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All right, amen. Well, one announcement that I didn't read during the announcement time because I was kind of getting robot mode up here with the announcements, is Ms. Maribel had a baby last night. So, her name is Leanna Mutong and she was born safe and healthy and so of course we want to keep them in our prayers because Ms. Maribel had to have a C-section. But all is well, so it went great, nine months of praying, you know, and that's the worst of it, the C-section, we can definitely live with that and be happy and rejoice in that. So again, don't forget to keep them in your prayers. So, with that being said, we're in Leviticus, chapter number 16. And if you look down real quickly at verse 21, the Bible says, And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. Now, the title of the sermon this morning is Two Goats and a Fit Man. Two Goats and a Fit Man. You might be thinking, what does this mean? Well, that's what I'm going to do this morning. I'm going to explain what this means and we're going to roll this. Basically, we're going to look at these goats. We're going to look at the atonement, what that means. We're going to talk about this fit man last and kind of how that fits into the new year. So, with that being said, keep your place in Leviticus 16. We're going to come back to it quite often, but go back in your Bible to Exodus, chapter number 30. Exodus chapter number 30. So, Two Goats and a Fit Man. I'm going to show you. So this is kind of one of those sermons where there's a long Bible study and then a little tiny bit of application at the end. That's just kind of how this one came out. I've had this idea now for quite a while, so it's time to cross it off my list and I figured what better time to do it than New Year's Eve. So, we're going to do that. So, Day of Atonement. Let's just get a little bit of an overview of what this was in the Old Testament. We'll of course explain to you what that means for us today in the New Testament. But, Exodus chapter number 30, look down at verse number 10. So, the Bible says, And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it, meaning the altar, once in a year. So, you see that once in a year. So, because it says that, I figured this was fitting for today because today is New Year's Eve. So, okay, the Day of Atonement happens when? Once in a year, or I should say happened past tense once in a year, with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. And here it is again, once in the year, shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy unto the Lord. Now, since we're constantly trying to improve ourselves and to Zionist proof our way of thinking, I want you to look at that word, you're there. Okay. So, he says at the end of the verse that's once in the year, shall he make atonement, meaning the high priest or Aaron in this situation, shall he make atonement upon it through your generations. Now, remember reading the King James Bible, the these, thou's, ye's, your, these words are very important. If it starts with a T, it is singular. If it starts with a Y, it is plural. Now, more often than not, when you see the your, it is plural, but it means specifically to a group. Okay. Why is that important? Well, that's important because people, especially Zionist, they will point to this verse and say, see, you have no right pal. You have no right to say that the children of Israel today, or these Israelites today, you have no right to say that they can't be sacrificing animals and you're against Jesus and all this stuff. Okay. Well, let's understand why it says through your generations. Okay. Now go to Hebrews chapter number 10, Hebrews chapter number 10. So you might be thinking, well, great. What does the word atonement mean? What, what, what does that mean? What you're going to find it means is basically, you know, you reading through the Old Testament, it means to cleanse or, um, to make right with God, uh, to remove sin, if you will. Okay. And people will say, well, see this process here is how they got saved in the Old Testament. There's a lot of weird doctrines, but it's very easy to clear up. If you're the type of person that reads the entire Bible, you believe the full counsel of God, take the word atonement and break it down into three sections. And you'll never forget what this means. Okay. At one O N E mint. Okay. And that last word, M E N T just think in your mind moment. So at one moment. Okay. And we'll, I'll show you what at one moment means here in a minute. So you're in Hebrews chapter number 10. Okay. And so God's telling Moses, Hey, okay. This procedure here of the day of atonement will be for your generations, meaning specifically this physical nation here, their generations. Okay. This was not meant to go on in perpetuity. Okay. Hebrews chapter number 10, look at verse number one. So the writer of Hebrews says this for the law. That's exactly where we're at this morning. We're in the law. Okay. For the law having a shadow of good things to come. Now that's what we're doing this morning. We're going to take this shadow that we just read in Leviticus chapter 16, and we're going to use the Bible. We're going to use the new Testament to shed some light on that and then figure out how to apply that for some, some motivation for the new year. So he says for the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually make the comers there unto perfect. So even back then, when this was going on, when you're reading about the process of the day of atonement, okay. That did not make them righteous. That did not make them perfect. That did not physically, spiritually take away their sins. Okay. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So the time and point in history when that was completed, when he did that, that covered everything eternal. Okay. Past, present and future. So what God is having them do is symbolic. Okay. And you say, no, you're crazy. I don't believe that. Look at verse two. So we just learned in verse one. Okay. That these things are a shadow and they were never to make people perfect. Verse two, for then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. Okay. Well, what does that mean? What that means is when you understand the real atonement, the real sacrifice that happened at one moment. Okay. What we're supposed to understand from this verse is that we have no more conscience of sins. Meaning we're not like every single year, like, okay, you know, now I got to do a new sacrifice. Now I've got to repent of all my sins and try to earn my way into heaven. There's none of that. We get that. We understand that. Verse three, but in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again, made of sins every year. So they understood this is a great moment. The end of the year here, or this time in the year where we do this atonement, they're like, okay, great. We're good to go for a little while, but next year we got to do it all over again. And this was a year by year thing. Okay. Look at verse number four. For it is not possible. Okay. So if it's, if the writer here is telling you that something is not possible, is it okay for us to go back and say, well, actually, no, no, no. It is possible. Well, no. Look at the language here. For it is not possible. What is not possible? For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Okay. You have to understand this. You have to know this as a believer. It's right here in the New Testament in plain English, but you would be surprised at how many people ignore this, don't know this, don't want to believe this, overlook this or what have you. And it leads to shipwreck. That's what it leads to. Okay. It is not possible that what we read today about the bullock and the goats, that that process would physically take away sin. So what does it mean? It's a picture. It's a shadow. One of the things we constantly get bombarded with is, oh, you, you just read the Old Testament and try to pull these pictures and you just symbolic, you just symbolize everything. That's what it's for. It's what this says. Okay. Rightly dividing the word of truth. That is how we do it here. Verse number five. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body has thou prepared me. Okay. And we'll take a look at that here in a second. We know what that means. That's, that's a reference to Jesus Christ. And he's quoting an Old Testament passage there. Psalm 40 Isaiah one. You can find it in those passages there, but look at verse six in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Thou has had no pleasure. Okay. Now go back to Leviticus chapter number 16. Let's take a look at this process here. And of course, we're going to unpack this process here and apply it to today. But before we do that, before we get to this fit man and get our application, we have to understand these two goats. Okay. What, what does that symbolize? And I get, there's a bullock and two goats and that's three. And that makes a complete sacrifice. Okay. We're just focusing this morning though on these two goats and of course the fit man and how that applies to us. So let's get this started here. Okay. The day of atonement process. Look at this here in verse five, Leviticus 16 verse number five. The Bible says, and he shall take, so this is Aaron, the high priest in the future. He shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids of the goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Okay. So two kids of the goats, two young goats is what that means. Look at, jump down to verse number seven. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So also remember during this time, there's no temple yet. Remember they had the portable tabernacle with the altar, the mercy seat and all of those things. Now look at verse number eight. Okay. So remember the Lord is present. Verse seven, verse eight and the Lord shall, I'm sorry, and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats. Okay. I've done a sermon about lots before. I don't want to take a lot of time to explain that on that process, but they're going to do this process where they cast lots upon these two goats and there's going to be a decision made. This is beyond just rolling the dice. This has nothing to do with taking that eight ball toy at Walmart, shaking it up and looking at your future. Okay. This is a process that God gave the children of Israel for communication. That's kind of how God spoke to them back then. See Hebrews one for more details. So Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats and then there's going to be a result. Okay. Each goat will be specifically chosen for a purpose. Now look at what it says next. One for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. So one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. Okay. Verse nine and Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering. Okay. So the one lot that falls on the goat is going to be the Lord's. That one is going to have something happen to it. Okay. That one is going to be a sacrifice. Look at verse 10, but the goat