turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Just wait there for me just to
say a few things before I read the text. I think it was the previous time
that I taught that I gave you a little synopsis of Hebrews,
but I need to do it again if you'll let me do that. Maybe
a little repetition, but hopefully it will be something old and
refreshing. The Book of Hebrews deals with
the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. It is a letter to the Hebrews,
Hebrew believers, Jewish people who had true faith in
Christ, not those practicing Jews which offered sacrifices
and had hope in the work of their hands and their feet and things
they did, but true Jews, Jews inwardly. That letter was written
to assure them that they no longer had to offer those sacrifices,
that those types and those shadows and those pictures had been fulfilled.
It's a letter to the Hebrews which develops and declares in
great detail the reason why they as believers are not under and
must never return to the laws and the ceremonies of that old
covenant, that old testimony. The contents of the letter is
a revelation of Christ. He's presented as the fulfillment
of all the law and the ceremony pictured in the Old Testament
and as the reason why the believers never to return to those practices
as a form of worship. Although the terms Old Covenant
and Old Testament in the scripture means practically the same thing,
the book of Hebrews makes it clear that the Old Covenant,
the Old Testimony, has been set aside as a means of praise and
worship and thanksgiving to God. According to the writer of this
book, and I think it was Paul, the Apostle Paul, writing under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, we're never again to offer in
a literal sense a bloody lamb as a sacrifice
to God. We're never again to be represented
by an earthly high priest. We're never again to sprinkle
the blood of that sacrifice, that sacrificial lamb or a goat
around an earthly altar. No more turtle doves or pigeons
are to be sacrificed, calves and bullocks. We're never again
to enter an earthly temple considering it to be the dwelling place of
God. Those were pictures and types
in the Old Testament which pointed to Christ. And the substance
of the true tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, is Christ and his
people now. That's the temple that God dwells
in, Christ and his people. It's no earthly tabernacle. The substance of the true tabernacle,
the dwelling place of God, All those earthly ceremonies and
those sacrifices of worship served as examples and shadows and pictures
of heavenly things. They were material, they were
visible, they were touchable, they were carnal, but they pictured
things in heaven. At the time of their use, they
were pictures and typical of things not yet seen. But now
Paul's signaling the end of Judaism and all of its practices in the
worship of God. The message of this letter sent
to these Hebrew believers was and is very plain and to the
point. The substance of all of those
old types had their fulfillment in the person and in the work
of Christ. All of those old covenant ceremonies,
those types, those pictures of heavenly things had their fulfillment
in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the time they were
used, they all pointed to one who was to come. Just as the
gospel points to the one who has come and will come, they
pointed to Christ. When they were performed, they
were all saying, Messiah's coming. He's coming. The Christ is coming. Christ is Messiah. Messiah is Christ. All that they
performed in the worship of God was saying, there is one coming. Watch for him. Watch for him. That was the gospel of reconciliation
in their day. Those ceremonies of the Old Covenant
or the Old Testament did the same thing and served the same
purpose as John the Baptist did when he saw Christ coming to
him over in the Gospels. John the Baptist was a rock star
in every term you want to consider. He had disciples following him.
He had crowds like Charles Spurgeon didn't have. I picture him walking that day
amongst a group of people who were following him, a whole multitude
of people. It doesn't say that, it's just
my premonition. But John must have pointed to
Christ, just like those types, those pictures, and those Representations
in the Old Testimony did point to Christ. John pointed to Christ
and he said, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world. To put that in plain English,
John was pointing to Christ and saying, hey guys, He's here. He was announcing in the beginning
of the end of the old testimony, that old covenant. Now, there's a new and a living
way, which Christ has consecrated for us. Through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh. That veil became his flesh. and having a high priest over
the house of God. He's the high priest now. Let
us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water. Those guys walked out of that
temple before. After offering those sacrifices,
they were as guilty then as they did when they went in there.
didn't put away sin, there was no remission. And now Paul comes some 50 to
70 years after the death and ascension of Christ back into
heaven, and he literally exhausts himself in writing this letter
to the Hebrews of his day, Jewish believers of true faith. These are Jews inwardly and not
just Jews outwardly. And Paul makes it vividly clear
and plain and to the point that if anyone would apply to the
law in approaching God in those old ceremonies and those practices,
that person cannot have Christ. Read this book. The essential character of every
believer who lives by faith in Christ is he or she must believe
that there is no more sacrifice for sin. He has put it away permanently,
forever. There's not gonna be any temples
rebuilt. Not gonna be any more sacrifices offered. Under the law, And the ceremonies,
those sacrifices of the old covenant, God never took pleasure or satisfaction
in those things that were offered or the ceremonies that were performed.
He told them that. He said, I'm sick of your sacrifices
because it was the sacrifices of their hands. God had no hands
but their hands and no feet but their feet. And that's the way
they were worshiping the bloody lamb in their minds. It didn't represent one to come.
