Then what sacrifices and what
offerings should believers under the gospel dispensation bring
to God? If you turn to Psalm 96 verse 8 and 9, there's some instructions
here from David, Psalm 96 verse 8 and 9. Psalm 96 verse 8 and 9. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. Bring an offering. Bring an offering. Now there were sin offerings,
and bank offerings, and meat offerings, and offerings of the
firstfruits, and drink offerings. These have all been fulfilled.
all been abolished, put away, fulfilled by Christ. But this
has not changed. Bring an offering and come into
his courts. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him all the earth.
Well, these verses in our text, where we begin tonight, answer
that question. What sacrifices and what offerings
should believers offer to God under this gospel dispensation? It says in verse 15, by Him, now five things here
I want you to see. By Him, that's by Christ, let
us offer. By Him, therefore, let us offer.
There's no relationship to God, there's no coming to God, there's
no worship of God to be Accomplished by anyone except
in Christ. Isn't that right, Ricks? He just
read it from Ephesians 1. We're accepted in the beloved.
We're chosen in Christ. Christ said to his disciples,
I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father
but by me. 1 Timothy 2.5 says there's one
mediator between God and man, and that's the man Christ Jesus.
And we come to the Father by Him. He hath opened for us through
the veil a new and living way into the presence of God. By
Him. All right. By Him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise. Since we have been made
priests by Christ, the scripture says He hath redeemed us by His
blood and made us kings and priests to our God. Since we've been
made priests before God by Christ, and a priest must have a sacrifice. If he comes to God, he comes
with a sacrifice, with an offering. And since all legal and typical
sacrifices have been fulfilled, what is our sacrifice? Here it
is, it's the sacrifice of praise. That's right. Praise and thanksgiving. to our God. We're to offer the
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Let's look at that in the scripture.
Back here in Philippians. Philippians chapter 4. Now listen
to this. Philippians 4. We're to offer
the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God. Philippians 4. Verse 6. Be anxious. The word careful
there is anxious. Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known to God. In everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Verse 16 through 18, it says
in verse 16, 1 Thessalonians 5, Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, in everything give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. And then Ephesians chapter 5,
listen to Paul here. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 19. By Christ let us offer to God,
come and worship, bring an offering of what? Praise, and thanksgiving,
and gratitude, and glory to his name. And our text tells us the
third thing, first is by Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God thirdly continually. At all times In every condition,
at all times, we have so much for which to be thankful. I would
like for you to turn with me to Psalm 145. I think the psalmist
expresses it so much better than I can. We have so much for which
to be thankful all the time, continually, continually. He says in Psalm 145, I will
extol thee, my God, O King, I bless your name forever and ever. Every
day will I bless thee. I praise thy name forever and
ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness
is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy
works to another. My father to me, me to my son,
my sons to my grandson. And shall declare thy mighty
acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy
wonderful works, thy wondrous works." There it is. We as priests of God, worshiping
God, are to bring to him the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving
continually. Praise God continually. Now listen back to the text.
By Christ, therefore let us offer It's an offering, sacrifice,
praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips. It's
called the fruit of our lips. In reference to the offering
of the first fruits in the Old Testament, they brought the first
fruits. Well, we bring the fruit of our lips. And this distinguishes
our sacrifices from material sacrifices and ceremonial sacrifices. and sacrifices that contain some
physical ingredients or elements. This is a sacrifice of our lips.
Our lips. It's not the fruit of labor.
It's the fruit of grace. Understand what I'm saying? He
distinguishes us. Let's worship God and bring an
offering. Don't come without an offering. That means money. It doesn't mean money. Some poor
folks couldn't worship God, they had to bring money. That's not
what he's talking about. He's talking about bringing a
sacrifice of praise. By Christ let us offer unto our
God sacrifices of praise to God continually. And it's not the
fruit of labor, it's not the fruit of effort, it's not the
fruit of doing, it's the fruit of your lips. That's what that's
all about. Thank God. And let me tell you
something. Turn to Psalm 107. And that's
talking about everybody. Some folks tell me, well, I can't
sing. Well, I can't either. But I can mouth the words. I can join with the people who
are praising God and praising with them. It says in Psalm 107, Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, He's good, His mercy endures forever. Let
the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let them say so. The fruit
of their lips, let them say so. Let them confess Him. Let them
say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. It's
the fruit of grace. It's the fruit of the heart.