which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. So let's back up here. Okay. And let's get this picture right. Let's look at the goat. We'll call it goat number one. Okay. The first goat, the goat that is going to be sacrificed. So what happens to this? What does this mean? We'll jump down to verse number 15. Okay. So one lot for the Lord. This is the one that's going to get killed. Look at verse 15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So again, I don't have time to break down the whole bullock thing. It's very simple. It gets killed, sacrificed. The blood gets sprinkled on the altar. The same thing happens with this goat here. Okay. Verse 16 and he shall make an atonement for the holy place. So what is the purpose of this? Why does the Lord's lot fall on this kid of the goat? Okay. Well, because the children of Israel are unclean. Look what it says next. Okay. Verse 16 and he shall make an atonement for the holy place. So something has happened to that holy place. Here it is because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions and all their sins and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. But understand now that we have more than just a shadow. We realize what these things mean. These things are trying to teach us something in the future. So let's look at that fulfillment. Go to Romans chapter number five. And so this goat here physically dies. It gets killed, which obviously pictures what? It pictures Jesus Christ. Pictures the sacrifice that he did for the world. Romans chapter five, verse number eight. Very familiar verse. It says, but God commandeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Verse nine, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. So again, people saying, oh, if Jesus were to come back today, he would be hanging out at the alphabet bars and with hookers and all of this stuff. That's just nonsense. Okay. What does this say? By his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Meaning if you don't have that blood covering you, you will someday experience wrath through him. That is Christ who is God. Verse 10, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Okay. Now here's what I want you to see about the word atonement and what the atonement is for us today. Okay. Verse 11, Romans chapter five. And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now, now look at this next word, received the atonement, received the atonement. Not receiving and receiving and receiving, not receiving today and next year and the year after, but received one time. Okay. So again, if someone asks you, Hey, what does the word atonement mean? You say at one moment. Okay. One sacrifice received one time covers all sins, past, present and future. Okay. So this is what that first goat pictured. It was a shadow of the physical death that Jesus would suffer for us. Romans chapter five, very clear, but God commanded his love toward us. And then while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And you see the same thing here in the old Testament, while they were yet sinners, they had this process that God had given them to picture the atonement for their sins. See that? So again, a lot of, a lot of false doctrine being dispelled this morning. Okay. This is not easy. So try to follow along. But somebody saying to you like, Hey, no, in the old Testament, they were saved by the sacrifices. It's very clear that is false doctrine. That is not true. That is incorrect. Okay. Now go back to Leviticus 16. So just wanted you to see what the, the new Testament, the light that the new Testament shines on the shadow here of the old Testament. So one goat, goat number one is a physical death. It dies physically, which pictures the physical death of Christ. Now here's where a lot of weird stuff can get injected into the Bible. What about the second goat? What does that picture? Okay. I was reading different banter by these scholars and different so-called preachers online. And they were like, well, this one's the devil. This one picture Satan. And then another one's like, I'm not sure if I could quite see that, but you know, that's not a bad interpretation. Does anybody in here see a problem with the devil bearing the sins of the people? I mean, think about what you're saying here. Think about what you're listening to. Okay. This is absolutely insane. So we're going to jump down now to verse number 20. What about the second goat? If the first goats, the physical death, that takes care of the whole gospel is what people say. Okay. So what's the deal? What's the meaning behind the second one? That's what we have to understand and find out. Verse 20, when he has made an end of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. So once the first goat is processed, once the first goat is dealt with and done for now, symbolically the children of Israel and the holy place, okay, are now good to go, but not until this is done. Look at verse 21. Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. And he shall send them away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. Okay. So this second goat, now symbolically, you know, we've talked recently about the doctrine of laying on of hands. Well, here's an example of what that is, and we're going to learn what that means. Now, I don't know about you. You can believe whatever you want. I just think it's a little bit weird to say that this represents the devil. Like where is that in the new Testament that he, all the sins are put on him. Okay. Now I've heard that from the new evangelical community. I've heard that, well, it's his fault, right? The devil made me do it. Okay. Well, the devil definitely didn't help. Okay. But it was man's choice to do what man did. And I think a lot of times that humanity, that we would be surprised at who's really creating a lot of evil. You know, something I constantly think about, not constantly think about, but I have thought about and talked about in the past is a lot of times we'll take a look at, I don't know, things that the entertainment industry creates like these horror movies. And it's like, how could something like that come into someone's head? Now, obviously we look at that and we say, yeah, that's satanic. You take a look at a lot of this rock and roll stuff, like Marilyn Manson, you know, 90s, you know, tool, different things like that. It's pretty, pretty wicked, pretty evil. Nobody, nobody debates that. Okay. But I often wonder if we could actually have a face to face with God, or if someday we're going to learn, like actually the devil didn't create that, man did. I'm not sticking up for the devil. I'm just saying that I think a lot of times we're a little bit more wicked, just, just humanity in general than we like to admit. Okay. So that rant is over. Verse, the end of verse 21. So putting them upon the head of the goat and shall send them away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, verse 22, and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities in, I'm sorry, unto a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. What does this mean? What, what is this a shadow of? Okay. You got people all over the place. Well, that's the devil's got to be the devil. Okay. And it says wilderness and you've got Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew four and the devil. So yeah, that's it. That's not how we interpret the Bible. Okay. That's not how we do it. It's not how we study the Bible. Oh, well, this word's here and this word's in this passage. So we just put them together and make a doctrine. We don't do that. Okay. We don't do that. We have to understand what words mean. We have to understand the process in which things are laid out. Hebrews 10 is very clear. It's crystal clear. These things were a shadow of what? Good things to come. Hey, good news. The devil bore your sins. No, that is not good news. That is not even remotely true. So again, what does this mean? What does this picture and what this pictures gets a lot of people very angry very quickly. Okay. You may not agree. And that's okay. Verse 22 and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. Now here is the key to understanding the shadow right here. Look at this unto a land. Remember nothing is in the Bible by coincidence. No scripture has anything just vain or empty. And we talked about this on Wednesday unto a land not inhabited. Okay. Not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. So this goat is going to be brought into the wilderness specifically says unto a land not inhabited. So what could we say about that? Well, this goat, which symbolically bears the sins of the nation of Israel is going to go into a place where there's no living. Okay. The place is there. It's alive. It's thriving. It's the wilderness. Okay. It's dangerous. It has its beast. It has all these things, but it's not inhabited. There's no living people there. We know that these things are a shadow. What could this possibly mean? Well, go to revelation chapter number 20. And what you're going to see is the answer lies in really understanding who Jesus is and the complete sacrifice. You really, when you understand, and we'll look at this in a second, when you understand the real definition of resurrection, this is all going to make sense. So why does this second goat, which bears the sins, okay, of their iniquities have to go amongst the unliving into a place where it's not inhabited? Is there another place like this? Remember first goat, goat number one, it's all physical. It's all physical. This goat, the way it's written in the process for the second goat is all unseen. It goes out to where you don't see. Okay. And it never comes back. That means something here. Let me give you a hint. Revelation 20, look at verse 13. And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it and death and hell delivered up the what? The dead, which were in them. Okay. Very important. And they were judged every man according to their works. Verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So is there a place outside unseen in the eternal that we could kind of maybe connect wilderness to? A place that's uninhabited. Now I would say, yes, that place would be hell. You say, yeah, but there's people there. Well, that's true. There are people there, but they're dead. There's no living there. Okay. That's the connection. So this goat in Leviticus chapter 16 verse 22, the second goat symbolically has these sins placed on him. And he is carried out into the wilderness where there's no living, where it's uninhabited. You're starting to see where I'm going with this. Go to Acts chapter number two, and I'll show you. This is why people get upset. Okay. Obviously people in hell are conscious. Okay. They're awake. They experience everything, but the Bible says they're dead. They're not living. Okay. And they are not living. So if you're starting to see where I'm going with this and what this second one pictures, why you need to understand these things and put them together. Okay. Because truth is truth from the beginning of the Bible, all the way to the end. Okay. Acts chapter