Walking in Purity Pt 2

Okay. Hello, y'all. Thanks for joining us on this bitter, cold night. But anytime's a good time to worship Jesus and learn about his word, right? Well, if y'all want to stand, we'll pray. We'll get started.

To worship you, just in the middle of the week here to rev us up for the rest of the week, to go out and to change for who you are and to affect the masses, to bring people to know you. Pray, God, that we would honor you with the time tonight with our minds and with our hearts to help us be fully foot of the cross. It's in your name. Amen.

Go ahead and have a seat. God, you are so good, and thank you for being so good to us. Even whenever we continually are not good to you, you still see fit to love us, to shower your mercy on us and your grace just because you're so good. Thank you for that goodness. We cast down our soul. In the scriptures tonight, reveal your will, your whole. You are good to us. Good evening. Glad you joined us on, as he said earlier, a very cold night.

What a nice, warm sanctuary to sit in and study the word of God together.

Leviticus in the world. I can't help it. I'm constantly refreshing my newsfeed to find out if we're still here. And as it turns out, we are. So glad you can be here. But at a time like this, where the disciples asked Jesus about the sign, the signs of the ends of the world, and the signs of the ends of the world, and the signs of the time, and all those kinds of things. And so he starts talking to them and

shares a whole bunch of stuff that could be debated on in all kinds of different ways. I'm when you don't know. And I thought, man, of the virgins, how some of them are ready for whatever comes about. And the best way that we can be ready is for our lives to reflect our readiness in being set apart unto Jesus and every aspect of our lives that are sanctified, because that's exactly what chapters 19 and 20 address.

With walking in purity, we're looking at walking in purity part two. We saw, first of all, that there was to be purity in the sacrifices there in chapter 17, that they had to perform sacrifices, not only in the way that God prescribed, but even in the place that God prescribed. We saw in chapter 18, the importance of sexual purity, that there was a lot of things that were forbidden. We're going to look at both 19 and 20 tonight.

And in chapter 19, we're going to look at purity as far as love is concerned. And then in chapter 20, we're going to look at purity and discipline. So we pick up in chapter 19, verse one, and this is what it says. You shall be holy for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. The Lord, your God. Do not turn aside to idols to the Lord. You shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

It shall be eaten the day you offer it in the next day. But what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense. It will not be accepted. Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity for he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord. And that person shall be cut off from his people. Now, as we move into chapter 19, I said, we would

look at purity as far as love was concerned. And really in chapter 19, all of the regulations, all of the rules, if you will, that are given to us in chapter 19, all really have to do with two things, your love for God and your love for your fellow man. They could really all be engaged to the sons of Israel and say to them, you shall be. Studied this part two weeks ago because I am sure in its etymology to the word wholeness, because holiness must be lived in a holy way unto God. Otherwise our lives are

divided. They're divided between the things of the flesh and the things of God. And so in order to live the life that God has called for us to live, then we need to live a life that is holy because it is a life that is holy or in wholeness devoted unto the things of God. And then the next part that he, I mentioned, I think is what got me the most. He said, because with wholeness comes joy,

because joy truly exists. And it said that he was anointed with the, uh, uh, the oil of joy more than any other of his brethren. And he said that really stuck out to me. So what does that look like in our lives? What does it look like to, for us to be able to be anointed with that oil of joy? And I said, you know what? I think it really is both in the life of Jesus and in our lives

is that what do we always, your life is the most full of joy. When you are walking in the things that God has called you to do. When we are walking in sin, you know, as well as I do that we could equate sin with sadness. I've never once in my life walked in sin where I was not also sad right along with it, where, where my face was not gloomy because of it, where my counting in sin. Therefore, there's no joy in

my life. But when I'm walking in the things that God wants me to, when I am walking wholly devoted to him, there's a joy that's inexpressible. And then I don't have to tell anybody about because they can see it written all over my face because I know that I'm walking in a wholeness or wholly devoted to the things of God. And so he tells them, he says, speak to the congregation and say, you should be holy. Why? Because I, the Lord, your God am holy. And then he starts to talk about

