Atonement Offering

Well, in preparation for our text this morning, it is necessary that we take a few moments and review a couple of very important truths regarding this study that we have been working in through the book of Exodus, and in particular, the place where we find ourselves currently.

Now, as we have worked through the book of Exodus, when we began this journey some time ago, we entitled the series,

Exodus Delivered by God for God, which speaks of the entire theme of the book of Exodus, which centers around deliverance and redemption of God's people.

In fact, not only does it speak around the deliverance of the people of Israel, and the redemption of the people of Israel, but it moves forward and speaks of God's people in all times and all places, reminding us that it is

God alone who works. Here in this book, we can emphatically state that the purpose for these events in the history of Israel were for God to deliver his people from the bondage that they were in in Egypt, and for the express purpose that they would glorify his name and that he would dwell with them.

As believers sitting here this morning, we too are recipients of that same promise.

It is God working in us and through us to deliver us from our bondage of sin so that we would glorify him and he would dwell with us.

Now, under the larger theme of deliverance and redemption within the book of Exodus, we see a variety of secondary themes.

Specifically, in our case this morning, we have been working not only this morning, but over the last couple of weeks under a theme that really kind of carries us through the remainder of the book, and that is

God's people living under the privileges of being delivered and being redeemed.

Now, at that point or at the point in which we are in our text, we need to have a good and solid understanding of what is occurring in the life of Israel.

First and foremost, these people have been delivered. They have been redeemed.

Now, we are witnessing the instructions being given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai.

And so as of yet, in the real time frame, these events have not played out, but what we know from scripture is that these events are played out.

So by the time that each one of these events take place, you need to understand that this is the situation that the people of Israel find their self in.

And so as we come to the events surrounding the text that we find this morning, the people of Israel are redeemed.

They have been delivered. They have been set free. Now, the reason we need to understand this specifically in regards to our text this morning is so that we do not misunderstand the text.

It's necessary for us to be able to see what it is that God intended for the people of Israel in this word and also what

God intends for us. And if we approach it with a misunderstanding of where the people of Israel are, then it will misguide us as to where it is directing us.

Because we, as believers, sitting here this morning, if we have placed our faith in the finished work of Christ alone or in the same place the

Israelites were, we have been delivered. We have been redeemed.

What has been demonstrated as we have walked through all of this is that all of this is the work of God and of God alone.

In 1861, a gentleman by the name of Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn that is entitled

Not What These Hands Have Done. It's actually a hymn that you can find in our hymnal and it beautifully walks us through the truth of God working in our lives.

Listen for just a moment to the words or the lyrics of this song.

Not what these hands have done can save a guilty soul. Not what this toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God. Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Thy grace alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin. Thy blood alone,

O Lamb of God, can give me peace within. Thy love to me,

O God, not mine, O Lord, to thee, can rid me of this dark unrest and set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God, to me can pardon speak. Thy power alone,

O Son of God, can this sore bondage break. I bless the

Christ of God. I rest on love divine. And with unfaltering lip and heart,

I call this Savior mine. It is with this as the people of God, saved by faith alone through grace alone, that we now turn our hearts and our attention to the words of God found in Exodus chapter 30, beginning in the 11th verse.

And our prayer is that the Spirit would illuminate these words to our hearts. As you make your way to Exodus chapter 30, verse 11, please stand for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, complete, and sufficient word.

Exodus chapter 30, beginning in verse 11, we find these words.

Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, when you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each of them shall give a price of atonement for himself to Yahweh when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

This is what everyone who is numbered shall give, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

The shekel is 20 geras. Half a shekel as a contribution to Yahweh.

Everyone who is numbered from 20 years old and over shall give the contribution to Yahweh.

The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel when you give the contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls.

And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the 10th meeting that it may be a remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh to make atonement for your souls.

