 Yeah, please go ahead Let's pray father. We want to thank you for this morning. Lord we come before your presence As we're going to learn from your word. We pray that you would speak to us minister to our hearts and Help us to know your word deeply help pastor to Declare your word teach us in the right direction that you hold the spirit minister to each one of us God We give you praise in Jesus name you pray amen Amen Yes so In the first two sessions we looked at the holiness of God Just to understand this whole concept of holiness because holiness originates from the Lord and then our last class We looked at why do we need to be holy is anyway made us righteous is anyway declared as you know Acceptable in God's eyes. Jesus has done that for us. So why do we need to be holy? We looked at some specifics regarding that so In this session and the next class we'll be looking more at how does God make us holy now that we have understood the Necessity of holiness the importance of holiness in fact the personal benefits that we ourselves derive You know from being holy now that we have understood these things Now how can we cooperate with the Lord? You know in becoming holy So we would look at more today at the you know Initial thoughts on that and then there would be more clarity in the next session Or you know regarding how we can be holy how God makes us holy so we'll begin with very you know, I Know very key Bible verse Talking about holiness. So that would be Exodus chapter 31 was 13 So if we could have someone read out Exodus 31 13 Exodus 31 13 speak also to the children of Israel saying Surely my subverts we shall keep for it is a sign between me and you Throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you Okay, so now this is the word with this is the verse which talks about sanctification about God making us holy and So if you were you know doing a literal translation of this particular verse You would say So you may know that I am Yehovah Makadesh that would be the literal translation, you know to put put English to bring English into that I am the I am Yahweh who? Kadesh who who who kadosh you I am Yahweh who kadosh you who and that word kadosh we saw last time means To be considered holy to be set apart to be to be to be placed apart as Though it is something special and you know something which is reserved Something which is dedicated to God alone. So here God says I am the Lord I am Yahweh who kadosh you who sets you apart who makes you holy Now look at what exactly this verse is saying. How does God make us holy? How does he set us apart for himself? He says you must observe my Sabbaths and then he says, you know, I will make you holy So it's the responsibility of the Israelites to spend time in his presence To give him a chance to work, you know in their heart in their spirit To to change them to transform them. So it is their responsibility They need to spend time in his presence. They need to meditate on his word They need to cry out to him pray to him wait upon him and even as they are doing all of that He says, I will make you holy. I will kadosh you. I will set you apart and no make you like me Give you my nature So we to have a responsibility Now the Israelites were very reluctant to spend time in God's presence. In fact as the centuries went by You know, they became more and more slack And we see that even after they come back from the exile, you know after having been Punished by the Lord and having experienced terrible judgment and now they have come back from exile and they are still in that same You know sinful mode where they are so reluctant to you know Appreciate the things of God. They are so reluctant to spend time in his presence They don't really enjoy being with him. They don't enjoy meditating on his word. We see this kind of You know lax behavior Even after you know, they return from exile. Let's look at one passage Nehemiah chapter 13 Verses 15 to 22. That's a large chunk, but that gives a very very Clear description of the attitude of these Israelites towards Sabbath because Sabbath is basically when you come down to it It's a chance for you, you know To to not do other tasks and you know, keep yourself busy with other things But just one day when you can just be with the Lord I know be with your family and together all of you, you know, just to focus on him and To spend time in his presence So it's just one chance in a you know in a busy life To to just you know, be there in God's presence and learn from him and be shaped by him and so The people Not really willing to do that It's they they saw it more as a ritual that they just must get through somehow as quickly as possible And the reason that we are looking at this Is because today that same attitude is running even in the church among believers. Okay, so We are not looking at this passage as something, you know that happened in the distant past And which has got nothing to do with us rather. We're looking at this passage because We can identify with these people so well, okay So, you know, we should look at that and then kind of be warned, you know So that we don't follow them in their attitudes So, you know, if you have turned in your bibles to nehemiah chapter 13 versus 15 to 22 It says, you know, uh, nehemiah is you know, putting down all these things. He's the one who's recording all of these details And so nehemiah says over here in those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys You know together with wine graves figs and all other kinds of loads And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath So, you know, it was basically business day