what that looks like. He says, everyone should reverence his father and mother. Now, of course, God is going to go back into some of the commandments. And we know that this is the very first commandment that comes with a promise. We'll look at what happens if you disobey this command, when we get to chapter 20 and the, because I am the Lord, your God, of course, next to you, of course, don't have to take one

particular day that we set aside to rest, although it's not a terrible idea, but we find our ultimate Sabbath rest in Christ. He goes on from there in verse four to say, do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the Lord, your God. Verse four is always a bummer for me, because I'm so good at making it way more important than it needs to be. And I can turn it

into an idol. But you, because who do we usually fashion that molten God after? Me, right? I always fashion that thing after me because I say, well, I think what God would say here is this. And so I begin on images. Every time you hear somebody say, well, the God I serve wouldn't do that. You're right. Because the God you serve doesn't exist because he's been created in your own

image. Of course he wouldn't do that. He can't do that. He's not a real God. And yet how often am I guilty of that same thing? So he says, don't make for yourself idols or molded images. And then he goes on to talk more about sacrifices. And of course, when you offer the sacrifice, it must be eaten this day or the next day, but again, therefore the sacrifice

couldn't stick around that long. And so he covers that through verse eight there. And now we pick up in verse nine and notice what it says. Now, when you reap the harvest of your land vineyard, nor shall you gather fallen fruit of your land. And so he says, don't make for yourself idols or vineyard. You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord, your God. Now,

for those who don't think social programs are addressed in the Bible, we must turn our eyes now to verses nine and 10, because we would call this a biblical welfare program, right? I'm not, I mean, it's just what it is. God had the most wonderful biblical welfare program one could ever imagine. Because what it was is that when you began to harvest your field, if you left a portion of it, in other words, if you left a portion of it, you're going to have a lot of money. And so you're going to

leave a portion of that field as the swathers going around and you're taken out or whatever it is, your combine, whatever. And you leave a portion of that field. He says, don't go back and glean that again. Don't with the poor and the needy supposed to do. Well, after the farmer was done harvesting his field, the things that were left have enough money. They could then go into the field and

harvest their own grain. It's interesting that God's welfare program looks a lot different than our welfare program. Now, listen, I understand that there are points in time in people's lives where you need a hand. And I totally understand that. But I understand that there are points in time in people's lives where you need a hand. And I totally understand that. I'm totally respectful

of that. But when God offers a hand, it usually also involves some work. It will require some work on their part because they will have to actually go into the field and do a little bit of harvesting. I often wonder if we did things like this with a welfare program in our nation, how many more people would get off of the welfare program? Because they would say not. So this is

how God had set things up in the nation of Israel. Again, it was a way to show love to the poor and the needy. And at the same time, requiring responsibility on their part. He goes on from there to say, you shall not steal to profane the name of the Lord your God. I am the rules. He says, first of all, you should not steal or deal, deceive your neighbor. Also,

you shall not swear. But notice what it says happens when we, as those who claim to be believers, live a life of dishonesty. He says in verse 12, so as to profane the name. That's the idea. And I think as believers in Jesus Christ, especially living in the world that we live in today, that it seems like can justify deception in just about every way possible, we must remember

that we are to be men and women of our word. He goes on from there to say, you shall not oppress your neighbor. How far did that go on that one? Oh yeah. God, I am the Lord. By the things that you do, again with dishonesty, you are to be men and women of our word. And I think as believers in Jesus Christ, or anything else, don't withhold wages when it's within your power to pay somebody for the job that

they've done for you. Go ahead and pay them for the job that was done for you. And of course, you shall not curse a deaf man, one who can't hear what you're saying, nor put a stumbling block before the blind. Now I have a confession that I have to make in front of all of you right now. As a man of God, I have to be honest and say, growing up with a dad, I don't think my dad will

be offended if I share this. Growing up with a dad who is visually impaired, you have to learn as a child, don't leave your toys out. Now, I wish that I could have passed this along to my girls too, but they still leave their toys and shoes out all the time. But I had to learn a lesson very early in life. You can't leave things in the middle of the floor because that's really hard on a guy

that can't see very well. So at an early age, I must tell you, I broke this commandment quite a few times as I laid things out there in front of. Do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor. Nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor. In verses