Our prayer this morning is adapted from the Valley of Vision, The Precious Blood. Blessed Lord Jesus, before your cross we kneel and see the heinousness of our sins, our wrongs that caused you to be made a curse, the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Blessed Lord, show us the enormity of our guilts by your crown of thorns, pierced hands and feet, bruised body, and dying cries.

Lord Jesus, your blood is the blood of the incarnate God. Its worth is infinite and its value is beyond all thought.

Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.

Sin is our malady, born in our birth, alive in our life, strong in our character.

Sin dominates our faculties. It follows us as a shadow. It intermingles with our very thought and it is the chains that hold us captive in the empires of our souls, sinners that we are.

Why should the sun give us light, the air breath, the earth support, its fruits nourish, and its creatures subserve our needs?

Lord, your compassion's yearn over us. Your heart hastens to our rescue.

Your love endured our curse and your mercy bore the stripes we so deserve. Let us walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation, bathe in your precious blood.

Our conscience may tender by your mercy and we stand triumphant as an heir of glorious salvation.

We pray these things in your precious name. Amen. You may be seated.

In the book of Genesis, beginning in the 12th chapter, starting with the first verse, we have the record for us of Abram's calling from the land of Ur.

And we read these words, and Yahweh said to Abram, go forth from your land and from your kin and from your father's house to the land which

I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great.

And so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you will

I curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

From that point forward in history, in Genesis and into Exodus, we see the growth of the people of God.

From Abram or Abraham to his son, Isaac, to Jacob, to Joseph, to 400 years of flourishing under bondage in the land of Egypt, to the point when

God calls Moses out of the wilderness to return to the land that he had been raised in, we find these words that he says to Moses in Exodus chapter three, beginning in the fourth verse.

It says, and Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look. So God called to him from the midst of the bush and said,

Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. Then he said, do not come near here.

Remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

He said, also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the

God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.

And Yahweh said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. And I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters for I know their sufferings.

So I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to a place of the

Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the

Jebusite. So now behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me and I have also seen the oppression with which the

Egyptians are oppressing them. So now come and I will send you to Pharaoh and so you shall bring my people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt.

All of human history up to this point had existed to bring to God a people of his choosing, to bring them into him.

And as we open our text for today, we firstly see a reassertion that is the word of Yahweh who is speaking and commanding

Moses of these things. Now, time and time again in scripture, we see this repeated as a reminder by which not only

Moses, but other writers would speak the authority of God and deliver these truths to his people.

Sometimes we wonder why continue to repeat this known truth, but the reality is as years pass, as memories fade and the sinful nature of humanity corrupts all that it comes into contact with, it becomes easier to dismiss sacred scripture as nothing more than outdated writing from an old group of people that has absolutely nothing to do with our lives today.

So we have seen and we continue to see and continue to receive the reminder that this is the word of the living

God and that reminder becomes increasingly important.

Verse 10 here, verse 11 here is such a small verse, so many, just a few words, very simple.

It should first and foremost remind us that every other word that is recorded in sacred scripture are the words of God.

And secondly, because it is the word of our creator, we should stand up and pay careful attention to its truths.

Now, every Sunday, just prior to us reading God's word together, the text for that week, we stand and we are reminded that this is his inerrant, infallible, holy, authoritative, complete and sufficient word.

The truth is, this is merely a summation of what the 1689

Baptist Confession speaks to us in the very first paragraph as it opens up and says, the holy scriptures are the only sufficient, certain and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

The light of nature and the works of creation and providence so clearly demonstrate the goodness, wisdom and power of God, that people are left without excuse.

However, the demonstrations in creation and providence are not sufficient in themselves to give the knowledge of God and his will that is necessary for salvation.

Therefore, the Lord was pleased at different times and in various ways to reveal himself and to declare his will to his church, to preserve and propagate the truth better and to establish and comfort the church with greater certainty against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world.

The Lord put this revelation completely in writing, therefore, the holy scriptures are absolutely necessary because God's former ways of revealing his will to his people have now ceased.

