The Sacrifices of Thanksgiving
Sermon: The Sacrifices of Thanksgiving
Sermon Text: Leviticus 7: 11-34
Sermon Date: November 27, 2016
The Levitical Sacrifices and Offerings
- Burnt Offering-Leviticus 1: 3-17, 6:8-13
- To propitiate for sin in general
- To signify complete dedication and consecration to God
- The Hebrew word is Olah means “what is brought up” to “ascent”
- Sin Sacrifices-Leviticus 4: 1-5; 6:17, 24-30; 9:7-17, 22-24, 10: 16-20; 21:21-28
- To atone for sins committed unknowingly where restitution wasn’t possible.
- The Hebrew word Hattat means sin
- Reparation Sacrifice-Leviticus 15:14 to 6:7
- To atone for sins committed unknowingly where restitution was possible
- Foreshadows that Jesus is our trespass offering.
- The Hebrew word is Asham means to offend, to be guilty.
- The Daily Burnt Sacrifice-Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:3-8
- The Perpetual Sacrifice
- Daily sin offering for the people.
- Hebrew word is Tamyid (Tah-meed) means Continuous Standing
- His Passion occurred in the same time frame
- At dawn He was condemned at 9am.
- He as crucified from noon to three.
- John saw Jesus as the “standing”sacrifice in Rev 5:6
- The Communion or Peace Sacrifice-Lev 3:1-17; 7:11-21; 7:28-34, 9:18-21; 22: 17-30; 21: 21-30
- Also called the Thanksgiving Sacrifice.
- Peace offering expressed peace and fellowship between the offender and God. Restoration.
- Hebrew word Shelem meaning peace and Toda meaning Sacrifice. Toda meaning thanks offering for being saved from death and being given a new life.
God used the sacrificial system to teach His people to be grateful. He gave them very specific and detailed instructions concerning the sacrifices so they’d known how He wanted them to live. Through these ordinances God taught them three important truths.
- God is Holy
- Man is sinful
- Obedience is essential.
- A Grateful Heart honors God
Psalm 50:23 “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”
- Gratitude to God not only honors Him but it is good for us
Psalms 92:1 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High
- A Grateful Heart keeps out minds focused on the Lord
In the Book of Galatians, we find the apostle Paul was astonished and unsure of what to do with the Galatian believers. At one point, they were overwhelmed with God’s grace expressed toward them. But they had drifted from grace and were attempting to earn God’s approval and qualify themselves to stand before Him with works of the law, with adherence to a religious calendar, and with circumcision. When they were in awe of Jesus, they received Paul well and expressed great love toward him. But now that grace no longer stirred their hearts, they were fighting amongst themselves and treated Paul like an enemy. They had lost their awe and appreciation for Jesus, so he asked them: “What happened to this sense of being blessed you had?” (Galatians 4:15).
Paul knew the root of the problem was a loss in their sense of blessedness. The root of the problem was a loss of awe and wonder for Jesus. Whenever we lose a sense of how much Christ has blessed us, we fight more and serve less.
A loss of awe for Jesus will manifest itself in our lives. Paul wanted to see the Galatians’ awe for Jesus recaptured. So throughout the letter, Paul gave them a long list of ways the Lord had served them, of how the Lord had blessed them. From the first four chapters of Galatians, here are ten ways the Lord has blessed you if you are His:
- He rescued you.
He gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age. (Galatians 1:4)
- He justified you.
And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. (Galatians 2:16)
- He was crucified for you.
You foolish Galatians! Who has hypnotized you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified? (Galatians 3:1)
- He has given you His Spirit.
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:2)
- He has worked miracles among you.
So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5)
- He was cursed for you.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. (Galatians 3:13)
- He gave you His righteousness.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. (Galatians 3:27)
- He redeemed you.
When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. (Galatians 4:4-5)
- He has adopted you.
… that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:5)
- He has made you His heir.