15 and 16, he said, we should live lives of justice and truth. I appreciate that he points out it doesn't really matter which end of the socioeconomic spectrum one person is in. You shouldn't show favor. Also must remember that just because an individual is down and out in life doesn't mean that he should not be held accountable for sins that he's committed. So he says, no matter

who they are, no matter which end of the spectrum they're in, you need to show justice because God does not take into account whether or not a person is rich or poor. If they've committed a crime, they need to be dealt with. And so he says, you must show justice and truth in the way that you handle everything. And then as a part, you shall, you may surely rebear any grudge against the sons of your people. A good number of people don't realize that when Jesus said this,

the second, that's what Jesus was quoting. As a matter of fact, Jesus quoted the book of Leviticus an incredible amount of times as he was teaching his disciples as well as the multitudes. But take note of what he says as he talks about the fact. Interesting that as God is speaking in the book of Leviticus here, he's showing them that the law goes far beyond just the actions that we take with our hand in our heart. And so he says, you should not hate your neighbor in your heart because I bet

a lot of people would find themselves justified to say, sure, I don't like him, but it's not like it's not like I've lashed out against him. It's not like I've actually physically done anything in your heart. That has nothing to do with the actions of your hands. If there isn't times where we find ourselves hating our neighbor in our heart. Now, remember, Jesus was asked a question

about the great commandments. He said, what are the greatest commandments? He said, ah, but who is my neighbor? And that was what prompted Jesus to tell the story of the good Samaritan. He said, you see, there was a Jewish man who was traveling down a highway and completely ignored him. One of the scribes came walking much to some of you, but saying that a Samaritan walked by would, that was an individual that Jewish people hated. And pretty much the

Jewish people hated them too. It went back centuries, but they hated each other. He says, but this Samaritan man comes walking by and he sees him there. He picks him up and he takes him to the nearest inn, cleans up his hands, and he says, I don't like you. I don't like you. I don't like you. And so, you know, what's pretty cool about Jesus is that he cleans up his wounds,

pays his bill, and tells the man, if it costs anything and who is my neighbor, he said, now you tell me. So when it says you shall not hate your fellow countrymen. No, he's talking about anybody. You see, we can find ourselves justified in hating people. We do. After all, they feel completely different about morality than we do. And yet at the same time, we're told

back from their I, but you shall not incur great sin. Why? Because first, and so he goes on from grudge against the sons of your people and the Lord. He goes on from there in verse 19 to say, you're to keep my statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle. You shall not tempted to do any one of those things. And perhaps you haven't either, but God seems pretty serious

about this. Why? Because God is big on separation. God is big on making sure that things are pure and separate. The one who is a slave acquired by another man, but who has it not free, he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, to the doorway of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord

for his sin, which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him. He goes on from there to say, when you enter the land, he deals with some of the pagan practices that they may come across when they come into the land here in verse 23. He says, when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years, it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth

year, all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year, you Lord, your God. Now I do know a little bit about horticulture. And from what I understand about horticulture, when you plant a fruit tree like this, horticulturally speaking, you get the best use of some of the best fruit that that tree will ever produce, which is why that was what was to be offered to the Lord as a praise offering. And then in the

fifth year, you begin to eat the fruit. But you know, John, there is a nature aspect of what God has to say. There's something applicable to this for us as believers. We're told in the book of first Timothy that hands should not be laid hastily on an individual to put them into leadership within the church. Instead, the fruit of their life, should be examined first, and then they're put into that place of leadership. So an interesting,

interesting New Testament application given to that. Now from there, he goes on to say, you shall not eat anything with blood, nor practice divination or soothe saying. Things we've covered before, and we'll cover a little bit more as we move on. And then in verse 27, you shall not round off the side growth of your heads, nor harm the edges of your beard. You shall not make any

