Sacrifice is a word we don’t like. To sacrifice our time, money, our very lives, is a hard thing. But it is important. There are troops overseas right now who are sacrificing themselves; many have already given their lives.
Many Christians have set aside the altar of sacrifice and replaced it with the altar of convenience. And what do you lay on the altar of convenience? Nothing, because it’s not convenient to sacrifice.
PRESENT YOUR BODY A LIVING SACRIFICE
Why the body? It’s called the body of sin in Romans 6, so why would God want your body? It’s the instrument which we use in this life.
God wants you to be a living sacrifice; the problem with a living sacrifice is, it can get up off the altar. What are you willing to sacrifice? What will you lay on the altar? (Sacrifices: going to church, prayer, Bible reading, witnessing)
HOLY
There was a holiness in every sacrifice, as they were dedicated to God. God wants your life to be holy. The soul is the part that can be holy, but a sanctified soul should correspond holiness to its body. For the Christian, the body is not a house of sin, it is the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
I Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
We must possess our bodies in sanctification.
I Thessalonians 4:4-5, “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God.”
ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD
The Old Testament sacrifices did not please God.
Hebrews 10:6, “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.”
Why? Look at verse 4.
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
The Day of Atonement happened once every year, and on that day, the nation’s sin was not taken care of, but only put off until the next year. The sin of the world was finally dealt with when Jesus died on the cross. That was acceptable and pleasing to God.
Going to church every now and then and reading your Bible is not acceptable to God; the act itself will not please God. God wants YOU. He wants all of you. If you can’t give God all of you, then don’t give Him anything; He’s not interested in having a small part of you. The only sacrifice that is acceptable to God is a living sacrifice of your body.
REASONABLE SERVICE
To present all of yourself as a living sacrifice to God is reasonable. From a human perspective, it is not reasonable. But let me reason with you: Jesus Christ gave all of His life for you; God has given you life; He is giving you life right now; He has given you everything you need. So it is reasonable to give Him back all of yourself.
“I’ll go to church Sunday morning, but Sunday night is mine.” That’s not reasonable.
“I’ll go to Wednesday night service, but don’t expect me to come out soulwinning.” That’s not reasonable.
Such “reasoning” is selfish and sinful. “Well it’s my life!” Is it really?
Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
If you’re saved, then Christ is in you, and He wants to live His life through you. It’s not your life! The question is, are you living for Him, or are you living for you?
“Well it’s my body!” Wrong again.
I Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
You belong to God. Your life is His, and your body is His. How unreasonable would it be if someone borrowed your lawn mower and later said it was theirs? It’s not theirs, they’re only borrowing it.
Colossians 3:3-4, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD
While you’re laying on the altar, don’t lift up your eyes and look at the world; stay on the altar. The world will tell you you’re foolish for laying on the altar of sacrifice. But remember, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, will fade away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
1. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
Matthew Henry said it well: “Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind, a change not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul. It is the same with making a new heart and a new spirit—new dispositions and inclinations, new sympathies and antipathies; the understanding enlightened, the conscience softened, the thoughts rectified; the will bowed to the will of God, and the affections made spiritual and heavenly: so that the man is not what he was—old things are passed away, all things are become new; he acts from new principles, by new rules, with new designs.”
You cannot be saved without repenting of your sin. Repentance is a change of mind. Along with salvation, you get a new mind. It is the mind that makes decisions; it is the mind that motivates actions; the mind is the control room of your being.
The Greek word for “transformed” is metamorphose. It is a complete change. I hope you’re a transformed Christian, and not a conforming Christian. I hope you don’t go into the world and conform to the world, and then go to church and conform to church. I hope when you’re in the world, you don’t fit in; then you come to church, and you fit right in.
Keep your mind renewed with the Word of God.
2. Prove what is that good, acceptable, perfect will of God
You can prove God’s will in your life! But you can’t do it if you are not on the altar. You can’t have verse 2 without verse 1. First you have to get on the altar, then keep your mind renewed daily, then you will prove God’s will. God’s will is that every Christian would be on the altar of sacrifice! Give Him your body! “I’m all yours, Lord.”
Tear down that altar of convenience and rebuild it as the altar of sacrifice; then, lay down on it and don’t get up. This is the Christian life God wants you to have. It’s acceptable to Him; it’s reasonable. Don’t make excuses; get on the altar.
