TCB
Part 4
In the 1950’s, Elvis led the rock n roll revolution. In the 1960’s he concentrated on his successful movie career. By 1968, it had been more than 7 years since he had appeared on stage in front of a live audience. The 1968 “Comeback Special” was taped in June 1968 in Burbank. It first aired on
December 3rd on NBC. It stands as one of the great moments in rock music history.
But as I have for the last 3 weeks, I remind you that Elvis’ career was not his own. In fact, he was so nervous about performing live again that the director came up with the idea of having the members of his TCB Band on stage with him. He named the band this and placed the insignia on practically everything he owned because he TCB had become his motto for life.
You will also remember that I mentioned that we too should be TCB. We have been designated as priests. And with that designation comes great responsibilities that most of us have either forgotten or have been uneducated in. So we began an examination of the daily responsibilities of the priest. These responsibilities or duties speak to us. We should be taking care of business as well.
Let me remind you what duties we have already covered:
1. Diagnose and provide remedy for sickness.
2. Transport glory.
3. Remove the ashes from our lives.
4. Keep fresh fire burning.
5. Burn the incense – or develop a persistent, saturated, passionate prayer life.
6. Replenish the Oil – with no oil there is no light, no crushing no oil, oil isn’t just for church.
And as we celebrate Easter today I want us to finish this examination of our duties as priest. The final duty that we are responsible for is found in:
TEXT: Exodus 29:36-39; Numbers 28:9-10; Numbers 28:3-4
36Offer a bull as an Absolution-Offering for atonement each day. Offer it on the Altar when you make atonement for it: Anoint and consecrate it. 37Make atonement for the Altar and consecrate it for seven days; the Altar will become soaked in holiness—anyone who so much as touches the Altar will become holy. 38“This is what you are to offer on the Altar: two year-old lambs each and every day, 39one lamb in the morning and the second lamb at evening.
9“On the Sabbath, sacrifice two healthy yearling lambs, together with the Drink-Offering and the Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. 10This is the regular Sabbath Whole-Burnt-Offering, in addition to the regular Whole-Burnt-Offering and its Drink-Offering.
3And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto Jehovah: he-lambs a year old without blemish, two day by day, for a continual burnt-offering. 4The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even;
I. Backdrop
Each and every morning and evening the priest had to TCB. They had to approach the Brazen Altar and offer a lamb as a sacrifice. Then on the Sabbath they had to double that and offer two lambs in the morning and two lambs in the evening. This was their duty.
The last duty I want to draw your attention to is that the priest had a duty to make sacrifice.
I want to stop here and make some important points.
a. The sacrifice was not pretty.
The priest was instructed to slit the throat of the animal and catch its blood. Then they had to sprinkle the sides of the altar with the blood and then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. This was not a pretty system. The sacrificial system was gruesome, it was brutal, and it was bloody.
Stop and think about this:
Over the course of a 12 month period when you take into consideration the daily sacrifice which would total 706 animals a year. The double sacrifice of the Sabbath adds another 96 more animals a year. The new moon sacrifice, the Passover sacrifice, the sacrifice required during the Pentecost Week, the Trumpet Feast, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacle Sacrifice the priests by duty sacrificed almost 1300 animals each year. This was not a job for the squeamish. This was not a job for the weak stomached person. It was a gory daily task.
b. Constant sacrifice – The second thing I would say is that this sacrifice was a constant sacrifice. Every morning and every evening continually. It wasn’t a singular event. It was a lifestyle of sacrifice. They couldn’t go one day without thinking about making a sacrifice.
c. The sacrifice wasn’t the only point, obedience was equally important.
If we focus on the blood and guts of the sacrifice we miss the point. Samuel understood this. He speaks to Saul who has just lied and disobeyed the command of God to destroy the Amalekites. Saul claims they have left the cattle alive to make sacrifices to God. Samuel makes this statement, “Do you think all GOD wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.” Or in another version, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” God was more concerned about the obedience of the priest than He was with lambs and goats.
d. They were marked by the sacrifice.
There is no way that you can slaughter a lamb every morning and every evening, walk in its blood, throw its blood against the altar and not be marked by the blood. In fact that is why the Brazen Laver was placed near the altar so that the priest could clean the blood off of them. They were marked.
II. Our Example
I have pointed you to our High Priest as our example since starting this series. May I point you back to Him this morning?
a. It wasn’t pretty.
We have cleaned it up to make us comfortable. But the truth is a bloodless sacrifice has no power for we are told that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins!