So we use these words to remind us that these are

God's words, that these truths are God's truth to ensure that not only are we understanding that these are the words of God, but then we proceed into verse 12 with a reminder that the words of God are to the people of God.

And one of the things you will not see, no matter how hard you read these verses that we have read this morning, whether you are prolific in English or you are a scholar in Hebrew, you will not find the words that say, these are my people.

What you do find, however, is this action, this command that is given to Moses that denotes an ownership.

Notice verse 12, when you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a price of atonement for himself to Yahweh when you number them so that there will be no plague among you when you number them.

Multiple times in this particular passage, Moses is given the command to number the children of Israel.

The first clause literally translates to taking a head count, to determining exactly the number of people.

Now, there are varied disagreements among theologians as to exactly when this particular head count took place, how often this head count was to take place, whether this was a one -time event, whether it was an annual event that was repeated, whether it had anything to do with military because there is language here that is involving the military, specifically when we get down to verse 14, speaking of the males at 20 years of age or older, all of this information is things that we discuss and we try to figure out, but at the end of the day, the truth, the sole purpose of these things, that the one which we will concern ourself with here today is that this is an action that denotes ownership.

A .W. Pink provides this insight. When God numbers or orders anything to be numbered, taking the sum of them denotes that they belong to him and that he has a sovereign right to do with them as he pleases.

The action itself says of the things numbered, these are mine and I will assign them their place as I will.

Before the first and primary purpose of taking this census was to identify these people as God's people.

Now, as we started this morning, I referenced some secondary themes throughout the book of Exodus.

I wanna take a moment to flesh that out for you a little bit so that we see the other themes that are moving us through the book of Exodus.

In the beginning, we see the secondary theme that deals with a people in a place of bondage, in captivity, people in need of redemption.

Then we see people who are moved from a place of bondage and captivity to a place where holiness and power and glory of God is displayed for them.

And as the final plague fell, we saw the truth that they were purchased, they were redeemed, they were set free by the power of blood that was shed for them.

Then we saw these people who had been delivered, purchased, redeemed, but they, out of this action, rose specific duties and responsibilities as they were brought with a price and they were called into covenant with God, covenant in which they declared their obedience to Him as a result of their redemption, not in order to receive it.

And then all of these things bring us to the place where we are now, one in which we are shown the privilege of being the people of God, the ability to enter into the presence of God, to worship

God. And as the people of God, one of the first things this message has that God is delivered is that He will not share

His possession. As God counts

His people, as He has them numbered, He again reminds us that He will not share.

This is marked for us at the very beginning of the commandments. Exodus chapter 20, verses two and three,

I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me. The truth, however, is that this is not a new commandment.

This is a commandment that was written on the hearts of men, engraved on the heart of Adam in the

Garden of Eden, and it is still engraved in the hearts of men even today. This is why we find that we are without excuse.

We turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 21. We read in verses one through eight of a situation where David actually sinned by taking a census.

We read these words in 1 Chronicles chapter 21, verses one through eight. Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited

David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, go count

Israel from Beersheba even to Dan and bring me word that I may know their total count.

But Joab said, may Yahweh add to his people a hundred times as many as they are.

But my Lord, the king, are they not all my Lord's servants? Why does my

Lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel? Nevertheless, the king's word stood strong against Joab.

So Joab went out and went through all Israel and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the total count of the census of the people to David and all of Israel were 1 ,100 ,000 men who drew the sword and Judah was 470 ,000 men who drew the sword.

But he did not number Levi and Benjamin among them for the king's command was abominable to Joab and this thing was displeasing in the sight of God.

So he struck Israel. Then David said to God, I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing.

But now please take away the iniquity of your slave for I have acted very foolishly.

Some commentators have postulated that because David did not collect the atonement price, which we will discuss in a few moments, that this was the reason for the sin.

However, I believe that there is a much simpler truth here, namely that David in his pride and for his own glory chose to number these people as his own, not to bring glory or honor to God, but to bring glory and honor to himself to display the might of his kingdom.

