The Priesthood of Believers

Transcript

GR 1729
7/6/2014
The Priesthood of Believers
Hebrews 13:15-16; Romans 12:2-3
Gil Rugh

We're in Hebrews 13 in your Bibles. Hebrews has been about the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ, about the finished work He accomplished when He came to earth to function as high priest to give Himself as a sacrifice for sin. As we come to Hebrews 13 the writer has been pulling together some things on the basis of the details he has laid out on the high priestly ministry of Christ. After in the first paragraph of the first six verses he gave some general instructions that must be true of us as those who have experienced God's redemption, he moves on to talk about in this paragraph we are in of the importance of the leaders God has given and the recognition of the sacrifice that Christ has made. He gave three commands, remember, in verses 7-9—“remember, imitate, do not be carried away.” And to help in that he drew attention back to the fact that we have an altar that those who partake of the earthly altar and tabernacle have no right to partake of.

Remember the letter to the Hebrews is written to Jews who have come to profess faith in Jesus Christ, but under the difficulties and trials they are contemplating whether a return to Judaism and its system of priests and so on and sacrifices might be a safer way to go. And he has demonstrated through the book of Hebrews that there is no alternative to Jesus Christ. Apart from Him, outside of Him there is no salvation. So he used the Old Testament Day of Atonement from Leviticus 16 as a background for what he said in verses 10-14 in the contrast between that Old Testament system with its earthly temple, sacrifices, physical animal sacrifices, physical priests on earth—the high priest, the Levitical priests arranged under the high priest offering a variety of animal sacrifices. And we've seen in the book of Hebrews that they could never take away sins. But there are sacrifices that are offered by those who do belong to Jesus Christ. He is high priest, but He is not an earthly high priest, serving in an earthly temple or earthly tabernacle. Any time when you see this in a variety of religions, variety of places where they talk about their earthly building being a temple, something is wrong. Jesus Christ is serving in the temple in heaven. The earthly temple, the earthly tabernacle, it is done, it is gone, it is over. Any system that refers to its individual leaders as priests is a denial of what Jesus Christ has done.

So very important for us to grasp the fact that Jesus Christ is God's high priest and has offered a final sacrifice for sins means that everyone who has placed their faith in Him now serves as a priest before God. That means that every believer in Jesus Christ has direct access into the very presence of God's throne in heaven itself. Any idea that there must be some human men in between the believer and God is a denial of what God has done in Christ. We must be clear on this. Eternity depends upon it.

I want to just run through with you some of the verses in Hebrews that talk about Christ as high priest and exhort us to come into the presence of God. Now let me remind you of the Old Testament system. The Old Testament high priest one time, one day a year and twice on that one day, he could enter into the very innermost sanctuary in the tabernacle and then the temple where God's presence was manifested among His people. And we have seen on the Day of Atonement first he would sacrifice a young bull and take the blood and spread it on the Mercy Seat behind that curtain. Then he would sacrifice the goat for the sins of the nation that he was representing and present that blood at the Mercy Seat. That was the only time he was allowed in there. And he was the only one allowed. One day a year one man could go into the presence of God. Now Jesus Christ has come and offered a sacrifice not in an earthly temple, but we have seen His sacrifice and the effects of His sacrifice have been presented before God in heaven itself. Furthermore, Jesus Christ, rather than men leaving the Old Testament high priest had to walk out from that Holy Place, he couldn't stay. Keep in mind there were no chairs in there. He presented his sacrifice and he left. Jesus Christ has stayed in heaven at the right hand of His Father. What this means is that everyone who places his faith in Christ is now considered a priest of God, having direct access themselves into the very presence of God. I do not have more access to the throne of God than you do as a believer. I am not your priest, I am not more of a priest than you are. God is not more open to me in my prayers than He is to you in your prayers if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. This is foundational to what Christ has done, the truth of the Gospel.

