Everett Muniz - Be Ye Holy - Class 2 - The Way Of Holiness

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:04

   This is the 2015 Ontario Winter Bible. School. Our speaker for this first session is Brother Everett Muniz from Paris Ave. Ohio. His theme for this week is the Holy, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This is his second class and the subject for this class is the Way of Holiness. Our reading was taken from Isaiah 35. Thanks for the robbery.

2. 0:44

   Good morning, everyone. Excellent. So we’ve titled our second session this morning, The Way of Holiness, and here’s how we’ll be going along. We’ll be looking at the beginning, or our beginning rather, on the way of holiness. And this isn’t necessarily the very beginning, but it’s certainly a very important step early on in the process. We’ll be looking at the end of the way of holiness. We’ll be looking at this idea of a holy place for God to dwell, which seems to be very much connected to these ideas. And then finally, we’ll be looking at how the Sabbath is related to that holy place that God wants to create for himself to dwell.

3. 1:33

   So with that, we’ll get started by spending a few moments exploring a key aspect of how we begin our journey toward being holy as God is holy. Yesterday when we looked at Isaiah 35, you may have noticed that it connects the principle of redemption with being on the way of holiness. Those that remain on the way to its end are the redeemed and the ransomed. And here we have forms of the two words most commonly associated with redemption in the Old Testament, Gayle, that is redeemed, and paddah, which is ransomed. In the simplest sense, this concept of redemption is to to buy back to purchase or as we have it here in Isaiah 35, to ransom.

4. 2:28

   And this hints at a really important aspect of being holy. And in fact, Peter touches on it back in first Peter chapter 1. You may recall that he also links redemption to holiness. And let’s revisit first Peter chapter 1 and and read verses. Well, for the sake of time, we won’t actually read the verses together, but what we will do is look at what seems to be a parallel train of thought in these or a repeated train of thought that parallels in these verses that really seems to to focus our minds upon these principles associated with redemption. So this section, this repeated train of thought, appears in verses 14 to 19.

5. 3:17

   It begins by identifying the nature of our relationship with God. We in verse 14 are his children, and then in verse 17 the idea of his fatherhood is emphasized. So in one case our status as children is emphasized, and in the other, his status as father is emphasized. And this helps us to understand that holiness is inextricably linked to God’s development of His family.

6. 3:47

   Natural children bear a resemblance to their parents through genetics, but spiritual children of our Heavenly Father must develop a family resemblance. So then Peter sites the responsibility conferred on us by this incredible relationship to be brought into the divine family. It’s a responsibility to reverently pursue holiness in all our conduct during the time of our exile. Then, to emphasize the gravity of this responsibility, Peter begins to under score God’s role as Redeemer as well as the terrible price of our redemption. And when we think back to Leviticus 20 verse 26, which we looked at yesterday, we recall the way God accompanies his call to holiness, there with an allusion to Israel’s purchase. It’s worth recalling before we move on here that while we have been purchased, it isn’t for abject slavery, but to be members of God’s family, to be his sons and his daughters. Now, by using the language of Passover to describe the terrible price of our redemption, first Peter one verse 19 directs our attention back to the events of the Exodus and the model of Israel’s experience. And so we want to head back to Exodus chapter 6 at this point and sort of follow this theme as it develops in the experience of the people of Israel.

7. 5:39

   So in Exodus 6 verses 2:00 to 8:00, we’re told that God, God’s work to establish Israel as a nation, began with redemption by a stretched out arm and great judgements.

8. 5:55

   And of course, we can see the stretched out arm and great judgements by which God redeemed Israel in the record of the 10 plagues that culminate in the death of the first born.

9. 6:09

   God redeemed. He bought his first born son, Israel with the first born of Egypt. Israel’s status as the possession of God is highlighted in that all. The first born of Israel became the property, as it were, of Yahweh. And the idea of God’s ownership is further reinforced in the the man for man exchange that takes place in Numbers 3, when Levi then supersedes the first born. Now Exodus 12 and 13 record the the events of the first Passover, the culmination of the great judgments by which God redeems Israel.

