Definition

Introduction: The Context of Christian Benevolence and Sacrifice

0:02 Those of you who were with us last Lord's Day will know that both morning and evening in our study of the Word of God together, we considered the directives of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 concerning the great privilege and duty of Christian benevolence. Because the elders had designated the last Lord's Day to be the day in which we would receive a collection for the saints at Lewisburg, we felt it would be well that our thinking concerning this act of benevolence be brought under the fresh scrutiny and direction of the Word of God.

0:44 You remember, those who were here, that at the outset I mentioned that one of the motives for doing this was that our offering might not merely be collected and delivered to the people of God, but that it might be what Paul says the offering of the Philippians was when it was brought to him by the hand of Epaphroditus. He says this offering was a sweet savor unto God, a sacrifice well-pleasing unto him. So it is not enough that we do Christian acts, but they must be done in a Christian manner if they are to be acceptable unto God. Now today I want you to consider with me another great aspect of this matter of the service

1:28 that Christians are privileged. Privileged to render unto God within the framework of the blessings of the new covenant. And it's interesting that the context in which the passage occurs, the one that we'll be considering today, is joined inseparably with this whole matter of Christian benevolence. I refer you this morning to Hebrews chapter 13, verses 15 and 16.

1:56 Hebrews 13, verses 15 and 16. 13. 13. Through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name, but to do good and to communicate, that is, to share in the necessities of the saints, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

2:31 Having then considered, as we did last Lord's Day, how and in what way we can do this, we must also consider the fact that our giving of God's people is a communication to the saints, a spiritual sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing unto God. I wish to direct your attention this morning to this second great sacrifice of new covenant worship, the sacrifice of praise. Now just a word about the setting in which this directive occurs. The writer to the Hebrews has been unfolding the better things of the new covenant.

The New Covenant Setting and Exhortation to Praise

3:05 Here were these Hebrew Christians, many of them, of course, steeped up to their ears in the ritual of the old covenant worship. To them the temple in blood sacrifices and the priest in his ornate attire was as much a part of life as facing their own countenance in a mirror. Now the gospel has come and in place of all that external and visible and tangible worship of the old economy, the gospel says Christ is now the fulfillment of all of these.

3:39 And in place of an earthly temple is the true heavenly temple. In place of the blood which could be seen dripping from that dying animal is the blood of the everlasting covenant which now pleads in the presence of God out of sight.

3:55 From carnal eyes and away from the reach of carnal touch. Well then when persecution began to come and tremendous pressure upon these Jews, they were tempted to go back to that old economy, back to the worship of the temple, back to a visible sacrifice, a visible priesthood and a worship that was one calculated to feed upon and to be constantly projected within the framework of the five senses. And so the basic thrust of the argument of the book of Hebrews is to show that no one in his right mind leaves what is good for something that is bad.

4:35 And so we have this constant theme of the better things of the new covenant. Christ is better than the angels, better than Moses, a better priesthood than that of Aaron. There is a better covenant based upon better promises leading to a better inheritance. And this has been the very theme which the writer to the Hebrews has been unfolding in his entire epistle.

5:03 Now as often occurs in these letters, drawing his epistle to the close, he has various and sundry exhortations that he wants to sort of group together in order to round out his epistle. Now in the midst of these closing exhortations, beginning in chapter 13 with verse 1, an exhortation, to love of the brethren, moving to such mundane, earthy issues as the purity of the marriage bed, and then the wonderful promise of the presence of God,

5:34 which should be a deterrent to covetousness and discontentment with our present lot, the writer to the Hebrews now exhorts the people of God to this tremendous exercise of spiritual sacrifice in the form of praise. So then, having considered this, a general overview of the letter to the Hebrews and the particular setting of the passage, let us address ourselves more directly to the text and consider, number 1, what is the sacrifice of praise? We are exhorted, through him let us offer a sacrifice of praise,

What is the Sacrifice of Praise?

6:15 and then the question that would normally come to the mind of every Hebrew Christian who heard this what is the sacrifice of praise? And we're fortunate because God himself defines it and describes it for us. And then in the second place, we're going to address ourselves to the question, how is that sacrifice to be offered? And then we'll conclude with just a word concerning what should be our incentive to engage in the sacrifice of praise.