Come back to Hebrews 1. We're just going to review a little bit since we are getting to the end of the book of Hebrews and this ties to what it means that Christ is our high priest. The letter opened up in Hebrews 1, verse 2 telling us that in these last days God has spoken in One who is His Son. He is the One who is the heir of all things and the One through whom all things were made. So His total uniqueness, His awesomeness, His person, He is the One through whom and for whom everything was created. “He is the radiance,” verse 3, “of His glory, God's glory, the exact representation of His nature. And it is by His sovereign power that everything holds together.” That's the person of Christ. And something of His work focused now—“when He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Where is God seated on the throne on high? It's heaven, it's where He manifests the glory of His presence most fully. Christ offered one sacrifice for sins with His death on the cross. He was raised from the dead, ascended to the Father, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, the very presence of God. The rest of Hebrews will be unfolding this.

You come to Hebrews 2:9, the end of the verse we are reminded that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. That plan of God that by the sacrifice He offered on the Day of Atonement the high priest offered a sacrifice for the nation Israel to provide for the nation Israel to have access to God for the coming year. That sacrifice was repeated every year and supported by the multitudes of sacrifices that were offered daily. You come down to verse 17, therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation, satisfaction, to satisfy the demands of God's justice and turn away His wrath from us for the sins of the people.

Come over to Hebrews 4:14, “therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” The earthly high priest passed through that curtain in the earthly tabernacle. Remember that's the curtain that was torn in two from top to bottom when Christ died on the cross, indicating that His death would provide access into the presence of God Himself. Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Verse 16, “therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we might find mercy and grace in our time of need.” Do you know what that says? By His ministry as high priest, the finality of His sacrifice, the fact that He now is in the presence of the Father as our representative, we can come with confidence, boldness, sure that we are accepted in His presence. For us it is a throne of mercy and grace. There are no intermediaries. Understand that, that's paganism. That is a denial of the finished work of Christ. No one stands between Almighty God and me except Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. The same is true for you. There is no alternative on this. Remember how strongly the book of Hebrews has spoken to these Jews who would think that maybe they could go back to Judaism. If you do, you are doomed to hell. There is no mixture here. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.” And you put any layer of men in between Christ, the Father and the individual, that's a denial of what God has done. That's not a variation. That is a denial.

Look at Hebrews 6:19, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope sure and steadfast, one which enters within the veil. Again the picture is the veil, the Jews would understand this. We've gone into the presence of God in the Old Testament temple and tabernacle, it was symbolized by that curtain. There is no access, no one is allowed in, the priests weren't allowed in. Only the high priest once a year. But we have an anchor of the soul and it's within the veil. It's in the very presence of God where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Remarkable.

Hebrews 7:25, “therefore, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” It is a constant, permanent, ongoing representation. I will never be turned away, I will never be rejected. My access is dependent upon Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He has made, the offering He has made, the fact that He is my high priest in the presence of the Father. It doesn't get any better than this. Think about it. Almighty God who sits enthroned in heaven and I can come unhindered with full confidence of being accepted before His throne and bring to Him the desires of my heart, the concerns that I have, the burdens that I have. He tells me to cast all my burdens on Him because He cares for me. Remarkable. Jesus Christ ever lives, “He is able,” verse 25, “to save forever since He always lives to make intercession.” That's the security we have.

Down in Hebrews 8:1, now the main point of what has been said is this—we have such a high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. That earthly tabernacle, verse 5, was just a copy and a shadow of heavenly things. But now Christ has entered into the reality, heaven itself. And we have access to heaven itself. If you go back to that Old Testament Levitical system you understand that's an access to no place, that's not a variation. You cannot wed that to your faith in Christ and say, now I have these others but I know I can get to Christ. You can't. God is not open to mixing. That's a denial.
Hebrews 9:11, “but when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, not through the blood of goats and calves. But through His own blood He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” You see that earthly tabernacle, God gave the plans for it to Moses on Mt. Sinai, but it was made with human hands, gifted artisans that God gave the ability to craft the furniture and everything for it. But it was made with human hands. Christ has entered the perfect tabernacle, heaven wasn't made with human hands but heaven was made by Almighty God Himself, the place where He would manifest His presence most fully among His creation. That's remarkable. That's where Christ has appeared as high priest and offered the effects of His sacrifice. He entered once for all. Not repeatedly, not different high priests—one die and another take his place, year after year. No. Once for all, it is done.

