Rev Francisco Bilog1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Introduction
You are chosen by God! You are a royal priesthood! You are a holy nation! You are His special people! Why? So that you could show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light! In the Old Testament the people of Israel had priests. These priests were responsible for offering the sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. They were the “middle man” between God and the congregation. But in the New Testament instead of “having” priests we “are” the priests. We now can come boldly before the throne of God and offer our own sacrifices unto the Lord. We can fearlessly step into the Holy of Holies and declare our petitions before God!
The Old Testament priests would bring the sacrifices of others to the altar of God. Doves, goats, rams, bulls and other animals were offered for a particular sin committed. There were also offerings of flour and other vegetables depending on the sin that was committed. The blood of animals proved to be of no effect in the long run because all it could do was roll back sins for a time but then something awesome happened – Jesus Christ – God in the flesh – came and gave His life, shedding His own blood for the sins of all mankind. This time the blood was perfect and spotless and instead of just rolling back sins for a year the blood of Jesus Christ became the ultimate sacrifice for the cleansing of sin.
Now we live in a new covenant – a new relationship with the Lord. He no longer requires the blood of bulls and goats because He has paid the price. He does however still REQUIRE A SACRIFICE! What are the sacrifices we can bring to God in this new and living covenant? What are the sacrifices that would please God today? Well there are many ways we can please the Lord and in the time that I have available with you I want us to again consider this question – What Do I Have that God Wants? (repeat it again with me…)
What ability and talent do I have that God would want? What assets do I have that God would want to use in His kingdom? I think by the time we finish this series we just might discover that we have more to offer the Lord than we ever realized!
Today I want us to consider the first sacrifice we can offer to the Lord and that is OUR PERSON!
An Example in Josiah
He was only eight years old when he became the King of Israel. This little boy had been born into the royal family but never did he think the duties of a king would be thrust upon him at such an early age. His grandfather Manasseh had ruled over Israel for some time but he was an evil and wicked man. The testimony of his reign as king was that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. When Manasseh was dead his son – Amon became the next to rule. There was not much difference between him and his father and eventually men got together and plotted to kill him. There plot was successful but in the end someone else killed them so that Josiah – the eight-year-old boy would become the king.
Josiah would prove to be a king that sought to honor God. He first began by rebuilding the temple of the Lord. One day while work was being done in the temple someone found the book of the Law and took it to Josiah. He was so moved by the words of the Lord that he commanded the entire book be read to the people of Israel. He became a tool in the hands of God. He destroyed the idols that people were worshipping. He went up into the high places and tore down the altars that had been built to false Gods. All of the witch doctors and those who practice horoscopes were smashed. The houses of homosexual prostitutes were brought to ruin so that Israel would live again by the law of the Lord. Josiah became a King after the heart of God and was used to usher in a time of great revival and renewal to God’s people. Look at how the Lord describes this little boy who became king:
2 Kings 23:25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might…
Notice these words – with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might! As men stood before the congregation of Israel and read the words of the Lord I can see Josiah listening. The readers came to Deuteronomy and these words pierced the heart of a young man and changed him forever…
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
What can we learn from this man? We learn this – GOD REQUIRES THE SACRIFICE OF SELF! Josiah gave his WHOLE HEART to the things of God and the Lord requires no less in this modern age!
WHAT WE HAVE
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Before we can make any further advances in the Kingdom there is an all-important sacrifice that must be made to the Lord. What is that sacrifice? It is the sacrifice of my body. Now before you freak out and look for me to pull out a knife and put someone on an altar for sacrifice just hear what the Lord is saying to us – a LIVING sacrifice! The Lord is calling you and I to “present” our bodies to him and to give way or yield to His work in our life.
Now we are not just talking about the flesh – that we all of see – being offered to God. We are talking about YOU the whole person – spirit, soul and body. You see before our body can give over the work of the Lord our inner man has to first give way.
Our body will do nothing that hasn’t first been settled in our spirit and soul.