6:45 First of all, then, what is the sacrifice of praise? These Hebrew Christians, as we've indicated, were so steeped in old covenant concepts in which even their thank offerings had a visible and tangible expression. You read in Leviticus 23, 29 concerning the thank offering. But even that offering was one that they could bring with their hands, see transferred into the hands of the appointed priest, and then brought into the presence of God.

7:19 So the writer to the Hebrews has already told them in verse 10 that we Christians do have an altar. You're being told that, well, look at you Christians, you don't have an altar. We Jews have an ornate altar. God himself gave directions about the construction of it.

7:36 How can you worship without an altar? The altar was the very center of the whole worship of the old economy. There could be no worship without the altar. All of the sacrifices led to the altar.

7:49 And it was there at the altar that there was the focal point of all the worship. Well, the writer to Hebrews says, Well, the writer to Hebrews says, We do have an altar. Christ himself is that altar. And it's as though some Jewish Christian said, All right, whoever was the author, Paul or someone else, you've told me that we have an altar.

8:09 But what good is an altar without a sacrifice? How can I come to an altar without some sacrifice to lay upon it? Without some sacrifice to be sanctified by that altar? And so, continuing the use of these Old Testament images, and similarities, he says, But so conscious was he that these Jews were steeped in carnal concepts, he defines very clearly what that sacrifice of praise is.

8:49 So we read, Let us offer up the sacrifice of praise. That is, The fruit of lips making confession to his name. In answer then to the question, What is the sacrifice of praise? The writer to Hebrews says, The sacrifice of praise is that which is found in the fruit of lips which are engaged in confession of his name.

9:19 Well, you say, yeah, but what does that mean? Well, it had a very clear meaning to every Jew that meaning may not be too clear to us. Hence, I will pause for a few minutes to open it up for you. To make confession to his name is to make a verbal and joyful response of the lips to the revelation that God has made of himself in Jesus Christ.

9:49 The name of God is synonymous with the character of God, God revealed, God reveals himself in his name. Hence, to call upon God's name is to call upon God as he is revealed. We all know the familiar gospel text, Romans 10, 13. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

10:19 What does it mean to call upon his name? It means to call upon him in all the display of his grace, in all of his character, in all of his saving work, as he's been revealed to us by God in the gospel, Acts 4, 12. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So this sacrifice of praise then has to do with our response to the revelation of God's character in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

10:56 What then does it mean to make confession to his name? The word confession, just as a word isolated from its various usages, means of itself to say the same thing about something, to agree together. So then confession to his name is my believing and joyful response to what God has revealed about himself. Put it in the context of the book of Hebrews.

11:25 The writer tells us, The word to the Hebrews has come in this letter to the Hebrew Christians, and he has said this, In Jesus Christ is God's last word to men. Hebrews 1, 1. God who has spoken to our fathers in diverse ways hath in these last days spoken unto us in his Son. The revelation of God's name in Jesus Christ is that Christ is God's final word.

11:55 Then he goes on to show He is better than the angels, better than Moses. He has a better priesthood, better sacrifices, better promises. He is the mediator of a better covenant. Now then, the sacrifice of praise is always present when the lips of a man who receives that revelation of the name of Christ responds and says the same thing from his heart as that which God says to him in the Gospel.

12:27 So that he says from his heart, O God, I do believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is your final word to men. I do not look back into the old economy for your final word. I do believe that Jesus Christ is higher than the angels. Why should I then go back to that law which was mediated through angels when we have this revelation of him who is better than the angels, whom the angels themselves have chosen?

12:56 It is the confession with the lips that Jesus Christ, by virtue of his priesthood, of his sacrifice, of his work of mediation, is the only priest that we need. It is the confession of the lips that he secured in inheritance that makes Canaan in its height of beauty under Solomon look like a junk heap. We have, as he said in the context, verse 14, we have not here an abiding city. We have not here an abiding city.

13:25 We have not here an abiding city. We have not here an abiding city. But we seek after the city which is to come. What is the fruit of lips making confession to his name?

13:34 Simply stated, it is that response from the heart through the lips that accords with the very thing God has revealed in the gospel of his own dear Son. Now it is this response, making confession to his name from the heart, that constitutes a spiritual sacrifice. Well, you ask, why did this imagery enter in? Well, again, it is because it is an Old Testament concept, and most commentators are agreed that this very text is a manipulation by the Holy Spirit of the word of God through the prophet Hosea.