market day, you know, like I mean Here in South India. We have, you know, in many places I've seen Monday market That's basically when you have all these farmers coming in from all the, you know, Suburbs and the villages which are there and they bring in the freshest produce I mean, it's like really excellent stuff. And so there's a great demand. Everyone goes to the Monday market, you know to purchase these things So, uh, this was something like that So on the Sabbath day Saturday, which God has told them that they should, you know, reserve for him They are busy doing other things. So you have people, you know Working in the wine presses and you have people, you know, loading up all kinds of merchandise And coming into the city of Jerusalem because that's where, you know All the crowd will come and they will make the purchases and all of that and all this is being done on the Day which was supposed to be set apart, you know, designated unto the Lord and they're doing it on that day And so Nehemiah wants them and he says therefore I warned them against selling food on that day And moreover, it's not just the Israelites who are doing it. There are other people from other nations also getting involved in this whole, you know, Uh, you know, uh Saturday market So you have inverse 16 it says people from tire who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah And which means other people of Judah very happily coming over there and you know making the purchases And then in verse 17 Nehemiah says I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them What is this wicked thing you are doing? Desicrating the Sabbath day So who is actually behind all this and encouraging it and allowing it the very nobles I know the the leaders the people who first of all should have been upholding God's laws They are the ones who are encouraging all of this. Uh, you know, um Business activities because there's money in it, right huge profits. So they are more interested in that and So Nehemiah when he sees that you know, the leaders are also not cooperating He takes matters into his own hands and in verse 19 It says when evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day So he's determined that the people should start respecting the law which God has laid down And so he personally posts some people from his own, you know, um Contingent because I mean he's the governor there, right? So he's he has come there along with Uh, you know some Persian soldiers and all of that He places some of his own men over there at the gates and make sure that the gates are remain closed So that you know, these people don't come into the city that day and start selling all of the merchandise and um He says in verse 20 once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods Spent the night outside Jerusalem their hope is that you know, maybe the you know guards won't be there today and we can sneak inside And you know do our business They're like that desperate there that money-minded You know, that's the attitude of the people and then he says in verse 21 I warned them and said why do you spend the night by the wall if you do this again? I will arrest you Okay, so um, and it's so lovely the last portion in verse 22 He says remember me for this also my God and show mercy to me according to your great love So here is one man who really wants to honor the Lord And so he says Lord I've all these steps I took to honor you So Lord remember this, you know, and you know when the time comes, you know, let me have my reward Is what he says so, um Now I am not saying that, you know, we should not do any work on Sunday Uh simply because we are living in nations where um The constitution of our nation doesn't, you know, give us any separate Sabbath day, uh where we can spend with the Lord so Unlike the Israelites, we don't have that kind of a privilege of having one day of the week Which has been set apart where we can spend in the Lord's presence but so in in fact, you know in india we have Most of the government employment exams happening on sunday uh People uh us uh, you know, some people they have they're holding jobs where they have to work on sunday So yes, we are living in that kind of a culture. So yes, we don't have one day which is set apart for the Lord But that is no excuse for us not to spend time in his presence So the principle behind the Sabbath applies even to us The principle behind the Sabbath is that we must be spending time in his presence And that is something that we would have to you know, um Work out for ourselves even if it means having to take leave You know once in a while and just spending that entire day in God's presence That's something that we would have to do, uh, you know, whether we have a Sabbath or not being offered by a constitution It's something that we would have to do because uh, God says, you know, that we must uh, you know, dedicate our time to him And why why is that so important? He says when we are Spending time in his presence That is when he can make us holy. That is when he can set us apart. Um, and so We have a responsibility When we dedicate time to him and we meditate on his word and we spend time in prayer and we do all of these things Then the lord begins to uh, make us holy. He begins to kadosh. He begins to set us apart for himself Now in the old testament, uh, we see that God Declared certain things and certain events and certain days As kadosh, he declared them as being set apart Now look at the way you were supposed to treat all of these kadosh objects these kadosh places You know this kadosh events How were people expected to treat them