You see when those animals in the Old Testament were brought for sacrifice they had no choice. That sheep was taken from its home, confined and not given any independence. But the Lord is challenging us to VOLUNTARILY offer ourselves up to Him. He is urging us to sacrifice our life to the cause of His kingdom – but not by physically dying but rather by LIVING! What good are you to the kingdom plan if you are physically dead? The sacrifice the Lord is looking for is someone who will die out to their:
q Fleshly desires and lusts
q To their evil thoughts and ideas
Now I realize to some of us this seems tough and restrictive. I see in the Christian world today an attitude that says, “As long as I call myself a Christian I will be OK with God but don’t ask me to change my behavior!” I hear people say, “Let me worship and sing but don’t ask me to give up my evil ways and actions!” This attitude is not right! Mostly today you can tell no difference between Christians and non-Christians. The experience of God’s grace and mercy in our life should cause to DESIRE TO CHANGE.
Looking back at what we were before Christ should cause us to stand in awe of the power of this Holy God. If you are the same now as you were before you repented then I would suggest you find a place to repent again. Any relationship that does not change us is not worth having. Give your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole might to the things of God.
When I was a teenager I had to walk to school. On the way there was a pretty steep hill we had to get over. Fortunately, there were sidewalks along the road to help us keep safe. One day a young man decided he didn’t want to walk on the sidewalk and began walking in the middle of the road. A car came over the hill. The driver did not see the young man until it was too late and hit him. He did not die but was severely injured. A few weeks later the city put a STOP sign at the crest of that hill in order to get everyone slowed down and looking for pedestrians.
Can I tell you something – the STOP sign had no effect whatsoever. People just jumped it and went on their merry way. Never even considering why the stop sign was put there in the first place. Saint of God – the Lord has put some stop signs along this road called life. When come to one of these signs we have a choice we can stop and see what the Lord is trying to show us or we can just jump it and go on!
What do you have that God wants? He wants YOU! Jesus Christ is urging us – pleading with us – begging us to yield to Him so His perfect work can be done in us. Being a living sacrifice is not easy. Sometimes we crawl away from the altar and do our own thing but still the call of God still comes to us. Everything I am talking about can be summed up in one great big word that I had to memorize Bible College – CONSECRATION! That simply means – setting something apart for the worship and wok of God. That something the Lord wants us to SET APART is our person – our self!
WHY SHOULD I SET MYSELF A PART?
Ask yourself this question, “Why should I set myself a part for the worship and work of God?” My answer is usually a bit sarcastic, “WHY NOT!” Why not allow your body to be used for the glory of God. After all he is not some lover who will use you for what He can get then get rid of you. He has no other plan but to help you and prosper you in all areas of life.
Remember this – whoever you give yourself to that is who you are going to serve.
If you give your body to drugs and alcohol – you will become the slave or servant of them. If you give your body over to sex then you will become the servant of sex. If you give yourself over to money then you will become the servant of money. Ladies and gentlemen this is not what God intended for your life. He never planned for you to become a vessel of dishonor but rather a vessel of honor! Look at what the scriptures tell us:
2 Timothy 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
You are valuable to God! You matter to God! He does not want us to be controlled by any other power than Him. Your body, your spirit, your soul belongs to God and we should use them to glorify God. Sex before marriage (fornication), sex outside of marriage (adultery), living together without being lawfully married, lying, cheating, stealing, homosexuality, bad attitude, drunkenness, fighting and manipulating people out of their possessions are still WRONG and SINFUL even in 2005. Participating in these things will cause the vessel that God has given you to become stained and worthless. Look at how Paul explained it…
1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
If you choose to set yourself a part for the worship and work of God your vessel – your body will become like gold. Like Josiah the King we will be used of God to make a difference in this world. We will be used to help bring about revival to our nation.
Why should I give myself over to the influence of the Spirit of God? Why should I go against everything that the world is saying and follow after the ways of the Lord? Let me give you a few…
q You won’t be pregnant at 13 and no husband to help you raise the child
q You will have no fear of HIV/AIDS
q You can give the gift of your virginity to the man or woman who has made the commitment of marriage to you
q You’re life won’t be filled with the nightmares of bad drugs
q You can go to bed at night without worrying about what may happen with your soul.
q You get the blessings of the Lord on your life, your marriage, your kids and your career
q Let’s just look at it like James did when he said…
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
HOW SHOULD I SET MYSELF A PART
There are four things that you should consider when you make the decision to give your whole heart to Jesus Christ. These are the things you have to offer him along with your body:
1. Love – give him all your love and the body will naturally follow in the direction your love is pointed…
Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
2. Obedience – out of love comes a determination to obey the Word of God and God of the Word…
Psalm 119:2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!3 They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways.
