Larry C. Brincefield
larkayb@earthlink.net
Title: We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise
Text: Hebrews 13:11-16; Psalm 50:14
Introduction
In baseball, they have a play that’s called a Sacrifice fly.
If a runner is on 3rd base...
and there are less than 2 outs...
the batter can try to hit the ball deep into the outfield...
knowing that the ball will be caught...
and he will be out...
but he sacrifices himself,
so that his teammate can score a run.
Parents will often sacrifice their time and money
so that they can earn a good living for their children,
perhaps saving up money for them to go to college,
and so on.
In wartime,
you hear stories about men who will throw themselves onto a grenade,
sacrificing their own life,
in order to save the lives of his fellow soldiers.
In the Old Testament, the Children of Israel would perform animal sacrifices to God.
This was done as a form of worship to God.
We no longer offer animal sacrifices to God,
but I would like us to examine this subject in greater detail today,
and see if there is a message for us and for our worship.
Read Text: Hebrews 13:11-16; Psalm 50:14
Body
1. OT Sacrifices
In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were quite common.
These sacrifices can be roughly divided into 2 types.
gifts, tributes, thanksgiving.
and sacrifices for sin.
An example of an Old Testament sacrifice of thanksgiving would be Noah.
Genesis 8:20-21 says, "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man"
God ordained animal sacrices as a sacrifice for sin.
Basically, the animal sacrifices its life, for the benefit of the person bringing the sacrifice.
The theological term is atonement.
Exodus 29:36 says, "Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement"
Atonement means to make payment, or to make amends.
In the English language, "atone" was formed from the words "at one".
Conveying the message that in order for them to be "at one" with God,
they had to perform the sacrifice.
In our text, it explains how the blood of the animals was brought into the Most Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin.
Even though the Children of Israel didn’t have the benefit of Romans 6:23, they knew that the "wages of sin was death".
They were directed to bring an animal that was without spot or blemish
the blood of the animal would be brought into the Most Holy Place,
while the body was taken outside the city and burned.
2. The NT Sacrifice
In the New Testament, animal sacrifices began to come out of practice.
That’s because Jesus became the Ultimate Sacrifice.
He paid the price of our sin.
He made atonement on our behalf.
He died and shed His blood so that we could enjoy a right relationship with God.
Our text says, "so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood" Heb 13:12 (NIV)
In Article VI of the Articles of Faith for the Church of the Nazarene, it says, "We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His ... death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual" —Nazarene Manual 2001-2005
But even though the PRACTICE of animal sacrifices came out of use,
the LANGUAGE of sacrifice continued.
John 1:29 says, "John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Romans 2:25 says, "God presented him
2 Corinthians 5:19 says, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them"
Colossians 1:21-22, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight"
1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men"
1 Peter 1:18-19 "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed ... but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect"
And probably the most directly stated passsage, Hebrews 9:11-14 "When Christ came ... He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but HE entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
And there’s plenty more Scripture where that came from.
3. Sacrifices for Today
Today, there seems to be a great deal of confusion about what worship is.
The OT worshipers didn’t seem to have this problem...
it was obvious that the act of bringing an animal sacrifice was focused on God.
It was done by God’s direction.
They used pure animals
And Jesus Christ in the NT is an obvious sacrifice,
intended to pay the price for our sin.
like the lambs or goats that were without spot or blemish,
so Jesus Christ, as our sacrifice, was pure and holy
But today, we don’t bring animals to sacrifice.
And Jesus has already died for our sins.
Just as there were 2 main sacrifices in the OT, I want to focus on 2 sacrifices that we can bring today
Psalm 51:16-17 says, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise"
Romans 12:1 says, "offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God"
When we give our lives to the Lord,
in a way, it is like laying a sacrifice on the altar.
Many times when people pray,
they will actually pray at the altar.
They may not even realize that symbolically,
they are re-creating the Old Testament sacrifices.
We acknowledge that we are sorry for our sins,
and we dedicate ourselves for the Lord’s service.
Another type of sacrifice is the one from our text...
Psalm 50:14 says, "Sacrifice thank offerings to God"
Hebrews 13:15, following the discussion of Jesus being a sacrifice, says, "therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise"
What is a sacrifice of praise?
It could simply mean praising the Lord.
According to Barclay, "The ancient peoples sometimes argued that a thank-offering was more acceptable to God than a sin-offering, for when a man offered a sin-offering he was trying to get something for himself, while a thank-offering was the unconditional offering of the grateful heart. The sacrifice of gratitude is one that all may and should bring. —Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
But let me take that a step farther.
When we talk about a SACRIFICE of praise...
where does the sacrifice part come in.
It’s no sacrifice to praise the Lord on Palm Sunday,
when everyone else is praising the Lord.
But it is much more of a sacrifice to praise the Lord on Good Friday...
when the crowd is going the other way.
Just ask Peter, who instead of praising, denied Jesus.
Let me pause for a moment to explain something...
Every time I preach, I try to seek the Lord about what to preach.
I want to be obedient to Him.
And when I do,
I feel that there is someone (or many someone’s) in the congregation ...
that needs to hear that message.
When I was preaching in Anniston,
a mother told me that her teenage son had come to her
and accused her of telling me about something that had happened in his life...
because I just seemed to preach "at" him.
She never had told me anything...
that is just how the Lord works.
In the midst of preparing this message,
my son, Ethan, was taken by helicopter to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
His situation could have (and still is) potentially life threateningly serious.
Now, I can assure you, it is easy to praise the Lord when ...
all the kids are healthy...
the Lord is blessing...
and the bills are paid...
But, how do we respond when...
a loved one is sick...
or perhaps we feel abandoned by God...
or our bills are mounting up.
Do we praise the Lord then?
That’s a SACRIFICE of praise.
Conclusion
We have be focusing on worship this month...
and in another week and a half is Thanksgiving
What is your attitude right now?
How are things going?
When things are going great...
it’s easy to praise the Lord.
and obviously, we SHOULD praise the Lord.
But, what about when things get tough?
What about when terror strikes our nation?
What about when your loved one is sick?
What about when your life seems all turned upside down?
Can you still praise the Lord?
In my mind, perhaps the most incredible example of this is the life of Job...
Back in those days after my daughter, Hannah, died,
I became very cynical.
I doubted this story in Job.
I studied different scholars,
and picked up on 1 or 2 that mentioned that the story of Job never really happened,
it was just a fictional story, beautifully written.
And I bought into that...
because I didn’t think that anyone who had suffered the way Job did
could respond the way that Job did.
Job,
lost his farm
his livestock,
his health,
and his children...
all within the period of 5 minutes.
And how did Job respond to this multiple tragedy?
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised." Job 1:20-21 (NIV)
That is the best example of a sacrifice of praise that I have ever read!
And it haunts me
and blesses me every time I read it.
And the reason it does...
I believe it happened just the way the Bible says it happened.
It is completely true.
We really can praise the Lord...no matter what the circumstances...
that’s why it is called a SACRIFICE of praise.
Christianity without praise is dull and lifeless.
Christianity without sacrifice is meaningless.
Christianity without a sacrifice of praise is not really Christianity at all.
therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise
Heb 13:15 (NIV)