Old Testament Roots of the Sacrifice of Praise

14:17 And I direct your attention to that for a moment in the book of Hosea, chapter 14, verses 1 and 2. 1. 2. 2.

14:29 3. 4. 5. 6.

14:34 7. 8. 9. 10.

14:38 11. 12. 13. 14.

14:42 15. 16. 17. 18.

14:46 19. 20. 21. 22.

14:50 23. 24. 25. 26.

14:54 27. 28. 29. 30.

14:58 31. 31. 32. 32.

15:02 33. 34. 35. 36.

15:06 37. 38. 39. 39.

15:10 40. 41. 42. 42.

15:14 43. 44. 44. 45.

15:18 46. 46. 47. 48.

15:22 49. 50. 51. 52.

15:26 52. 53. 54. 55.

15:30 56. 57. 58. 59.

15:34 60. 61. 62. 62.

15:38 63. 64. 65. 66.

15:42 67. 68. 69. 70.

15:46 71. 72. 72. 73.

15:50 74. 75. 76. 76.

15:54 77. 78. 79. 80.

15:58 80. 81. 82. 83.

16:02 84. 85. 86. 87.

16:06 88. 89. 90. 91.

16:10 92. 92. 93. 93.

16:14 94. 94. 95. 96.

16:18 97. 98. 99. 100.

16:22 100. 100. 100. 100.

16:27 100. 11. 60. 88.

16:31 81. 72. 1. 치는

16:38 30. 53. 53. 64.

16:53 75. 66. 66. 77.

How is the Sacrifice of Praise to be Offered? (Part 1: Through Jesus Christ)

16:57 that because our approach to God in the spiritual nature of the New Covenant is not in the basis or in the context of carnal offerings and material sacrifices, that we therefore can come anyway to offer up spiritual sacrifices, as though God were not concerned about the manner in which we bring the spiritual sacrifice. Now that's an assumption that is not warranted by the Word of God. Now, may I suggest that just as the blessings of the New Covenant place greater demands upon us, and that's the teaching of the book of Hebrews again and again. Remember he says, If they escape not who rejected the revelation of God through Moses,

17:42 how shall we escape if we neglect the revelation of God in Christ? The new light of the New Covenant brings new and greater demands upon us in our lives. So likewise, the revelation of the worship of the New Covenant places even greater demands upon us that we be careful that our worship be brought in the appointed way of God.

18:10 If this truth would grip the hearts of God's people who profess to be subject to the Word of God, then the whole approach to worship would not be pragmatic.

18:21 It would not be pragmatic. Well, we'll just introduce things into the worship that seem to work. Or that seem to satisfy people. Or that people seem to want.

18:31 No, no. Though God is not approached by means of carnal offerings and carnal sacrifices and a carnal priesthood within a carnal building that has peculiar religious significance, the same God who in this text directs us to the spirituality of our sacrifice, namely that of praise, has given us some very clear details as to how that sacrifice, that sacrifice is to be brought. Now, what then is God's directive concerning the bringing of this spiritual sacrifice of praise? Well, the first thing we note about it is that it must be brought through Jesus Christ.

19:15 Look at the text.

19:18 By Him, therefore, or through Him, therefore, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise. Who is the Him? Well, all you English students know that when you have an indefinite pronoun, you must go back to the nearest definite noun. And which we do.

19:36 And we find in verse 12, Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered without the gate, let us therefore go forth unto Him, Jesus, bearing His reproach. For we have not here an abiding city, we seek one which is to come through Him, the nearest proper noun is Jesus. And so by virtue of that relationship and the overall context, we are taught that the only way in which this spiritual sacrifice is to be offered is through Jesus Christ. And the force of the original here is very, very pointed.

20:22 It has the very concept of a physical relationship, something actually passing through another thing. So, so that all of our thinking concerning spiritual sacrifices, particularly the sacrifice of praise, must be with reference to Jesus Christ. Why? Well, we go back again to the mentality of these Jewish Christians.

20:46 They never brought offerings directly to God within the framework of the stated worship. They always brought the offering to what person? To the priest. And it was when the offering was brought to the priest, that the priest then mediated that sacrifice, that offering unto God on their behalf.

