#2
“The Tabernacle” Series
"THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE!"
TEXT: Exodus
38:1-7;
INTRO:
The
entire design of the tabernacle is one large sermon, not only the building's
design but even the furnishings ... and even the types of materials used in
making the tabernacle and its furnishings!
We've already discovered from the last message that there was but a
single entrance to God within the design, the eastern gate. Jesus is that door or gate, the entrance
to God. Now that we have entered
the proper way, where are we? What
is the first thing we come to once inside? (See picture) God has a very important message for
those who are now in the door by what awaits them as the first point of
contact!
The
first thing to greet us after entering the door is the ALTAR OF
SACRIFICE! Perhaps for
some Christians they would have preferred to find the TABLE OF
SHEWBREAD where God makes provision for us ... but we find ourselves
first at a place of sacrifice!
PROP.
SENT: Nothing of real value comes to us
without real sacrifice! Those
things that do come to us without real sacrifice we don't appreciate or we are
indifferent to. A Biblical faith is
one that recognizes a priority of sacrifice and the willingness to give rather
than to get.
TRANS.
SENT:
Any faith worth its salt
understands the imperative for sacrifice.
A sacrificial character is a must for those who approach the presence of
God! There was no way to bypass the
altar of Sacrifice
on the way into God's presence in the tabernacle!
*Self-preservation
is natural ... but self-sacrifice is supernatural!
I. MATERIALS OF THE ALTAR Exodus
38:1-7
A. The
"Stuff!"
Ex. 38:1-7
1. "Acacia"
wood was the basic material of the altar ... this is a very unique
wood!
a. It is a tree that grows in the
desert under severe conditions, one of the hardiest trees on
earth!
b. The wood from this tree is nearly
indestructible!
c. It is almost completely immune from
insects and rot.
d. The grain is very gnarled and
twisted as well as very hard ... very durable.
2. This wood was chosen for its
quality of being nearly indestructible, a shadow of the Christ who is
eternal!
3. The wood was then covered with
brass or bronze. This material
symbolized judgment in the Old Testament.
a. Indeed, nearly all the metal used
outside the tabernacle itself was made from bronze ... demonstrating that
outside the dwelling of God is found judgment!
b. The altar by its appearance
reminded the believer of God's judgment. It was on this altar that the sacrificial
animal was presented for God's judgment to be removed from the believer as he
began his journey toward God’s presence!
c. Thus it was the place of sacrifice!
Its ultimate expression found again
in Christ who took our judgment and who also was the
sacrifice!
4. There were 4 horns on the altar ...
used to bind the sacrificial animal to the altar, a horn on each corner of the
altar.
5. There was no way to approach the
presence of God within the tabernacle and bypass this altar ... it stood as the
first thing after entering the courtyard!
a. It was a must "stopping"
place!
b. You did not dare continue toward
God without coming first to the place of sacrifice! If you did you would have been
considered "impure!"
B. The
Symbolism
1. The wood of the altar symbolizes
the quality of our sacrifices to God ... it must be of high grade quality, no
cheap wood could have survived the constant fires of the altar of sacrifice,
neither will "cheap" sacrifices for Christ!
2. The bronze stood for judgment ...
the world will judge our Christianity by the way we live sacrificially too ...
a faith that
is not worth sacrificing for is not a faith worth living
for!
3. There was no way of avoiding this
altar of sacrifice ... you practically ran into it once you entered the only
entrance to the courtyard. There is
no such faith for a Christian that does not include "sacrifice," it cannot be
avoided!
4. Any attempt to bypass this place of
sacrifice ended in death!
a. Anyone that thinks they can live
for God without a need for sacrifice will only find a dead
Christianity!
b. God requires
sacrifice!
5. The order of approach to God cannot
be ignored ... this was the first stopping place after entering the gate ... the
place of sacrifice!
II. MESSAGE OF THE ALTAR 1 Kings
1:50
A. The
Search
1. The approach to God includes this
place of sacrifice, any other route that bypasses this altar will not lead to
God!
2. Today you will hear much preaching
that attempts to draw people into Christianity that promises of all kinds of
earthly "goodies" ... preaching a Christianity that expects no sacrifices by the
individual is a hollow Christianity!
3. There is too much "shallow"
Christianity now in the world ... Christians who only want but do not
give!
4. Jesus clearly taught us sacrifice
by His own statement, "I came not into the world to do my own will ... but the
will of Him who sent me!"
5. The search for the real God will
always bring us first to the place of sacrifice!
6. "Sacrificial
giving" is the very character of true
Christianity!
a. In our
lifestyle.
b. In our
faith.
c. In our
resources.
d. In our heart
attitudes.
B. The
Service 1 Kings
1:50; 2 Sam. 24:24
1. In the Old Testament if someone
needed God's protection he could run to this altar and take hold of the "HORNS OF THE
ALTAR."
a. 1 Kings 1:50 is an example: Adonijah took hold of the horns of the
altar for protection. (He lived … Joab who was not innocent however was killed –
1 Kings
b. "Taking hold of
the horns of the altar" symbolized your becoming a willing bound
sacrifice ... since the horns were used to bind a
sacrifice!
c. It literally meant you made
yourself the sacrifice on that altar by your own will!
d. Thus someone who did this was
treated very carefully ... they were examined to be sure they were really
innocent of guilt and only then were they dealt with! A judgment was rendered over them only
after careful consideration of the facts.
