Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): The priests in Old Testament times took their calling very seriously, and Pastor Ed says leaders today should as well.

Pastor Ed Taylor: So when you think of the priesthood and you meditate upon some of the applications to modern-day service and modern-day leadership, just leave with this: take it seriously. Especially in our church. I'm only responsible for the leadership of this church and I'm asking you, I'm telling you, I'm exhorting you, I'm begging you: take it seriously. Because people's lives are at stake, perhaps even your own.

Guest (Male): Hey, welcome again to Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor and our continuing study of Exodus. In today's look at chapter 28, we'll see why we must worship God correctly. Pastor Ed will point out a couple of priests that didn't and paid dearly for it. Stick around after the message; I'll tell you how to get a copy of Warren Wiersbe's book, Real Worship. And now, here is Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed Taylor: The fifth thing super important is almost as important, it's like the bookends and so applicable to us today. Number one, that ordination of God, that calling of God. Not only is that ordination of God. When someone is ordained here in this church, the church doesn't ordain them, the church just recognizes them. By the time someone comes up to the stage and we pray over them or we say, "I want you guys," everyone's like, "What's taking you so long? That brother's been faithful here for years and years and years."

It is that ratification. No church or group of men, not even the man himself, can take that upon himself. No church, no pastor has the power to ordain a man. What the church has and the leadership and the elders have is the power to approve of God's choice and say, "We recognize it. We've experienced it. We've received it. God has used this brother, and all we can say is yes and amen, and present him to you and say, here he is, the man that God desires to use and has been using."

So the first one is so important, but this last one is equally important. Listen, the priest had to take their calling very seriously. It was a life and death matter. Let me just say today, I'm grateful that by the blood of Jesus and the grace of God, it is not so much a life and death matter as we see in a moment for the pastor or the leader of the church if they choose not to take things so seriously. There's great grace and forgiveness, but I will say this: when a pastor or a leader doesn't take their calling seriously, it's really spiritual life and death for so many.

It's spiritual life and death. I think of everyone in our own little church family here. I think of the worship team, the men, the women up here, anyone that's leading prayer, anyone that's looking you in the eye. That's a pretty important position, looking you in the eye and standing here with the authority of God in this pulpit. Let's pray together. Let's sing. If those men and women don't take that seriously, it could be life or death spiritually for you. It could lead you in the wrong direction, could stumble you.

Now, I'm not removing your personal responsibility at all. You're ultimately, and I'm ultimately, we can't be standing before God and go, "I wouldn't have ever done that if it wasn't for that guy up on the..." No, you can't. That's an excuse. No man will have an excuse before God. There is personal responsibility, but I want to remind you there's personal responsibility for both: both the person that is looking you in the eye and you looking me in the eye.

It's very important. Not only as a pastor, as a leader, as a singer, as a worship leader, as a prayer, or as someone that is giving a testimony of the power of God. Not only is that important, not only is that vital, but listen, the significance of our response is just as vital. How important it is for us to know in our own walks with the Lord. And when we're just looking at one person in the face at work. The person that you saw crying when they came into the office on Tuesday. What happened? You went right over to them and checked on them. Are you doing okay? How was your week? You started praying with them. You represented Jesus to them.

Then the next thing you know, they hear you got fired because you're a thief. And you're like, "Well, yeah, I just needed that pencil." It's like, whatever. We had people steal all kinds. I had somebody I had to fire once that stole a computer. How would we not find that out? "I just needed that computer." Yeah, well, now you need a new job, bro. That's how that works. But how much more in the corporate world, in the office, that when you look someone in the eye and you represent Jesus to them, that they're going to hold you to that.

Because they're going to get through that difficulty and they may get back to their old wayward ways. They may get back to their old pagan ways, and you're still following the Lord. And it's important that you realize how significant it is that God would give you that one person. That's God's gift to you. You can't be a hireling to them, someone that doesn't care about the sheep. You got to learn how to be like the good shepherd who gives your life.

Now God is taking you to another level of responsibility so that you follow Him. The priest, higher than anyone, had to take this calling very seriously. You couldn't just go into the presence of God unprepared. You couldn't go into the Holy of Holies unprepared. Notice in chapter 29, verse 1, it says, "And this is what you shall do to hallow them." We'll get into this in our study next time. But this is what you shall do to them, to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests. There is a whole process to set them apart sacrificially to prepare them to go into the Holy of Holies.

If you abuse the role of a priest, you could die, be wiped out. You dare not go into God's presence lightly, which leads us to our text that we're going to end with today in Leviticus. Would you turn over now to Leviticus? If you skipped Leviticus, look at what you missed. Leviticus chapter 10. There's some real key nuggets in Leviticus as there are throughout the scriptures. notice Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus chapter 10. This is where you can create your own little cross-reference.

