[3:20]Well, welcome this morning on this wet and dull morning when we're apart again. Welcome to a morning that is good because this morning Christ is risen. And he's risen for you, and today he'll make that known in whatever your morning has been like already, whatever the week past has been. He's our hope, and he lives for each one of us members and everyone who's joining us this morning. So, church family, visitors, children, everybody with us, welcome. We're glad that you're with us this morning online. God's word says this about our Jesus, as I read it as a call to worship. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain. And with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Well, we're back to this unusual, and normally we live to, uh, read a Psalm when we're doing it. Uh, and there can't be a more appropriate Psalm for this morning than this one. Praise God, my soul with all my heart. Let me exalt his holy name. Forget not all his benefits, his praise my soul in song proclaim. The Lord forgives you all your sins and heals your sickness and distress. Your life he rescues from the grave and crowns you in his tenderness. He satisfies your deep desires from his unending stores of good, so that just like the eagle strength, your youthful vigor is renewed. The Lord is known for righteous acts and justice to down trodden ones. To Moses, he made known his ways. His mighty deeds to Israel's son. The Lord is merciful and kind, too anger slow and full of grace. He will not constantly reprove, or in his anger hide his face. He does not punish our misdeeds, or give our sins their just reward. How great his love as high as heaven towards all those who fear the Lord, and Tom is going to come and show us how great that forgiveness is for you now.
[6:11]Well, scattered members of Mount, children, those of you joining us watching online, everyone. Those who feel like your sins have crushed you, even stopped you breathing this week. If you doubt your sins are forgiven, when you look to Christ, he gives us this promise. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense. Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. So let's pray together. Our Father, thank you for all the good things that you have given this week. Most of all, Lord, we thank you for Jesus. Lord, forgive our sins in word, thought and action, our sins against others and our sins that we have committed against you. They've left us feeling hopeless, Lord our God, they've left us despairing. Lord, we thank you for the blood of Jesus that drowns our sins. And this morning we ask, Lord, please show us Jesus. Lord, give us new life so that we will turn from our sins. In Jesus' name we ask. Then all the people of God here and at home said, Amen and praise the Lord. If you have trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, then trust God who says in his word and who cannot lie, your sins are forgiven. Do not doubt it. Amen.
[7:55]Well, uh, the reading, and you can turn in your Bibles at home, uh, Leviticus, uh, chapter 14, chapter 14, and verse 14. It's the cleansing from infectious diseases, or outwardly infectious diseases. Obviously, the coronavirus I better point out is an inward, uh, disease. So this isn't I directly have application. It's more to do with outward skin diseases. It says this. The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed. And the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times. The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in the palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. The rest of the oil in the palm of the priest's hand put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for him before the Lord. And then Matthew chapter 8 says this. When Jesus came down from the mountain side, that's after the sermon on the mount. Large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus right reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean. Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, see that you don't tell anyone but go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
[10:16]Well some notices this week, uh things to look forward to. Um firstly, obviously normally we'd take collection and but we're unable to do that at the moment at this point in the service, but details are appearing, um on the screen, um and you're able to give online still. After the service this morning, um there's a Zoom chat, um as if we were in the lower hall, uh that's being organized. And uh please if you want to join in, just message us, well or me, um or put a message uh out through Facebook there where you're watching and we'll send you that code. Big date for the diary is this time next week, um it's a visual A day, it's going virtual. It's going to be Tabernacle day two, um the way in, and there'll be more details coming this week, but please, um yeah, make sure you're there. Uh we'll be emailing you out, um and it'll be after the morning service this time next week on the 1st of November. Tonight we've got the good news meeting, please tune in and we'd love to see you there, be sharing and praying for those who'll be watching. So please tune in. And after the good news meeting tonight, we've got a quiz over Zoom at half past seven. It'd be amazing if all of us could be there. Please tune in, please be there. Uh details are on your emails. It's Emma Savory's House of Games. So it's definitely something not to be missed. Grab a cup of um snack, sit back um and enjoy um a bit of time together with church family this evening. And uh finally students, um if you're new in Swansea and you want to know what is or what what will be going on again, um for you through the church, um please message us also on Facebook and they will get back to you and let you know those things. One of our elders Gerain is going to lead us in prayer now, um from home. Let's pray together. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you so much that we can um meet together like this online. And we pray, Lord, that uh you would help us uh today. Thank you that we read in the book of Leviticus that you've provided everything that we need in the sacrifice of Jesus for us on the cross. That his blood covers all of our sins and makes us right with you so that we can be friends with you and be accepted by you. Please be with uh Judith as she grieves following the loss of her mother. And please, please be with every single member this morning. Especially those who might be struggling with this new lockdown period. We ask that you would be with us and give us grace and peace for the day, Lord. Please speak to us this morning in Jesus name. Amen. Well, uh, it would be good to pray for Judith whose mother's funeral is here, but it's not an open invitation sadly for everyone. Uh but it would be good if uh we could pray for her. And also, uh, if you could remember the, uh, visual aid, uh, day next week, it's going to be really thrilling. I think it's my favorite one that we've done. I think it's the clearest, and it'll certainly help us, uh, as the background of just before the book of Leviticus. Uh, and that's what we're looking at now. So, we're going to turn if you turn your Bibles and just to glance over it, we're going to be looking at, uh, chapter 11 through uh to chapter 15, chapter 11 through to chapter 15. Should we pray? Our God and our Father, we thank you for Jesus. Please speak to us in Jesus's name. Amen. The Lord gave instructions for his people to build a home so that he could live among them. And not only that, that home explains everything. There is nothing that is left out that you need to know that isn't found in the tabernacle. Then the Lord does move in at the end of Exodus. And he calls out to the people. He calls out and says, be holy as I am holy. He calls out and says that how your sins can be dealt with and consumed by Jesus Christ on the cross and shows visually how that happens. How the inner sins, how the doubts about ourselves, doubts of whether we can live the life we're meant to, are solved by the cross of Jesus Christ. How the doubts of the deep inward sins have been resolved. Have our sins really be consumed? Can we really have fellowship with God? Is there really someone who can stand before me and God when I have not loved God and I have not loved my neighbor? And the answer, of course, is Jesus Christ can, and we can take that message into the world. But then the Lord Jesus Christ, the visible Lord, the only one he can be, the one who makes the Father known and tells us how we can bring joy to the Father, calls out again. Why? Because there is more than just our inward sin. And we know it. At the moment we're living in a pandemic. It's lockdown time. And everybody is becoming irritable with each other. It seems different than last time. And we're not sure about what's happening in the shops, and we're not sure about what we're going to do with our lives. And we're not sure if something breaks down in our house. And we're not sure of how we should live if we're feeling ill and how to cope. So the Lord calls out, and he calls out to us who are saying, look, I can't live for Jesus. I can't live this life. I can see how the cross deals with my sin. But you don't know my family are like. You don't know what it's like in a pandemic. You don't know what it's like when I'm feeling ill. You don't know how I can deal with all of those outward issues. So when love came down to Earth and made his home with men, he calls out first about our sin. And then he calls out about the consequences of sin. First of all, he gives hope in violence and says we'll talk about that. Then he gives hope in childbirth. Then he gives hope in disease. Then he preaches hope when our houses start to fall apart and decay. And then finally, he wants to talk about bodily functions. Because not only is he the God of heaven, but he has left heaven and come to Earth. And the most embarrassing things are things that he longs to help us realize. He cares, he has a solution. So love has come down to Earth and doesn't just call out to our souls, as if they are divided from our bodies, which, of course, they're not. He wants to speak about every aspect of life. Violence. What is to be done when nature is red in tooth and claw and and there is so much violence around. He turns around and says, I want you as the people of God, the church in the Old Testament, that ancient church. I want you to not eat the animals that love violence. I want you to show the nations around you. It's not meant to be animals devouring each other, showing how we devouring each other. It's not meant, this world isn't meant to have dogs that try and bite you. It's not meant to be about snakes that poison or or animals that love feeding in filth. That's not how God made this world. And I want God's people to live a very different way. I want you to eat food which is basically food, which is vegetarian, before this world was fallen. There wasn't this violence, this bloodshed, to feed. It was a world of peace. And there is a world coming where the lion will lie down with the lamb. Can you imagine such a thing? And a child will be able to put his hand by a snake. There is a world coming where God is going to put everything right through the death of Jesus Christ. And he wants his people to show all the nations around the world at that time, that God has got this. God has sorted out this violence, and he wants them to proclaim the new creation, real hope through what they eat. Well, what an amazing message that is. And the message still stands true even though we know from Acts 10 we can eat all kinds of food. We as Christians are still to tell people, there isn't meant to be this violence, there