cuts in your body, nor cut your hair, nor cut your hair, nor cut your hair, nor cut your hair, nor cut your hair. For the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on your tattoos. This is the place where you then find your justification for not liking tattoos. Because you say, it says right there, do not tattoo your body. But you know what else it says? Men should not shave the corners of their beard. You know

what else it says? They should not. Behind this is that they were to be separate from the pagan practices. You see, the pagan practices of that time looked very different, and they would do things for the dead. They would mark their bodies for the dead, or they would cut themselves for the dead. Basically, what he's saying is, be separate from the pagan practices of the culture that are

around you, so that we are to be separate from the pagan practices. So what's your heart behind the things that you're doing? Is it to be just like the culture around us, or to be one who represents God in everything that you do? That's my little soapbox there. I had a teacher in Bible college, actually, Bill Welsh from Huntington Beach, when we were in First Corinthians, and we were talking about

Christian liberty. He actually allowed us to have an in-class debate about tattoos and piercings for guys, and tattoos for ladies too, but especially piercings for guys. And I was so proud of my roommate. I was so proud to call this guy my roommate, because I was like a dorm steward at that point in time, meaning that I was the dorm dork. I had to tell all of the other guys in the

room what they could and couldn't do, like to make sure that they followed the rules. Well, my fourth semester, I'm this goofy little Kansas kid with zero street cred. We've talked about this before. And I had this guy come to my room, stay in my room, who had totally been saved out of some satanic type stuff. So he's tatted from head to toe and pierced all over the

place, and looked like he could kill me if he really chose to. And when I first met him, I was like, dude, you're the most terrifying guy I've ever seen in my life. I didn't say that out loud, but I definitely thought it in my head. Later in the semester, I told him that, once we'd become buddies. Uh, it's in their body, like in Bible college. Hey, you have them, that's fine. But while you're

here, you can't have them. His nipples were pierced. And so I had to be like, okay, I'm going to say this one time, and I'm going to say this one time only. Technically, what I'm telling you is, you're not allowed to have that. You are not allowed to have those body piercings. But what not technically I'm telling you is, if you never take your shirt off in the room, I never have any

idea. Can we leave it at that? He said, done. Anyway, so he's just tatted up everywhere. And he gets up in front of people, and he quotes this verse. And he says, listen, this is what most people use as saying, you can't do this. And he brought up the exact, I received, I got this point from him. That, hey, but that remember means that you've got to throw your Mach 3 away, right? That

was when the, it was because it's not about a law. It's about the heart behind things that glorified the devil. And now I want to make sure that I combat that with things that glorify God. And so when I do this, it's not because I want to fit in with the world. It's because I want to be able to be a witness of what, who I was and what God has now done in me. So anyway, pretty, pretty

interesting story. And I received that whole little section from him. So, okay. It goes on from there to say, do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot. Seems like a rule we can all live by so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. You shall keep my Sabbaths and revere my spiritists. Do not seek them out to be defiled by

them. I am the Lord, your God. Now, this is kind of an interesting one to pay attention to because it feels like there's a major resurgence in this over the last 10 to 15 years of people seeking out psychics and mediums. Like the, the spirit world seems to be a big thing again. And I was able to listen to a guy speak on this one time and he actually was saved out of this lifestyle. He actually was a medium. He said,