You can write in your Bible, you can write a little reference going backwards because you'll recall in Exodus chapter 28, years earlier, it says, "Take Aaron your brother," verse 1, "his sons with him among the children: Aaron's and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar." Well, notice Leviticus 10, verse 1. "Then Nadab and Abihu," who are they? Aaron's sons, priests. Nadab and Abihu. By the way, looking for baby names? I'm always up for suggestions, but here, little Nadab or Abihu. Don't use these names; they're not going to bring back any good memories. Look, the sons of Aaron, each took a censer and put fire in it and put incense on it and offered profane fire, or in some of your Bibles, it might say strange fire. I think that's an old King James phrase before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.

So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Nadab and Abihu are gone. Why? Well, not because they weren't appointed by God; they were. Not because they didn't have special clothes; they did. Not because they represented man before God; they did. Not because they helped the people to discover the will of God; they did. But because they didn't take their calling very seriously. We don't have the full complete story of what happened in their lives or what was going on in their hearts, but we do have an insight. They took profane fire. God never commanded them to do that. So they're in disobedience. They're doing their own thing, their own way. And God sent fire out and they died before the Lord.

Notice verse 3. Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.'" So Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, "Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp." So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

Moses said to Aaron and the Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people; but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled." Verse 7: "You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you." And they did according to the word of Moses. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying, "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout all your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."

Nadab and Abihu, strange fire, which was not commanded. In this exciting time of ministry in the life of the children of Israel, there's false worship. Worship that wasn't commanded. It's really sad to see such rebellion and disobedience so quickly. The day could have ended in a glorious worship, but instead, God had it end with the funeral and a strong rebuke and warning. The scene is people are in awe. God's glory is there. They begin to shout. They fall on their faces. Aaron's two sons, caught up in the emotion of it all, grabbed their golden censers and they put strange fire in them.

At first glance, it seems as if they took things into their own hands, prescribing their own worship service. We do know this, as God explains in verse 3, if you're going to come near Him, He has to be regarded as holy. Whatever this episode was, Nadab and Abihu did not regard God as holy or set apart. Taking things upon themselves, prescribing their own worship service. Might I just add, it's not the topic of our Bible study today, but I have done studies on it and I also have written on my blog about this, but there's also a strong hint that they were drunk.

That's the warning down in verse 9, telling Aaron, "Don't you drink any intoxicating drink nor your sons. Don't do it, lest you die." It's going to be a statute forever. And if that's the case, it would make sense under the influence they would do many things that don't please the Lord. Anyone that's ever had a problem with alcohol or drugs can testify to that same testimony. I look back on my own life and I think almost every bad thing I did that was grand and even the small things was under the influence of some substance.

That's a Bible study for another time, or you can go on my website at edtaylor.org and I wrote a very thorough article on this to beg you to set that liberty aside for your own personal walk. The question isn't, "Can a believer drink?" The Bible never prohibits in the new covenant a believer from drinking alcohol. That's not prohibited. But that's the wrong question to ask. The better question to ask is, "Is it wise?" Well, ask Nadab and Abihu and you go, "I can't. They're dead." I know.

Perhaps they were attempting to take glory from God. They lacked the real fear of God. As the people are worshipping, suddenly these two men jump in, rush in with their golden censers. Now instead of worshipping God, they're now focused on these two men. We're reminded in Isaiah 42, verse 8, that God says, "I am the Lord, that is my name; and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved images." And that's why in an environment like this, the emphasis in an environment right now in this sanctuary is on the teaching of God's word. That's why the emphasis within worship is to be expressive and give yourself wholly to the Lord, but don't do it in such a way where everyone's looking at you.

There are churches that run their services like that. Everyone's looking at you now. But we didn't come to look at you. We came to worship God. How important it is. His glory is not to be shared. His glory is not to be taken. Whenever God's working through you in a supernatural way, the warning is be careful because people will always try to look to you. You can't accept it. It happened all through the Book of Acts. No, don't look to me, Paul says. I'm not God.

You have to be careful as God begins to use you. That's why taking things seriously, taking your calling seriously is so important. If not taking attention from people, the danger and temptation becomes taking God's glory from Him. Now, of course, that's impossible to do, but taking people's eyes off the Lord is a very dangerous thing. Be careful that God gets all the glory, all the praise, all the honor for all the great things He has done. Very important.

So what was the strange fire? That remains the question in Nadab and Abihu. We don't know for sure, but I do have some thoughts and just to surround the scene here. Number one, they were the wrong people to handle the incense. This was the task of their dad, the high priest. Exodus 30 is what we'll study in the future. Number two, they used the wrong instruments. The censer of the high priest was sanctified by oil. Exodus chapter 40. We'll get there later. They acted at the wrong time, number three. This wasn't the Day of Atonement. Leviticus chapter 16.

Number four, they presumptuously acted with the wrong authority. Nowhere do we read of them consulting with Moses, Aaron, or even with God. We see that they did something they were never commanded to do. And number five, they acted with the wrong motives. We don't know their hearts exactly, but we see their judgment and we see the declaration surrounding their judgment and we can come to educated guesses and conclusions based on the text. We can look at the text, study the text, and come to a logical biblical conclusion. They had the wrong motives. It appears they didn't seek to glorify only God. Instead of inquiring and waiting, they presumed and acted hastily. So: wrong people, wrong instruments, wrong time, wrong authority, wrong motives. What they did was wrong, any way you cut it. Whatever direction you want to take, they were wrong. But they were wrong in the worst of ways. It cost them their lives.