10. 6:49

    And the importance of the events recorded in these chapters is emphasized by the tokens that God establishes in memorial of his work on Israel’s behalf, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, along with the sacrifice or redemption of the first born. So we group Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread together. They seem to be a unit for a number of reasons.

11. 7:12

    The details of these two tokens are conveyed at the very same time to Moses. The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the Passover immediately in time. The reason for their observance seems to focus very much on God’s agency. So if we’re in Exodus chapter 12 and we look in verse 12, we see I will pass through and later on in the same verse, I will execute judgement.

12. 7:39

    And in verse 13, we see, I see the blood, I will Passover. And then down in verse 23, the Lord will pass through. The Lord will Passover and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And in verse 27 it talks about the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over, He smote the Egyptians, delivered our houses.

13. 8:06

    The emphasis seems to be very much on God’s agency as Redeemer. So too with the Feast of Unleavened Bread in chapter 12, verse 17. In this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. And in chapter 13 and verse 9, the Lord brought thee out of Egypt, and then both of these are framed as ordinances for Israel forever.

14. 8:35

    On the other hand, the separation of the first born is conveyed to God by God rather to Moses in chapter 13, verses 1 and 2, sort of separate and apart from the details concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. It shares some similarities with the details of Passover and Unleavened Bread, but the focus seems to be somewhat different. We look at Exodus 13 and verse 15. It reads this way when Pharaoh would hardly let us go. The Lord slew all the first born in the land of Egypt, both first born of man and 1st born of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix.

15. 9:17

    Being males, but all the first born of my children, I redeem. So it may be that the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread emphasize God’s agency as Israel’s Redeemer, while the sacrifice and and or redemption of the first born emphasizes the price that was paid to affect Israel’s redemption. We, like Israel, can’t begin our journey toward holiness without one who is willing to redeem us and to pay the price.

16. 9:55

    It’s hard to overstate the significance of the fact that the Creator of the universe has acted on our behalf to pay the price of our redemption and put our feet on the way of holiness. What’s more, the fact that He’s done so has everything to do with His grace, His mercy, His faithfulness, and nothing to do with any virtue or merit on our part.

17. 10:25

    Moses captures the sentiment beautifully in Deuteronomy Chapter 7, verses 7 and 8, as he speaks to the generation that’s about to go into and take possession of the land after 40 years in the wilderness. It reads this way. For thou art and holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are on on the face of the earth.

18. 11:00

    The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people. For ye were the fewest of all people but the Lord. But because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your Father’s hath, the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the House of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

19. 11:26

    Like Israel, we have been bought with a price. Israel’s journey and the way of holiness began with redemption from natural bondage by the hand of God with the blood of Egypt’s first born. Our journey on the way of holiness begins with redemption from spiritual bondage by the hand of God, with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

20. 11:53

    If the blood of Egypt’s first born was potent for Israel’s deliverance, how much more so the blood of the Son of God, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

21. 12:08

    If it was essential for Israel to remember their redemption from Egypt by the strength of God’s hand and the price that was paid to affect it, how much more essential is it for us to remember the strength of hand and the great judgements by which God, our Redeemer, has paid the price of our redemption and delivered us from the bondage of sin and death?

22. 12:33

    We’ll just conclude this section with what Paul has to say about our redemption and how it’s related to holiness in Colossians chapter 1, verses 12 to 23. And for the sake of time, we will skip over verses 16 to 18.

23. 12:51

    This is the way that reads giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light. The Saints, the holy ones, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood. Even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. He is holy now and strove for holiness as His Father is holy. And thus through Him all things will be created anew. And it continues on in verse 19.