two, verse 24. You guys, by now we've mentioned this a few times over the last couple of weeks, Peter here giving a sermon at the day of Pentecost, explaining Christ and what was going on. Now verse 24, Peter speaking here, he says, talking about Christ whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. So when we look at the death of Jesus Christ, the complete picture, we know that he was nailed to that cross. And the Bible says that when he was on that cross, he bore the sins of the entire world. We see his physical death, that he died on the cross. He gave up the ghost. He was placed in the tomb three days later. He comes out. Okay. We see that, but the question is, okay, that's one aspect. That's the picture that we're told about with the first go, but what about the second go? What about what happened during the time of the physical death? Where did his soul go? Oh, not this again. Okay. So again, verse 24 here, whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, pains, present tense, ongoing. Okay. A lot of people say, well, after you die, that's it. This is just game over. Okay. They're at peace now. There's no more suffering. Okay. Are you sure you want to say that? Are you sure about that? Are you 100% sure about that? Okay. Look at the language here, whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death. So that means that when he physically died and was placed in the tomb, there was ongoing pains, present tense pains during that death. What does this mean? Verse 25, for David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Verse 26, therefore, did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope, present tense. Verse 27, because, now here is why. Okay. Here is why he shall rest in hope because that will not leave my soul in hell. Where's hell? Who's in hell? Are the living in hell? No, the dead are there. Okay. Shall not leave my soul in hell. Neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And of course, we all know the bantering back and forth. Oh, hell's Hades. It's just the grave. It's a shield. No, you're just a Catholic Pope. You're just a Catholic Pope wannabe. That's all you are. People that say that they're nothing more than a Catholic Pope wannabe. They want you to be able to go to him for all your truth and all your answers. Because now you can't look at the English language here and say, well, it says hell. You went to hell. No, no, it doesn't mean that. It means something else. Okay. This is wrong. What does this say here? Where was his soul? So we see goat number one was physically slain. The blood physically sprinkled on the altar. But the other process of that in order to solidify this entire process of the day of atonement in the old Testament, which happens once a year, this other thing must be done. And that is the high priest goes out, lays his hands on the goat and symbolically places all the sins on the head of the goat. And that goat is brought out into the wilderness. And it specifically says a land not inhabited. Okay. What does that picture? Well, that picture is this right here. Jump down to verse 31. He's seeing this before. Spake of the resurrection of Christ. So again, you're taking a test. Someone says, define for me what the resurrection is in order to get it right. This has to be your answer. There's no other way you can say it. This has to be your answer. It has to have two things right here. Look what it says. That his soul was not left in hell. That his soul was not left in hell. Number one, that must be part of your answer. You do not understand the resurrection. You are not getting it right. This has to be your answer. That his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. You see that? Two aspects there. How many goats are we dealing with in Leviticus 16? Two goats. One physical, the other symbolically has the sins placed on him. And he is brought out into the wilderness. You don't see or hear from that goat ever again. He goes amongst the wilderness. He is out there forever. He cannot come back into the camp. What is this a picture of? This is a picture of the fact that Jesus took upon himself the sins of the entire world. And one time went down there and left him there. He removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. They're done with. It's over. It's gone. It's not an issue anymore. You cannot pay for them. You cannot do anything with them to try to earn your way into heaven because the atonement at one moment was done one time. And if you're saved, you have received one time forever that atonement. Okay. And again, go back to Leviticus 16. We'll see how this applies to the new year and all this stuff here in just a second. Okay. So goat number one is the physical sacrifice, the physical side of the death of the main offering that Jesus did. Goat number two pictures the unseen because we don't get to see what happens to that goat. It's out there forever. It's done for. It goes away, goes out there, can't come back and that whole thing. Okay. Well, I mean, the way I see it is that perfectly pictures the death burial and resurrection. It completely pictures the gospel. The fact that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose again the third day. And of course, during that process there during those three days, we know where his soul was and we know why it had to go there. Okay. To pay for the sins. That's the eternal part. Okay. Of the sacrifice. So hopefully that makes sense. Now let's enter the fit man. Okay. The title of the sermon is two goats and a fit man. What does this