and there's a lesson to be learned in this so, you know, let's observe that Um, maybe we can have one person read out exodus chapter three verse five Exodus three five, please Then he said do not draw near this place Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground It literally saying over there the place where you are standing is kadosh ground. It is set apart Ground this is ground that has been set apart for god and so Take off your sandals show reverence Show respect, uh, because this is no ordinary ground. This is set apart ground So that's the way you're supposed to treat kadosh ground. Okay, uh, let's look at another verse Exodus 12 verse 16 if someone could read out exodus 12 16 On the first day, there shall be a holy convocation And on the seventh day, there shall be a holy convocation for you No manner of work shall be done on them But that Which everyone must eat that only may be prepared by you Okay, it's very clear the instruction it says do no work at all on these days Except to prepare food that is all you may do. Okay, so very very clear instruction Which means the entire day that feast day whether it is Passover over here Of course, it's talking about the Passover day But then you know even even the other feasts which God appointed on these days Uh, do not work at all on these days Except to prepare food the and that is all you may do Okay, so very clearly the instruction is given that this kadosh day is completely dedicated to the lord Which means you should be focusing on him On things which pertain to him. This is not a day for other job other jobs other tasks and all of that Let's look at another example of how kadosh should be treated Exodus chapter 30 verses 37 and 38 if someone could read out Exodus 30 37 and 38 But as for the incense which you shall make You shall not make any for yourselves According to its composition It shall be to you wholly for the lord Whoever makes any like it to smell it. He shall be cut off from his people Okay, here it's talking about incense A particular recipe a particular formula that had been you know given by god to make that particular perfume That particular incense and he says this incense should be used only in my temple, you know to honor me So, uh, just because it smells so good You cannot make some of this recipe for yourselves, you know and apply it on your clothes apply it on yourselves No, it's not meant for your enjoyment. This is specifically for my enjoyment This has been set apart this particular perfume Incense has been set apart for my enjoyment is what god says so These things which god declared as kadosh, which he declared as holy and set apart unto him He expected them to really honor and respect These particular things. Okay. All this is leading up to something in the new testament So this is we are not just you know talking about old testament stuff. Uh, but you know just let us look at um How important how serious this whole idea of kadosh set apart was for god Okay, because then when we look at the new testament and consider this whole idea of kadosh in the new testament We will realize the gravity behind it the seriousness Of how god sees this whole thing. Okay, so which is why we are kind of getting into detail and uh, so let's look at leviticus chapter 10 Versus 1 2 3 when god's anger comes against, uh, you know priests Who are taking these kadosh things lightly? Okay, so leviticus chapter 10 versus 1 2 3 if someone could read out Leviticus chapter 10 verse 1 2 3 Our own son nadab and abhi who took their senses put fire in them and added incense and they offered unauthorized fire before the lord Contrary to his command so fire came out from the presence of the lord and consumed them and they died before the lord Moses Moses then said to our own this is what lord spoke of when he said among those who approach me I will show myself Holy in the sight of all the people I will be honoured Our own remind silent Yeah, so, uh Now we're not sure exactly how these two priests, you know, Aaron sons, uh, how they violated Uh, these set apart kadosh procedures which god had laid down. Um, you know, maybe they didn't follow the correct Procedure, maybe they just thought, you know, let's try out something new Why should we follow the same procedure every time because it says here they are offered Unauthorized fire. So god had told them that they should offer the incense the fire with the incense in a particular way They did not follow that procedure Maybe some people say maybe they were, you know, slightly drunk and so that's why they, you know, they did it in the wrong way But the point is you see when they were doing that All the people have gathered over there and they are watching And uh, what what lesson does it convey? You know, if god does not do anything Then it would mean that these people can do what they want and get away with it And god says he this is what he says in um, this is what moses explains in verse three. He says The lord has said among those who approach me I will be proved holy in the sight of all the people I will be honoured And these people by doing things in their own way were dishonouring god It's not just a procedure which they had broken They were literally dishonouring god in front of everyone and the people were were looking to see Will they be allowed to get away with it and they are not allowed to get away with it fire comes down and consumes them And it says in the last portion of verse three Aaron remained silent He didn't utter one word of protest because he clearly understood that what had taken place is a act of serious dishonour And so he did he