Miles McPherson

We shouldn’t horde everything (physical or spiritual) to ourselves but instead share our gifts with the world and especially those in need…Miles illustrated this with the facts of the Dead Sea, where all the water flows into it but none flows out, leaving this sea without the ability to flourish, or as the name implies; dead…People function the same way and we need to share our gifts with others so that we don’t end up like the Dead Sea.

God’s standard for holiness is realized when His people serve each other and challenge each other to obey his laws…Imagine there are two lines of people. One is an incredibly long line of people that leads to a cliff where they fall over into hell. The other is a short line of individuals that goes to heaven…Our mission; our job as Christians is to lead as many people as we can from the line of death to the walk of life. As we continued our study into the book of Leviticus Pastor Miles showed that it isn’t enough that we as Christians simply attend church but that we’re to reach out to others.

Because sex provides the most intimate union of two people and vivid picture of our relationship with God, violation of its intended use carries the most severe penalties…Obeying God’s sexual guidelines validates our loyalty to God…Obeying God’s sexual guidelines displays the holiness of God…Obeying God’s sexual guidelines protects the blessed life offered by God…And finally, Obeying God’s guidelines sometimes means fleeing sexual immorality.

Miles is going to be looking at God’s rules on sexual purity. If you haven’t noticed yet, God isn’t the only one in our world talking about sex. Everywhere we go there are “voices” telling us how we should behave sexually and over time these “voices” replay in our heads as internal audio tracks…Every one of us has internal audio tracks. Every one of us hears those “voices.” What we may not understand is that we get to decide which of those tracks we’ll listen to. It’s similar to all of us having our own personal internal iPod. And if that is true then we need to listen to the “Leviticus track” and find out from God how life works best when it comes to sex.

We’re looking at what God has to say about sexual sin and purity…Satan wants you to think and feel that your past sins and mistakes have not been forgiven…He wants you to feel defeated so that you won’t move forward in your relationship with Jesus your Savior…Is there a specific area of your life that would look different if you were able to completely believe and act on the forgiveness granted to you by God, and how would your life be different?

Being forgiven is one of the most powerful gifts we experience. When we receive forgiveness from a person we’ve wronged we can reestablish relationship with them. The same is true of God. If we want to have a relationship with God we must be willing to receive His forgiveness…Today, we contrast how forgiveness happened for the people of Israel and how it happens for us today…Miles is going to compare the High Priest to Jesus, and list some of the obvious ways forgiveness has changed from then to now.

The closer you get to God, the cleaner you have to be…Our study of Leviticus has shown us that, in the center of the camp was the tabernacle and in the middle of the tabernacle was God, who was by their understanding, in the Holiest of Holies. The clean were in the camp close to Him, while the unclean were sent outside the camp or further from Him. This discipline was necessary for man to realize how holy He is and to grow through instruction to be a holy people. Jesus redefines “clean” to establish a royal priesthood of all believers, and the New Testament sheds a “new” light on the cleanliness thing because now God is amongst the people.

The Lord has set his people free from bondage and now has begun establishing them as a holy nation unto Himself by defining how they are to be set apart for His purpose…This is holiness…God has given Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle as a place for man to meet Him and He has given specific instructions how they are to worship Him in their offerings of thanks and atonement.

In becoming a priest for God; which by the way we’re all called to become as Christians, there are four elements of the process that we see in the book of Leviticus, and in our lives as we commit them to Christ…First there’s the calling, second the cleaning, third the clothing and finally, the consecration… The priest must undergo consecration by anointing. Leviticus 8:12 states; “and he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him”…Have you allowed the Oil of the Holy Spirit to consecrate you?

1 Peter 2 verses 9-10 states, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy”…There are four elements of the process of becoming coming Priests for God that we see in the book of Leviticus, and in our lives as we commit them to Christ.

In earlier times, the shedding of blood was prescribed because “life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is blood that makes atonement for the soul”…A person’s most prized possession would have been, save for his wife, a shiny, brand new, expensive looking male cow, lamb or goat. For the starving college student, turtledoves or pigeons would suffice. But remember, livestock was the gold standard of the day and God expected you to come with your best…or don’t come at all.

The children of Israel have “exited” Egypt and are wandering in the wilderness. The Lord has freed them from the bondage of Pharaoh, now He wants them for Himself…After giving Moses the Commandments defining sin, He speaks again to him explaining how He wants the people to honor and worship Him and how we can receive atonement for said sins.