All right, you remember from
our last lesson, David had counted Israel. He did it without taking
the half shekel of silver that God had commanded as the atonement
money to be taken from everyone who was counted who was 20 years
old and older. And God had commanded that atonement
money be taken that a plague not come on the people whenever
the people were numbered. And the atonement price was the
same for every person, a half shekel of silver. The rich shall
not give more, the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. And that's a picture of the blood
of Christ who atoned for the sin of all of his people, the
same price atoned for the sin of all God's elect, the blood
of Christ. And David was warned, but he
insisted on counting the people anyway as a matter of pride. David wanted to know how many
people he ruled. He wanted to know how large his
army was, and he forgot. Israel don't belong to him. Israel
belongs to the Lord. This is God's people. And the
problem David's pride caused is when he counted Israel, he
valued the atonement as nothing. He said, I can approach God on
my own. I don't need the atonement. And pride is what made him do
it. Now here's a warning to us about pride. You know scripture
states plainly, God hates pride in the creature. And whatever
it is we take pride in, that's exactly what the Lord's going
to put his finger to and destroy and touch. Whatever it is we
take pride in. David took pride and wanted to
take pride in how many people he ruled. And one day, God killed
70,000 people. He drastically reduced the number
of people David ruled, didn't he? If anyone wanted to have
confidence in how large Israel's army was, 70,000 of them were
destroyed in one day. That army was weakened. And if
we put our confidence in anything except the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's going to touch it. He's going to destroy it. The
Lord's going to remove all hope that we have except His Son. He's going to remove it from
His people. And that's a good thing, but it'll be painful. Whatever it is we put our trust
in, other than Christ, when God removes it, he puts his finger
to it, it'll be painful. It'll be good for us, it'll be
a good thing, but it will be painful. And the Lord sent the
prophet David with three punishments for David to choose. And David
wouldn't choose. He threw himself and he threw
Israel on the mercy of the Lord. Because David learned he's not
going to have any confidence in the flesh. Not any confidence
in his flesh or the flesh of anyone else. And David knew the
mercies of the Lord were great. So if he's going to have confidence,
it's going to be in the mercy of the Lord. He threw himself
and he threw his nation on God's mercy. Now, verse 16, 2 Samuel
24, when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to
destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil and said to the
angel that destroyed the people, it's enough. Stay now thine hand."
And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Arunah
the Jebusite. Now, David had repented. Or,
I'm sorry, God had repented. It says here, when the angel
stretched out his hand, the Lord repented him of evil. That doesn't
mean God changed his mind. It means God changed his way.
He said to that destroying angel, it's enough. Stay your hand. Mercy is going to rule the day.
Now, how can mercy rule the day? How can mercy rule the day and
God not pour out this full punishment, this full judgment that he pronounced
on Israel? How can God spare Jerusalem?
This angel is getting ready to destroy Jerusalem. Well, how
can God spare Jerusalem? Well, it's in the atonement of
the sacrifice. When David saw this destroying
angel, he was hovering in the air over top of Jerusalem. It
was the hour of the evening sacrifice. That's how God can change His
way. That's how He can say, enough. God's wrath can only be stayed
in the blood of the sacrifice. In the blood of this evening
sacrifice that's about to be offered that pictures the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 17, David spake unto
the Lord when he saw the angel that spoke to people. And he
said, lo, I have sinned. I have done wickedly. But these
sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee,
be against me and against my father's house. David, he does
a good job of repenting of his sin, doesn't he? He takes all
the blame on himself. It's nobody's fault but mine.
This is my sin. It's my fault. It's the fault
of my father's house. And that's a picture of us. Our
sin is our fault. And it comes from our Father's
house, doesn't it? From Adam, our father. David did a good
job of repenting of his sin. But the Lord didn't spare David
and he didn't spare Israel because David did a good job of repenting. God spared Israel because of
covenant mercies. Look over in Leviticus chapter
26, back in Leviticus 26. The Lord spared Israel because
God's faithful to his covenant. He is faithful to his word. In
Leviticus 26, beginning in verse 40, If they shall confess their iniquity,
and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass, which they
trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary
unto me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and
have brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their
uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they accept of the punishment
of their iniquity, then will I remember my covenant with Jacob,
and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham
will I remember, and I will remember the land." Look down at verse
45, "...but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of
their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt,
in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their I am the
Lord. God's going to spare Israel for
covenant mercy. David confessed his sins and
God's faithful and just to forgiving his sins. And David said, let
all the blame fall on me. Let all the punishment fall on
me. Now, that's a good plea. But David can't bear all the
punishment for Israel, can he? But the son of David can. And
the son of David did. The son of David made this exact
same plea. when he fled for his people with
his father. As our mediator, he said, Father,
my sheep have done wickedly, but let my sheep go free and
let thine hand be against me. Let your judgment smite me and
let these thy sheep go free. If God had killed David, David's
blood couldn't atone for the sin of Israel, but the blood
of the son of David did. And he made this exact same plea,
let the punishment fall on me, and that's exactly what the Father
did. Now, verse 18, back in our text, 2 Samuel 24. And Gad came that day to David
and said unto him, Go up and rear up an altar unto the Lord
in the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite. And David, according
to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. Well,
now we know God's going to be merciful. How do we know that?