24. 13:39

    For it please the Father, that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto himself. By Him, I say, whether the they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have He reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present to you, what’s the purpose of this redemption? Well, it’s described here in verse 22 to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight, if he continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

25. 14:28

    And here again, we have an allusion to the idea of a, of a path of a journey. We are to continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. That concept of hope is, is such a lovely idea in our modern day and age.

26. 14:45

    We use it to mean maybe, right? We we say hope and we mean, I don’t know. I’m not sure. And I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. I’m not sure if it will, but it might. I hope it doesn’t. But that’s not the spirit of the hope that’s been set before us. This word means expectation, a certain expectation. That’s the hope of Scripture, not a maybe and absolutely a certainty.

27. 15:13

    The hope of the gospel which we have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, Wherefore I, Paul, and made minister. So we can’t begin on the way of holiness without redemption. And having been redeemed, we have every reason to continue on the way so that we might be among the redeemed that come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads. So if that’s the critical aspect of our beginning on the way of holiness, and it happens through redemption at the mighty hand of God, where, where does it lead?

28. 15:57

    Well, just as Isaiah 35 alludes to the means by which we begin on the way, it also alludes to the character of our destination. The way of holiness brings the redeemed to Zion. Zion is the city of the great King. It will be the capital of the Kingdom established by the Lord Jesus Christ at his return, and at that time the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So the destination of this way of holiness is the Kingdom of God.

29. 16:38

    We know that a Kingdom here on the earth is a well established aspect of God’s purpose. It’s spoken of here in Daniel 2 quite clearly, and we can find it elsewhere in the prophets. And it was central, as we know, to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles. The purpose of this Kingdom is described by Paul in First Corinthians 15.

30. 17:03

    It’s to prepare mankind and the earth generally for a time when God will be all and in all, when all things will be holy as he is holy. So the picture that emerges is of the redeemed entering the Kingdom on the way of holiness to help Jesus prepare the earth for that time when God will be All in all. So let’s explore how how this picture is reflected in God’s work with Israel.

31. 17:36

    Now in in perfect parallel to the pattern that we saw in Isaiah 35, Exodus 19 tells us that God redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt in order to establish a Kingdom, A Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God’s work in Exodus is really the continuation of the work that he began in Abraham, isn’t it? We might say that God laid the foundation for the work that he was doing in Israel in Abraham.

32. 18:15

    It’s interesting when we go all the way back to Genesis chapters 10:00 and 11:00, or at least it was interesting to me to see the way in which even as as early as this, we have, as it were, two kingdoms that seem to be contrasted the one with the other in their their early stages.

33. 18:33

    It may be that these chapters are designed to emphasize God’s work to establish his Kingdom in opposition to the Kingdom of men. Genesis 10 and 11 have a couple of of features that have similarity. First, the genealogy of Shem is split between two chapters. Each traces a similar line of descent from Shem through Eber, but chapter 10 continues through Eber’s son Joctan, and Chapter 11 continues through Eber’s son Peleg.

34. 19:08

    The other interesting feature here is that these two genealogies are are separated. They’re broken, if you will, by the events surrounding the establishment of Babel and the confusion of tongues. And it may be that the narrative flows this way specifically to under score these two rival kingdoms, one of them founded to by men to make themselves a name, as we remember from the language of of those who founded Babel, and the other founded by God in expression of his name.

35. 19:48

    So the foundation of this Kingdom of Israel. We know that Abraham lived in ur of the Chaldees, which was in the region of Babel, was it not? And just as physical and spiritual separation from Egypt was part of Israel’s journey towards holiness, Abraham had to separate from country and kindred and father’s house. As a necessary step on his journey. And how interesting it is that in in both of these cases, there was a a physical journey that accompanied the spiritual journey.

36. 20:21

    Like Abraham and Israel, we have been called out of our native land to go to a land that God will show us. Having been persuaded of God’s promises and embraced them, we’re journeying on the way of holiness to a better country. It’s so important to stay focused on our destination because if we allow ourselves to dwell on that country from which we have been called out, then we will find opportunity to return.