Second Samuel chapter 24 also includes an account of this particular census and over there we read in verse three, but Joab said to the king, now may

Yahweh your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are while the eyes of my

Lord the king still see, but why does my Lord the king delight in this thing?

David found delight in seeing the largeness of that which he claimed as his own and because he claimed it as his own, he subverted the will of God.

We read that as the numbering occurred, the people here in Exodus were to give an atonement offering.

This is why we began this morning, we wanted to make it very clear where the people stood in reference to being delivered and redeemed because what we do not want to mistake, what we do not want to misunderstand is that this is not an attempt to purchase something.

It is very simple to read this passage and go, okay, well the people of Israel had to pay an atonement offering for the atonement of their souls, therefore it is necessary for us to pay an offering for the atonement of ours.

What is being done here is not a purchase of redemption, it is not a purchase of an atonement, it is acknowledgement of what

God has already completed in the life of his people.

If you recall, last week we spoke briefly about Numbers chapter nine, excuse me,

Leviticus chapter nine. In Leviticus chapter nine, we see the priest undertake the exact same ceremony that they undertook for their consecration, for their setting apart, but it was applied to the people.

And so the sin offering that was offered atoned for the sins of the people.

The price had been paid. The blood that was demanded had been offered.

And so the question comes, what exactly is this reminding them of and us of?

Well, let's begin with what it is saying to the people of Israel.

Now, first of all, it speaks to them in the simplest terms as a reminder of the cost of what it took to atone for their sins.

Now, there are some who argue that because there are military connotations within this passage, that the idea was that the atonement offering paid for any accidental sins that the people may commit as they went into battle and could possibly die before those sins were absolved.

Personally, if you read the word of God, if you study the truth of the word of God, it very quickly tells you just how ludicrous that particular line of thought is.

But when we take into consideration what else we know regarding this particular offering, its purpose becomes quite evident.

You may recall that as we looked at the individual components of the tabernacle, that we spoke of the bases that supported the curtains that formed the walls of the tent of meeting.

Those bases we find in Exodus 26 verse 19, where it says you shall make 40 bases of silver under the 20 boards, two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons.

And as we follow through the verses behind that, we see additional bases that are made.

And as we studied through this particular curtain being fabricated in these bases, we looked to the words that we find a little later in Exodus in the 38th chapter, when we read these words in verses 25 through 27.

The silver of those of the congregation who were numbered. So if you take just that first clause, it should tell you where this particular silver is coming from.

It was coming from the congregation of those who were numbered, those who we are reading about here in chapter 30 verses 11 through 16, the people of Israel that were numbered.

The silver of those of the congregation who were numbered was 100 talents and 1 ,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

A becca a head, that is half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for each one who passed over to those who were numbered from 20 years old and upward for 603 ,550 men.

100 talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil.

100 bases for 100 talents, a talent for a base. And as we talked about these bases, one of the things that we discussed was how, as the people would see these bases set up as a foundational component of the tabernacle, the sacrifice that was made, the price that was necessary to construct a place where God could dwell with his people, they would be reminded of that price of this half shekel, of the price of the blood that was spilled on their behalf.

And as we talked about how it was that way for them, it reminded us of that blood that was paid, that was spilled, that was shed on our behalf, that our atonement, our deliverance, our redemption was not purchased with something that would fade.

Peter writes it this way in 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your futile conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with a precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Now, within this passage in verse 13, we see an interesting statement regarding this half shekel.

We see here an explicit detail regarding that it be done so, if you look at verse 13, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

Now we could do a conversion here this morning based on historical evidences and things that we have learned regarding the values of the different currencies in Scripture and ancient

Israel and we could come up with a number that represented exactly what this half shekel would mean to us today, but at the end of the day, that's not the point of what we're looking at.

You see the standard here is the shekel of the sanctuary.

So there are two great truths that we are gonna look at about this atonement offering.

The first of those is that there was a standard by which the price was determined and secondly, which builds off of that truth, the cost is the same regardless of the individual.

