OFFERINGS & SACRIFICES
Isaiah 1:13 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.”
I have watched pagans break 100 coconuts at a stretch or if they are unable to do it themselves, they hire people to do this for them. Everything is done mechanically without heart attached to it. We live in the outskirts of Hyderabad, every house has a small area to grow flowers and plants, most of them have a small garden where they put their hearts to it, pour water it and nurture it. Some ardent idol worshipper in that area, would come very early in the morning, while it is still dark and would pluck (steal) away all the wonderful flowers from his neighbor’s house to use it to do pooja for his ‘idol worship’. Isn’t this hilarious??? This morning very discreetly and wisely I preached this sermon in the Abide School (free school that we run for the underprivileged children in Hyderabad) assembly among muslims, hindus students and teachers. Offerings and sacrifices given to God should cost you something, you cannot do all your personal expenses and give the dregs to God, anybody listening???
I gave Ruth as an example of how in the midst of chaos, death and emptiness, she looked at her mother-in-law and said “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16 This is true worship! How you react during period of crisis brings out what is inside of you for all to see! Say Amen. The entire community and the relatives heard Ruth say that, by her words she glorified God. This is worship friend! At the end of the sermon, I had few chocolates in my hand and I conducted a small quiz to reiterate my sermon points, I asked ‘Which part of the words of Ruth you liked?” Class 3 student Ritwick with sparkling eyes said: ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.’ I listened to him with tears in my eyes, I gave him the chocolates. My students listen to me better than the religious crowd who sometimes sleep in the church. Sad.
The pastor fights with his wife; yet, he climbs the pulpit to preach a sermon on worship, the worship leader ignores the traffic lights, uses the wrong one- way –route to come to church and leads the worship with lifted his hands. God says, ‘all this is abomination to me, stop it! Isaiah 1:13 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.”
You can be in politics, business, manufacturer whatever your field may be, can you tell today that you have lived in integrity, holiness and faithfulness to God???If not, you have not pleased God, you are in danger zone, read the complete below scriptures, don’t skip:
Micah 6:6–8
What Does the Lord Require?
6 With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with1 thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
Quote by David Livingston:
“For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”
Read, don’t skip reading the below scripture, it is important you read the entire portion to understand my sermon, we would not be ‘wishy-washy’ Christians and hypocrites if we had given importance to the Word of God.
Isaiah 1:11-15
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. ...
The most beautiful scripture that explains ‘passionate sacrifice’ is written by Apostle Paul:
Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Wow, this sums up everything that is brimming in my heart to write…Only Paul who had suffered the following can write like this:( 2 Corinthians 11:24-26)
• 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one, from the Jews can write this
• 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
• 26 In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers……
OFFER YOUR BODIES AS LIVING SACRIFICE:
In the above scriptures, Paul talks about physical pain and sufferings for Christ sake; however, he wants our heart, soul and mind to be connected and not body alone which would be like pagan worship. Roman Catholics do knee-walking, Knee-walking is seen as a physical expression of one's deep devotion and a way to fulfill vows or seek spiritual purification. Pilgrims may undertake this act of penance to make a special request or to offer thanks for answered prayers. This kind of worship is not what God desires, He is looking for submission, I would like to quote from the book of Romans here
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
1 Peter 4:1-4 / Living for God
4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
LIVING SACRIFICE: Worship and sacrifice should be your life style! Are you listening? What is that? Change in attitude, kindness, gentleness, softness and humbleness. You cannot gossip about a choir member and still worship, you cannot envy a church member and worship at the same time – that would be pseudo worship. Submission to authorities is what God is looking for not empty noise and loud music.
There are Christians, very younger than me, who had spoken very harshly, rudely and impolitely to me and then later apologize to me saying that ‘during the time they spoke to me like that’ they were under pressure. Imagine!!
We had arranged our first three days ‘Convention meeting’ in Hyderabad, after we relocated from Chennai, just me and my husband, therefore I invited a young man who was like my spiritual son to come and help us; he spoke very rudely and said that he has several issues in his ministry and will not be able to come. My heart broke not because he said he will not come but because of the tone of his voice and his abrupt refusal. Eventually his ministry collapsed and we never met. Words can drastically damage a person, be careful!
Submitting to pastors, mentors, prayer cell leaders, patiently volunteering in church are all beautiful form of worship. Philippians 4:18, Paul says, I “have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.” When you give your offerings to servants of God with love and obedience attached to it, this reveals your reverence for God. This pleases God!
Hebrews 13:15: “Through [Christ] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
DO GOOD AND SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE:
Hebrews 13:16: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Sacrifice of the wicked:
Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him
PURE HEART IS IMPORTANT:
Matthew 5:23”So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 23:23
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS:
Amos 5:21-24
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Fund raising schemes, noisy ego music
Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
DISOBEDIENCE:
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
John 14:15 ESV / 104 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD:
Hosea 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Genesis 4:3-6 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen
Psalm 50:13-14
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High
Beth Shemesh
1 Samuel 6: 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.
19 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. [d]He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.
At the outset I would like to give you some information about the men of Beth Shemesh, here we go:
• The men of Beth Shemesh were extremely excited when they saw the Ark of God, though were at work reaping their wheat harvest; yet, more than the ‘harvest of wheat’ they were overjoyed to see the Ark of God come to them. Read: 13 “Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.”
• By the divine guidance of the Lord, the Ark landed in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.(verse 14)
• The men of Beth Shemesh were no ordinary men but Levites:read-15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the LORD.
• Since they were Levites, they knew the rules attached to the Ark of God: The commandment of God was crystal clear where He mentioned how the Ark of God is to be revered and esteemed: read:
• Numbers 4:17 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”
• The enthusiasm, excitement and the abundant of offerings were alright; however, God expects His people, especially the ones that serve Him to know the rules and obey them.
• 50,070 men were struck dead!
Lesson: Be serious with God and do not take His Words lightly, John. 14. [15] If ye love me, keep my commandments. [21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love.