2. 2 Sam.
24:24 -- David wished to build an altar of sacrifice to worship the Lord,
he clearly states that he could not accept for "free" the land and the
sacrifices from Araunah; he would not offer a sacrifice to God that cost him
nothing!!
a. Cheap Christianity does not
work!
b. A commitment to Christ that is
without sacrifice is no commitment!
c. There are enough worldly calls that
promise: "AT NO COST" ... this doesn't work
in the
ILLUS: Many
products advertise as "NO COST ... NO OBLIGATION" -- knowing that we will be
attracted to their products this way.
we want something for nothing but the costs are there, they are hidden or
postponed, BUT THEY ARE THERE!
Don't be fooled, anyone that preaches to you a Christianity that is
WITHOUT COST OR OBLIGATION is selling you a false faith!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. These sacrifices were very real,
they were not just the appearances of sacrifice!
4. A dynamic faith is very real; it
will not just have the appearance of sacrifices.
5. Our service to God includes
frequent sacrifices but the value this gives to our witness is very
powerful!
6. Jesus' sacrifice of Himself was the
greatest and costliest ... but it also brought to us the greatest and most
valuable gift, eternal life! There
was no easy cheap way to give the finest gift.
7. Your faith and the quality of your
spiritually will only be as good as the sacrifices you make because of
it!
a. Those whose faith always seems
vital and real are those who have learned the service of
sacrifice!
b. There are no good substitutes for
this kind of faith!
8. The message of the altar is clear:
“YOU CAN'T
BYPASS THIS PLACE OF SACRIFICE AND EXPECT TO FIND YOURSELF IN GOD’S
PRESENCE!”
III. MANIFESTATION OF THE ALTAR Rom.
12:1-2
A. The
Sacrifice Rom. 12:1
1. Paul spells it out clearly in the
New Testament, "...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God..." 12:1
a. Paul speaks out clearly what is
symbolized by the altar of sacrifice ... we are to be a living
sacrifice!
b. One difference however, the Old
Testament sacrifices were killed ... since Christ paid the price of death we do
no need to physically die anymore, thus we are to be "living"
sacrifices!
c. One problem with this, unlike a
dead sacrifice living ones tend to want to crawl off the altar ... especially
when they feel the heat!
d. This is when we need to take hold
of the horns of the altar ... to keep from leaving the altar of sacrifice! We too must be bound to the altar,
instead of with ropes we need to be connected by God's love for
others!
2. Notice that Paul says that "this is our
spiritual act of worship." 12:1b
a. The basis of spiritually is in
sacrifice ... even in worship!
b. Too
many of us think of a "good" worship service as coming from what we got OUT of
the service! But in truth a good
worship service happens from what we PUT INTO the
service!
c. No wonder the Bible uses the term;
"A SACRIFICE
OF PRAISE!"
d. A dynamic worship service is not so
much what I get ... as much as what I give!
e.
"Sacrifices:
(1. Of
praise.
(2. Of our material resources ...
tithes & offerings.
(3. Of time.
(4. Of
talents.
3. The goal therefore is not to GAIN
... but to GIVE!
a. Ironically however when we give we
do gain!
b. And the sweetest gains come from
giving!
B. The
Secret! 12:2
1. How do I find God's will? This is a question that most Christians
ask at some point, Paul tells us the secret here on how you can know and do the
will of God!
a. The world preaches "GIVE ME" ... we
are not to be conformed to the world's mentality.
b. We are to be transformed in our
minds from "GIVE ME" to "I GIVE ME" and when we transform our
thinking to GIVING -- to SACRIFICE we will discover in the process that we will
DEMONSTRATE GOD'S WILL!
2. In fact we will “TEST AND APPROVE
HIS PERFECT WILL!”
3. Too many Christians misunderstand
God's will ... they think of it in terms of "What do I do now?" ... or "What does God want me to do
exactly?"
a. The will of God
is an attitude and when this is right the choices we make will be right ... thus
we will always do the Will of God!
b. The Will of God is found in a basic
quality ... that of sacrifice! When
we really give of ourselves we quite literally “TEST AND
APPROVE” what God's will is everyday ... and in every
way!
c. Thus His perfect will plays itself
out in our everyday life and we will LIVE IN His will as we
walk!
d. The right heart will make the
right choices ... Jesus ALWAYS did the Will of His father AND He always
considered Himself as a sacrifice!
4. We can't miss God's best in our
lives if we indeed have approached God by way of the altar of
sacrifice!
5. Those that begin with the altar of
sacrifice end up in the very presence of God! Those who bypass this altar of sacrifice
bypass the highest quality of faith and they will miss out on the real presence
of God in their lives!
6. The secret to dynamic faith and
knowing the presence of God in a powerful way is via the altar of
sacrifice! HAVE YOU BEEN THERE
YET?
CONCLUSION: Once through the door
(Jesus Christ), the first stop for a believer on their way into fellowship with
God was the altar of sacrifice! Too
many Christians want to bypass the altar of sacrifice and find the table of
showbread first, the place of provisions. We are not allowed to bypass the place of
sacrifice first!