I had a spirit guide. He said, what I can tell you is it is very real and it is very evil. He said, oh, the Lord, uh, my spirit guide started getting very angry with me. The closer I got to getting saved. And he said, I realized something. He said, when I first started doing it, I said, it's real. It's good. It must be God. He said, but as I got closer to the Lord, the angrier, my spirit guide

got with me. And I began to realize it's real, but it's evil and it should not be messed with in any way, shape, or form. I don't care if you're calling up the person on the phone. I don't care if you're, looking at the horoscopes, whatever they are, we should not mess with that as believers in Jesus Christ. So that's my little soapbox on that. He goes on from there to say, you shall rise before

the gray headed and honor the aged and you shall revere your God. I am the Lord. When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you. And you shall love him as yourself for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord. Your God, you shall do no wrong in judgment and measurement of weight or capacity. You shall have

just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hymn. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you up out and out one thing to you. Did you take note of how many times he told them that, and that should tell us a little something there about who God is. First of all, we're reminded that he is God and he gets to make the rules. I think sometimes in this, in this world that we live in right now, we can forget that. We can forget that in all of our,

well, that's not fair and all that kind of stuff. God just kind of goes, I don't care. I'm God. I'm going to make the rule. But he doesn't make rules arbitrarily just to make our lives miserable. He makes rules out of love because he cares for us and he knows better than we do what's right. From there to chapter 20, as we deal with purity through discipline.

When the Lord spoke to Moses saying, you shall say to the sons of Israel, any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will also set my face against that man and I will cut him off from among his people because he has given some of his offspring to Molech so as to defile my sanctuary and to profane. When he gives any of his offspring to Molech so as not to put him to death, then I myself will set my face against that man and against. We discussed this in chapter, I believe it was God's. And of

course he was worshiped like we spoke of before by sacrificing kids to him. We said that there was probably two ways that that was done, both through the infant sacrifice. We'd call it infanticide today, both through the infant sacrifice into the burning hot hands of Molech or simply by giving over of your child as a child prostitute. We might call it the sex trade today. By giving

over of your child as their child to Molech. Now I want us to understand something. I believe that when God speaks of the sacrifice all over the world to this exact same thing, and God said in the Old Testament, I don't think anybody will take care of this situation. As a matter of fact, in just a minute, we'll talk about exactly what that means. But according to the Old Testament,

the nation of Israel, those individuals were to be dealt with. And as a matter of fact, if you withheld the knowledge of somebody partaking in this sort of child sacrifice, God said literally that means physically cut off from the land. We would call that death. Now to get to everybody that commits these kinds of crimes, sometimes because the world calls them legal. Do you know who is aware of everything that's going on?

God is aware of what's going on. And while it may not always get dealt with on this side of eternity, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt on the other side of eternity, God will deal with them. And we can rest in these ways. You can tell them, rest assured, God is your defender. And he is the one who will take note of it and will deal swiftly and justly with that individual. And so he goes on from there to say,

verse six, person who turns to mediums and to spiritists to play the harlot after them. I will also set my face against that person and cut him off from among his people. Isn't it kind of interesting that what you and I, if you will, seeking out astrologists or seeking out psychics, that God considers that to be every bit as heinous. Do you know why? Because that is seeking

of among his people. We've already defined what cut off means. He says, I will cut them off from among his people. He gives us a quick summary statement in verses seven and eight for chapter 20. Notice what he says. You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy. Practice them. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Now, as we look at verses seven and eight, basically what he does is he talks

to us about the importance of this sanctification. In the middle of him talking about the punishment that's going to be laid out for these things he's already said not to do, that if you do them, this is what's going to happen to you. He reminds them of why these things are important. Holy. The word consecrate means to set apart. You should set your lives apart from the sin that is

in the world that surrounds you, that is in the nations that are around you that I'm sending you in to take over. You should set your lives apart from that. That tells us that there's an aspect of sanctification that we have responsibility for. There's an aspect of sanctification that we should take into our own hands to take the steps to sanctify. Tell me what you do with your

thoughts. Tell me what you do with your actions. Because if those things, sanctified and watching things on TV, you shouldn't be watching. It's going to be hard to be sanctified. If you're trying to live a life that's set apart and yet talking just like the world around you and constantly taking in the things of the world, sanctified life. You can't try to look like the world around you while you're, or you can't try to look like God

and live the way he wants to while you're constantly presenting yourself to the world around you. But you know what? There's another thing he says here, and I love the balance of it because I don't know about you. Even when I do all of the right things, I don't know about you. I don't know I still kind of struggle with sanctification. I still kind of struggle with being who God wants

for me to be. Notice what he says, who sanctifies you. Isn't that great? Because while you and I have responsibility to do certain things, to take the steps of faith and sanctification that God wants us to take, he ultimately is the one who does the work. And so I'm going to take that step of faith and step away from this because you've told me that's a dangerous place for me to be.

