take place when the leper has been cleansed. When he has worked miraculously,

when he's done what man or medicine could not do, when he's done the miracle, then here's the process. Now again, this wasn't the cure. This wasn't how to cure leprosy. This was, now that you've been cured, here's the procedure to follow. Now, you can understand, this was an important thing for them as a society.

Because when someone has this infectious disease that could really do great damage to other people, there was the need for the isolation or the quarantine. And you wouldn't want to just like, okay, leper, you feel better? Okay, good. Well, come on back in and just take someone's word at it, right? You had an infectious disease that could kill us all and you feel better? Okay, good. Well, come on back in, you know, no problem. And, and, and,

That's not the way that you want to treat that, right? There does need to be some protocol. There does need to be some protection. And so God builds it into the responsibility of the priest. And he gives a procedure. Now, again, it's not...

to fix the disease, but it is a ceremony to go through as a part of bringing this person who was quarantined and saying, you are now welcome back into society. You are welcome back into, you know, the family of God and the normal life that we have as Israelites. And so God included some specific elements in this ceremony. Two birds, a plank of cedar wood,

a thread or a fabric of scarlet, and hyssop, a branch of hyssop. Now, these things are to be combined in a certain way and used in a certain way. And boy, we could spend a lot of time here. We're not going to. I would encourage you to check these things out and spend some time considering these things. But there is some great illustrations of Jesus Christ in this whole process.

Think about it in verse 5. The priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. So part of the process, part of the ceremony, after the priest examines the leper, then, all right, give me two birds. One of the birds, he has to have running water, and he kills the bird in the earthen vessel in a clay pot. And then the second bird in verse 6, he takes that,

and the plank of cedar wood, and the scarlet fabric, and the hyssop, and then dips that in the blood. And in verse 7, it says that he sprinkles it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprosy. Now, just try to picture that in your head. How many hands does a priest have? It's a trick question, right? Two, just like the rest of us, right? So first he kills one bird. Then he has to take, in verse 6...

The other live bird, I don't know if you've ever held a live bird, but you kind of have to manage it a bit because they want to take off. So it's some deliberate gripping that has to be done and strategic, holding the wings a certain way. You have to be able to manage that. So here's this live bird he's got to hold on to. Don't let go. At least not yet. It's too soon. Now you have to hold this bird. Now take a plank of cedar.

Now, we don't know how big this plank of cedar had to be, but just picture, you know, like a six by eight or something size piece of cedar. Now, so you got a piece of wood, you got a bird. Now take the scarlet fabric. Okay, I'll just put the scarlet fabric over the board. And now, okay, I've got the wood, I've got the fabric, I've got the bird. And then take the branch of hyssop.

Okay, now put the branch on there and like trying to balance and the branch fell off. I got to pick up the branch. Hang on one second. Oh, let go of the bird. Got to catch the bird, you know. So picture all this, right? So he's just trying to manage all this. Now, if...

The priest thinks anything like I think. Well, how about we use the thread, the fabric to tie the bird to the board, you know, but let it all be kind of just like, I don't know if he did that or not. But somehow, whether it was with that or with his hands, he's holding all of these pieces together. God's very clear here. All of these things have to be held together. So here's the wood, here's the bird, here's the thread, here's the hyssop dipped in the blood and then sprinkled

on the guy who is to be cleansed. If you want to take the time to think about it, this is an incredible picture of Jesus.

It really is. I mean, it paints an amazing picture. Here, Dave Guzik gives us a little glimpse. He says, this seems to be a picture of Jesus's death and its spiritual application. Here, a heavenly being, as a bird is of the heavens, dies in an earthen vessel as Jesus, being God, became man. He put on humanity, this earthen vessel, and while remaining clean, he lived a sinless life. The running water pictures this in this ceremony here.

He died upon the cross for us and he became that sacrifice. But then you have the second bird that lives and is set free and it pictures the resurrection of Jesus as the bird was attached to the plank, attached to the wood with the scarlet, with the hyssop, which was used for cleansing in a variety of ways throughout the scriptures. And so it's just this incredible package of showing that work of Jesus there upon the cross, right?

