DRAWING NEAR - THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE
A small boy was flying a kite one April afternoon when a low drifting cloud encircled the kite and hid it from view. A man passing by asked the little boy what he was doing with that string in his hand. "I'm flying my kite," the child responded. The man, looking up and seeing only the cloud said, "I don't see a kite up there anywhere." The little boy replied, "I don't see it either, but I know it's up there because every once in a while there's a tug on my string." Though often appearing foolish to a sophisticated world, I still cling to God and keep looking up... and ever once in a while... I feel a tug!
The children of Israel had been redeemed from Egypt and God was forming them into a nation. He established His covenant with them and now wanted to show them how to walk in it. God communicated in a way that they could see and understand - the result is the tabernacle.
Exodus 25:8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
The Tabernacle is theology in a physical form. It was initiated by God for a purpose. It’s design was to be a physical representation of a deeper spiritual path. The Tabernacle was designed around 3 levels: the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. There were 6 articles which were made to furnish the tabernacle. In the outer court was the Brazen Altar (or altar for burnt offerings) and the Laver (or washbasin). In the holy place was the Candlestick (or Lampstand), the Table of Shewbread (or table of loaves) and the Altar of Incense. In the holy of holies was the Ark of the Covenant. Each of the different pieces of furniture in the tabernacle represents a different step in approaching God.
Today I want us to look at the first piece and the first step towards God’s presence which was the Brazen Altar.
Ex. 27:1 "Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. 2 Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze.
The first step in approaching God is dealing with that which separates us from Him. It is dealing with the issue of sin. At the Altar sin was atoned for. Located in the courtyard of the tabernacle, the altar was where the priest would sacrifice the animals and sprinkle the blood on behalf of the people. Symbolically, a transfer would take place. The priest would lay his hands on the animal and transfer the sin of the people into the animal and then kill it – destroying the sin.
Heb 10:1 The law is a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves
Of course this substitution was metaphorical and not actual. Heb 10:4 says killing an animal cannot take away your sin. The alter pointed to the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus would make for us. Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Even before the tabernacle the idea of substitution had been seen in Abraham offering his son Isaac on an altar. Instead of Isaac, a sheep was offered as a substitute. God gave his Son Jesus as our substitute.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The first and most basic step in approaching God is giving your life to Him and asking Christ to be your substitute. I know for most of you that this message is one that you have heard many times before. This is very basic stuff. However, I have learned that it is important to regularly go over the basics.
When I was a youth pastor I had given many presentations of the gospel but at one evangelistic rally one of our youth went forward to receive Christ. Afterwards he asked me “why didn’t you tell me this stuff before” even though I had gone over the exact same thing many times. So just in case someone has not got it yet let’s review the basic message using Romans 6:23 as our guide:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1. The WAGES
A wage is something that is earned. It is a payment for services rendered. Think about what it would be like the next time you went into work to get paid the boss told you that he had decided not to pay you for your last month. You would demand your pay because you had earned that money! Our salary is what we earn for services rendered. It is what is owed to us.
If you go fishing without sunscreen on a hot and sunny day without sunscreen, don’t blame God if you get a sunburn. It is not God’s fault. It is just what you deserve from sitting in the sun all day.
2. Of SIN
Sin is more of an attitude than an action. Sin starts in the heart. In the beginning God gave mankind the choice between good and evil. He gave them the choice to obey or disobey. Through the sin of Adam and Eve all creation fell. We are born fallen people in a fallen world. All of us have turned our back on God. We have turned our backs on Him to go our own way. This sin separates us from God.
When I was young I lived in Sarnia and I and a friend would go swimming in the St. Clair river under the bridge where there is a very strong current. It is a dangerous place to swim. When my parents found out that I was doing that they told me I could no longer swim there but I did it anyways. One day they asked me if I had been swimming under the bridge. Not wanting to get in trouble I said no. They were satisfied with the answer but I was not. I felt guilty. Every time I was around them I felt even more guilty. I was afraid they would ask the question again and I would have to lie again. I realized the lie was pulling me from them. It was not that they had pulled away from me but I was pulling away from them. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore so I confessed.
Sin always gets between us and God. God is holy and He loves us. Our sin moves us away from His Holiness and destroys our relationship with Him.
3. Is DEATH
Death means separation. Our sin separates us from God. When we die that separation becomes permanent. Running from God who is everywhere means running to the one place where God is not, and that place is called Hell. Choosing to live without God is choosing to live in hell.
There are 2 kinds of death. When we sin against God we die spiritually, we were separated from Him in spirit. When we die physically without dealing with that spiritual separation we are separated from God forever.
If this passage ended here we would have no hope of salvation. All of us deserve death because of our actions. All of us are worthy of hell. Thankfully the passage does not end there.
BUT… What a powerful little 3 letter word. It means there is hope!
4. The GIFT
A gift is something that is given to you, you cannot earn it. Gifts are something that are made or purchased for you by another person. In fact as soon as you try to purchase the gift it ceases to be one. Can you imagine if you picked out a gift for a friend, and then they insisted on paying you back for it. Would that still be a gift?
A poor man in Ireland was plodding home, carrying a huge bag of potatoes. A horse and wagon finally drew up alongside him and the driver invited the man to climb aboard. He sat down but continued to hold the heavy bag. When the driver suggested that the man set the bag down, he replied, “I don’t want to trouble you too much, sir. You are giving me a ride already, so I’ll just carry the potatoes.”
Charles Stanley wrote about one of his more memorable seminary professors who had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam with the caution to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough. The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard through out the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, "You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an A for this assignment."