And then God begins to do his work. And sanctify you. Isn't it beautiful the way those two things constantly work together? Well, he goes on from there to say, if there is anyone who curses father or mother, he shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his lessons, right? I mean, how did most of us end up making it here by this age? Frustration of a teenage child. This is the

settled rebellion of heart of someone who will no longer be under the authority of anyone, including their parents. It's a, it's a, you know what else? I think that there's some grown adults out there who have hit this stage in their life and they're cursing mother and father because they've absolutely rebelled against them and they hate them. God said, at least I did. Why does God

take this so seriously? Like it, but it should require death. Well, I think that there's a couple of reasons why. First of all, when God said, obey your mother and father and your days will be long in the earth. We know that. This is the first command that comes with a promise. So God takes it seriously because to fulfill this command comes with a distinct promise that your days will be long. In other

words, they will be well in the earth. So I think that's the first reason why he takes it so seriously. But the second reason why he takes it so seriously is the very first place that we learn about authority in our lives is from our parents. Our mother and father instill within us the importance of authority. And if we usurp the authority of our parents, that is very,

very much reflect the way that we submit to authority in our relationship with God. I really think that there's an interesting correlation that comes into play there. This, he says in verse 10, if there shall surely be put to death, if there's a man who lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them. If there's a man who lies with his daughter-in-law,

both of them shall surely be put to death. All of this, we already read through this in chapter 18. Basically, if you want the idea of what's going on, go back and read chapter 18 of what God said not to do. But we must understand this. As a matter of fact, he's very serious about the fact that sexual sin leads to death. Because he says, in each one of these, no matter which heinous

thing it is that's mentioned in chapter 18, and we're given the direct command of what's to happen if an individual. Now, that are mentioned here don't always end with the death penalty in our lives. While physically you may be alive, spiritually you are very dead. Spiritually, it absolutely brings death into our lives. As a matter of fact, we're told that there is no other sin that affects

us quite like sexual sin. Now, the wonderful thing about who God is, is that God is a God who heals. God is a God who restores. And God is a God who redeems. As a matter of fact, but we need to know if that's the sin that's taking place in our lives quite like that sin. So, we go on from there. In verse 22, it says, you are therefore to keep all my statutes and all my view you out. Moreover, you shall not follow

the customs of the nations which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things. Therefore, I have abhorred them. Hence, I have said to you, you are to possess their land, and I myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who separated you from the people. 18. Remember, with those three things, number one, you are, and he says, you need to keep these rules. In other

words, these are not just suggestions. And I think that's also important for us to pay attention to because how often do we take the word of God and think that's a really good suggestion? I will take that into consideration. We'll make a pro-con list on how I feel about what I'm going to do with the word of God. And God says, these aren't suggestions. These aren't things for you to debate in your mind as to whether or not

you agree with them. You should keep my statutes. You should keep my statutes. Why? Because if you don't do them, then the land in which I'm taking you will spew you out. That's a really, really nice way to say you'll get vomited out of the land. And you know what happened to the nation of Israel? They refused to keep his statutes. And first of all, the northern kingdom was vomited out. He said, you shall keep my statutes.