It was their righteousness they were offering. Just as we have
those in religion today who misunderstand. Paul is saying that he has made the first old
Now that which decayeth and waxes old is ready to vanish away.
Christ has now fulfilled all vision and all prophecy. He has offered himself and he
is the last sacrifice which God will ever accept or ever require,
period. Now with all that having been
said, look at verse 15 in Hebrews chapter 13. It says, by him, the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God
continually. That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to his name. Now, all that is left for a child
of God in the matter of his salvation is to worship God. Not in the letter, not in the
ceremony, but in all of its repetition and reminders of sin, but we're
to worship in spirit and in truth. How is that worship now to be
offered? It's to be offered by Him, by Him. Don't forget that. That's the first words of the
script, of that verse, by Him. How is this worship now to be
offered in thanksgiving and praise? Now praise is thanksgiving. And thanksgiving is praise. The religion of this world writes
list upon list for Christian duties. I hate that. and the redeemed are stated very
clearly here. Their duties are, their duties
are admonished to be to sacrifice. I thought they were over. Sacrifice unto God, thanksgiving
and praise. This is their life and the very
heart of their existence. Is it really a sacrifice? To
praise something? To offer thanksgiving? To religion, it may seem to be
a small thing, but it's a matter of the heart. I was reminded,
I was thinking this morning, I used to hang out with a bunch
of dock rats in Florida. We'd come home from fishing,
And there was a lady on the dock down there. And they'd come in
on another boat. She'd been out fishing all day.
And I thought I was going to vomit. They had caught more fish
than they could eat in the next six months. And she was hopping
around on the dock, thanking Jesus and praising the Lord. It was so cheap. It was so worthless. It was so ostentatious that she
just wanted to get sick. It meant nothing, and it wasn't
nothing but a parade of her own righteousness. She deserved what
she had gotten. She deserved what she had caught. But that's not the heart of the
existence of the real believer. They offer up praise and thanksgiving
by Him, not by their self. To religion, this may seem to
be a small thing, but it's a matter of the heart. It can't be accomplished
with the deeds of the flesh. Praise and thanksgiving is the
result of a miracle of grace in a believer's heart. It's a
new life. It's being quickened from the
dead. It's born in the child of God when God quickens and
grants him faith in Christ who has reconciled him to God. This new life is given to us
and becomes the fountain and the origin of the praise and
thanksgiving that's mentioned there in verse 15. Now, the word sacrifice in this
verse It's what caught my attention.
And it's occupied my mind quite a bit. My mind first read this,
ran first to the question, how in the world could praise and
thanksgiving even be considered a sacrifice? It caused me to even question
whether I knew the definition of the word. I'll be honest with
you, I looked it up. A lot of things I assume I know
lately, I don't know. Why in the world would Paul admonish
to praise and offer thanksgiving to God and in the same breath
call it a sacrifice? Well, I looked up the word sacrifice
and I discovered this. The heart of its meaning as a
noun, you can sacrifice and then you have a sacrifice. There's a noun, the word's both,
it's a noun and a verb. At the heart of its meaning as
a noun, it's a victim. It's a victim. And if my references
are correct, the word in its original language means, as a
verb, to destroy, to surrender, or suffer to be lost for the
sake of obtaining something else. Our dictionary defines the word
to be a noun or a verb, and it defines it as an act of giving
up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as
more important and more worthy. In either case, there's two things
necessary to meet the requirements of the definition of sacrifice. Number one, there's got to be
a victim, and number two, there's cost. What does praise and thanksgiving cost you? I don't want to seem trite. I
don't even want to give the impression that I'm cheapening such a serious
subject, but I want you to understand what I'm saying, and I'm going
to try to be simple. Have you ever had the need to
purchase a car Now, it's important you understand what I said. You
ever had the need to purchase a truck, maybe? You need a truck,
Chris, to haul things around. You need it. The consideration of doing so
is entirely within the scope of the definition of sacrifice.
It's going to cost you something of value, your money. for the
sake of something else needed, you regard as more important
to have than what you have now. And when you give up the cost
of purchasing that vehicle, you're a victim of its cost. Is that oversimplified? If you
find that illustration to be a bit shallow, then consider
the sacrifice that we all make for the benefit of our children
on any occasion. A few of us can appreciate that.