It's the fruit of the soul. It's the fruit of the lips. And
He says that in contrast to any fruit of our labor and doings.
In my hands, no price I bring. Simply thy cross I claim. That's what this offering is.
Fruit of our lips. And that's to be made before
God continually. And then verse 16, here's the
fifth thing. I said there were five things
in talking about this offering. the sacrifice. By Christ, let
us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, the fruit of our
lips. In verse 16, but, but, to do
good and to communicate with others. Don't forget that. For with such sacrifices God's
well pleased. He's pleased with the sacrifices
of praise. Worship, thanksgiving. But now
don't forget, don't forget, this heart thanksgiving and praise
does not stand alone as our only worship and our only tribute
and our only praise and our only service to our Lord. That would
be dead faith, wouldn't it? Well, James says that. Let's
look at James chapter 2. You don't even have to turn but
one page. Chapter 2 verse 14. What does
it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
hath not works? Can that kind of faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you say, now you depart in peace and be warmed and filled,
notwithstanding you don't give him those things which are needful
to being warmed and filled, what does it profit? Even so, faith,
if it hath not works, is dead. Being alone. And verse 20 says,
we'll find no vain man that faith without works is dead. So, he
said, now when you worship in God, and bring in as a priest of God,
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, continually, fruit of your lips,
don't forget to do good. and to be generous, and to share
what you have with others, because with such sacrifices, God is
well pleased. Turn to 1 Timothy 6. God is well pleased. 1 Timothy
6, verse 17. Now charge them that are rich
in this world, and that's all of us. We're the richest nation
on earth. We have abundance, abundance,
all of us do. That they be not high-minded,
nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth
us richly. He gives us richly all things
to enjoy. You charge them that they do
good, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute. willing to communicate. Now turn
to Philippians. Let me give you another scripture
on this subject. Philippians 4. There are men to go. Let's look again. Verse 18. Paul is talking about talking
to the church at Philippi. They've been good to him. They
sent some gifts to him and helped him out. And he says in verse
18, Received all that you sent me. I have all I've received
it and I abound I'm full Having received of Epaphroditus the
things that you sent that was sent from you Now watch what
he calls these these gifts an odor of sweet smell a sacrifice
Acceptable and well-pleasing to God But my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Isn't that, aren't those two beautiful verses here in Hebrews
13. Verse 15, by him therefore let
us priest of God offer, come and worship bring an offering,
what kind of offering? Sacrifice, praise and thanksgiving
continually. The fruit of our lips. Not the
fruit of our labor, fruit of our works, no sir, not before
God. He says, I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine. The gold and
silver hadn't been dug yet, mine. But he said, now you come before
me with a sacrifice of praise. But then don't forget to help
your brother. Don't forget to hold an open
hand to all those around about you because These sacrifices
to God's praise and works of faith and labor and love with
such sacrifices to God's will, please. All right, verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Obey them that have the rule
over you. These are the faithful pastors and teachers. a moment
ago, Brother Chuck praying for me, but pray for our elders. And I'm including them, and I
want them to listen to me here for the next little while. Obey them that have the rule
over you. These are faithful pastors, teachers, and elders
who minister the Word of God to us. Now what does it mean,
obey them? What does it mean to obey them?
Well, it means this, four things. Obey the pastor and the elders. It means four things. Number
one, hear the word they preach. Attend to the word they preach.