It was gruesome. I could go into the unbearable pain that crucifixion caused. The exploding blood vessels, the muscle spasms, the piercing of the skin by nails 5 to 7 inches long which crushed nerves causing excruciating pain, and the suffocation that took place as the man would try to push up on the nailed feet to get a breath. It wasn’t pretty. It was grotesque. It was brutal. It was barbaric. It was bloody. And yet it was beautiful. A priceless for worthless trade.
b. And it is constant. John 1:29 - “Behold the lamb that taketh away the sins of the world.” The concept there of the Greek is that it was an action that takes place and will continue to take place. I John 2:2 – “When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good-not only ours, but the whole world’s.”His sacrifice was once and for all and is a constant offering that takes care of my sins and your sins. There is no time limit on the sacrifice. There is no shelf life. It in fact reaches generation to generation. The sacrifice Jesus made 2000 years ago is just a good today. It stands continually before God!
c. The sacrifice involved obedience. Philippians 2:5-8, “5Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” In spite of the fact that he knew the pain, knew the cost, knew the brutality he was obedient to the wishes of his father. His sacrifice required obedience.
d. He was marked by the sacrifice. Isaiah 53:5, “5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” He was in fact marked by the sacrifice that he made. But not just for our salvation. He went one step further and made provision for our peace and our healing!
Our High Priest TCB!
III. Our Challenge
I am calling you to TCB. Make sacrifice. It won’t be pretty. It won’t be easy. It won’t always be fun. But sacrifice is always needed. It must be made constantly. We must respond in obedience. We must lay down anything He says to lay down. We must be a people that are marked by sacrifice.
Maybe it would be better if I show you what I mean.
IV. Close
TCB. We have a duty to make daily sacrifices. What are you sacrificing? Are you marked by sacrifice or are you strolling through life on easy street. This walk will cost you. This walk will mark you.
The truth is that what you are willing to get rid of determines what you will receive.
That is the challenge of this series. We cannot be priests unless we are willing to make sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice has been made. However, we still have daily sacrifices to make. In order to diagnose sickness we must sacrifice our isolated, clean, self centered lives. To transport glory we must sacrifice our own desires and the lusts of the flesh so that we are a pure and holy sacrifice. In order to get rid of the ash and to keep the fire burning we must sacrifice our anger, our pain, our desire for revenge and we must discipline ourselves to get fresh fire. In order to develop a passionate prayer life (incense) we must sacrifice time and effort. To keep the oil replenished we must daily sacrifice distractions and become sold out to living filled. Everything we have talked about in this series hinges on sacrifice. That is what this whole series is about.
In order to TCB you must be willing to make sacrifice.
I am calling for you as a priesthood to be like David Livingstone the great missionary to Africa. The story is told that a group of people wrote to David Livingstone, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you." Livingstone replied, "If you have men who will come ONLY if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them."
Sacrifice must be a lifestyle for us. Are you willing to sacrifice your habit, your lust, your hate, your anger, your pain, your will? Sacrifice is a must.
Therefore, I think it is fitting and right that we take a few moments this morning and reflect on the sacrifice that has been made for us. We cannot celebrate Easter without first stopping to remember what Jesus did for us.
We are going to take communion together this morning. The only stipulation is that you must know him. Listen carefully to me this morning if you haven’t accepted Christ as your savior you must be willing to walk through the blood that he shed for you. You must be willing to ignore the brutal, painful, gut wrenching pain that he endured for you. You must be willing to reject the greatest love of all.
V. Prayer & Communion
Prayer for salvation.
Communion = I want us to take it as a testament to the vow that we make that we will live a life marked by sacrifice. As we take this let’s make the commitment that whatever it takes, whatever we have to give up, whatever it may cost we are willing to make that sacrifice.
By the way, did you know that there are still people who believe Elvis is alive? In fact did you know that there is right now a 3 million dollar reward for anyone who can find or prove that he is alive? People say that because his coffin weighed almost 900 lbs, his middle name is misspelled on his tomb stone, the book that Elvis was supposed to be reading at the time of his death wasn’t published until a year after he died, and countless other reasons they honestly believe that he is alive.
May I declare to you this morning the King is indeed alive. But I am not talking about some leather clad eighty year old rock icon. No the King of Kings is undeniably alive today. He has not and will not leave the building. He is alive in our hearts. Out of a grateful heart let us be a priesthood that takes care of the Kings business on a daily basis.