They're expensive. And they're expensive in many
forms. It costs us a lot in many forms to provide them the things
that they need and they have. Money, time, energy. In 2 Samuel 24, King David made this declaration. He said, I will not offer burnt
offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. King David said, I'm not going
to offer a sacrifice that doesn't cost me something. That's as true concerning this
sacrifice as it was the sacrifices he offered. Or the word sacrifice
doesn't mean anything. But what's the cost of praise
and thanksgiving? I think this is the answer. If
we offer the sacrifice of praise, we're in a sense the victim of
praise. To offer up praise and thanksgiving
to God will cost you yourself. You'll deny everything you ever
were or ever had. To offer sacrifices by him Our Lord said, if any man will
come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. No one can praise God who praises
himself. Just can't be done. It's impossible. To offer praise and thanks to
God is to remove yourself from even the possibility of praise. I opened up Marvin Stoniker's
bulletin this morning, and this was in it. Tommy Robbins said
it. He said, our speech betrays us. Those who don't know Christ speak
great things concerning themselves. Those who do know him speak great
things about him. Now look at her text. If I offer
praise and thanksgiving by Christ, it's offered against myself. Since we so appreciate and crave
the praises of men and are willing to pat ourselves on the back
if we can't find somebody else to do it for us, it's no wonder
that God would call praise a sacrifice, especially when it comes from
us. Praise and thanksgiving to God
requires the denial of self and praise glorifies God. It's its
single object. It's its only object. It's the
same with the source and the reason for thankfulness. Giving
thanks, it says. You and I can't offer praise
and thanks to God and ourselves at the same time. In fact, there's
no ground upon which a believer may thank himself. It's all of
grace. David said, nod unto us. Oh Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name be glory. We all can remember those two
men who went into the temple to pray. Preachers use it all the time. But one was a Pharisee and the
other one was a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
with himself, it says. with himself. He said, God, I
thank you that I'm not like the rest of men. Have you ever noticed
those words? I'm not like anybody else. There's no one else like me.
These guys are extortioners. They're unjust. They're adulterers. I'm not even like this publican
here. I fast twice in a week, I give
tithes of all that I get. But Paul admonishes us in verse
15 here to offer the sacrifice of praise by Christ. First two words. There was no
offering of praise by him in the praise that that Pharisee
offered. It was praise of self. And his confidence and his standing
before God was his own goodness. His own virtue, his own worthiness,
his own morality, his own innocence, his nobility. That's what got
him his standing before God. His own purity. And all of it
was nothing but a stench in God's nose. It was nothing but filthy
rags. But that publican's praise and
that publican's thanksgiving to God made him, in a sense,
the victim of praise, and it cost him everything he was, which
was nothing. He stood afar off. He wouldn't so much as even lift
up his eyes into heaven, but he smote his breast. saying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Our Lord said, I say unto you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other
for everyone that exalted himself shall be humbled, but he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. That publican offered up praise
and thanksgiving by Christ. You may say, well that's not
what that verse says. How can you say that he was asking
mercy by Christ because there's one fact. He went home justified. And the only way a sinner who
despises himself can go home justified is, look, by Christ. He went home rejoicing. His confidence
and standing before God was in praise and thanksgiving for Christ,
for Christ, because of, that's what that means, because of Christ.
He went home owning the virtue of Christ. He went home in the
merits of Christ. He went home in the innocence
of Christ. His nobility was the nobility that Christ had provided. The purity he owned was the purity
of Christ. He went home knowing that his
standing before God was one of perfection by him. I think he may have had a little
pep in his step when he went away in agreement with God that
he was nothing and that Christ was all. Denying self. in total agreement with God that
he was nothing, but with praise and thanksgiving to God on his
lips by Christ. This is the result of our having
been given the very life of God in our souls, being born again,
having Christ take up his abode in us, becoming a spiritual dwelling
place of God, a spiritual house. to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Let me end by reinforcing this
again. This sacrifice and this thanksgiving is by Christ. Scripture says, for of him and
through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Christ is the only way by which
thanksgiving is realized and the only way by which faith or
praise is offered. Christ is the center of all that
he is. You ever notice these verses?
I think you'll recognize him. He's in the midst of the throne.
You know what midst he is? It's the center. He's the he's
the center of the throne. He's in the midst, the center
of the elders. and he's in the midst or the
center of the four beasts, and he's in the midst or in the center
of the seven candlesticks, and he's in the center of praise
and thanksgiving. The only way that God can be
praised is by Christ. He's to be praised from a thankful
heart for his substitutionary work on our behalf. These things
have nothing to do with us as to accomplishment. He's to be
praised from a thankful heart for the perfect righteousness
that he has obtained for us. And that means the righteousness
that God has and will accept has nothing to do with us as
to the accomplishment of it. You can't thank him or praise
him if you can claim anything or any part for which you're
thanking and praising him. Under that old covenant, as I've
said, no sooner than a man had walked away from the ceremony
of offering up a lamb as a sacrifice, his conscience of sin returned. But the new covenant, the new
testimony, ratified and mediated by Christ himself leaves the
recipient with a heart full of praise and thanksgiving continually. It doesn't stop. This is the
believer's worship. And this is what believers offer
to God. Listen to this. Ho, everyone that thirsteth.
Come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, nothing. Come ye buy and eat, yea, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Well then you don't have to buy
it. Right? No. That word's still there. It said buy it. It said buy it. How do you buy it without money
and without price? Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
doesn't satisfy? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Isaiah said that in his day. How you gonna get it if it don't
cost you anything? How you gonna buy it if it doesn't
cost anything? That's the only thing that qualifies
you. That's me. I'm nothing. And I've got nothing. And he's
all. Understand? That's the only explanation
I can give you. God bless you.