That's their calling, that's their vocation, that's their
task, to preach and teach God's word. Hear them, attend to the
preaching of the word, faithfully, to the worship service. When
God gives a man a message, hear it. Secondly, receive it. Receive the Word. This is what
I'm doing right now. This is what God called me to
do. This is what God called me to
do. He called me to study, to search the Scriptures, to be
a faithful pastor and a teacher. Teach His Word. And your responsibility
is to hear it. To search the scriptures to see
if these things be so. Don't search them to argue, don't
search the scripture to find fault, don't search the scripture
for anything, but to see if these things be true. And if they're
true, receive them. That's what it is to obey these
elders. Hear them and receive the word. And then thirdly, by
regarding and respecting the counsel, the spiritual counsel
that they give. This is God speaking. If we hear
from God, we'll hear through a man. So regard, submit yourselves
to the word, to the servant of God, by respecting his spiritual
counsel in spiritual matters. And then fourthly, it's by submitting
unto their leadership. Because, look at this word here,
they watch for yourselves. They watch. He calls them watchmen. A faithful pastor and elders
will watch so carefully and make sure that things are done which
is best for the whole body. Not which is best for him or
any one individual, but his commitment is to the body of Christ, to
the church, to the testimony of the church, and the gospel
of the church, and that's what he watches for. And that's what
it is to obey them and to submit to them. Hear what they preach.
Receive what they preach. Respect their spiritual counsel
and advice in spiritual matters. And submit to their leadership
because they're watching for the whole body. There are decisions
that this pastor has had to make through the years that I couldn't,
there's no way I could share all the information with everybody. You can't do that. But a faithful
pastor, his concern and regard is the whole body. It's the church,
it's the testimonies. He's like a watchman. He's like
a shepherd on the hill, hear the sheep down, he's watching
for the wolf. He's watching for things that will disturb this
flock. It will trouble this flock, that
will put this flock in danger. And the signs God gives him,
and leadership God gives him, and discernment God gives him,
concerning those things that are bad for the whole body. That's
what he's watching for your soul. Watching for your soul. Now elders,
listen. Let's go on here. They watch
for your souls. And they're not covetous men.
They're not ambitious men. They're not ambitious for recognition. They're not ambitious for material
things. They're not ambitious or desire
any vain glory. They watch for your souls. They
watch for God's glory. They watch for the good of the
body. Your souls, God's glory, and the good of the body. As
men that must give account, They must give account for what they're
doing, what they're saying, what they're preaching, that they
may do it with joy and not with grief. That'd be unprofitable
for you if they had to give an account of grief. But you know,
I thought about this. There's a threefold accounting.
There's a threefold accounting that we preachers and elders
have to give. First of all, our own conscience.
How can I possibly, and how can any preacher live with himself
when he compromises the gospel? How can he do it? And you elders,
when you get here to preach, you preach the truth, the word
of God, you give an account to yourself. Account to yourself, you examine
yourselves, what I'm saying is the truth, it's the word of God. We preach not ourselves, we preach
Christ. Secondly, we give an account to our fellow man. How
could you look him in the face if you don't tell him the truth?
That's right, isn't that right? We give an account to them. Every
time we get up here to preach, we preach God's word and we give
an account to our fellow man. But I'll tell you where the beggar
count is, to him. How could we possibly deny the
word of the living God? There'd be no fear of God, would
there? By and by. So if God has given
us faithful apostles, here, receive the word. Respect them. Follow their leadership. Submit
yourself. They watch for your souls. They
watch for your souls. They watch for the glory of God,
for the truth of the word, for your souls, for the good of the
congregation. They got to give an account.
First here. And then to these men. These faithful ladies and men
here give an account. I told you the truth, he said.
Paul over there in Acts 20, he said, I've kept back nothing
profitable to you. I haven't shunned to preach to
you the whole word of God. Give it a count. To here and
to there and to God. And then verse 18, Paul says,
pray for us. He asked the church to pray for
him and fellow ministers. Pray for me. pray for us. He says I have a good conscience.
Did he mean by that his conscience never bothered him? His conscience
never bothered him regarding what he preached. Mine never has. Never has. I can say with power, I have
a clear and a pure conscience regarding what I preach. I preach
the word of God. My conscience bothers me about
my attitude or Things I say, things I do, but I have a good
conscience regarding the gospel. I have preached the truth of
God. I have kept the faith, Paul said. I finished my course, I've kept
the faith. I have a good conscience in all
things willing to live honestly before me. And these elders can
say that too. I have a good conscience regarding
what I preach. You pray for me. Pray for me. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter
2, chapter 3. When we pray for a preacher, how do we pray for him? Well,
there's several things. Here's the first. Here's the
most critical. Here's the most important. Here's the most important. 2
Thessalonians 3 verse 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us.