isn't meant to be this anger. This world isn't, even as the seagulls come down and, well, they don't now, but they normally do steal your chips. It's not meant to be like that. It's not meant to be a place like that. There is a day coming when Jesus is going to put the animals right, and he's going to redeem this creation. And we as Christians are to show that by not devouring one another, as it says in Galatians. So first of all, there is that. Then there is childbirth, where life is brought forward causing so much pain. It wasn't meant to be like that. But sin has brought this curse. And now the whole world, the Bible says, is groaning in that childbirth. This world isn't right. It is true. The environment is going very wrong. It is true. There are earthquakes and and there are are all kinds of natural disasters occurring in the world. And as you see with childbirth, he says, there's a way where I can redeem that. It's not something which we can hide away. God looks at it and says this is not as it should be and provides a way for there to be cleanness even in childbirth. Real hope, real cleanness, real forgiveness. And then there's disease. Leprosy, it's called there. I'm there's a lot of people argue it's probably not the best, uh, translation of the word, but it's a disease which is outward and can be seen. And God wants his people to show that there isn't meant to be disease, but there is disease. And this disease is not just physical, it's social. It causes people to feel isolated in their own homes, like we feel now. It causes people to be separated from their families. Well, like we are now. It causes people to be worried about the future. The leper is falling apart emotionally, spiritually, physically, in every way. And God wants to show on the outside of the camp that there is a way for the person who is falling apart emotionally and physically and spiritually, that they can be brought home. It's not just the sins that have been committed to us. It's the illnesses that occur in our lives. And how often when we're ill does it feel like our whole world is falling apart because of our physical body feels like it's falling apart? But there is a way of salvation. And when love came down to Earth, he cries out about it. He talks about decay of property. You think this is a strange thing to say, wouldn't you? Just before I went on holiday this year, our roof decided to leak. Well, it didn't decide to leak. It just happened that it fell apart at that time. It's funny, it doesn't seem a big deal talking about it, but it was a big deal at the time. Managed to get someone out who was very efficient, even had a good review for him. Uh, and he, yeah, he sorted it all out for us and and made it right. But it causes real panic when we live in houses. Think of the costs, think of the anguish we feel when something goes wrong in the house, whether it's the washing machine, the dishwasher, or more seriously. You get dry rot. And you look and think, why? It's because this world is fallen. It's because this world is collapsing around us. And even in those things, you say, well, how can I live for God? And see these laws are written to the people of God to show with all of the decay. There is hope that the Lord Jesus Christ has gone and prepared a home for his people. And it will never decay. It will never fall apart. In my Father's house are many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you. And as we look at this crumbling world, we realize our house isn't everything. Our property isn't everything. But actually, the Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a home for us. And there is a way even on Earth we can show the redemption that he brings. And finally, bodily discharges. The really embarrassing stuff. The truth of the matter though, when you read these passages that show us that life is literally leaking out of us. That we are slowly from the day of our birth decaying. And the Lord who has come to Earth wants to talk about everything. The things that embarrass you, the things you think nobody cares about. The things which at home right now you might be feeling, I can never talk about that. It's so excruciating. Jesus knows. Jesus cares. Jesus understands. Jesus brings peace. Jesus will one day give you a new body. A new body that doesn't leak, a new body that doesn't decay. A new body that doesn't make things unclean and it's just for a little while that life is like this. And he wants to show even now, even now there is real hope. You see, the Lord Jesus when he comes to Earth wants to teach us about forgiveness of sins. But he wants us to show a little bit of the hope of the new creation in all of the guts of life if I could say that. In all of the things we're embarrassed about. In all of the things we hide away. He doesn't hide in heaven, but comes down to bring redemption. And that redemption of the violence of the animals, that redemption of childbirth, that redemption of disease, that redemption of decay of property, that redemption of bodily discharge. will be made complete. And there is hope when all of that falls apart. There is nothing that can go wrong where Jesus can't hold you and won't raise you on that last day. So in your flesh you will see him. And you can inscribe that as the most solid thing in your life. Let me just choose one example, we do do clean and unclean day and go through all of them, but just one example, which is the example of the man with the skin disease, the leprosy. And what happens to him? The priest comes after he's declared clean and he's been outside socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually. And the priest takes the blood and he puts it on his ear. So that however much he's felt dirty before, he can now listen to the truth. And the priest comes and puts blood on his thumb so that whatever he touches