Come over to Hebrews 10, we're making our way to Hebrews 13, you've noticed. Verse 4 said that it is “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” That's why Christ had to come to accomplish what those animal sacrifices could not. Verse 10, “by this will we have been sanctified through the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Verse 12, “having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, He sat down at the right hand of God.” Remember what that means, the high priest could go into the presence of God, present the blood from the sacrifice, then get out. Christ went in and has not left to this day. He sat down enthroned at the right hand of His Father. It shows the access He has provided for us.” Verse 14, “by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Verse 18, “now where there is forgiveness of these things”—their sins, their lawless deeds in verse 17—“there no longer remains any offering for sin.” So people trying with their good works, trying with this, trying to bring these offerings, these sacrifices, going through these rituals, it's worse than wasted. It is offensive to God. He said, I have the one and when you are trying to bring something else, that's an offense to a holy God. There is no alternative.

Remember Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons in Leviticus 10? They thought they would bring fire from their own source. You know what happened, they were burned to a crisp immediately and Aaron wasn't even allowed to mourn their death. It has to be God's way. Now Christ has offered the sacrifice. So verse 19, “therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” You see what that is saying, that's the very presence of God in heaven. We have confidence to enter there. Why? Verse 21, “since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, with full confidence”—I believe what God has said, I believe what Christ has done. Then I can come myself. Father, I come before You today, not because I am worthy but because Your Son is my Savior and in Him I am worthy and accepted because His righteousness has been accredited to me. Remarkable, amazing.

Hebrews 10:38, “My righteous one shall live by faith, if he shrinks back My soul has no pleasure in Him.” We are not of those who shrink back to destruction but those who have faith to the saving of the soul. You remember there are no alternatives. People say, yes, I think I will follow Christ, I think I have trusted Christ but I am going back to this system, I'm going to that system. No, you never did.

So we come to Hebrews 13:10. (Was that a long introduction?) And we have an altar that is in the very presence of God where Christ has presented before the Father the effects of His finished work on the cross. Redemption has been accomplished. We can partake of that. Those who go to the earthly system of the Levitical Law don't have a right to partake of Christ. If you are cut off from partaking of the benefits of Christ's death, you are lost. So as a result of that sacrifice, as a result of our faith in Him, verse 15, through Him, then. And that's the emphasis in this statement—through Him, through Christ. We don't want to make a mistake, we don't come with cockiness but we do come with confidence, not because of who I am but because Jesus Christ represents me. And I come on the basis of what He has done. Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice. Wait a minute, I thought the sacrifices were done. Well, the earthly physical sacrifices of animals and so on are done, but now by God's grace as priests who have access to the presence of God, we offer sacrifices. The sacrifice will be basically our lives.

Before we look at the details of verse 15, come back to Romans 12. I picked this verse first because it is perhaps one of the most familiar verses to believers because it is one of the early verses we usually memorize. “ I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” You see the body is presented as a sacrifice. What does that mean? That means my body, all I do with it, what I do now with this body is to be a sacrifice offered to God, acceptable to God, pleasing to God. This is our spiritual service of worship. Now the worship taking place in this spiritual realm, there is a physical dimension because whatever I am doing with my body, I am to be honoring to God, worshiping Him. So in every area of my life, functioning as He would have me function, doing what He would have me do, desirous of pleasing Him. The negative side of that is “do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the making new of your mind, in order that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, perfect.” And you have to be careful of pride, we don't think more highly of ourselves than we should. We always come with humility before Him. So you see a believer coming with a sacrifice, his entire body. We are functioning as priests that God made us to be.