The death, the resurrection, and the cleansing nature of Jesus's death for our sin. It's going to be kind of further highlighted in the reading that we'll get to see tomorrow in Leviticus chapter 16. Where there in chapter 16 of Leviticus, it's going to outline the day of atonement. And it was a special day where Israel's sins would be taken away.

And it's that idea of, you know, as far as the East is from the West, that God carries away their sins from them. And the ceremony involved in that involves two animals as well, but not birds this time, it's goats. And one of them is sacrificed, and then the other one is called the scapegoat. That wasn't just something that you were for your older sibling. That was something that God established in the Bible that

The idea, the picture there is that carries your sin and is cast away and it's removed and God does not hold you accountable for your sin because of the scapegoat. And it pictures that in the same way. Here we have this one bird that is, well, it's the one that is put to death, but then you have the other bird that is released and set free and it pictures that freedom, that deliverance that is accomplished for us by Jesus. Yes.

And the result here, as they go through this ceremony in verse 7, is that the priest shall now pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. Picture that just taking place in real life, right? So the priest is doing this. He sprinkles the blood and he says, you are clean. And he lets the bird go. And the leper gets to watch this bird flap its wings and begin to fly and experience the freedom of

of the world around him once again. And the leper is watching, this is what's happening to me. I'm being set free. I'm being accepted back into society. It was a vivid picture of what was taking place in his life. It's a vivid picture of what God does for us spiritually in regards to sin. That we are delivered, we're set free, and those things that bound us and those weights that we carried. And what happens as we believe in Jesus is

He pronounces us clean. We also use this word justified, right? We're declared righteous. This is what happens when we believe in Jesus. You are pronounced clean. Jesus declares you are cleansed. Your sins are removed so that you are able to relate to God and approach God as if you had never sinned, not even once.

But then the work of Christ is further illustrated in verses 8 and 9. Check it out. It says, He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside his tent seven days. But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair of his head and his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair he shall shave off,

He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean. So along with this ceremony with the two birds was another part of the ceremony, another part of the process, which involved shaving and washing. Now, from a practical sense, you would understand, listen, someone has an infectious disease, before they're allowed back into the community, they're

Let's remove all possibility of you bringing that back in with you. So shaving everything. We don't want any contagious elements on your hair or on your body. And so shave your head, shave your beard, shave your eyebrows. Here's a Sharpie so you can draw them back in. Take off all your clothes, get rid of your clothes, and then wash. And there's a complete washing so that nothing is brought back in.

And then there's some time that passes and then there's another washing and another shaving. But it's a double measure. Make sure you enter back in completely clean, completely fresh with nothing from that leprous life. It pictures for us what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5-17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away. They've been shaved off, burned, removed, washed. Behold, all things have become new. There is the putting away of all of the old, of all of the sinful effects in Christ. There is the washing and the renewing that is provided in Christ. It's also what's pictured for us in baptism.

It's that washing away of the sin, that washing away of the old, and then that newness of life as you come back up to go forward. And everything is new in Christ. You have a new start, a fresh start, a new life because of what Christ has done for you. You have been declared free, declared cleansed, declared righteous. Verse 10 says,

And on the eighth day, he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three tenths of an ephah of flour mixed with oil as a grain offering and one log of oil. Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean and those things before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Here you see the work of Christ further pictured. You've done the bird thing. You've done the washing thing. Now the priest brings the leper and

and presents him before the Lord. This is what God does in our lives. Jesus, he takes us, he cleanses us, he washes us, he presents us before the Father. Here is your clean, shaven, perfect child. It's a new birth. That's why you're hairless, like a newborn, you know, you just, there you are, brand new, starting over. Because of the work of Christ in your life, you're brought back into fellowship with God. Again, it's a new birth.