from now on and wherever he puts his hand to, all the sins of our hands and all the the consequence of this sinful nature, are all cleansed away. And he puts blood on his toe so that wherever he walks, wherever he's been, it's been cleansed and been made known. Think of all the places we've walked which have led us to sin and we've rushed to sin. And then more than just cleansing. He takes the oil that shows the Holy Spirit. He puts it on his ear. So he can hear the words of life instead of the words of unclean, unclean. He puts it on his thumb so that he can now do great works for God with his hands, whereas before his hands were shriveled up and full of the consequences of this fallen world. And he puts it on his toe so wherever he walked before, he can now walk and bring good news to everybody that he meets because he has the life of God's spirit with him. How deep and powerful is the work of the Christ, the one who's anointed without measure with the spirit, who shed his blood on the cross to make the most unclean person clean. The wonderful story in the gospels that sums up all of these, there's a number of them actually. But you remember the sermon on the mount? Don't know about you, when I first read the sermon on the mount, I thought this is a nightmare. I'm never going to be able to do this. I'm not going to be blessed. It's hard to be poor in spirit. It's hard to mourn. I don't feel I'm salt to those around me, showing the judgment of God on sin. I don't feel I'm light, giving hope to the people around me. This little light of mine, I always feel it doesn't shine very much, even though it's a great song, isn't it? In fact, when I read the law, I might not have killed someone but I realized I've murdered in my heart. I might not feel I've committed adultery, but I have in my imagination. I might feel that I always tell the truth but I've lied. When my enemies come, I find it, I haven't loved them. I've hated them. And I haven't been able to forgive and turn the other cheek. In my imagination, I endlessly can look for revenge. And I for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a far more close to what I am like, not the sermon on the mount. I'm not perfect as he is perfect, my Father in heaven. And when I do give, I want people to know. And when I pray, I want people to know. And when I fast, oh, I really want people to know. And I know that I should have treasures in heaven, but I think more about where the next bill is going to be paid. And I worry even though it makes no difference. Worrying and adds not a cubit to my stature. And I don't listen to the solution. And I judge others and I don't do to others as I should do I want done to myself. And I can be judgmental. And I don't ask, and I don't seek. And I don't bear good fruit. And too often when storms have come, my life has come crashing down. I am unclean. I am unclean. I look at the sermon on the mount and think that's not me. And then Jesus comes down, doesn't he? Do you remember after saying it'll come down with a crash. He came down from the mountain, and remember these, there are no chapters and it flows through. And a man who is unclean, a leper, comes and kneels before him and says, Do you know, I failed in every way? I'm outside the camp. But Jesus, if you are willing, you can, will you? Jesus, full of compassion comes and lives among us and touches the man. And declares him clean, brings him from the outside to the inside. In fact, Jesus says, now, don't tell anyone. Go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded as a testimony to them. You show those priests through Leviticus, that even the vilest can be made clean in Jesus. Even the person who everything has gone wrong for can be made clean by the blood of Jesus, can know the power of the spirit in every aspect of their life. You go back and preach Christ to the priests whose job is to preach Christ. Oh, what a wonderful story that is. That love has come down to Earth. And for all who feel unclean, and for all who feel they don't belong, and all who feel there's too much violence in their lives and has happened to them. And all that feel the pain of childbirth, all that feel the anguish of disease and how it makes them feel dirty. All those who are worried about their property and what they own, and wondering how they're going to pay the next bill now another thing has broken down in the house. All that are excruciatingly embarrassed by their bodily functions. Jesus came for you. He was born for you. He shed his blood for you and died for you. He rose again for you. And that same power of the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, he gives to you if you trust him. So come to Jesus and say, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Love has come down to Earth and made his home with men. The hopeless have found a hope and the sinner have found a friend. He didn't come for the powerful, but to the poor he came and humble, hungry hearts were satisfied again. When every unclean thought and every sinful deed was scourged upon his back and hammered through his feet, the innocent is cursed. The guilty are released, the punishment of God on God has brought me peace. Come lay your heavy load down at the Master's feet. Your shame, your shame will be removed. Your joy will be complete, come crucify your pride and enter as a child. For those who bow down low, he lift up to his side. How the leper must have sung. What joy. What peace has come to us. What hope? What help? What love? Nothing that happens to you because of the fall, doesn't find its hope and peace in the Lord Jesus. No pandemic can separate you or isolation or lockdown can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Even if you feel you were being slaughtered all day long. Amen.
[35:49]Well, this morning, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