kept quiet. He didn't say oh lord. Why have you killed my son? He did not say anything that he understood that what has been done is a violation of god himself A violation of god's holiness and uh, you that is not something to be taken lightly So he keeps quiet. He does not protest. He does not say anything even though his own, you know, sons have now died in front of his eyes So he understood how The holiness of god should be respected and valued now here. We are in the new testament and under the new covenant And so we don't take off our sandals when we go to the church Even though god's presence is over there. We don't observe the jewish holidays and the jewish feasts, you know We don't use holy incense in our churches So we don't do all of those things because you know, we are now under the new covenant, but the Principles behind those ceremonies They've got instituted those ceremonies because he had it was time to preach something. He was trying to convey something to to the people You know, let's just look at one verse a galatians chapter 3 verse 24 if someone could read out galatians 3 24 Galatians chapter 3 verse 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to christ that we might be justified by faith Oh, okay. So it says the law the law the mosaic law was put in charge to bring us to christ Um, um, you know, if you look at your nkjv, it says the law was our tutor To bring us to christ the law was trying to teach something to the israelites Uh, so all the mosaic laws for teaching them At least all the laws, you know, uh related to kadosh related to being set apart and being holy All of those laws were trying to teach the people something about holiness They understood that when god regards something as set apart and holy then that should be treated with reverence and respect So, you know, you take off your sandals. Um, when something is declared as kadosh and set apart Then that is completely dedicated to god God gets to decide how to use it. What to do with it You can't just go to whatever you want So if god says this particular day is set apart for me He gets to decide how you should work on the how you should be on that day What work you should do what you should not do he gets to decide Because it's dedicated to him and you can't go and do other things. So they understood that about holiness They also understood that if god says that something is kadosh and set apart It is for his exclusive enjoyment You can't, you know, take those things and use them in whatever way you wish for your enjoyment It's meant for god's enjoyment and these are, you know, uh, basic principles which they learned and uh, so whenever they broke these laws whenever they, you know Failed to follow what god had set down. It was not just that they were breaking a rule They were literally dishonoring him. They were literally profaning him And that is what we see in Ezekiel chapter 22 verse 26 if someone could read out Ezekiel 22 26, please Ezekiel chapter 22 verse 26 Her priests do violence to my law and proclaim my holy things They do not distinguish between the holy and the common They preach that there is no difference between the unclean and the green And they shut their eyes to the keeping of my sabbaths so that I am profaned among them Okay, here the lord is speaking against the priests and he's saying They don't bother distinguishing between the holy and the common They act like I said there is no difference between the clean and the unclean and you know by doing that He doesn't say they're profaning my laws. He says so that I am profaned among them. He says I I personally am being dishonored. I am the one who's being profaned. It's not just some ritual that is being profaned I myself am being profaned. So So when you dishonor Whatever has been designated as holy and set apart when you dishonor that You are literally dishonoring him Okay, so that is the way the lord sees it now So, you know, we may be thinking oh, it's really good that we are not in the oldestment times Because you know, they had to be so careful about all of these, you know mistake laws Which had been laid down and you know, we don't need to follow all of this laws. So we are you know, free So it is a good thing that we are under the new covenant now You may be thinking that but you know, like it's pointed out by many preachers The standards of the new covenant are much higher Than whatever was required in the Old testament Under the old covenant, all you have to do is, you know, keep yourself control yourself from going and murdering someone Which is I think easy enough, you know, because none of us have murdered anyone But in the new testament, what does it say? Even if you just hold hatred in your heart and refuse to forgive someone and you continue, you know Holding that grudge against that person It's god in god size in your eyes and be thinking, yeah, you know, I have a slight attitude issue at the moment You know, I'm not able to forgive that person But in god size, it's like as if you're taking a knife and literally stabbing that person Your hatred is equal to the physical act of murder So the new testament the new covenant requirements are at a much higher level and it's the same with holiness Um, and so, you know, let's look at that first Corinthians chapter six versus 19 and 20 If someone could read out first Corinthians six 19 and 20, please Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit who is in you Whom you have from god and you are not your own For you were bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body And in your spirit, which are gods Yeah So here it all comes