This is a vivid picture of our salvation. It's a vivid picture of what Christ has done for us. But I would also encourage you and allow you to consider that not only do we have that issue of sin before Christ, but we also have things that we deal with and struggle with and battle with as believers in Christ. And this is the continuing work of

of God in our lives. As we turn to Jesus Christ, as we ask him to work miraculously in us, as we invite him and ask him to forgive us of our sins, there is this washing and cleansing and this presenting of us before the Father. And Jesus says, you're free, you're cleansed, you have right relationship with God and access to God. And again, I would encourage you to think about people around you that God may want to use you to minister to. And that is that

there is that potential, that possibility, that opportunity for them to be declared free, cleansed, pure, righteous. And as the priest was used by the Lord to bring this guy back into fellowship with God, and that is the role of Jesus on the cross spiritually, but physically, personally, you might have that role in someone's life. You might have that opportunity to

to be part of bringing someone before the Lord and allowing the Lord to do the cleansing, allowing the Lord to do the work and the declaration of freedom that he wants to do. We're set free from sin. This cleansing from leprosy powerfully demonstrates that

God's miraculous work, his desire to set people free, his declaration of freedom that he gives to those who have been delivered, who have experienced his miraculous work in their lives. And then finally, verses 12 through 20, we get point number three, and that is devotion to God keeps you free.

As I mentioned, we are delivered from sin in salvation, and yet we still have the ongoing struggle, the flesh and the spirit. They battle, they war, and there are people who have believed in Jesus Christ and then have become overtaken once again by sin, and it's devastated their lives, even though they were cleansed, even though they experienced the miraculous work. Later on, they experienced the devastation of that sin or some other sin once again, and

And as we look at these verses, I want to encourage you to think about and consider, how do I stay in this position? How do I stay in this condition of being cleansed before the Father and in this freedom that is brought by the work of Jesus Christ? Well, verse 12 through 14, we'll start there. It says this, and the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering and the log of oil and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering in a holy place. For as the sin offering is the priest, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. Verse 14. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. So the ceremony continues now with these sacrifices.

the sin offering that is to be brought. And there is to be this animal sacrifice. But what's interesting about the sacrifice is what the priest is to do with the blood from the sacrifice. And verse 14 tells us, as this sacrifice is going on, that the priest is to take some of the blood and put it on the earlobe of the leper who is being cleansed. And then he's to take some more blood and to put it on his thumb. And then he's to take some more blood and put it on his big toe. And

You didn't think I could reach my toes, huh? The blood is to be applied. You can think about it this way, from head to toe. I did almost fall over, so you're mostly right. What's interesting about this is what we read in Leviticus chapter 8. This was the same procedure that was to be done to a priest who was beginning his priestly service.

So Aaron and his sons, as they began to, they just started the priestly ministry, God said, here's how to do it. Do a sacrifice, take some of the blood, apply it to their ear, to their thumb, and to their toe. And then later on, they would pass on that ministry to their children, their sons. And as they would start that priestly ministry, that same procedure would be followed. That was the way to begin them in their service to the Lord. And you get this picture here.

as this leper has been cleansed from this impossible disease, this hopeless situation, God says, now I've saved your life and I'm calling you to serve me. To use the life that you have now that I gave to you, that you would use that in the service of the things of the Lord. It's not that they became priests, but that your life would be devoted to God and dedicated to God.

As the blood is applied from head to toe, there's a completeness that all of your life, from head to toe, everything you see, everything you hear, all that's happening here, everywhere you go, everything you do, like every aspect of you, every part of you, the blood is applied saying you're set apart for the Lord. You are to be devoted to the things of God.

Well, it wasn't just the blood that was applied. Verse 15 goes on to say, and the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.

And the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some of the, on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand, he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. So we have the blood applied, head to toe, complete,

But then we also have the oil applied in the same fashion and even to a greater degree in that the oil is put on the ear, put on the thumb, put on the toe, and then the rest of the oil is poured over the head. And it gives us a very vivid picture of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. And when it comes to talking about how to stay in that freedom that God has established for you, here we see that

This idea of devotion, that with the blood being applied, you are to be dedicated to and set apart for, that you are to be focused on the things of the Lord from head to toe. And there's a completeness there that not just some aspects of your life should be dedicated to the Lord.