3. Trust – love and obedience produces trust. Because you love him, you obey Him and you learn that He never fails and trust results.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
4. Repentance – because you trust him you can come to him with any sin and any shame in your life and ask for his forgiveness and mercy.
Joel 2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Conclusion
As you walk down the road of ministry and learning to serve one another remember that you are valuable to the Kingdom. You have something to offer God. We have a lady in our church that I will not name but she is awesome! She works a job, gives her tithe, is faithful to every service and function of the church. She teaches Sunday School and does many other things for the work of the Lord. If you would have asked her 2 years ago if she thought she would be one of the key leaders in our assembly she would have answered you very quickly – NO. Why? Because she truly believed she had NOTHING to offer to GOD! However, as we convinced her that God is not looking for great ability but great availability she began to put her hand on the gospel plow and go to work. Now – she is responsible for winning over 25 children and teens to the Lord in 2004 – 2005!
Every Sunday morning I look into the faces of people who are black, white, Indian and Asian and I see in them a little glimpse of what heaven will be like. Because of the devastation of AIDS in Africa 50% of the population is under the age of 15. Our church has targeted teens and children in order to reach them before they become a statistic. Our church is about 50% under the age of 15 and man what energy is being produced for the Kingdom.
When I think about our youth group I think of a young lady named Sibongile. Every Sunday morning this 14 year old girl gets herself up, gets dressed and gets on the church bus. I watch her pray and I see the Lord has gifted her to be an intercessor in the church. Little did I know what she was facing every time she came to church every Sunday and Tuesday? When she would arrive home after church her father would beat her and just a few weeks ago he tried to kill her with a screwdriver. But she did not stop coming to church…she has made commitment to the Lord and she has paid a price for it and God is going to use this little teenager, from a poor family in Africa to change her world. Why? Because she gave to Jesus the only thing she had – HERSELF.
I think of Johnny who watched his sister be beat to death…as it was happening he ran. But where did he run? He ran to the place we were having youth service because he said, “Where else could I go but to church. I knew that if I could just get to the church things would be all right!” This little 8 year old boy has no family (he and his 4 brothers are orphans), hw has no money, he has nothing of this world to offer God…except himself.
These are just a few of the folks we love who have caught onto the vision that God wants what I have – ME! Then when I surrender ME to Him in LOVE – OBEDIENCE – TRUST and REPENTANCE then anything can happen with my life because God Has control of it.
Have you given to the Lord this evening the very thing that He wants – YOU! It is a tall order and it may take awhile to give yourself over completely but tonight would be a great time to take that first step onto the altar of sacrifice. Tonight would be a good night to let go of the excuse “I am not good enough!” Let me set you free – YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH! In yourself there is nothing that can impress God – there is only one thing that you have, that you own, that you can offer to the king of kings as a gift that is worthy of His position – what is that gift – THAT GIFT IS YOU!
Yes, even with your sin, your shame and your pains the greatest gift you have to give tonight is YOU! Gold, diamonds, rubies and all the precious stones in the world would not cause God to turn His head. But the sound of rocks falling off the altar as you climb on top of it to offer YOURSELF will cause the Lord to stop what He is doing and give you His full attention.
Would you like to take that step tonight! Would like to find the secret to a full and wonderful life? It begins with a sacrifice of YOU because – he that seeks to save his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake shall gain it!
Conclusion (SINGERS – MUSICIANS – ALTAR WORKERS)
What do you have today that would be worth giving to God? What kind of gift would you bring to this altar that would be good enough for God: Money, possessions, lands, houses, cars and the material things of the world? None of these things would ever please the Lord. There is only one thing that God wants you to bring to the altar – YOU! And in exchange for your offering of repentance the Lord will give you a gift – the baptism of the Holy Ghost!
Would you like to offer your life unto the Lord? I know it sounds like something that is impossible but it is really not. If you will take the first step the Lord will give you the power of the Holy Ghost to help you take the other steps on this journey called life.