down to this In the old testament in under the old covenant All you had to do is, you know, take one day of the week which is set apart for god Treat it as holy, you know Be um reverential on that day and focus on the things of god and honor him All you had to do is, you know, make sure that you don't use that incense the holy incense for your personal, uh thing All externals very very easy so easy to keep those things But now what is the set apart thing over here that god is talking about you yourself Every aspect of you your thoughts your speech your actions that is set apart you are set apart Now how should you be treating you know yourself? You got to because god is inhabiting you you're his temple You should be living with such reverence Whatever you do it should be dedicated to him The focus is no longer on you and what you would like It's him he comes first his priorities come first So you everything about you your finances the way you manage your time. It's all dedicated to him and um all that you do It should bring enjoyment to him. It's no longer about your personal enjoyment So you see this is something much more difficult than what the old testament people had to you know Do uh, so we have a higher responsibility Because now we ourselves Are the set apart are the kadosh objects and so we are meant for god's enjoyment Everything that we do should be focused on him on bringing, you know Showing reverence to him and so these are very very high standards that god is holding us to And of course, you know, if we had been left to ourselves to do this then it would have been an impossibility But you know god says that he will help us now It is so important to remember That in the old testament times if someone You know desecrated these holy things which have been set apart for god God's god say he doesn't say you're just profaning my law He says you're literally profaning me And so that applies today um, so You know, if you're uh living for your own enjoyment if you're living life, you know in your own way You can't say uh, yeah, you know, this is my life. This is my choice God says you are profaning me You're desecrating literally my name is what the lord says and so it's a It's a very serious responsibility But god gives us the assurance that he will help us. So, you know, we have paul When he's ending his letters, you know, he says god will do this on your behalf You know, the lord will strengthen you he says, uh, we can look at a couple of verses First Thessalonians chapter 3 was 13 if someone could read out first Thessalonians 3 was 13 First Thessalonians chapter 3 was 13 May he strengthen your heart so that you'll be blameless and holy in the presence of our god and father When our lord jesus comes with all his holy ones Okay, he says may may the may may the lord, you know may the lord strengthen your hearts So that you will be blameless and holy It's like a prayer that he's saying and uh, so we have an assurance that god will strengthen our hearts He will help us, you know to be holy and blameless. So he will do it uh from his side Uh, first Thessalonians chapter 5 Versus 23 and 24 if someone could read out first Thessalonians 5 23 and 24 First Thessalonians chapter 5 was 23 and 24 May god himself the god of peace sanctify you through and through may a whole spirit Soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it Such a comforting, you know, uh, uh, passage It says the one who calls you is faithful And he will do it. He is the one who has called us to holiness And it's not something that we can do on our own So he who has called us to holiness He is faithful and he will do it. So, you know, he says over here in first Thessalonians 5 23 He says may god himself Sanctify you through and through Uh, so, you know, you know in the old testament the word was kadosh in our new testament It is hagyo eyes I don't know how to pronounce it actually, but I know that that's the thing h a g i o i s Okay, so that so, you know, he's saying, you know, may god himself hagyo eyes you Through and through, you know your body your mind your spirit in every aspect of you may he May he set you apart may he make you holy, you know So and and he says god is faithful So he will do it is what, you know, he says so Um, we have to understand the seriousness of the responsibility that has been placed on our shoulders The privilege that has been given to us and having understood that we don't need to be afraid We can, you know, wait upon god Because god will do that because he said that right in the beginning. He said I am the yawai makadesh I will kadosh you I will do it From your side You spend time with me Give me a chance to work on you. So from our side We take that seriously and we know we we spend time in his presence so that we can be strengthened in our inner man And so that our priorities will change of the way we look at everything You know that our desires will start to change even as we know spend more time with him And his word begins to renew us, you know renew our mind. So when all of that happens It will be possible to walk in holiness, you know, I mean after all all of us have been through that, right? I mean if we have come here to this stage today It's because god has enabled it and god will continue to do it So it's not something that we should be terrified about or you know Throw up our hands and say oh my this is impossible. No The god who has led us all these years and brought us to where we are He will continue to do his work in us But from our side We must make that commitment to set time apart and spend time in his presence because that is where you