Not just some aspects of your time, not just some aspects of your family life, not just some aspects of your finances, not just some parts, but from head to toe, there's a completeness. You are to be set apart for, you are consecrated for the Lord. You think about what Paul said in Romans chapter 12. He says, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, that you may be

which is your reasonable service. Paul says the only reasonable thing, considering what God has done for you, is for you to say, here I am, Lord. I am completely yours, dedicated to you, devoted to you. I'm not going to live my life for me. I'm not going to live my life to do what I want to do. I'm going to live my life for you. Paul says that's the only reasonable response that

When you understand what it is that God has done for you. And here's the leper who's been cleansed miraculously. And God says, look, the only reasonable response for you is to be devoted, to be set apart, to be dedicated, just like the priest, to serving the Lord, to doing what it is that God desires. Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.

It's not about me anymore because of the work that Christ has done for me. He has declared that I'm free. Now, the way to maintain that is to be devoted to God completely, entirely, from head to toe, every aspect of our lives, given over to the things of God. But then, not just that commitment or that dedication, but then, you know what we need in order to be able to live that out? We need the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We can make all the dedications we want. I promise I am never going to sin ever again. It's, you know, it's not a very meaningful declaration because I'm going to fail. But when the power of the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, when we are walking in the Spirit, when we are led by the Spirit, when we allow the Holy Spirit to be involved, and again, there's a completeness to it in all aspects of our life from head to toe, and then everything that's left over back on our head again, you know, like...

The empowering, the overflowing of the Holy Spirit in our lives is so essential for us to be able to walk the life of victory that God wants us to live. So that those things around us, those infectious sins and habits and behaviors and thoughts and attitudes that are in the world all around us, those things are seeking to grab hold of our lives and consume us.

The way to maintain our freedom in this lost and dying world is to be devoted to God from head to toe, to be committed to walking with God, to serving God in every aspect of our life and allowing the Holy Spirit to be involved every step of the way. I always love what Paul says in Galatians 5.16. I say then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

How do you keep that freedom and not be dominated by the flesh? Paul says, walk in the Spirit. Take each step, relying upon God, asking God to work by His Spirit, inviting the Holy Spirit to lead you. Take each step filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered with the Holy Spirit. You know, sometimes we try to compartmentalize our lives sometimes.

in a way that is very ineffective. Have you ever tried scheduling help from God? Have you ever tried that? All right, Lord, six o'clock on Tuesday, I'm going to be facing a challenging situation. I'm going to really need your help then. See you at six on Tuesday. You try scheduling your help from God like that, you're not going to like the results.

You can't just put on a calendar, okay, here's this issue at six o'clock, apply the blood here, apply the spirit here. Lord, I need your spirit at six o'clock on Tuesday. I need your blood applied at six o'clock on Tuesday. It doesn't work that way. You want God to work. He wants to work, but you need to dedicate and consecrate your whole calendar to him, not just 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Head to toe, apply the blood, apply the oil, dedicate yourself to God and

It's not that, well, okay, between now and then, I've got things under control, Lord. I can handle it. So, you know, I don't really need you right now.

I don't need you to lead me right now. I don't need you to tell me what to do right now. I have stuff I need to do, but later, there's going to be this really challenging situation with my family, or this strong temptation that I'm going to face, or this issue that I'm going to wrestle with, or this fight that's going to break out between me and my spouse. There's going to be this thing, and then I'm going to need your help, but not right now. And we try to schedule it out and piece it out, and there's

It's kind of like, you know, we're trying to point the laser of God. Okay, Lord, see that right there? Focus that. Yep, yep, fix that. See my boss right there? Yep, fix that. Just a laser, just only that. Don't touch anything else. But I need my marriage fixed. You know, here's the laser. Like, fix it, Lord. And the Lord's willing to fix it, and he wants to fix it. He wants to work in that, but he doesn't work like that.