Because God gave instruction to build an altar. And if you're
going to build an altar, you're going to have a sacrifice. Now
we know God is going to be merciful, because he's only ever merciful
through the blood of the sacrifice. God repented him. He changed
his way. He told Daniel, don't destroy
Jerusalem. Grace and mercy are going to
rule the day. But now grace reigns through righteousness. Isn't
that what Paul said in Romans 5? Grace reigns through righteousness. Not at the expense of righteousness,
through righteousness. A sacrifice must be offered.
Somebody still must die. The blood of the sacrifice must
be shed because it's the blood that makes atonement for the
soul. And Israel will live, but only through the blood of the
sacrifice to be offered on this altar that God gave commandment
to build. Now verse 20, Arunah looked and saw the king and his
servants coming on toward him. And Arunah went out and bowed
himself before the king on his face upon the ground. Now if
you'll read 1 Chronicles 21, that's another account of this
exact same story. Arunah and his son see David
coming. You know where they see David
coming? From under a table. They're hiding in fear. And who
can blame them? They see the same destroying
angel, this angel is hovering over Jerusalem, is hovering over
Arunah's farm. They see that angel with his
sword drawn. Who can blame them for being
afraid and hiding under the table? I would. They see the same destroying
angel that David saw. But David's not acting afraid,
is he? Because David knows he'll be accepted in the sacrifice.
He's coming to build an altar and to offer a sacrifice. So
David has no fear. He knows he's going to be accepted
through this sacrifice. But Arunah and his sons are full
of fear for this reason. They don't know anything about
the sacrifice yet. They don't know that there's
an atonement that's going to allow them to be accepted. So
they're full of fear. So David comes and tells them
about the sacrifice, about the atonement. Verse 21. And Arunah
said, Wherefore is my Lord the King come to his servants? And
David said to buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar
unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
And Arunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take, and offer
up what seemeth good unto him. Behold, there be oxen for burnt
offering, and threshing instruments, and other instruments of the
oxen for wood. All these things did Arunah as
a king, to give unto the king. And Arunah said unto the king,
The Lord thy God accept thee. Now, I love this attitude of
Aruna. He gave as a king, as a sovereign. All this belonged to him. This
farm belonged to him. All the instruments of the farm,
all the oxen, all the animals on the farm, they all belonged
to him. He could do with them what he
pleased. They're his. And he was willing to give it
freely. He said, David, just take it.
I mean, isn't that a great attitude? David, take it. That's the kind
of gracious giving attitude the Lord gives his people. Just take
it. It's yours. The Lord give it
to you. Do with it what you want. God's
people say to someone in need, take it. Just take it. It's yours.
But look at verse 24. And the king said unto Arunah,
No, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price. Neither will
I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God. of that which
doth cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and
the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. Now, Aruna offered to give David
everything he needed for the sacrifice. The instruments of
the oxen, you know, the wooden things that they used to tie
them all together and everything. He said, just use that for the
wood. Just have the oxen, everything you want. He's going to give
it to him for free. David could have the altar, he could have
the wood for the fire, he had all the oxen he wanted to sacrifice
to the Lord free of charge. And that just sounds wonderful,
doesn't it? What a gracious attitude the Lord's given this man, Arunah.