There is that danger for us to offer strange fire to the Lord. Doing something even with good intentions the wrong way and suffer as a consequence. Many have good, even great intentions, but end up making up their own religion and their own worship and their own thing. I think of Jesus and His teaching about the wide gate. Remember that? The wide gate. Matthew chapter 7, verse 13, it says, "Enter by the narrow gate." Who defines the narrow gate? God. We need to worship God the right way. We need to follow God the right way. We need to live life the right way.

Jesus said you need to enter in through that narrow gate because wide is the gate, He said, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. So when you think of the priesthood and you meditate upon some of the applications to modern-day service and modern-day leadership, just leave with this: take it seriously. Especially in our church. I'm only responsible for the leadership of this church and I'm asking you, I'm telling you, I'm exhorting you, I'm begging you: take it seriously.

Because people's lives are at stake, perhaps even your own. People's lives, their families, it matters. They don't come to church for you. If they do, you need to rebuke them. They need to come to church for the Lord to worship Him, to yield to Him, to engage with Him with other believers, to continue steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and in prayer and in fellowship and in the breaking of bread. That's why. Not for you. Not that you can lord over them or take advantage of them.

You see someone coming in and the first thing you think of is what can you get from them? That's a hireling mentality. The shepherd's mentality is what can I do for you? How can I serve you? How can I give? How can I help you grow? How can I get your eyes on the Lord? How can I help you solve that problem? Or after you leave your prayer closet, how can I help you get through your drama? Let's just get through it to the Lord. Let's see your new identity. Let's see you grow in grace. Let's see you walk in victory. Let's watch you thrive, see true generational change. You know a lot of emphasis today is on that false teaching of generational curses. Enough of it. It's not true. It's not true at all.

But I'll tell you what is true that's throughout the scriptures. Not generational curses, but generational change through the blood of Jesus Christ. Ministering to your parents and your grandparents, raising godly kids, correcting any mistakes you made before, learning how to be a man yourself, learning how to be a woman, learning how to be a dad, learning how to be a friend. Do you know how much wisdom God has for you that the generations change with you? That's all throughout the scriptures.

But you have to deny yourself, take up your cross, get back to that narrow way. But you know God has deposited in every believer the heart of a shepherd. You know why? Because He gave you His heart. It's God that lives in you. He's the good shepherd. And Jesus, we get to see it in His life. He lived and He ate and He ministered among the people. He gave Himself, not above them. He didn't elevate Himself. I really do believe that if we came up on the crowd, Jesus and His guys and the women all around Him, we would have to look a couple of times to find Jesus. He may have been standing behind them and such and it would be easier, but there was nothing about Him in His humanity that drew more attention for Him on purpose.

He was caring for the sheep with the sheep and He didn't run away in our greatest need. He didn't run away in His darkest hour. We go to Israel, we go into this private garden in Gethsemane and all the buses are honking and life is happening outside the walls of this little private garden. But when you're in it, it's very quiet and serene. We give time for those on the tour to have some private prayer time all throughout the garden and they spread out. Some sit under a tree, some sit against the rocks, and it's always an emotional moment just being able to pray in Garden of Gethsemane. It's beautiful, it's wonderful. I can't wait to take you back.

But one thing you remember in the Garden of Gethsemane is that Jesus didn't quit on you. He pressed through all the way. The victory for your sin was not won in Gethsemane; it was won upon the cross. But the demonstration of the endurance and the death to self, Jesus denying Himself to obey the Father, well, you get a glimpse of it in Gethsemane. "Not My will," Jesus says, "but Your will be done." If we leave here today with that, if we remember the priest here, we just remember that Jesus being the prophet and the priest, it's a beautiful thing of God using us in these 21st century. Amen?

Guest (Male): This is Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed. To give this a second listen, just go online to aboundinggraceradio.com or 1place.com, or listen through the Calvary Church app. You can search for Ed Taylor to download that today. What is real worship? Is it a playground, a battleground, or holy ground? Warren Wiersbe looks into this in his book titled Real Worship. There are no shortage of books dealing with how to worship, but few that give a definition of true worship. Wiersbe has noticed four elements in true worship that involve wonder, witness, warfare, and wisdom.

We'll gladly send you a copy for a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace. Thank you for remembering us in your prayers and your giving to the Lord. Your gift, whatever the size, will serve to help us reach thousands with the message of Christ. You can reach us toll-free at 877-30-GRACE. Again, 877-30-GRACE. Don't forget to ask for Real Worship as you give. You can also order it online at calvaryco.store. And if you'd like to just make a donation and you're not interested in the pick of the month, you can just go online to aboundinggraceradio.com. Connect with us through social media. We're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. There is a link to each page at aboundinggraceradio.com. We'll return to Exodus next time out on Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed. We'll see you then.