21:06 Now then, when you put that in the context of the book of Hebrews, it becomes very clear what he is teaching. For in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 1 he says, For every high priest being taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Everything in the worship of a Jew, who depended upon the activity of the priest. No priest, no worship.

21:34 And in this wonderful letter he's been showing Christ is our great high priest. He is our abiding priest. He ministers in the true sanctuary of God. And so the direction comes to these Hebrew Christians in the offering up of the sacrifice of praise.

21:51 You must have a conscious reference to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. And if you have Him in your eyes, the high priest, you'll not look for another. The man who goes out in the daylight today and has the countryside illuminated by the sun is not fumbling around for his flashlight. Imagine a man so foolish as to be fumbling down Brunnymead Road and feeling in his pockets and looking under cars and you say, What's your problem, fellow?

22:22 He says, I want the flashlight. What for? Well, I want to see things a little clearer. You say, the poor man's a fool.

22:30 Nobody needs a flashlight. When the countryside is illuminated by the bright light of the sun on a cloudless day, that's what the writer to Hebrews is saying. He says, you Hebrew Christians, you're tempted to go back to that earthly priest and be all taken up with his beautiful flowing garments and with those garments stained with blood. Oh, how foolish!

22:51 He says, you have the light of the sun. Christ has come. He is your priest. He has shed His blood in by one offering.

22:58 He has perfected forever those that are sanctified. He's gone. He's gone within the veil. He's in the presence of God.

23:05 He pleads for you. Now bring the only sacrifice God wants, the sacrifice of praise, the response of your lips rooted in your heart that says, Oh, God, it's true. Christ is my only priest. Christ is an all-sufficient priest.

Why Our Praise Must Be Through Christ: Sanctification, Access, and Intercession

23:22 Christ is the only priest I seek. That's the general thought in this, but let me break it down into several particulars. How does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be sanctified? How does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be sanctified?

23:32 how does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be sanctified? And why does Jesus Christ make our sacrifice of praise acceptable? How does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be sanctified? How does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be sanctified?

23:36 Well, He does it firstly of all by sanctifying our persons by His own blood. Look at verse 12 in this very context. Look at verse 12 in this very context. Wherefore this also that He might sanctify the people through His own blood suffered without the gate...

23:54 What does His blood do? It sanctifies the people. That is, it sets us apart from the realm of the profane from the realm of the profane in the ungodly and marks us as the peculiar property and possession of God. Hence, we read in Revelation 1.6, by His blood He has made us a kingdom of priests unto God.

24:16 Peter says in 1 Peter 2.5 that He has constituted us a holy priesthood that we should offer up spiritual sacrifices. That's why our sacrifice of praise must be offered through Jesus Christ, because God never accepted the offering of anyone unless, first of all, He accepted that person. Person had to be accepted before the offering could be received.

24:45 That's what's involved in all the ritual cleansing. Why was there all this washing and this anointing with oil and putting on the clean garments before there could ever be the bringing in of a sacrifice? Because if God rejected Aaron's purpose...

24:59 Person, as unfit for His presence, He would never accept His sacrifice. Hence, the Bible says, such a high priest became us, who in His person was what? Holy, undefiled, separate from sinners, and because of that, the offering that He presented to His Father on behalf of His people was accepted. And what happened in Christ happens now to all who are joined to Him by faith.

25:27 Our persons are sacrificed. We are sanctified by virtue of His blood, so that when I come and say, O God, I praise You for Jesus Christ, the mediator of a better covenant. I praise You for the better promises. I praise You for the better inheritance.

25:46 What grounds do I have to believe that God will accept even praise from a man whose lips have sinned this week? My lips have sinned and mine have sinned. That have spoken, perhaps, cutting words. Words.

26:01 Tainted with overtones of pride or dishonesty. A sarcasm that wounded. How can we expect that God will accept an offering, a sacrifice of praise from the likes of us? The only way is because, if we are Christians, we are sanctified in our persons by His blood.

26:24 Jesus Christ is made unto us what? Our sanctification. We're accepted in the Beloved One. So it's...

26:32 It's through Him that we offer up the sacrifice of praise. But not only is our sacrifice of praise through Jesus Christ, because He sanctifies our persons by His blood, but because He has prepared that open way of access. In the tenth chapter of this letter, the writer to the Hebrews says in verse 19, Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near.