know He talks to us he corrects us He teaches us and then when we go out to know the rest of the day and do our works His presence is with us He reminds us of the things which he has taught and he enables us to you know walk in those things So we have a responsibility from our side But it's not an impossible thing because the greater chunk of the responsibility is taken by him He is the one who works in us through his holy spirit to accomplish all of all of these things. So It is possible for us to be a holy people Coming to another aspect of holiness that we can look at um If someone could read out exodus chapter 28 versus 36 to 38 Exodus 28 36 to 38 You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it Like the engraving of a sick man Holiness to the lord and you shall put it on a blue coat that it may It may be on the turban It shall be on the front of the turban. So it shall be on aron's forehead that aron may bear the Yeah, yeah, um, we will we look at the rest of that verse a little later But just to catch the first part of it. Um, so this is a turban which aron is going to be wearing He's the high priest So aron the high priest is going to be wearing this turban And in front of that turban there's a seal that has been placed and the wording on that seal is Holiness to the lord holy to the lord. This this priest has been Set apart for god This man is completely dedicated to the to the purposes of god God will get to decide what he should do how he should live You know, and he's just going to be in god service So that is who this aron is is, you know, he's a priest Um, and uh, of course, we know that you know in under the new covenant It's not just aron who's going to be the priest. It's not just one or two people who are going to be, you know Reserved as priests all of us are priests So we cannot push off the responsibility and say, ah, okay, the priest No, let them be, you know set apart. Let them be holy. No Now every single believer automatically is a priest of god So it's not a Some something that we can escape from Let's look at first peter chapter two verse nine. You know, which declares our new status first peter two verse nine 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 The descriptions given over here regarding the believers, you know, these are all Uh words which are related to that whole idea of being set apart You know that whole idea of kadosh, uh, these are all words see chosen people Which means you have all the peoples of the world But here you have one specific set apart chosen people A royal priesthood just like aron was set apart for god and he literally was wearing a seal on his turban Which says holy to the lord set apart to the lord in the same way We are all a royal priesthood and then it goes on to say holy nation And then it says we are god's special possession. These are all the terms that are used And uh, what are we supposed to be doing? It says we should be declaring the praises of him Who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light So basically it just comes down to Behaving like priests we have been brought out of the darkness into the wonderful light. So all god is saying Start living in this wonderful light Don't go on craving for the darkness and crawling back into it. Don't Stay here in the wonderful light and if you're just staying in the wonderful light every day That's enough automatically you're cooperating with the lord and god will make you holy So it's not like some very complicated thing On a day to day basis you say you say to yourself God has brought me into his wonderful light and I intend to spend my day over here I'm not going to crawl back into the darkness and do the things which the world You know worldly people do I'm not going to talk the way they talk I'm not going to treat people the way they treat people Rather I will choose to be here in the wonderful light and the bright light of his, you know Holiness and enjoy his presence. So I will live in a way god wants me to live rather than living the way the world wants me to live. So it's just a simple thing. These are all simple choices we make on a day to day basis And by doing that we automatically start being made more and more holy, okay So, uh, it's not something very complex. It is it is doable It is possible for us to do it now. What what do some people do? They take this first Peter passage and they say no, no, no first Peter was written exclusively to the Jewish believers So the Jewish believers are the ones who will be the priesthood We Gentile believers are we are not really priests Only they will get to be priests. We are not priests Now we can't use that excuse and say no, no, no, okay The other people who should be set apart and the whole response but he lies on their shoulders. We can, you know, sit back and relax We cannot, you know, use the excuse of, you know, saying that first Peter is only for Jewish believers Simply because this verse gets repeated again in revelation chapter one Where it is not applying just to Jewish believers Okay, so even if you use the argument that first Peter is only for Jewish believers You cannot use that argument over here in revelation one six. So let's also look at revelation one six If someone could read out. Yeah revelation one six Chapter one verse six and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His god and father to him be the glory and power forever and ever amen Yes, so here it's talking about people who have been made A kingdom of priests Okay, has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his god and father. So Um We have been designated as priests