So we see first in verse 13, the standard. Now, if you are unfamiliar with that terminology, a standard is something by which something is verified or is considered by an authority as a basis of comparison.

If you and I were to both take a tape measure and measure the width of this sanctuary, whether we did it in feet and inches or meters and centimeters, we would come up with a number.

And if we come up with that number and there is no standard to say exactly what an inch is or exactly what a centimeter is, then we may have completely different numbers for the same distance.

In the day and time of scripture, there is evidence that vendors would have two sets of scales, one set for buying and one set for selling.

The set for selling obviously would weigh everything heavier, the set for buying would weigh everything lighter. And so it would benefit the person.

But there is this value that is being utilized here.

Now, commentators have postulated that this value is something that equates with the temple tax or the

Roman drachmas that are required as Rome takes over. None of these things are certain.

The most important truth here is being taken away from, and that is that the shekel of the sanctuary was the shekel by which all other shekels were verified.

It was the set measure and determination of the correct and proper value.

For the people of Israel, it would have been the standards of God. You may recall as we worked through reading

Psalm 119 on Sunday mornings, one of the things that we continually talked about was how it continually refers to the law of God, the word of God, the standard of God.

These are all things that are set forth. And so for the people of Israel, they would have seen this as the commands where God were from God measured by God held to his standards, not theirs.

For us, it shouldn't be a lot different. It should remind us that scripture is the word of God, that just as we read earlier, it is the standard by which our lives are to be lived.

Now, the world would like to challenge this.

The world would like to have you believe that this is nothing more than pure foolishness.

They even want to use the words of God to convince you that the words of God are foolishness.

There's not a Christian in this room that has taken the time and spoke to somebody who is not a Christian, who has not had the words, judge not thrown back in their face.

Well, just so we're all clear this morning, let's look at the passage of scripture that actually deals with that.

Before we do that, however, what I want to look at is the great temptation of our

Lord. And I want to see exactly what he did in response to this temptation from the enemy.

We read in Matthew's gospel, the fourth chapter, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he became hungry. And then the tempter came to him and said, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread.

But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you.

And on their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him again, it is written, you shall not put the

Lord your God to the test. And again, the devil took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, go

Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And the devil left him and behold, the angels came and began to minister to him.

I wonder if you call it in the middle of that in what Mark or Matthew records as the second temptation.

That Satan uses the word of God to try and convince the son of God that he should ignore the word of God.

He said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you. But in the word of God, this is written.

Also that on their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. And it consistently,

Christ's response back to Satan was to go back to the word.

And so when the world throws the word at you, rejoice and take them back to the word.

Matthew chapter seven, as we come to the end of Christ's discourse, the

Sermon on the Mount, we read those famous words. Do not judge so that you will not be judged, but let us continue.

Because what he goes on to say is for what, with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.

And with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you. A little bit later in verse 24, we read, do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

Excuse me, that's John 7, 24. The command is not to not judge.

The command that is given is that when we judge others, it must be done according to a standard.

That standard is the same standard by which you and I are judged.

Listen, we will all judge others. We will all see the actions and call them out.

What we are called to do is not do it in such a way that makes it seem as if we are better, as if we are perfect, as if we have it all figured out, but to do so in humility, to do so in love, to do so in grace, the lives of those who are

God's people, the standard by which we live is

Holy Scripture. The standard for those who are

God's people is Holy Scripture. It is not our personal thoughts.

It is certainly not our emotions. It is not the thoughts or writings of others.

It is the clear, concise truth of God's Word. Don't misunderstand me.

There have been many great writers throughout the centuries. They have written many marvelous things for us to read, but brothers and sisters, they were not inspired by the

Holy Spirit and as such are susceptible to error, prone to fallacy, certainly are not fully sufficient, nor do they carry the ultimate authority that is reserved for the

Word of God alone. That great prince of preachers,

Charles Spurgeon, wrote, visit many good books, but live in the

Bible. There's nothing wrong with reading many good books, but the many good books are not your final and ultimate authority.