27:16 Here's the picture. A way of access has been opened. He says, now you Hebrew Christians, you want to go back to that old way. That way that is paved with all kinds of legalistic and ceremonial injunctions and all of this, He says, why would you go back to that?

27:35 The way has been made by Christ through the rending of His own flesh, that is the veil. He has passed into the presence of God through Him. Offer up the sacrifice of praise. And then not only is it through Christ because He sanctifies our person, because He's prepared a way of access, but because in the present moment He makes it all acceptable by His merit and by His intercession.

28:03 In chapter 8, verses 1 and 2, Now in the things which we are saying, the chief point is this. We have such a high priest who sat down in the right hand of the throne of the majesty of the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. Christ is ministering this morning, Christians. Christ is ministering.

28:26 Ministering there in the presence of God as we sang our opening psalm of praise. As we sang that hymn, confessing our response to the revelation of God in Christ, particularly in the implications of His resurrection. On what basis could that praise be accepted? There's only one basis.

28:47 That at the right hand of the Father, Jesus Christ, by the virtue of His own merit and on the basis of His own present intercession, made that praise acceptable unto God. Hence the phrase in which, are tied together the sacrifice of praise and the sacrifice of Christian benevolence. Concerning both of them, we read at the end of verse 16, With such sacrifices is God well pleased. Such sacrifices.

Who Can Offer Acceptable Praise? The True Christian

29:16 What are they? Those that come God's way, through Christ and through Christ alone. Now if this be true, and it is, then the only one who can offer an acceptable sacrifice to God, is the Christian.

29:35 Some of you have been sitting here this morning, and your mouths have framed the words of praise. Your lips have been able to articulate the sounds, the verbal symbols by which we've praised God. But that sacrifice of praise was not acceptable. No more acceptable than Cain's offering, because he brought an offering other than in the way of God's appointment.

30:00 And the only sacrifice God accepts, is that sacrifice, that comes through Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of a true Christian. Well you say, how do I know if I fit the category of a true Christian? Well look at the context.

30:15 What is the true Christian? Whose sacrifice is acceptable because it comes through Christ. He's the one who has found Christ to be his altar. Verse 10, We have an altar.

30:27 Have you been brought by the Spirit of God to see your sinfulness? To be of such a nature that no help can be found in man? In religion? In yourself?

30:37 And have you abandoned yourself to Jesus Christ as your only hope of mercy? That's a true Christian who has found Christ as his altering and his sacrifice. A true Christian is one who has been sanctified by his blood. Verse 12, Wherefore Jesus, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood.

30:58 Has your professed faith in the blood of Christ wrought a sanctifying work upon you? So that you are conscious that you are set apart unto God. This is not speaking primarily of inward sanctification, but of positional sanctification. The realization that I'm not my own.

31:18 I've been purchased with blood, as Peter says, ye were redeemed. Not just your sins were forgiven, but ye, your person, the totality of what you are, has been redeemed. Not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. A true Christian is the one, then, who not only sees objectively Christ as his alter and entrusts himself to him, but who has felt the application of that to his heart in such a way that he knows and gladly confesses, I am not my own, I am bought with a price.

31:52 Is that true of you? Is that true of you as you sit here this morning? The recognition you're not your own property. You're the purchased property of Christ.

32:02 In the third place, the Christian, according to this context, is the one who has identified himself with Jesus Christ no matter what the cost. Verse 13, Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. If Christ has become your alter, if Christ's blood has sanctified you, then Christ's person has become your most precious possession in life. There is no such thing as true faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

32:34 That leaves a man or woman, fellow or girl, devoid of attachment to the person of Christ. Attachment even unto death. Though the curse in the Christian church today of multitudes who say, I am saved by the blood of Christ, Christ is my alter, but Christ's person is not their most precious possession. Not so according to the writer to the Hebrews.

33:04 He assumes that if Christ has become their alter, if they've been sanctified by his blood, they will therefore go out unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. That is, so identified with his person that they're willing for anything to come. Then, in the fourth place, the true Christian is one who gladly confesses that Christ's dwelling is his only real place of dwelling. For we have here, verse 14, no abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come.