Come over to Revelation 1. In Revelation 1 talking about the work of Christ, we're going to break in here, verse 5, “from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.” You see that, that we were set free from the power of sin, from the penalty of sin. He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. And that's where the book of Revelation is going, to the kingdom. We'll get there in Revelation 20 as you go through the book of Revelation. But through faith in Him we are those who will be citizens of that kingdom that He will set up. We are priests to His God and Father. That means we can come, a priest is one who has access to God. We come through our high priest, no intermediate priests. We have been made priests, we are those who will be part of His kingdom.

Revelation 5:9, “a song of heaven, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals for you were slain, purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” You've made them a kingdom, priests to our God. They will reign on earth. The intention, remember, is that we be inhabitants of that city which will be the capital of that kingdom, the time when Christ will rule on the earth. And He has made us to be priests to our God. Amazing.

Come over to Revelation 20, and here we come to the kingdom. Verse 6, “blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection, over these the second death has no power but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” That ministry we have as priests will go on because we will serve in the presence of God in that city He has prepared for us, which is the dwelling place of God, as we go on in Revelation 21-22 to talk about. Priests. And as we see as priests we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, as a ministry going on. It's on the basis of the sacrifice of our high priest and we come with confidence and boldness.

Back up to 1 Peter, sometimes by some people mistakenly said to be the first pope. There are no popes, not even Peter. And Peter was clear, there are no priests between believers and God, either. So in 1 Peter 2:5, and this is written to Jewish believers, the letter that Peter writes, just as our letter to the Hebrews is written to the elect sojourners of the diaspora. Look at 1 Peter 1:18 to get the context, “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life, inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” So he is talking to those who have been redeemed, not through their works or their parents' works, but through the finished work of Christ. They have been born again, verse 25. Then down to 1 Peter 2:5, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” It's clear, there is not an earthly house. We build these cathedrals and all of this as though God were dwelling in a building. He dwells in our bodies as believers but we are a spiritual house. We are living stones. It's a spiritual building with spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ. And that will encompass everything we do and all that we are as God's people. Spiritual sacrifices. Remember Romans 12:1-2, we present our bodies, this is our spiritual service of worship. And it comes through the work of God in our hearts.

You know this is where it starts, the transformation of the heart, the being made new in Christ. Come back to Psalm 51, and the psalmist David writes here. No one was ever saved by the animal sacrifices, we've studies the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. People were saved in the Old Testament by faith in Christ, but in obedience they offered the animal sacrifices and observed the physical priesthood which was a copy and an anticipation of the time when Christ would come. Look at verse 16, David writes, this is after his sin. “You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise.” David realized the real sacrifice that will bring me into a right relationship with God occurs on the inside as I humble my heart and mind before the living God, I recognize the awfulness of my sin and guilt. That's the sacrifice God is looking at. And He looked at the heart of those in Israel in David's time before and after, He looked to see their heart. If their heart was not humbled before Him, broken before Him, their animal sacrifice was worse than worthless.

Come over to Isaiah 1, the prophet is addressing the nation Israel with the Word of God. And he tells them in verse 4, “they have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him.” And their whole body is sick, the “whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot to the head. There is nothing sound in it.” But they are very religious and they are observing all the holidays the Law required and all the sacrifices the Law required. And yet God says in verse 10, you are like Sodom and Gomorrah to Me. In fact He calls them. “Hear the Word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah.” What a slap in the face. Sodom and Gomorrah, proverbial for vileness, for people worthy of judgment. God is calling Israel Sodom and Gomorrah.