He says, give me your whole life and I'll work in your marriage. Give me your whole life and I'll work in your job. Give me your whole life and I'll work in this and all that and set you free and deliver you. But it's a full, all-compassing devotion to God. We try to target certain things. What, I just need help in my marriage. I got my job under control. No, you don't. You don't. You might think you do, but you're deceiving yourself. No, you need a lot more than you think that you need what you need

is to be completely and totally given over to God. Devotion to God is what keeps you free. You want to experience freedom? You want to experience the victorious Christian life? To not have those things grip you and grab you and control your life any longer? Give yourself over to God, wholly and completely, without holding anything back. Walk in the Spirit every moment, every day, every step, looking to God.

and seeking to serve God and please him. The author of Hebrews put it this way. These are all verses, I'm quoting verses we are familiar with, right? But so important for us to remember. He says, look, we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. So let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. What does sin easily do? Because it's leprosy. It grabs hold, it spreads, it contaminates, it corrupts completely. That's what sin does.

Now here, the author of Hebrews writes to Christians and says, don't let that happen. You need to throw that off. You've been declared free. God has worked miraculously. Jesus said he was the son such free as free indeed. You have a freedom from Christ. Don't let that sin dominate. It's going to want to dominate and it will dominate if you give it the opportunity.

But he says, throw that off and let's run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, running the race that is set before us. What is the race that is set before us? That is the race that God wants us to run, the life that God wants us to live as we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It's about that devotion to God and that giving ourselves over completely to God. Amen.

Boy, it speaks clearly of our salvation. It speaks clearly about things that we struggle with in this current life and things that want to come back in and dominate. But it also speaks about those around us who are dominated, who are caught up, and sin has just taken such a hold. It's easy for us in any of those situations to think it's hopeless. But God says, no, it's not. He's able to work miraculously, supernaturally,

Even in the worst of the worst of the worst, the one that everybody has tried to help and nobody can help, God can miraculously set you free, set people around you free. He can do a delivering work that is verifiable, that is proven, that can be examined. God really does work miraculously. And when he does, he declares you're free. It's a real righteousness that is applied to you.

Because of faith in Jesus Christ, a real relationship with God that is established. And you can live in that righteous life. Not that we don't fall, not that we don't have sin issues, but it's devotion to God that keeps your life from being dominated again by a life of sin and the destruction that it brings.

And so this morning, I want to encourage you to be set free from sin. Ask God to work miraculously and devote yourselves to him that you would experience that freedom in your ongoing daily walk with the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we lift up all of our hearts to you this morning and we thank you, God, for this opportunity. God, for your great goodness that we are in a helpless and hopeless condition without you. But Lord, you...

through your own goodness, through your own grace, through your own mercy, without us earning it or deserving it all, you've offered to us an opportunity to be cleansed. Lord, thank you for that opportunity. Thank you for loving us that much. And Lord, we accept that opportunity. Lord, we accept what you've done for us. We accept the righteousness that you desire to add to our account that we might stand before the Father in holiness with right relationship.

looking forward to eternity and never needing to fear the judgment. And Lord, as we wrestle with things of this life and sin that wants to easily ensnare us and take hold of our lives, I pray that you would help us to use wisdom, not to try to manage our life so that I control this piece and then you can have that piece that I can't deal with, but Lord, that we would give ourselves over completely to you. Lord, help us to recognize where that's not the case. Lord, that we would surrender.

that we would be devoted to you from head to toe, every aspect of our life, of our heart, of our mind, of our schedule. Lord, may we be your servants seeking to live lives to honor you. And Lord, I pray for the people around us, people that are on our minds and on our hearts right now, Lord, that their lives are devastated by sin and maybe they don't even really see that yet, but Lord, we can see that grip, that hold, that

that sin has and the results, the consequences that are disastrous. Lord, I pray for each one of them that you would give them an opportunity to call out to you. Lord, I pray that you would work miraculously in those situations. We understand, Lord, you can't force them to receive your grace and your goodness. But Lord, we do ask that you would bind the work of the enemy

to give them moments of clarity that they could clearly understand your love, that they could clearly see your plan and what you have for them. Lord, that they would be able to unhindered make a real decision to receive the forgiveness and grace that you offer. And God, we present ourselves to you and we invite you to use us. Lord, would you want us to be a part of that moment, of those opportunities?

Lord, that you would use us to shine forth your love, your glory, and the opportunity of freedom that comes from following you. Help us, God. Give us those opportunities and give us boldness. Fill us with your spirit to help us speak on your behalf when those things come about. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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