Marks of a True Christian (Continued): Christ's Dwelling and Church

33:37 A true Christian is a man who demonstrates, by the way in which he thinks, the way in which he spends his money, the way in which he daydreams, the way in which his whole lifestyle is governed, that this world is not his delightful abiding place. Everything about him says, that man is on his way to somewhere, but it's obviously not here. He's a stranger, soldier, passing through. We know the visitors amongst us when we go out in the parking lot and we see, as we could see this morning, if we see a car out there with license plates from California, we know one of two things.

34:18 Either someone has moved out here and hadn't changed their plates yet, or they're just passing through. Passing through. The marks of their sojourning would be upon them. And so would the child of God, the true Christian, who alone can offer acceptable sacrifice, is the man who not only has Christ as his altar, Christ's blood as his sanctifying power, Christ's person as his body, Christ's person as his precious possession, but Christ's dwelling is his longing.

34:46 And further in the context, the true Christian is the man who has found Christ's people to be his delight. That's why it says in verse 16, but to do good and to communicate, that is to have fellowship with the saints in their need, forget not. No such thing as being attached to Christ and being indifferent to his people. John says hereby, do we know that we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren, and the person you love is the person you long to be with?

35:15 And when you long to be with someone, the only thing that keeps you from being with them are other regulating factors. So you can't kid yourself and say, I just long to be with God's people, and then kick your feet up and not be found with them. No, no. If there are providential factors that keep you from being with them, but apart from that, the proof that you love them is you want to be with them to share in their joys and their sorrows.

35:40 And then the sixth mark of the true Christian in this context, and that's all I'm doing is referring to the context, is that Christ's church is the dwelling of that true Christian. That's why he goes on to say in verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over you, assuming that every Hebrew Christian would know who had the rule over him. That every Hebrew Christian was found in a visible local church, submissive to the discipline and the oversight of that church. An unchurched Christian is some kind of a monstrosity not recognized in the New Testament.

36:12 Not recognized. Not recognized. Now a man through ignorance may be indifferent to the visible church, but once it's pointed out to him that it is the visible church with its constituted office bearers, according to the apostle in 1 Timothy, which is the pillar and the ground of the truth, he cannot be indifferent to that. He will see that Christ in his love has provided those to watch over him with peculiar responsibility.

36:39 They watch in behalf of your souls. That's what a true Christian is. Described in this context as the only one who can offer an acceptable sacrifice unto God. And I press upon the question of every, the conscience of everyone here this morning.

36:55 Is this a description of you? If I were to insulate you and isolate you, rope you off from the rest of the congregation, and be given for just a moment a little measure of omniscience, so I knew your lifestyle and knew your longings, would I be able to say, that these six things are a description of you? Christ is your altar, Christ blood your sanctifying agent, Christ person your most precious possession, Christ eternal dwelling your deepest longing, Christ people your delight, and Christ church your present dwelling? Would that be a description of you?

How is the Sacrifice of Praise to be Offered? (Part 2 & 3: Unto God, Continually)

37:37 If not, my friend, you have real biblical reason to question whether or not you're a Christian. And if so, you can't offer this sacrifice, because the first thing we learn about this sacrifice is that it is to be offered through Jesus Christ, and through Him, and through Him alone. Then I shall only touch on the other two things briefly. I do not intend to spend this much time, and I don't want to unnecessarily tax your ability to be attentive on such a warm day, though you've done very well thus far.

38:16 But you notice the two other points that are here very clearly in the text. It is to be unto God. Through Him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually. Now this does not mean that Jesus is not God, but rather that the Father is the primary object of the sacrifice of praise.

38:39 And the Lord willing, next Lord's Day morning we'll open that up more fully. And then the third thing we shall consider, God willing, at that time, is that this sacrifice of praise is to be continual, not only through Christ, unto God, but He says it is to be offered continually. And again, to the Jews this was strange. You thought of offering a sacrifice at the appointed time and the appointed seasons.

39:05 The rest of the time you forgot about sacrifice. But when you saw by the calendar, uh-oh, special sacrifice time has come, uh-oh, now's the time, not all concerned about a sacrifice. He says you must get that out of your head. For God no longer is interested in that kind of sacrifice that is marked by appointed times and seasons, but it is to be continual.