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me, says the Lord. I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams, the fat of cattle. I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me, new moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity in the solemn assembly, I hate your new moon festivals, your appointed feasts.” Verse 15, “when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, I won't listen if you multiply prayers.” You see, when a heart is not made right with God the religious activity is worse than nothing, it is an offense to Him, even when there are sacrifices He has required in the Law. But He required those sacrifices from people who had a broken heart, who were humble before Him. Blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus said. That humility, that broken spirit.

So verse 18, “come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they will be like wool.” Israel wouldn't come to this point. We are Jews. We offer the sacrifices of the Law. We observe the feast days. We are good people. We are God's people. He says, I have nothing to do with you. You are trampling My courts. It is a sacrilege that you come to worship. See how God views false worship? I mean, and this is the worship, at least they had the Mosaic Law to tell them to do this, but they are not doing it with the right heart. And then multiply their worship and they think God ought to be pleased. And of course, God should accept it. Why wouldn't He? Because that's not the way He says. So you see, the heart is the issue.

And so you come to the New Testament, back to Hebrews 13. Verse 15, “through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” There is one other sacrifice. Our bodies, we can look at them in their entirety, all we do with these physical bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “you are not your own, you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. Don't be conformed to this world, be transformed. This is your spiritual service of worship.” The sacrifice He wants is praise, the fruit of lips to give thanks to God, to honor Him, thanking God for His grace, for His forgiveness, for His provision, that fruit of lips. He connects that back to Old Testament sacrifices as well. The Jews can make the connection.

Come back to Hosea, we're going to come to the last chapter, Hosea 14. And Israel is called, verse 1, “return oh Israel to the Lord your God, you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously that we may present the fruit of our lips.” You'll note in the margin of your Bible, if you are using the same translation that I am, You have a little number 2 in front of the fruit of our lips and go to the margin, it says, so with ancient versions. They've translated it from some of the ancient versions, but the MT stands for Masoretic Text, that was the Hebrew of the Old Testament. And the Masoretic Text says, our lips as bulls. And the picture is we present the fruit of our lips, our lips as bulls, as sacrifice. So we can express, because our iniquity has been taken away, our praise to You. And the words of our lips in honoring You are just like bulls being sacrificed. That's the picture.

So we have that back here now in Hebrews 13, let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, fruit of lips that give thanks to Him. Is that the characteristic of us? Always giving thanks? In everything give thanks. Well, I don't know about everything, I don't know about continually. That's what God wants. I mean, do we believe He is sovereign? Do we believe He works all things together for good to those who love Him? Do we believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ? So in the best of times and the worst of times I can be giving Him praise, thanking Him for His love for me, thanking Him for His forgiveness, thanking Him for His provision, thanking Him for the strength to go on, thanking him, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. An unthankful person is an unsaved person. It's part of the worship of true believers. Not just on Sunday when we come together do we express that, but this has to come from the heart. Remember, sacrifices that are offered . . . I can say things, I can even pray—thank you, Lord. And I want to give thanks to God. But is it happening from my heart? Men look on the outside, God looks on the heart. So part of our worship with this part of our body, these lips. The tongue is so crucial, James wrote about that, the proper use of the tongue—giving thanks to God, lips that confess Him.

Verse 16 talks about further sacrifices. “Do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” We present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God—holy, acceptable, well-pleasing. Here we have it. With such sacrifices God is pleased. What is it? Doing good, sharing. The doing good, the readiness to help other believers do what is best for them, good for them. Sharing.

Some of you are old enough to remember back in the '80s, the big word was koinonia and Christians would talk about koinonia and books were written on koinonia and we had koinonia groups. Koinonia is just the Greek word for sharing, fellowship. So here sharing, fellowshipping together. These are sacrifices to God when we become involved in helping other believers in doing good to them. We are offering sacrifices.

Come over to 1 John 3, he's talking about the contrast between the believer and the unbeliever, the world and the child of God. Verse 14, “we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. You know no murderer has eternal life abiding in Him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus said. Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 5, this is the great demonstration of God's love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We know love by this that He laid down His life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That's a practical demonstration of that. Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in Him? Little children, let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this we are of the truth. That unselfishness, that readiness to sacrifice ourselves.