mean for us in the new year? Before we get there, let's just talk about this fit man here. Okay. Verse 21. And Aaron shall he both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. Now we get that. We understand this. Now we understand the shadow of this. Okay. Why this has to be here. Why it couldn't just be the physical side. Okay. God was trying to communicate something. God wanted people in the future to understand the complete and the full sacrifice that Jesus did. The physical aspect, but also the parts you don't see the eternal. Okay. So it says, uh, let's see, where did I stop here? Putting them upon the head of the goat and he shall and shall send him away by the hand. Now look at this of a fit man into the wilderness. Okay. A fit man. What does this mean? What in the world is this talking about? Well, once a year, the man would be responsible for taking the scapegoat into the wilderness. This teaches us a lot without actually having to say it in words. Okay. And not just any man, the only qualification that this guy has to have is that he has to be fit. Why? What does this entail? Well, he has to be fit because he has to carry this goat and you can tell that he's going to have to carry it for quite the distance. Okay. So what is that a reference to? Well, it's a reference to a fit body, right? That's what it's saying. A fit man, as opposed to an unfit man, a person that could not make the journey. Are you starting to see the connection here? Who was the fit man to actually do this? Who was the fit man that actually was able to do this in real time? Well, we know it was Jesus Christ. He bore our sins. The goat, the second goat there, once, once the high priest transferred the sin symbolically on that goat, the fit man now is able, the one who was qualified is now able to carry that, to bear that. And he's the one that takes it out to the wilderness. But the great thing as we read the chapter this morning is that guess what? He comes back. Okay. And that's how you also teach this. Okay. He comes back. Okay. He comes back and he has to bathe his flesh and he has to change his raiment and so on and so forth. So back to this fit man. Okay. He had to be fit. So we know why he had to be fit because he had to carry a load out into the wilderness, a decent ways out there so that he could get to a land that's not inhabited. You're not just going to take him like from here down to pojos or even down to the Chinese buffet. Okay. That's not going to work because the thing's probably gonna find its way back. Okay. So we had to go a great distance. So this is why he had to be fit in body. Okay. But he also had to be dependable. He had to know when it was the right time to drop the goat off. So what does that mean he had to be fit wise? We had to be fit mentally because he had to be competent to say, this is the spot where I can drop this thing off to where it will never come back. It will never return ever, ever again. Now what else does this mean? Well, this also would mean that he would have to be able to control his emotions. He would have to be able to say, I've got this, this, this innocent kid here, innocent goat. And I have to leave it out in the wilderness in danger where there's wild beasts around. There's no one living that can actually function and take care of this thing. He had to control those emotions and be able to look at that and say, this is where you stay. I'm bouncing. I'm going back. So he couldn't be a bleeding heart. So what does that mean? So the fit man had to have a fit body, but he also had to have a fit mind, but he also had to have fit emotions. Okay. So you see these three aspects here without even saying it, this is what this fit man would have had to have fit mind, fit body, fit emotions. Now go to second Corinthians chapter number five, second Corinthians chapter number five. And of course, you know, this is obviously applicable to us, right? We want to make sure that we're physically fit, especially as the times are going on, right? 2024 might be a pretty odd year. We, you know, there's a lot of rumors and back and forth. We know the border's wide open. People are flooding in here. It was all this talk about the white man being, you know, eradicated and being the minority. Something at some point might happen and having a little bit of strength and fitness could benefit us if not this year, but later on down the road. And I don't want to spend too much time on that. I'll do a sermon on that some other time. Okay. But everybody agrees, you know, we should have some fitness, right? I mean, if you, if you're not physically fit, you know, it makes it difficult to do daily tasks, go out and knock doors and to do the mission of Christ. Okay. But we also obviously want to have a fit mind. Want to have a fit mind and constantly be learning and feeding ourselves so that we can carry out the mission of Christ. And of course the emotional part, which is probably one of the hardest things to actually get control of because of the way that we're brought up and just because of human nature. You know, that old man wants to be first. The old man wants to be right. The old man wants things to just be swell or, you know, just to be good to go. No problems. Okay. And when problems do arise, you know, we need to make sure that we're able to control those emotions and carry on with the mission just like this fit man would have done. Now here's how this all obviously also applies to us. 2 Corinthians 5 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, we know that this fit man pictures Christ. We know that that's pretty obvious. Look at what this says here. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, well, are you saved? Are you born again? Well, guess what? You are in Christ. He is a new creature. This ain't the new King James version. Okay. You are a new creature. You have this new creature inside of you. The new man is what this is talking about is in you. Old things are present tense. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Again, go back to the atonement at one moment. Okay. When is that received? And how many times is it received? Well, in our day and age, it's received one time because Jesus did the real sacrifice, which was good enough for one offering one single time. So my encouragement for us in the new year, we are in Christ. We are in the ultimate fit man. Therefore, we can have the mind of Christ. We can have the fitness to be able to carry on and do things. Why? Because we understand truth. We're not caught up on this fad, that fad, you know, this workout. Oh, you know, you have to follow this specific plan. No, we understand what the Bible says. The true honest health comes from controlling your negative emotions and thoughts. I mean, look, I could go to all kinds of different verses in the Proverbs that talk about if you're a negative person, if you're constantly under that kind of stress, it physically impacts you. It physically hurts you. Okay. So there's that whole aspect to that, but also the emotional aspect. Okay. Having the mind of Christ will allow you to be able to be not only fit physically, but fit mentally and fit emotionally. Go to Luke chapter number nine. This is where we're going to end. Luke chapter number nine. So I told you kind of a long, you know, drawn out kind of a study to explain a picture, two goats and a fit man. And then, of course, what the fit man means for us. We are in the fit man. We understand his role in the Old Testament. Had to be a fit guy to be able to carry out. That mission was very important. Okay. This was not a game. This was not something like, well, if you can, bud, take him out there so he doesn't come back. No, this was like, if we see this goat come back in the camp, all hell is going to break loose. Okay. Could you imagine being an Old Testament Israelite and you send somebody who you think is a fit man and he's just like, all right, grabs a goat, just stumbling, falling down, takes him like half a mile down the street. Later that night, that thing comes walking back in, you know, that would symbolize nothing good. Okay. Nothing good. So obviously this was a serious thing. This guy had to be on his game to be able to take that goat out into the wilderness so that he would not come back. We know that pictures Christ because that is what he did with our sins and demonstrated that and we're in him. So what does that mean? Well, that means that we have the ability to really be fit. I'm not saying you can't listen to your favorite fitness influence or whatever. That's, that's totally fine. You know, but here's the other thing, right? We don't want to be an off-balance creature. The fit man understands balance. Okay. You don't want to be like, well, I can't go to church today cause I gotta work my biceps. You know, I don't want to go to church today cause I gotta make sure I hit my, you know, deadlift PR. All those things are good, but keep it in balance. Okay. Don't neglect one for the other. You want that fit body. You want that fit mind and you want to be fit emotionally. You don't want to be unstable. Okay. That's obviously bad. So we're gonna end right here. Luke chapter number nine. So beginning in verse 57, this guy basically is telling the Lord, you know, I want to follow you. Let's take a look at verse 57 real quick. It says, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whether so ever thou go or thou goes. Okay. New Year's resolutions. Real quick. Just going to touch on it. Every year we got people that find themselves, maybe many of you, as we find them, find ourselves in verse 57, like I'm going to do this year. I'm going to do this, this, and this. You know, what's required to do this, this, and that, or whatever it is, is that you have to work on yourself being fit with those three things that we learned about implicitly from the fit man. You've got to have that fit mind, body, and emotion. You've got to be working on those things and be honest about where you're at on those three things as well. Okay. So this guy, Hey, I'm going to do this. Now look at what happens next. Look at verse 58. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Okay. So what does he have? Excuse. Verse 60, Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. Okay. So you see these guys, okay. They want to do this. They want to do that. Hey, I'm going to resolute this. I'm going to do this, do that. It's great to have goals. It's great to have a vision. Okay. But what is the one thing we immediately see right off the bat hindering them from achieving that it's their mind excuses. Okay. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Look at verse 62. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God is fit for the kingdom of God. Now, of course, these clowns out here will often say, well, see, if you don't have the works and you're not fit for the kingdom of God, I mean, you're not saved. You know, that's that Paul Washer, John MacArthur, trash bin doctrine. That's all that is. Okay. What is he saying? You're not fit. Your body's not right. Your mentality is not right. And your emotions aren't right. You would have been the kind of guy that we would not have selected to take the scapegoat out in the wilderness. Cause you would have carried him out there after whining and complaining and been like, Oh, look how cute this thing is. Oh, poor baby. I don't know if I can go through with it and walk right back into the camp. You know, I just figured maybe we could keep this one because it was kind of one. And you know, isn't there another one, you know, and the excuses just go on and on and on. Okay. It doesn't mean that person's not saved. Okay. But what Jesus is saying like, Hey, I'm looking for people to work. I'm looking for people to get some stuff done. I'm looking for the guy in verse 57, the guy in verse 58, 59, 60, 61. I'm looking for that guy to actually say, Oh, right now let's go. Let's do this. Okay. But it's not going to happen. You're not going to be fit for the kingdom of God. If you see the mission, you're like, okay, that's cool. That's great. I can get on board with it, but you can't let go of the excuses. You can't let go of Egypt. You can't let go of what you were in the past. Look, this is a hard one. This is a hard one, even for me. You know, a lot of times things will be going bad and I'll be like, man, I really miss my old job. I really miss not having to worry about money at all. I really miss being like, you know what? I'm going to come buy a new truck. I'm going to go buy this and I could do it. You know what? So I have to constantly keep myself in check and say, you know what? What about all the good stuff that we've done? What about all the treasures that we've stored up as a church over the last year? You know, that we've, we've all the works that we've done, all the stuff that we've done that can never really be taken away. Hey, it's hard. It is a hard thing to look at that and say, you know, that really is what matters. Not the physical, not the Egypt that we all have in our past. Oh, that person that walked out of my life because I believe this now. Let them go. Hey, look, if you want to be a fit man, if you want to be fit for the kingdom of God, meaning be a fit person that can actually work in the body of Christ, be productive, be a disciple, be somebody that Christ can count on, be somebody that can do the job. We have to let go of our mistakes. We have to let go of our past. We have to let go of all of these things. That's the only way that you're going to be able to push forward. When those excuses enter into your mind, you need to look around and say, you know what? I don't care about this. I'm going to do it. That's it. This is how we roll. This is how it goes. Look, I'm not going to say this person's name because I didn't get permission, but I know somebody who's a single mom. Okay. And she is not only able to advance herself in her career, but she's able to work long hours with very little time off in the military and still homeschool her kids. But we have single people that can't even make it to church on time. And look, I'm not trying to be mean, man. I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just trying to be honest. If you want to be fit for the kingdom of God, you have got to learn to let go of the excuses. If you don't, you will not be fit for the kingdom of God. I'm not saying you're not going to be saved. Obviously, we've gotten past that. We get that. Once saved, always saved. Again, that's the milk. Put the milk away before you get to Luke chapter nine. Put the milk away before you start really studying this. Hopefully you've actually drank it first. So I put the milk bottle away. Empty the sippy cup, put it down, put it away, and go learn to digest me. That's what I'm trying to get across. That's what I'm trying to say here. Okay. So hopefully this makes sense here. In Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow. So nobody's like, okay, I'm here. I got it. I got this church in fight. This is what I've been looking for. They go out and they tell people truth. They got this. They got that. All right. But my old life, but before I do that, man, I really got to go hang out with the dudes one more time at the bar. I really just, just one more time. I got to go do this. That's what Jesus says. At that moment in your mental state, you are not fit. You are not healthy. You are not able to complete the mission that God has for you. The way you get there is you let go of those excuses. You drop that old stuff like that immediately. And then you press on. You don't let the mistakes in the past and the Egypt and all these things keep floating around your mind. You say, no, this is now what I do. When it's time for church, I go to church. When it's time to knock doors, I knock doors. When it's time to read the Bible, I'm reading the Bible. When it's time to pray, I'm praying. I do this because why? Because I am fit for the kingdom of God. We're in Christ. So don't give me that excuse. Oh, no. Are you in Christ or not? If you're in Christ, then guess what? It is possible for you to be fit. He will make it happen. The real question is, do you want to be like these guys or do you want to be like that fit guy in Leviticus chapter 16? So stop there, bow our heads and have a word of prayer. We'll have one more song and be dismissed. All right. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for this church, for this great year that we had as a church. And just pray that you bless fellowship after the service and the soul wanting to come and that you'd bring us back again safely tonight in Jesus name. I pray. Amen.