to serve. I know the father god And whom are these who are these people who have been made into a kingdom of priests? This particular revelation chapter one if you see verse four It says that this is being written to the seven churches in the province of asia Okay, so these seven churches in the province of asia and all the congregation. They have been made into a Kingdom and priests to serve god the father And here this these churches are a mixture of both Jewish Believers and Gentile believers So we cannot say that it's only the responsibility of the Jewish believers to be to be god's priests No, every single person is a every single believer is a priest of god, you know, whether they like it or not And what is our responsibility to be serving god the father? Okay, so, uh, we cannot escape from this responsibility And what is our uh, what what is the duty that we should be doing? You know as priests one very very important thing is equal 44 verse 23 if someone could read out is equal 44 23 Is a kill chapter the words sorry sir go ahead Yeah Pause could you mention the verse again? Yes, as he killed 44 23 And they shall teach my people the difference between Holy and the unholy And cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean Okay, so this is some the one of the main responsibilities of any priest Every single day you should be clearly, you know Differentiating between what is clean and what is unclean what god approves of what god does not approve of On a daily basis. This is the one main thing that we would be doing the way we speak Unclean ungodly way of speaking Godly way of speaking the thoughts we think ungodly thoughts versus, you know, wholly acceptable thoughts So on a day-to-day basis We have to differentiate between the clean and the unclean and choose the clean things of god. So, um In the process we are being holy. Okay, so we cannot just live average lives People just live according to whatever is, you know, comfortable for them But we don't have that luxury. No, we are expected to constantly Differentiate between that which is holy and unholy that which is clean and which is unclean So that we choose that only that which is right. Why because we have been reserved for his enjoyment We have been dedicated to him. He has purchased us, you know So we we uh, we belong to him via his property We cannot choose to live. However, we wish Uh, so when we live holy lives in this manner, um God sanctifies us and even as he is sanctifying us We in turn Have a role which we can play where we are sanctifying others That sounds a little strange, but then there are verses which, you know, kind of uh, touch upon that God sanctifies us, you know, all his priests Be he sanctifies us. He makes us holy even as we cooperate with him And even as he starts sanctifying us We also to an extent Are able to sanctify others What on earth does that mean, you know, how are we supposed to understand this concept? Um, so Let's actually first look at the The Old Testament, you know passage which talks about this Which is where, you know, um, that whole addon thing was coming in and and and we didn't even we didn't finish that entire verse So now let's actually look at that entire, you know passage Um, if someone could read out exodus 28 All the three verses, you know, fully completely 36 37 38. So exodus 28 Versus 36 37 38 if we can just read please You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it Like the engraving of the sick net holiness to the lord And you shall put it on a blue coat that it may be on the turban It shall be on the front of the turban. So it shall be On Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the inequity of the holy things Which the children of israel Hello in all their holy gifts and it shall always be on his forehead that they may be accepted before the lord Okay, so uh, uh, Aaron was the high priest and all the people would bring their sacrifices to him You know so that he would lay them on the altar and perform the necessary ceremony and all of that. So, uh, The people would sometimes bring Sacrifices which are not very perfect I think it especially applied for the poorer people, you know, they would not be able to always purchase the best Uh lamps and bulls and all of that. So, um, They probably sometimes would bring, you know, uh animals that are not exactly perfect and then Aaron Would accept them It's like as if he's representing jesus christ No, who will come in the future as the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice so, um, he's representing Christ in that sense and so he would stand there And he would make up for the Imperfection of these things, you know, uh by declaring them as acceptable So, you know, if some poor family is coming over there and they bring this lamp and it's the best that they could afford And it's not in very, uh, you know, excellent condition. Um, Aaron would still accept it And you know, because he has been sanctified by god, um, whatever he declares as acceptable God will also say, okay fine. It is acceptable even though it is not perfect. So in that sense This Aaron would be sanctifying what was brought to him. Okay, so, um Aaron was involved in sanctification In that sense, but when we come here to the new testament, I know we see Us playing a role of sanctification in a slightly different sense. Um, and we will in fact look at that, you know, after we come back from our break So at 11 if we all can, you know, log back in, um, we will look at how we Priests we believers Have a small role to play in sanctifying others. Okay, so, uh At 11, uh, let's all come back Thank you