What do you want me to pray for you? that the word of the Lord
may have free course, that the word of the Lord may run well,
that it may be received, that it may have a good run, free
course, and be glorified even as it is with you in other places
where we preach. Pray that that gospel which has
run so well here has such free course, has such beautiful results. Pray that it may run well in
other places as it is with you. And secondly, pray that we may
be delivered from unreasonable wicked men. Everybody doesn't
believe what we pray. Ask God to deliver us from the
hand of these absurd, unreasonable, wicked
men. Wicked men, all men have not
faith. They will abuse and misuse God's
preachers. They get ugly where preachers
are concerned sometimes. I tell you, pray for those who
minister the word. If they are blessed, you are
blessed. If they are not blessed, you
are not blessed. If they are not anointed, then
you and your children are not going to hear anything. These elders get up to preach,
pray for them, because if they're not blessed, if they don't, the
gospel doesn't run well here, it won't run well there, will
it? Spurgeon, somebody asked him,
what to what do you attribute your success in ministering the
word of God? You know what he replied? My
congregation prays for me. That's to what I attribute my
success. My congregation prays for me.
Bless him, Lord, that he might be a blessing. Then he says in
verse 19, I beseech you, the rabbits, to do this. Pray for
me. Pray for God's preachers. That
I may be restored to you soon. He wasn't with them. He was away
from them. And he said, you pray that I may be restored to you.
For what purpose? To preach to you. To preach to
you. Pray that God will restore me.
Restore me from unreasonable men, from dangers, from prison,
from sickness or whatever, that I might be preached to you. Now
he said, as far as he is concerned, he wanted to die. As far as he
is concerned, he wanted to leave here. He said that. In Philippians
1, listen to him over in Philippians. He said, to die and to be with
Christ would be the chief good that I could experience. That's
what he said in Philippians 1 verse 21. He says, for me, for to me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. If I live in the flesh,
this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I know
not. I'm in a straight betwixt the
two, I have a desire to depart, be with Christ which is far better.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
So that's why he said here, pray for me that I may be restored
to you the sooner, to preach the gospel to you. I apply that to myself too, as
far as I'm concerned, my gain would be to finish my course
and go to be with Christ, but perhaps for your good, it would
be better if I preach the gospel. And we pray along that line,
pray that I might be restored to you. Paul asked the church to pray
for him. Pray for him. Pray for the ministers, elders,
those who preach the word. Now he prays for them in verse
20 and 21. And this prayer concludes this
great epistle with suitable petitions for the church. All right, let's
look at this prayer. Now the God of peace. I read
in 1 Peter this morning it's called the God of grace. He's
the God of peace. He's the author and giver of
peace. He made peace through the blood of his cross. He's
the prince of peace. Being justified by faith through
his blood, we have peace. We have peace. The God of peace. What's the next line? That brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for our
sins. The sins of his people. He was
buried. And he lay under the power of death for a time. But
God raised him from the dead. Raised him for our justification.
In the same body in which he died, as the first fruits of
his people, he was raised again. As the first fruits for their
justification and a pledge of their resurrection. Because I
live, you live. Now the God of peace They brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep. He's the great shepherd of the
sheep, equal with God. Thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. Having all power in heaven and
earth, all power over all flesh, he's the great shepherd of the
sheep. And he's the good shepherd. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And other
sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also I must bring.
And there'll be one foal and one shepherd. And he's the chief
shepherd. While we're on thus elders, let's
turn to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5 and read about
the chief elder. In 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1,
the elders which are among you I exhort who also I'm an elder. Peter's talking here. I'm a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. I not only saw them, but I tell
everybody about them. And also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Now you feed the flock of God,
which is among you. Now you take the oversight thereof,
take the leadership for the good of the body, not by constraint,
but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, not
as a lord over God's heritage, but being an example. And my
brother, when the chief shepherd shall come back, oh boy, isn't
that beautiful? When the chief shepherd, the
chief elder, you'll receive a crown of glory. I think about these
preachers I know. Some we've ordained right here.
have for one cause or another left the gospel of God's grace.