37. 20:55

    We know that, sadly, this is exactly what happens to Israel. Numbers 14 is a is an OFT referenced statement of God’s purpose, and the context makes it clear that it’s inextricably linked to the Kingdom. Sadly, the occasion for this beautiful statement of God’s purpose is not Israel’s willing cooperation with it, but their opposition to it.

38. 21:25

    The nation had once again provoked God through faithless rebellion. It’s at the moment of Israel’s utter failure to fulfill God’s purpose that we find that purpose so emphatically expressed. The way of holiness leads to a Kingdom in order that all the earth might be filled with the glory of God. But Israel’s refusal to enter the land was not a moment of weakness. It seems more so to be a moment of truth. It revealed that they had only been superficially affected by their exposure to the will and the character of God. Though they had been redeemed in one sense, that redemption had not penetrated deep into them and yielded their commitment to their heavenly Father.

39. 22:18

    The report of the 10 spies in Israel’s reaction demonstrate that whatever their physical distance from Sinai, Israel had not come all that far from worshipping a golden calf at the foot of a mountain full of the manifestation of God’s presence.

40. 22:37

    We just take a quick survey of Numbers chapter 14. In effect, Israel had had demonstrated contempt for their Redeemer and the price of their redemption by expressing their desire to return to bondage. God, in His great mercy and love for them, had redeemed them with a stretched out arm and with great judgements. And what do they do in Numbers 14? In verse 2, what would God that we had died in the land of Egypt?

41. 23:09

    In verse three, were it not better for us to return into Egypt? In verse 4, let us make us a captain and let us return into Egypt.

42. 23:21

    And they also showed themselves to be false and that they refused to obey God’s voice. We think back to the language of Exodus 19. If you will obey my voice, to which the people say all that the Lord has said we will do.

43. 23:36

    And this was a a necessary step. This was one of those things that God required them to obey, and yet they refused to do so. They refused to go in and to take the land to fulfill the very purpose for which they had been redeemed.

44. 23:55

    Israel had been in regular contact with the will and the character of God, the sanctifying power of His glory, but they weren’t able or willing to see beyond themselves. Sadly, their unfaithfulness is not the result of any special Uber sinful nature that just Israel had, is it? It’s the natural outworking of the same nature that all of us bear. This is the unhealable sickness of our nature. Israel had direct experience of God’s power, received His will, had contact with His glory, and had contempt for His redemption. And they rebelled against Him.

45. 24:41

    Paul offers this reminder should we ever forget that we are no less susceptible to sin than Israel. He tells us all these things happened unto them for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Israel’s experience is a warning to all those who want to arrive at the end of the way of holiness in Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads.

46. 25:18

    As we mentioned yesterday, the beginning of our journey on the way of holiness is first and foremost God’s work. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a work to do as well. The sanctifying power of God’s will and character can only have its transformative effect when it’s activated by faithful obedience in those that He’s called.

47. 25:39

    In other words, holiness is something that can only be affected in us if we obey God’s will and emulate His character in respect and in reverence for our redemption. Israel had contempt for their redemption, refused to hearken to God’s voice, and were insufficiently affected by their contact with His glory, and thus that generation was utterly inadequate for God’s purpose. The words they received and the events that they experienced did not profit them, says Hebrew, because they were not mixed with faith.

48. 26:20

    That generation chose not to believe, which meant that true holiness could not be affected, and the work that God wanted to do could not be done with them. Israel’s experience is a sobering reminder that this work God has begun in US requires our active cooperation. Though our journey on the way of holiness does not begin or depend upon our strength, God has assigned us a part to play. Citizenship in God’s Kingdom is for those who have actively cooperated with his efforts to to prepare them for it. So let’s resolve to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as we know, we know, brothers and sisters, we have confirmation after confirmation that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.