It is the Word of the living God. This is the essence of the cry of the reformers.

When we hear the words sola scriptura or according to Scripture alone, tradition is important, but tradition is subject to failure and error.

It is only important as it aligns properly and rightly with Scripture, the closed canon of God's Word.

Hebrews chapter one, verses one and two, God having spoken long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days spoke to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also made the worlds, demonstrates that the time of the prophets has passed.

Second Peter writing, Peter writing his second letter in first chapter verses 18 through 21, and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain describing the events surrounding on the

Mount of Transfiguration. Peter recalls for us this massive event, but listen to what he continues to say.

He says, we heard all of these things on the side of the mountain and we have as more sure the prophetic word to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

Know this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes by one's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the

Holy Spirit spoke from God. Imagine the apostle

Peter writing to us, demonstrating to us that this word, this text that we have, the more sure prophetic word is better even than the witnessing that he did because this is the complete revealed truth, word of the living

God. And it is on this foundation, this standard that all of truth hangs.

For you see, the standard that we see back in Exodus chapter 30, the standard of the shekel defined for them what a half shekel was and as we go down into verse 15, we see these words, the rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel when you give the contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls, regardless of the individual, regardless of their station, regardless of their knowledge, regardless of their family, regardless of their history, regardless of whether they grew up in church or didn't grow up in church, the price was the same.

Everyone paid the same. This affirmed to the children of Israel that they were equal in the eyes of God, the price, the cost, it was for the same for all who came.

How true this is for us today. We live in a world where people are valued based on their merit.

The more you can contribute to society, the more valuable you are.

This completely goes against what God demonstrates in his word for his people.

Observe, if you will, for just a moment. We will begin in a verse that all of you are very familiar with.

The first few words of this particular verse are for the wages of sin is death.

Now, if you were to go to that particular passage, Romans 6 verse 23, and you were to study that passage in its context, and you were to dig through the rest of the book of Romans, what you would find is that there is only one thing conditional on that price, and that is that you are human, that it does not matter where you were born, when you were born, how you were born, to whom you were born, where you currently live, where you used to live, what life you have had.

It only matters that you are a person. And as a person, as a human, you have fallen.

And we, we are all subject to that same price, to that same cost for our sin.

That price, death. I'm not talking about physical death.

Yes, physical death comes for us all. Yes, each of us here will face this point in time where our mortal life ends.

But there is a death that should be of far greater concern to us. What Scripture refers to as the second death.

You see, the enemy of this world has done his job well in distracting people, making us think that there is no fate worse than a physical death.

Making us think that there is nothing after this life. Making us believe all of these silly notions.

Yet Scripture is true, Scripture is real, Scripture is clear, that there is a spiritual death, one in which we find ourselves unless we have been regenerated by the

Holy Spirit and through faith alone are saved.

That death, that second death. That is the death to experience for all eternity.

I want you to hear me clearly. The second death, the spiritual death, is not to go to a place where God is not.

It is to go to a place where you are eternally under the wrath of Almighty God.

The full and unadulterated wrath.

You remember the biblical pictures of wrath, right? Fire coming out of an altar consuming people because they offered strange fire.

Lightning striking people dead because they disobeyed God and touched His ark.

Or maybe the most prominent image in all of Scripture is as Christ hung on Calvary's cross, crucified, barely able to breathe, hours of agony, which led to our

Savior crying out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?

Darkness fell, the earth shook, the veil was torn, graves were opened.

Brothers and sisters, are you getting the picture of the wrath of God? Now imagine that for all eternity. That's the price.

That is the one price death that we all face.

But the rest of verse 23, the rest of what we find in just that one little verse,

Romans chapter six, verse 23, tells us that that one price, that one price has been paid.

He goes on to say, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. I want you to understand something though.

I want you to understand that this is not, this is not a get out of jail free card.

