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Biblical
references in Gahanna-Jefferson Church of Christ's nondenominational sermon
outlines are linked directly to text of the King James version of the Bible.
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version of the Bible.
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Spiritual Sacrifices
Acceptable To God -
I Peter 2:5
Introduction.
1. An important principle taught in the New Testament is that of The Priesthood
Of All Believers.
a. It is true that under the Law of Moses there was a distinction made between
priests the common people.
b. Even today, many religions professing to be Christian have developed a
clergy-laity distinction.
2. The fact is, in Christ we are all "clergy".
a. I used to say that we had no clergy in the church, but in reality we have no
laity.
b. Does this mean we are all free to use “clergy-parking”? I’ll let you discuss
that with the security guards at the hospitals!
3. As a royal priesthood, our responsibilities are described in
I Peter 2:5:
a. To offer up spiritual sacrifices.
b. To make sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Body.
I. Spiritual Sacrifices.
A. Types of Sacrifices to be offered by Christians:
1. Our bodies, as living sacrifices -
Romans 12:1-2
2. A lifestyle characterized by sacrificial love -
Ephesians 5:1-2
3. Praise and thanksgiving, which we do in prayer and song -
Hebrews 13:15
B. The purpose of these Sacrifices:
1. In the Old Testament, sacrifices were offered for one of two reasons:
a. For those out of fellowship with God, to restore them back to the Lord.
b. For those in fellowship with God, to express thanksgiving, praise, love and
devotion.
2. But in the New Testament:
a. Only Jesus can provide the sacrifice needed to restore us back to God -
Hebrews 10:11-18
b. Therefore, it should be clearly understood that our sacrifices are not to
remove sin or in any other way to try to earn our way into heaven!
3. Rather, to express thanksgiving and praise, love and devotion, for the
goodness and mercy God has shown to us!
4. Such is the nature of the spiritual sacrifices we offer to God. But as our
text says, they must be acceptable to God. We can learn some valuable lessons
from the Book of Malachi about what constitutes acceptable sacrifices.
II. To be acceptable to God:
A. It must be the best we have to offer.
1. Otherwise we despise the Name of God by offering defiled food -
Malachi 1:6-8
2. Would we render the same kind of service to our employers, etc.?
3. If not, God would rather someone shut the doors or let someone else serve Him
- Malachi 1:9-11
B. It must be offered with sincerity and zeal!
1. Lack of zeal is evidence of lack of sincerity! -
Malachi 1:12-13
2. Lack of both results in offering blemished sacrifices, which brings a curse
from Him who deserves proper reverence -
Malachi 1:14,
2:1-9
3. How does this apply to our spiritual sacrifices?
a. Like singing praises?
b. Like doing good to others?
C. It must be offered in conjunction with a righteous life!
1. The priests of Malachi’s day had been quick to divorce their wives -
Malachi
2:13-16
2. Even Peter taught that our treatment of wives would have a bearing on the
effectiveness of our prayers -
I Peter 3:7
3. This can be applied to many other things as well -
Psalms 41:1-3
Conclusion.
1. Some in Malachi’s day did not think it of any value to serve the Lord
faithfully -
Malachi 3:13-15
2. But others heeded his words, and it is touching to read what was said about
them - Malachi 3:16-18
3. Shall we be among those who serve God? May we never forget that in the sight
of God we are:
a. To be a royal priesthood
b. Called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ!
Don Treadway,
October
2003 |