49. 27:25

    So the way of holiness brings us to a Kingdom that God will use to fill the earth with His glory. But why? Well, God’s work with Israel seems to address at least one aspect of God’s motive. And, and for me, this is something that’s that’s truly remarkable. I stand in awe of this idea.

50. 27:49

    Having redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt, God’s next step is to bring the nation into covenant relationship with himself. And we alluded to these passages yesterday. God lays out the basis for Israel’s calling and their special status in Exodus 19 to 24, and Israel responds with acceptance and agreement on three separate occasions. Israel gives their assent to God’s requirements once in Exodus 19 and then twice in Exodus 24. So there’s no doubt the Father gives them a robust and complete understanding of this relationship that they’re entering into and they they give their ascent. They say, yes, this is a relationship into which we want to come.

51. 28:42

    And having brought them into covenant relationship, what is God’s next priority? The answer seems to be here in Exodus 25 verses 8:00 and 9:00, where God says to Moses, Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, Even so shall ye make it. God’s desire to dwell with His people is an important theme of the Bible and something that Paul touches on here in Second Corinthians chapter 6.

52. 29:26

    You are the temple of the living God. As God had said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And at the beginning of Chapter 7, having detailed some pretty incredible promises, Paul goes on to say, Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Here in 2nd Corinthians 7, Paul says that being a part of a future where God dwells with his people as their Father is something that depends on the pursuit of holiness. Today, right now, it’s remarkable for me to think that the Creator of heaven and earth, I can’t, I can’t fathom it, truly wants to dwell with me, with you, with us. It is His desire to dwell with His people and that He has included us in this tremendous purpose. But it is not without requirement. And that lesson is driven home by the word sanctuary. God wants to dwell among his people, but he will only do so in a holy place.

53. 31:04

    He wants to dwell with us, but it must be a holy place. And of course, only God can define the characteristic, the characteristics. Apparently that’s a tough word to say this morning. Only God can define the characteristics of the holy place where he will dwell, and it’s precisely what he does in in the case both of the Tabernacle and the temple. He provides a pattern to Moses and to David from which his holy place must be created.

54. 31:49

    But interestingly, interestingly, we have the testimony of Isaiah 66 quoted here by Stephen, that the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands.

55. 32:03

    And when we follow the reference back to Isaiah, we see that the dwelling place that God actually has in mind, indeed, it’s not a temple made with hands, It’s within men and women, and it’s not mystical, it’s not magical. He simply wants men and women to choose cooperation rather than rebellion with his efforts to develop his character in US. And of course, what pattern has he provided? The pattern alluded to here in Isaiah 66. Truly, we know that that pattern is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, in whom we can behold the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth in Him. That purpose to manifest the glory of God was fulfilled in a way that has never been until that time or since. He worked in total cooperation with God’s efforts to develop the Father’s character.

56. 33:12

    And if we want to participate in this incredible hope to dwell with God in holiness, then now is the time to cooperate with his efforts to prepare a holy place for himself in US according to the pattern of his Son.

57. 33:30

    Now, as we, as we begin bringing this, this session to a close, we’ll just touch on the role of the Sabbath in the pattern that God provided Moses for his holy dwelling place. Now, this was a, as I was going through the process of the study myself, I found my, my interest really got piqued because I was reading through Exodus 25 to 31, which is an expression of the pattern of the Tabernacle of this sanctuary, this holy place.

58. 34:01

    And it flows along quite naturally. The things that that God has to say to Moses seen at at each turn to be very clearly connected with the Tabernacle in some fashion. And then I got to the very end of the section and there seemed to be to me a kind of a kind of shift of thought in these very last few verses of Exodus 31.

59. 34:24

    The train of thought shifts away from the Tabernacle, particularly to the Sabbath, and that struck me as as strange. It seemed abrupt when I reached those verses that that almost the the the commentary on the Sabbath had stopped and there was no real transition. And now we were going to talk about the Sabbath. Here’s how those verses read in Exodus chapter 31, verses 12 to 17.