Wow? We sat there stunned. "Was he serious? Just sign it and get an A?" Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently filed out of the room. When I talked with the professor about it afterward, he shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page.
Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally. One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a C+, but he could easily have had an A.
This story illustrates many people’s reaction to God’s solution to sin. Some people look at God’s standard--moral and ethical perfection--and throw their hands up in surrender. Why even try? they tell themselves. I could never live up to all that stuff. Others are like the student who read the test through and was aware of the professor’s offer but took the test anyway. Unwilling to simply receive God’s gift of forgiveness, they set about to rack up enough points with God to earn it. But God’s grace truly is like the professor’s offer. It may seem unbelievable, but if we accept it, then, like the stunned students who accepted the professor’s offer, we, too, will discover that, Yes, God’s grace truly is free. All we have to do is accept it.
5. Of GOD
The gift that is offered to us comes from God. In order to stand before a sinless God, we must be perfect. To say “I am better than so-and-so” is not the issue. If God were to say, “all you have to do to get to heaven is jump so high that you can touch the moon”, would a person that can jump 3 feet high really be any better off than someone who can jump 4 feet high. No. We have all fallen infinitely short of God’s standard.
F. B. Meyer called on a poor woman who made her living by taking in washing. When he arrived, she was hanging some clothes on a line. He commended her on how clean and white they looked. Thanking him for the compliment, she invited him in for tea. Time slipped by as they talked about the Lord. Meanwhile, the sky had clouded over and a light coating of snow covered the ground. As Meyer opened the door to leave, he said without thinking, "my, your washing doesn’t look quite as clean now!" "No," replied the woman. “The washing is as clean as it can be, but who can compete with God’s white?"
God’s standard is perfection. Only God who is perfect can give us this gift of perfection. Our sin demanded death but God’s love demanded mercy. In order to pay for my sin a sinless person had to become my substitute. This is why Jesus came. God became man in order to live a sinless life and offer himself as our substitute in paying our sin debt.
5. Is ETERNAL LIFE
If death is all about separation, life means togetherness and relationship. When we receive God’s gift of salvation it restarts our relationship with God and ensures that our relationship with Him will last for all times. Even physical death cannot break that relationship.
6. In CHRIST JESUS
Like all gifts, they must be purchased. Christ purchased the gift for us. In a way He went to court for us and paid our death sentence. Even though we ran from God and deserve death, He is the one that died for us. This is the gift.
But how do we receive this gift from Christ? We must take it from Him. You cannot force someone to take a gift! It becomes your possession only when you take it and make it your own.
7. Our LORD
Taking the gift means handing your life over to Christ in exchange for His. This means making Christ Lord of your life, giving Him full control. This process takes 2 steps:
The first step is to confess. That means that we acknowledge our need for God. We tell God that we recognize that we have gone against Him, and that because of our sin we deserve death. Another word for confess is repentance which means we acknowledge we are going the wrong way and turn around.
The second step is surrender. If you are in a battle that you cannot win then the smartest thing to do is give up! This means we allow Christ to take full control of our life and make us new. This does not mean instant perfection. It does mean that Jesus has the final say as Lord over everything we do and say. We trust Him to guide us as we grow.
Let me end by asking you this morning - where are you on the Bridge? Perhaps you have never confessed or surrendered your life over to God. Maybe you have confessed your need for God, but never surrendered your life to Him. If this is the case, you have to do this before the gift is yours. Maybe you have confessed your need and surrendered to Him, but you are not feeling any different! You need to remember again what you were, what the gift you received was, and commit yourself anew to doing whatever God wants you to do.
Let me ask another question – where do you want to be?
During the 1st part of the 20th century, J. C. Penney presided over a very powerful empire of over 1,700 stores. At the time he had the country’s largest chain of department stores, each one bearing his name. Although his enterprise made him incredibly wealthy, J.C. Penney’s life was not devoid of setbacks and troubles. In fact, beginning in 1929, events took place that nearly cost Penney his life.
When the Great Depression struck the country, it came at a time of great financial vulnerability for Penney. In the good times, before the Depression, Penney had overextended himself and had borrowed heavily to finance many of his ventures. But when the Depression hit banks began to request repayment of his loans sooner than anticipated. Suddenly cash flow was tight, and Penney was finding it difficult to meet payment schedules. Constant and unrelenting worry began to take a toll. "I was so harassed with worries that I couldn’t sleep, and developed an extremely painful ailment," he said.
Concerned about his deteriorating health, Penney checked himself into the Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, (kind of the Mayo Clinic of its era). There, Dr. Elmer Eggleston, a staff physician, examined Penney, declaring that he was extremely ill. Penney later recalled "A rigid treatment was prescribed, but nothing helped," He was constantly tormented by periods of hopelessness and despair. His very will to live was rapidly eroding. "I got weaker day by day. I was broken, nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for, I felt that I hadn’t a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me."
Alarmed by his rapidly deteriorating condition, Dr. Eggleston gave Penney a sedative. However, the effect quickly wore off, and Penney awakened with the conviction that he was living the last night of his life. "Getting out of bed, I wrote farewell letters to my wife and to my son, saying that I did not expect to live to see the dawn."
Penney awakened the next morning, surprised to find himself alive. Making his way down the hallway of the hospital, he could hear singing coming from the little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning. The words of the hymn he heard being sung spoke deeply to him. Going into the chapel, he listened to the singing, the reading of the Scripture lesson, and the prayer. "Suddenly something happened," he said. "I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to Paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before."
In a life-transforming instant Penney knew that God, with His love, was there to help. "From that day to this, my life has been free from worry," he declared. "The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning."