The Incentive: God is Well Pleased

39:27 By Him let us offer unto God continually the sacrifice of praise. And we'll seek to demonstrate what this demands of us. But then, in the third place, and this is only giving a hint of what I hope to flesh out then, God willing, next week, why should we be concerned about offering this sacrifice? The apostle, or whoever wrote this particular letter, indicates the reason in the last phrase of verse 16.

39:53 For with such sacrifices God is well pleased. There are two reasons why you and I ought to be concerned about understanding and then obeying this text. One, the authority of God is in this directive. But secondly, and this is supremely the reason, because of the approbation or smile of God that rests upon the performance of this duty.

40:20 And to a true Christian, nothing is more important in all of life than this issue. How can I please God? That's what he longs of all else to know. How can I please God?

40:34 If men frown, let them frown. But if God smiles, all is well. And so the writer to the Hebrews says, this is why you ought to seek with all your heart to know what it is to offer the sacrifice of praise and then to engage in that sacrifice according to the biblical directives because this is well pleasing unto your God. And oh, this morning, should this perspective really get hold of us as it ought, we'll not in any way ever think that we're wasting time in our secret times with God when we're engaged in praise.

41:17 You have all many, many questions about whether or not the things you ask for are really pleasing to God. At least I do. There are times when I've prayed most fervently and earnestly for something that when I'm done I just really wonder, was that just a projection by some kind of self-wrought spiritual heat of my own carnal desires or was I really praying according to the mind of the Word of God? But one thing I need never question, when I am responding to the revelation of God to me in Jesus Christ and my lips are making confession to His name, I need never question that this is well pleasing to God.

42:01 Oh, how He's pleased to see echoed from the lips of His people what He has uttered in the Gospel. He comes to us saying, My Son is the only answer for man in his sin. And when the sinner stands and says, Oh God, I see that I am that sinner for whom there is no answer but the Gospel of Your Son, I do embrace Him. The Father's pleased.

42:28 And from His church throughout all the earth today the Father is receiving that, may I say it reverently, which makes Him smile. John Owen said, and it struck me, it almost shocked me when I first read it, that this is the chief and end for which the church exists on earth. Listen, as I quote from Owen in closing, a constant solemn acknowledgement of the glory of God and of the holy excellencies of His nature, that is, His name, in the work of the redemption of His church by the sufferings of Christ is the principal duty of the church and the animating soul and principle of all other duties whatsoever. See what he's saying?

43:13 The principal end of the church is that God may have the people who offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips making confession to His name, and that activity must become the animating soul and principle of all other duties. All other so-called obedience that does not flow from this response of joy to God's revelation is dead works and is unacceptable to God. This is the great sacrifice of the church, the principal end of all its ordinances and of worship, the means of expressing our faith and trust in the blood of Christ and of giving up that revenue of glory to God

43:57 in this world. May God grant that we'll catch the vision of this so that when the Psalms are announced and the hymns are announced, it will fill our hearts with holy joy to know that we cause God to smile. When we sit there conscious, oh God, how can these lips praise You? And look again to Christ our priest in whom we are accepted, who even now mediates for us at the right hand of the Father, and out of sight where we cannot see Him with the physical senses, but nonetheless is really as I stand before You now.

Exhortation to the Unconverted

44:32 He gathers up all of that confession to His name in all of its imperfection from imperfect people, and He presents it as an odor of a sweet smell to His Father, and He accepts the sacrifice and is well pleased with His people. Oh, unconverted fellow girl, man or woman, I hope the thought strikes like a dagger to your heart. God turned His back in disgust upon every word you uttered in this place this morning. He's rejected it because you're not in Christ.

45:08 But that same God, lovingly and with all the authority of His being, sets His Son before you and says, Turn away from every other priest, every other altar, every other sacrifice. Throw yourself upon My Son. As you embrace My Son, I will accept you in Him, and I'll receive your praise. You say, But oh, I don't even know how to name the name of God hardly.

45:33 I'm such a biblical illiterate. Doesn't make any difference. If the eye of faith has been fixed upon Christ, and Christ has become your altar and your priest, with words that may sound so strange to your own ears, you fumblingly and stumblingly and stutteringly say, Oh God, I don't know what to say, but thank you for Jesus. That's more pleasing to God than all the sonorous tones of the chantings of priests and clerics through all the ages who are strangers to the salvation of Christ.

46:07 By Him, therefore, let us offer to God continually the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips, making confession to His name, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Amen. Let us pray.