60. 34:53

    Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. It is a sign between God and Israel throughout their generations. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant.

61. 35:27

    There again in verse 17, it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. And so it isn’t just that the Sabbath is mentioned, since there’s a great emphasis, a kind of profound emphasis upon the Sabbath here. And of course it’s already been touched on, hasn’t it? Earlier in in Exodus chapters 19 to to 24, we already had mentioned of the significance of the Sabbath, but but God returns to it here at the end of a section that deals with one the creation of a holy place for God to dwell.

62. 36:02

    At the end of that section, God emphasizes in a profound way the importance of the Sabbath. Now, I’m not sure that I have a definitive answer to why this is, but it seems reasonable to start by considering the origin of the Sabbath. As we alluded to in our session yesterday, the Sabbath is actually the first occasion where we find the word holy used in Scripture. It is the first time that that word explicitly occurs in the record of Scripture.

63. 36:39

    God bless the 7th day, and He sanctified it. He set that day apart because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.

64. 36:56

    Now Young’s literal seemed to do a nice job of bringing the the emphasis of these verses forward for me. God completed His work which He hath made by the 7th day. So He ceased from all his work which he had made. And then He blessed the 7th day and sanctified it, because after six days he ceased from all his work which he had prepared for making. Simply put, the emphasis seems to be that God stopped because the work had been completed.

65. 37:29

    The work was complete, and so God ceased to work because those things which he had set out to accomplish we’re done. The Sabbath was set apart and sanctified to mark the completion of the natural creation specifically, but God gives it a much greater significance.

66. 37:52

    Among other things, the Sabbath is a memorial of God’s status as the great Creator. In a natural sense, He appointed the 7th day to remind us of the creative work that He finished in the heavens and the earth and all the their host. But in a spiritual sense, He appointed the 7th day to remind us of the creative work that He is still doing right now in you and in me. See, the work of creation didn’t really end on the 7th day, did it?

67. 38:26

    God’s purpose was not fully realized at the end of the that process. It’s still ongoing. He’s still working towards the end of that purpose. But He marks out that day at the end of the natural creation to become symbolic, a reminder, a touchstone for all of us that we might be comforted and encouraged by the fact that God will finish the work. And it doesn’t depend on our strength, it doesn’t depend upon our wisdom.

68. 38:59

    God will finish the work. And so this day was blessed and sanctified to remind us that he is the Lord that created the heavens and earth. God himself that formed the earth and made it. He have established it. He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. The Sabbath reminds us that the same infinitely powerful, brilliant and loving hands that formed this magnificent world that we take so for granted are still at work in US.

69. 39:34

    He’s creating a holy place in us where his character and His nature can dwell. This is a wonderful dimension of the beauty of the Sabbath for Israel and for us. Every 7th day they had the opportunity to meditate on the fact that God was actively at work among them, creating a place to dwell, and the great responsibility that that conferred upon them not to undo His work, not to rebel against Him, but rather to cooperate with Him in the work that His purpose could be fulfilled and that their incredible calling could be realized. His work of spiritual creation is ongoing, brothers and sisters and young people, and we are so privileged to be a part of it. As surely as God completed the work of the natural creation, He will complete the work of spiritual creation to prepare a holy place for himself to dwell in US and in the earth at large. But we have to, we have to decide, brothers and sisters, we have to choose, having come to this way of holiness, to continue on the way in trust of and reverence for our Heavenly Father, This is the time we make the answer. Now, as one of our hymns so beautifully puts it. So in our next session, we’ll be looking at the theme of priesthood generally.

70. 41:11

    We’ll take a look at, at the way in which the priesthood that was founded in Aaron is a, a shadow of good things to come, the way in which it served as a model for the people of Israel who were called to be a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And then we’ll take a couple of lessons from priestly responsibilities, namely that of of teaching and that of sacrifice. And so with that, I will turn things back over to Brother Aubrey with my thanks to all of you again.