And the second, because the land is vomiting them out. Not only are they to positively keep the statutes of God, but they are not to mimic all of the people around them. They are not to try to be like all of the people around them. Well, you know what's going to end up happening to the nation of Israel? They're going to come into the land and they're going to say, we want a king,

just to keep the statutes of God. And they're going to say, we want a king, just to keep the statutes of God. Now, I've worked with teenagers for a very long time, and I know the one thing that's always said about teenagers is peer pressure. They always want to be just like their friends. But you know what I found out about teenagers? They're not a lot different than their parents. We may not try to

dress just like everybody else around us, but when it says you can't do that, that's not to be who you are. And he says, I myself am giving it to you to possess it. As I was thinking about this today, I thought, isn't it interesting that what they were supposed to do was to go in and possess the land? Because if they didn't go in and possess the land, you know what would happen? The land

would possess them. Isn't that kind of interesting? Possession of them. Let's put it this way. Either you can be an influence on the culture around you, or the culture around you is going to be an influence on you. You will not remain static. And that's what God's telling the nation of Israel. When you go in, you're to possess the land, not to allow the land to influence. We're talking

about this earlier today. It just seems with people not ever really getting into it. Oh, a lot of what's being said isn't necessary or blasphemous or false doctrine. There's just not much to it. And it's creating an entire generation of saints who reason why is because oftentimes those of us that stand has begun to possess us more than we have possessed the land. And I think that before we start criticizing too much, we need to remember that

all of us that stand up and that they teach, didn't intend for it to happen. We all can. Because the same thing that has happened to them can happen to all of us where the land can begin to possess us. He says, that's what you need to do. He then goes on from there to say, uh, I am the Lord, uh, 25 to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean between the unclean bird and the clean. You shall not make

yourselves detestable by any animal or bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have said before. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. Separated for you is unclean. In other words, be able to discern that you are to be holy to me for I, the Lord and the medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be

stoned with stones. Their blood guiltiness is upon us. I want to wrap up by camping out on verse 26 here for just a couple of minutes, because it says you are to be holy to me for I, the Lord there, of course we said means wholeness, but it also means set apart, wholly set apart unto God. There's two places in scripture. I'd like you to go real quick, both of them are in first Thessalonians. First Thessalonians chapter four. The first place I

want you to go is verse three of chapter four. There in the book of Leviticus chapter four, verse three, he says, and I love the way he finishes that verse. That is that you abstain from sexual immorality. Like I said, working with young people a lot, they all want to know the same thing. What's God's will for my life? What, what does God's will for my life?

What does God want me to do? What is God's will? And I always start off here. Well, I can tell you 100% what part of God's will is for your life. And that is that you would be sanctified, that you would be set apart unto him. And may I say, brothers and sisters, if it was true in the book of Leviticus, if it was true in the book of first Thessalonians, then how much is it still true

today in our lives? What is God's will for you? Sanctification. Now look over at chapter five. And may your soul, may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I feel like we read that already. Theme that, and it has to do with this idea. Go back to Leviticus. And I want you to look at verse 20 or chapter 20. I want you to look at the last part

of verse 26. He says, I have set you apart from the brothers and sisters. We live a life of sanctification, not to make sanctification our end, but as an end, but as a means to achieve an end. You see, you and I don't live set apart lives simply so that we can say I've lived a set apart life. We don't try to overcome the sins of the flesh so that we can tell everybody that we

overcame the sins of the flesh and not feel guilty about giving into sin. We don't live a sanctified life so that we can look more holy than everybody else in the world. We live sanctified lives for one reason and one reason only, because that's how we draw closer in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are being set apart for a purpose and we live lives that are set apart for a purpose. And the

minute we stop living a sanctistic, we simply just follow a list of do's and don'ts so that we can say I've kept this list of do's and don'ts. Brothers and sisters, God has intended much more for us than that. Why did God tell us sin is so detrimental to our lives? Because sin is what separates us from him. Why do we want to live a life and anything that will keep me from that is something

I should run absolutely as far as I can. I don't want to live a life that will keep me from that. I don't want to live a life that will keep me as far from as I possibly can because I know what that brings into my life. I know what sin does to me and I know what it does to my but because as far away from sin as I can be, that's where Jesus is. Father, we come before you and just thank you for

the time that we've had in your word. And Lord, I pray that our minds would not be so focused on the crazy. Be prepared. Help us to be ready by having our work and so help us to rest in you. We just thank you, Father, in Jesus name. Amen.