And you'd think David would be so thankful, but he's not. I'm sure he is thankful, but
he wouldn't accept the gift that Arunah was going to give him
because David would not offer a sacrifice to the Lord. that
didn't cost him. And David said this first as
a type of Christ. If you look over in First Chronicles
21. This is that story, the same
story recorded, but in a different place. David makes this statement,
I won't offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing as a type
of Christ, our Redeemer. In First Chronicles 21 verse
22. And David said to Ornan, that's
Arunah, Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I
may build an altar therein unto the Lord. Thou shalt grant it
me for the full price, that the plague may be stayed from the
people." And Arundel just wanted to give it to him. In verse 24,
King David said to Ornan, No, but I will verily buy it thee
for the full price. For I will not take that which
is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. David said, you're not just going
to give it to me for a price. You're not just going to give
it to me for a dollar so you can say you sold it to me. You're
going to sell it to me for the full price, the full price must
be paid because David is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
paid the full price for the atonement of his people. The full price
must be paid or there can be no atonement. The full price
must be paid. Or that it's not possible that
we have redemption from our sins. And when Christ our Savior pled
with the Father, He didn't say, Father, just let my let go free. You know, just look the other
way and we'll just pretend like this didn't happen. He didn't
say that. He didn't offer the Father a
bribe of something of lesser value to get Him to ignore our
sin so His let could go free. Christ our Savior insisted. on
paying the full price for the sin of his people. That's the
only way justice can be satisfied. He paid the full price of all
the sin-debt of his people. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. He washed it white as snow by
paying the full price with his own blood. He gave his life that
pay the full price. Now, in 2 Samuel, we read that
David paid with silver. In 1 Chronicles, he paid with
gold. And I'll tell you why it sounds like it's saying two different
things, but it's not. Both happened. David bought the
threshing floor with silver, and he bought the rest of the
farm with gold. And this is the place Solomon's
going to build his temple. David paid with silver. He bought
the threshing floor, the place where he'd build the altar itself.
He bought that with silver because silver is always the price of
redemption. He bought the farm with gold.
Gold is a picture of deity. And that silver and gold being
paid together, that's a picture of the Son of God. He paid the
redemption price for his people with his own blood. When our
Lord died on Calvary's tree, He paid the redemption price
for His people. He bought His people. He redeemed
us from sin. But that's not all He bought.
He bought the whole farm. He bought the whole thing. It's
all His. David bought the farm. Our Lord,
it's His. He created it. And then He turned
around and bought it. He bought this whole world with
His own money. He bought the farm. Silver and
gold paid the price. And as a type of Christ, David
said, I'll not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing. The
second, David made this statement as an example for believers to
follow. This is the way we're to give. We're to give what costs us. The firstfruits are the Lord's. The rest of it belongs to us.
Not the other way around. We don't take everything we need
and then whatever's left over we give to God. That'd be us
taking the firstfruits, wouldn't it? We give the first fruits
to God, and the rest of it, what's left over, is ours. We don't
take what we want and give God leftovers. God's not going to
take leftovers. Look over 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings
chapter 17. Verse 9. Our Lord here is speaking to
Elijah. And he tells him, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which
belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded
a widow woman there to sustain thee." So he arose and went to
Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold,
the widow woman was there gathering of sticks. And he called to her
and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that
I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her
and he said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in mine
hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a
cake, but a handful of meal, and a barrel, and a little bit
of oil, and a cruise. And behold, I am gathering two
sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that
we may eat it and die." That's all we've got. After we eat this,
we're going to die of starvation. That's all she had. And Elijah
said unto her, Fear not, go and do as thou said, but make me
thereof a little cake first. Give it to me first, give it
to the Lord first, and bring it unto me. And after that, make
for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, The burial meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain
upon the earth. And she went, and she did according to the
saying of Elijah. She took everything she had,
everything, and gave it to the Lord first. And she and he and
her house did eat many days. And the bearer of meal wasted
not, neither did the cruise of oil fail, according to the word
of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah." You see, we give to
the Lord first, don't we? That includes money that we put
in the offering, but that also includes of our time and our
talents, offerings that we give of those things. We give those
things to the Lord first. We don't just come to the worship
service. We don't have something better to do. No. Well, I don't
have anything better to do, so I'll go to the service. Now,
you expect the Lord to be honored by that and allow you to worship
Him. Well, I'll just come when I've
got nothing better to do. No. We give the first hours of
the week to the Lord. Then we give the rest of the
week to the other responsibilities that we have. You know, you all
make a sacrifice of your time and efforts, especially to get
here on a Wednesday night. That's a sacrifice, I know. And
when you get here, somebody should have prepared and sacrificed
to prepare a message worth listening to, a message that exalts the
Savior, something that will comfort you and encourage you to make
it through the rest of the week. And I know it can be hard to
get here on a Wednesday night. I know it is. He's working and
it's this time of year, kids have gone back to school and
they've got activities for them to hear for. I mean, I don't
know how they expect to get all this stuff in. I know it's a
sacrifice to get here. That's all right. I won't offer
to the Lord that which costs me nothing. I think, usually,
the times I've received the greatest blessing, coming to the service,
is when I thought, I can't make it. I'm too tired. I've got too much else to do.