This is not something that applies to all people everywhere for all time. This is not a situation where it doesn't matter what you confess.

You can simply be who you are and be okay. Listen, despite what the world has told you, you're not enough.

Despite what the world has told you, it's not okay to be okay. Yes, the wages of sin are death.

Yes, the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. But unless the

Spirit move within your life, unless you place your faith and your trust and your hope in Christ Jesus alone for salvation, in his finished work on the cross, nothing that you can provide, then you will pay that ultimate price.

But thanks be to God. Thanks be to God for the words of the

Apostle Peter, again, as he write, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things.

Brothers and sisters, if you're sitting here this morning, if you've placed your faith and hope and trust in Christ alone, in his finished work, you were redeemed not with perishable things such as silver and gold, not from your futile conduct inherited from your forefathers, not because Mammy and Pawpaw went to church, but because of the blood of Christ, the precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless.

That, that is the only reason that any of us can stand here, delivered and redeemed.

This price that is commanded here in Exodus chapter 30 verses 11 through 16 demonstrates for us this reality that the richness, that God's not looking for silver, he's not looking for financial gain.

What he is doing, what he has been doing, what he has always been doing is shaping a people for his own possession.

The census, the half shekel offering, we're not about counting heads and collecting coins.

That's not what all of this scripture is about. It is about identifying those who belong to him.

Reminding those who belong to him of the cost of being counted among his people. Establishing that they are equal standing before him, but that they are utterly dependent on him and his provision.

The silver bases of the tent of beating, the tabernacle proper, stood as enduring witnesses of this truth.

If you notice verse 16 here says, then you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of tent of meeting that it may be a remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.

That they be reminded that every Israelite who gazed upon the dwelling place of God would be reminded that they had been bought with a price.

That they would be reminded of their place in the community of God was not self -earned, but divinely granted.

That their worship rested on a foundation far more precious and glorious than silver.

That we sitting here this morning, that our foundation of worship is something far more glorious than silver.

It is the blood of the unblemished lamb of God. Which brings us to that precious blood of Christ.

His word is the standard, the measure, his blood, the price.

Listen, whether we are rich or poor, whether we are slave or free, weak or strong, man or woman, none of us are exempt.

None of us are exempt from the cost of sin. And yet for all who are found in Christ, the debt has been paid in full.

There's not one ounce of righteousness that you can add. Not one moment of shame that can outweigh the sacrifice of Christ.

His blood alone, his righteousness alone.

Faith in him through grace according to the word of God for the glory of God alone.

And so the question today is, are you numbered? Are you numbered among the people of God?

Listen, there is coming, if you're not aware of this, there's coming another great numbering. We could turn and spend another few hours discussing it, but there's coming another great numbering.

When that day comes, when that numbering begins, when the

Lord takes account, when he numbers his redeemed, will your name be counted among them?

Have you been marked? Not by silver, but by the precious crimson stain of Christ's blood applied by faith.

Are you standing upon the sure foundation of Christ? Or are you still trying to trust in your own hands, your own effort, your own work?

Let's pray. Gracious and merciful father, we come before you in awe and gratitude, humbled, humbled by the truth that we have been bought with a far greater price than silver or gold, the price, the precious blood of your son, our

Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for the unshakable foundation that you have laid in Christ, foundation that cannot be moved by the storms of life or the failures of our flesh.

Lord, we confess that far too often we forget the cost of our redemption.

We are tempted to measure our worth by the standards of this world and to trust in our own efforts rather than in the sufficiency of the

Lord Jesus. Lord, we pray for forgiveness.

We pray for restoration. We pray that we are restored to the joy of your salvation and that a steadfast spirit is renewed within us.

Father, teach us to treasure your word as the only sure standard for our lives.

Lord, may we live as those who have been marked by grace, equal at the foot of the cross, bound together in love and united in the hope of eternal life.

Keep us faithful, oh Lord, until the day when you gather all your people and we see our redeemer face to face.