And I'll tell you one of them, when I think about the different
ones that for one reason or another have
left preaching the gospel of grace. And I'll tell you that
one of the first compromises that leads to a thousand is compromising
on substitution, particular redemption,
the effectual death of Christ. That's where they start vacillating. That's where they start getting
in trouble. And when you compromise substitution, when you compromise
the effectual redemption of Christ, you get into all kinds of problems.
And the reason you do that is for filthy lucre, or for gain,
or for praise, or for success, or for whatever. And when that enters a man's
mind, he ought to think about this verse here. Verse 4, when
the chief shepherd shall appear, if you feed the flock, take the
oversight, not by constraint, willingly, not for filthy lucre,
but of a ready mind, not being a lord, but an example. When
he comes, he'll crown you. You want recognition, you'll
hear him say, well done, our good and faithful servant. You want riches? You can't even
think about the riches of his inheritance. You can't even imagine. Glory, oh my soul, the
glory he gave, Christ he's going to give you. My, what a chief shake, and it won't
fade away. It won't fade away. It's not
worth it. It's not worth it. Let me stay
with this now. Verse 20, the God of peace, brought
again the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd, good Shepherd,
chief Shepherd, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Now brethren, the everlasting covenant, will you abide just
a moment these words? This is not the covenant made
with Adam or the covenant made with Moses, which were temporary
covenants. This is the everlasting, eternal
covenant of grace born of the everlasting love and mercy of
God in Jesus Christ. It's that covenant that when
David came to die, in which he found solace and comfort. Although it be not so with my
house, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. Christ was made the surety and
high priest after the order of Melchizedek and mediator of that
covenant before the world began. And he was made the high priest
of that covenant by an oath of God. God said to Abraham in Genesis
22, I've sworn by myself, I can swear by no greater. Christ is
the mediator. after the order of Melchizedek,
everlasting. Thirdly, the promises of that
covenant are given to God's elect before the foundations of this
world were ever laid. And the gifts and calling of
God are without change. That's what Romans 11, 29 says,
the gifts and calling of God are without change. I'm the Lord,
I change not. Therefore your sons of Jacob
are not consumed. And these promises were given
to God's elect before the world began. Fourthly, he says it's
the blood of the everlasting covenant. The blood. The blood
of Christ to redeem us is the principal article of that covenant.
By his blood that covenant was confirmed. By his blood that
covenant was ratified. By His blood, those blessings
were given. By His blood, redemption, righteousness,
forgiveness, justification, and peace was given. And by His blood,
He prepared for us a place. It's the blood of the everlasting
covenant. And fifthly, our God brought
again from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, because he fulfilled his covenant
engagements. He satisfied divine justice. He brought in a perfect righteousness
and he abolished all sin and all death. Now verse 21, make you perfect. Make you perfect. Well, somebody
says we're already perfect. I know that. But this is what
he's talking about here. He'll make you perfect, or he'll
make you mature. Paul's praying for the church.
God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus
Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of
the everlasting covenant, make you mature. In every good work,
strengthen you. Make you willing. Make you fed. equipped you with every good
thing that you need to do His will. You see that? May God Himself
make you mature in every good work to do His will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight. If anything I do,
say, is well-pleasing to God, it's going to have to be God
working that in me. Isn't that right? No man by nature
capable of any good work. I found a definition of a good
work. Listen to this. Here's the definition of a good
work. A good work is in obedience to
God's command by faith from a principle of love only in the name and
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and only for the glory of God.
Have you ever done one? Think about that. Think about
a good work. People talk about good works.
It's done in obedience to God's command. It's done in faith. Noah, Abraham. It's done only
from a principle of love. No other reason. It's in the
name and by the power of Jesus Christ and it's only for the
glory of God. Paul's praying that God will
give us the ability to do that. That he'll make us mature in
grace, in heart, working in us, that which is well-pleasing in
his sight. That article on the back of the
bulletin, God's trees grow slowly. I wish everybody would read that. I've read it, I know, a half
a dozen times. I think it's one of the greatest articles I've
ever read. full of truth. And this is all to do that which
is well pleasing in his sight. We don't want to be doing things
to be seen of men. Our Lord condemned us when we
do things before men to justify ourselves. We want to do it in
his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Glory to God alone. Let us refuse to boast. Glory
to the Father, the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Eternal life
is the gift of God. The Lord Jesus procured it by
His blood.