I'm just empty. And I come anyway. By God's mercy
and grace, He brings me. And that's when I get the greatest
blessing. I had to make a sacrifice to get here. I'm not going to
give to the Lord. And if you look over Malachi
chapter 1, I'll show you this, God's not going to accept anything
less. Why should He? Malachi 1, the last book in the
Old Testament. Verse 6, a son honoreth his father,
and a servant his master. If then I'd be a father, where's
my honor? If I'd be a master, where's my
fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest that despised
my name. And you say, well, how? Wherein
have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon
mine altar, and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that
ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer
the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And if you offer the
lame and the sick, is that not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee?
Offer that blind and that lame and that sick to the governor
to pay your taxes. Is he going to be pleased with
thee? Will he accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts? And
now I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us.
Hath this been by your means? This is what you've offered.
Now is he going to regard your persons, saith the Lord of hosts? Who is there even among you that
would shut the doors for not? Neither do you kindle fire upon
mine altar for not. What he's saying there is somebody
ought to shut the doors and not let somebody bring in these blind
and lame and sick. Somebody ought to put out the
fire that the blind and the lame and sick wouldn't even be offered
to the Lord. That'd be better. It'd be better not to have any
offering at all than to offer the blind and the lame and the
sick. That's what he's saying. I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your
hand." I'm not even going to accept the blind and the lame
and the sick. I won't accept anything but the
best. Look at verse 13. He said also,
Behold, what weariness is it? And you've snuffed at it, saith
the Lord of Hosts. Is it weariness to you just about
the worship of the Lord? Is it just a weariness to you?
And you brought that which was torn, and the lame and the sick.
But thus, he brought an offering. Now, should I accept this at
your hands, saith the Lord? No. He's not going to accept
it. He just won't accept it. Now, here's something I hope
you'll remember. Don't ever give to the Lord what you don't want. Just don't ever do it. I remember
we signed a mortgage on this building. I don't know if you
remember this or not. This woman, she's a banker, a lawyer, somebody
there, a hundred people there, we signed a note on this building.
We signed a 30-year note. And John said, well, we're going
to be old men when this thing gets paid off. And she said,
oh, don't worry about that. She said, you'll pay it off early.
She said, most churches do. You'll pay it off early with
bake sales and rummage sales and stuff. No, we will not. Never will we have a rummage
sale to pay anything to be any expense for this congregation,
ever. We won't do it. If that's what
you want to do, just burn it. Now, I'm telling you, we'll never,
Have a rummage sale to raise money for God at Hurricane Road
Grace Church, ever. Now, you might wonder why I'm
so adamant about it, but that just makes me angry. What do
you put in a rummage sale? You put your junk. We put in
a rummage sale what we don't want anymore. Put something out
there for a dime just to get rid of it. Now, I grant you,
Your junk might be somebody else's treasure, but we're not going
to give to God that we don't want. That's an insult to God. We're never going to do that.
Aruna was willing to give what cost him. He couldn't give his
livelihood. He couldn't give it to the sacrifice
of the Lord. That's the way believers should
give. There's an article. You read it by Brother Henry
in the Bulletin. I put it in this week because of this lesson
this morning on giving. Just read that. That's the attitude
we should pray, Lord, give us. And he has. Now, you are the
most gracious giving people I know. I'm so thankful for you. But
this is the way believers should give. That's the way Aruna wanted
to give. And that's the way David is going
to give. He's going to give what costs him. Look over Mark chapter
12. I want to show you a couple of
examples. This is what Scripture says is
giving. I pray the Lord will always give
us this attitude of giving. Mark 12, verse 41. And Jesus sat over against the
treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury,
and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain
poor widow, and she threw in two mites which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto him, Verily I
say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than
all they which have cast in of the treasury, for all they did
cast in of their abundance. But she of her want did cast
in all that she had, even all of her living." Our Lord said,
that's giving. You reckon that poor widow starved
to death? Betcha she didn't. Betcha she didn't. Our Lord saw
what she did. Look over Matthew chapter 26. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the
house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having
an alabaster box of very precious ointment, this is expensive stuff,
and she poured it on his head as he sat at knee. And when his
disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what purpose is this
waste? For this ointment might have
been sold for much, we could have had a rummage sale. this
ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor.
I bet they weren't really thinking about giving that to the poor,
if they're real honest. And when Jesus understood it,
he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought
a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with
you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this
ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. And verily
I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the
whole world, There shall also this that this woman hath done
be told for a memorial unto her, an example of giving. She gave
what cost her out of love for the Lord. And that's the way
we should bring an offering to the Lord. Giving to the Lord
what we don't want shows three things. First, it shows this,
a lack of faith. If I don't give, If I just give
what I don't want or, you know, I'm stingy with what I give,
that shows a lack of faith. That says I need this to take
care of me. Because God can't take care of
me. Isn't that what that says? Look over in Luke chapter 12. If I give only what I don't want,
that's just showing I got to have this to take care of me.
