Draw a line...

"Draw a Line" Terry Dashner (www.ffcba.com) Toward the end of Joshua's life he made this statement as recorded in Joshua 24:15, "...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: ...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua is telling the people of Israel to draw a line in the sand, so to speak. He is telling them to choose one side of the line and make their stand. To stand on the side of their forefathers will cause them defeat and ultimate destruction, but to stand on the side of the Lord will bring them prosperity and success (Joshua 1:8-9). May I ask you something? On which side of the line do you stand? Are you standing on the Lord's side or are you standing on the side of rebellion. I'm sorry. There is no third choice. There is no such thing as a neutral Christian. A tree either grows or it dies. A believer either moves forward in Christ or he slips backwards into backsliding and darkness. (Yes, some believers are even now in darkness because they refuse to grow up in Jesus.) How can you know if you are a victim of darkness? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you can no longer be moved to action by the hearing of His Word (setting in a church service Sunday after Sunday, never lifting your heart and hand to do what the Word says), then you are slipping into darkness, gross darkness. Again, it's either or. There is no third choice. Today I'm starting a series entitled, "Draw a Line." If you are drawing a line and standing with Jesus--through it all--then you are actively doing several things For one, you are offering yourself first to God as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) before you are offering anything else--good works, good looks, good money. And secondly, you are taking hold of your responsibilities before God. You are not letting someone else pull your load. You are chipping in and doing your part (Galatians 6:5). Let me begin by looking at the term, "sacrifice." The Bible has a lot to say about offerings and sacrifices. The Old Testament regulations for offerings and sacrifices are renowned for their many and complicated details, and the overall sacrificial system is quite foreign to our Western culture...Even before the revelation to Moses at Sinai, offerings and sacrifices were a key part of the practice of relationship with God from Cain and Abel, to Noah, to the Patriarchs, to Jethro the priest of Median, to the ratification of the Mosaic covenant by sacrifice before the tabernacle was built. The sacrifice was central to the ritual systems of the tabernacle and the first and second temples and, therefore, to the Old Testament theology of God's 'presence' and His relationship to ancient Israel as His 'kingdom of priests.' When God became present with us by means of the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices continued to yield much in terms of Jesus as our sacrifice, Jesus as our High Priest, and our Christian commitment and ministry as a sacrifice to God of ourselves and our kingdom labors. In other words when Jesus lived upon the face of this earth, He carried out the offerings and sacrifices as required by the Old Testament law. He was careful to uphold ever dotted "i" and every crossed "t" of the Mosaic Law. Even the Apostle Paul offered offerings and sacrifices in the temple until he was martyred in circa A.D. 65 at the hands of Nero. The temple sacrifices ceased in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Many Bible scholars believe that the offerings and sacrifices of the Old Testament will start again when the third temple is built in Jerusalem, either right before or immediately after Christ returns. Sacrifices and offerings are important, even outside the sanctuary. According to the earthen altar law in Exodus 20:24-26 and the many references to such altars in the early history of Israel as a nation in the land of Canaan, the Lord clearly intended that the Israelites perpetuate the practice of building solitary altars and worshipping at them even after the tabernacle altar existed. These altars and the practice of worship at them were relatively simple compared to that called for in the 'sanctuary' (i.e., the tabernacle and later the temple). The sanctuary included a corresponding burnt offering altar but it was also an actual residence of God. The sanctuary system of offerings and sacrifices included the major features of the previously existing external system (i.e., the burnt, grain, drink, and peace offerings at the solitary altars), but the solitary altar system did not include sin and guilt offerings. If the offerings and sacrifices were important in the Old Testament and in the days of Jesus, how important are they to the modern Christian? According to Paul's writings, they are very relevant, metaphorically speaking. In view of the multitude of mercies that God has shown to us, the apostle Paul urges Christians to 'present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship' (Romans 12:1, NASB). To live as a sacrifice involves several things. For Paul it meant that he was willing to be 'poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service' of those whom he led to the Lord (Phil.2:17). Sometimes this required suffering. Paul was no stranger to it and the apostle Peter used the example of Jesus as the suffering servant to encourage Christians to be willing to suffer patiently for Christ (I Peter 2:18-25). For the modern Christian our life before God and fellow man is to be lived out as one continual sacrifice unto God. We are to offer ourselves to God first, before offering anything else to Him, so that we might be consumed in His fire (Hebrews 12:29). As we burn in Him, a fragrance is given off. The fragrance to the world is putrid, but the fragrance of us burning in God's consuming fire is sweet to Him. It is this sweet fragrance of His people burning in His consuming fire that causes him to give them the desires of their hearts. In the Old Testament when God smelled the fragrance of a burnt offering, He was moved to action. For example, when He smelled the fragrance of Noah's sacrifice after the flood, He said that He would never again destroy the earth by flood of water. If we are to draw a line in the sand and stand on God's side, then that means we are constantly being "counted as sheep for the slaughter." Standing with God means that we will offer ourselves first to God. And in offering our lives as a "living and holy sacrifice" we will burn in His fire of passion and service. As we burn we will give off a fragrance that gets God's attention. He will answer the prayers of His people who burn in Him (I John 5:15-16). Glory to God! To be continued... Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon. Pastor T.