It's a lack of faith. God can't take care of me. Verse 22 of
Luke chapter 12. And he said unto his disciples,
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, which
ye shall eat, neither for the body, which ye shall put on.
The life is more the meat, and the body is more the raiment.
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither
have storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. Well, how much
more are you better than the fowls? And which of you, with
taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? be not able to do that thing
which is least, why take your thought for the rest? If you
can't do the least, how are you going to do the greatest? Consider
the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not,
and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass,
remember we just looked at this a couple of weeks ago, the grass,
isn't that what we are? If then God so clothed the grass,
which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you? Oh, ye of little faith. That
just, oh, doesn't that smite you? Oh, ye of little faith.
And seek not ye what ye should eat or what ye should drink,
and neither be of a doubtful mind. Don't you live in careful
suspense, wondering, can God take care of me? No, that's lack
of faith. Don't live like that. For all
these things do the nations of the world seek after. You live
like this. Your Father knoweth that you
have needed these things. That's the way we should live.
Our Father knoweth we have needed these things. Second, if we give
what we don't want to the Lord, it shows this. A lack of love. Love is liberal. Love's not stingy. A gift that doesn't cost you
It really isn't worth much. It really isn't. And it shows
a lack of love. Now, it gets to be Christmas
time. Janet does all of our Christmas shopping. I've got one person
to shop for. Just one. When I go shop for
her, never one time have I gone to the dollar store to look for
her. Now, I mean, I guess if all I had was a dollar, that's
where I'd go. But the Lord's given me more than a dollar.
I've never gone to the dollar store looking for a present for
my wife. It just seems wrong. And I don't go out to the store
thinking, how little can I get away with spending? I wonder
what's the minimum amount, you know, that she'd accept. I'll
look for a good sale, man, nothing wrong with that, but I never
think how little can I get away with spending. That's stingy. Aren't you glad God doesn't give
to His people that way? God gives His best. God gave. His only begotten Son. God gave everything He had for
the redemption of His people. And knowing that God gave His
Son as a sacrifice for His people, that's what a motivated believer
to give. I'm not up here talking about giving and threatening
you that God's going to punish you if you don't give. No. If
that's what you think, keep it. Just keep it. God don't need
it. But God's people give out a loving heart. God gave His
Son for me. I believe I'll give. I believe
I'll give. Somebody needs something, if
you need a fence built in your backyard, some men will come
over and help you put it up. I have a grateful heart, a loving
heart. God's people give lovingly. In
2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul gives instruction on giving,
and he sums it all up by saying this, That's all a believer needs to
hear. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gifts. If God
gives His Son to you, you'll give that way out of a loving,
grateful, thankful heart. That's how we give. Third, if
we give to God what we don't want, it shows a lack of regard
for God's majesty. Think who God is. You're going
to give Him less than the best? Really? Not if we understand
the majesty of God, we won't. We've already seen God's not
going to accept it either. Showing, giving just what we
don't want. All that shows is a lack of respect
for the majesty of God. We give out of a thankful heart. We don't give sowing seed money. That's not why we give. He will,
but that's not why we give. We give out of a thankful heart.
It's a thank offering. Well, given what you don't want,
what's that saying? Lord, thank you for nothing.
Well, we're not going to give that way. If it's worth nothing
to you, you can rest assured this. It's worth much more, much
less than nothing to God. We're not going to give what
don't cost us. David bought the farm. He bought the threshing floor
and he bought the farm. Now look back verse 25. And David built there an altar
unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was
stayed from Israel. David offered burnt offerings
for the sin of the people, and then he offered peace offerings.
And both of those offerings picture our Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the burnt offering that put the sin of his people away, and he
is the peace offering. Peace was made for the Israel
of God through the blood of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Chronicles 21, fire fell
from heaven and devoured the sacrifice that David offered
on that altar. It showed us this. God accepted
the sacrifice. The plague stayed. There's peace
with God because God accepted the sacrifice. God gave what
cost Him. to secure the salvation of his
people. He gave his son, and God accepted
the sacrifice. And out of thanksgiving, out
of thankful hearts, we're not going to give what doesn't cost
us either, will we? Out of a thankful heart. Thankful for the redemption
that's in our Lord Jesus Christ. All right. Well, I hope the Lord
will bless that.