Back in Hebrews 10:33, “you endured a great conflict of suffering partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches, tribulations, partly by becoming sharers (koinonia) with those who were so treated.” And we see ourselves as a family. What does a family do? A family sacrifices for one another, it's not always perfect. We have a need in our family. We are ready to meet the need. Parents make great sacrifices for their children, we want to help them; children make sacrifices for their parents, especially as they get older. We share, and here in the family of God we share together. Verse 34, “you showed sympathy to the prisoners, accepted joyfully the seizure of your property,” and so on. We function together, we are God's family. That supersedes everything. When we're doing this, it's just part of working our way through life. It's part of living for the Lord. It's amazing the transformation God has brought, now I am a priest, you as a believer are a priest. That means all we do every day is to be done for the honor and glory of God, to be pleasing to Him. It's not, well I don't feel like it. Well, would He be pleased with it? That's what now shapes my thinking.

Come over to Philippians 4. Paul is in prison when he writes this, and the Philippians were a great church and they shared out of their material possessions to enable Paul's ministry to be more effective. Verse 15, “you yourselves know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the Gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. Even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.” How Paul appreciated that. He didn't have to be distracted by trying to get a job, make tents, sell stuff to get by. He could devote his attention to the ministry of God's truth. Then he says in verse 17, “not that I seek the gift itself, the actual monetary gift is not what was important. I seek for the profit which increased to your account. But I have received everything in full. I have an abundance, I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditis what you sent.” And what was the real importance of what they sent? It was a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. Well, maybe we'll just take up an offering, send some money, help Paul and I'm sure he'll appreciate it. What's more important than that is God was pleased with it. And he uses that pleasing aroma like when the sacrifice was made and they would burn the carcass, then the aroma ascended up, it's pleasing to God, they are doing what is pleasing to Me. Here my everyday life, what I am, what I am doing, what I am saying, how I am responding to others is all part of my offering to God that which is pleasing to Him.

Come back to Romans 15. Paul is talking about his ministry to the Gentiles and their conversion. He's talking about the grace that God gave him, his giftedness from God. Verse 16, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the Gospel of God. One of the things a priest did was teach, he was ministering as a priest the Gospel. Here I am, God's representative and I am bringing to the lost the truth of the Gospel so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Do you know what he is doing? Presenting the Gospel so that as Gentiles are saved by the grace of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that's an offering being presented to God.

One more passage on this and we are done. Come over to 2 Corinthians 2:14, “but thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place for we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one aroma from death and to the other aroma from life to life. Who is adequate for these things?” Do you see what Paul said? We are giving off the knowledge of Christ everywhere we go and that arises as an aroma that is pleasing to God. Do you know what is pleasing to God here, don't miss it. It's not just those who believe. What is pleasing to God is the fact that you are talking to people about Jesus Christ. It's the giving off of the aroma of the knowledge of Christ that pleases God. It is pleasing to God among those who don't believe, for them is it a savor of death to death. It's pleasing to God among those who do believe. What is pleasing is making Christ known. Again, my lips are praising Him, my lips are speaking of Him, my lips are telling of the wonder of His salvation. You see our lives, all we are doing as believers, what we are thinking, what we are doing, living as He would have us live, functioning with others as He would have us function, even sharing our material possessions, telling others of the Gospel. It's all part of what we offer to God to be pleasing to Him. What a privilege. The priesthood of the believer, come before the throne of God. Paul is concerned, I want God to be pleased with what I offer to Him, I want Him to be pleased with what you offer to Him. It has to come from hearts humbled before Him, broken before Him, recognizing the wonder and power of His grace in salvation that has saved us. And now any time of day or night, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week I can come before the throne of God. For me as a believer, for you as a believer, it is a throne of mercy and grace. Open access all the time. But a reminder, all I am doing wherever I am is done in the context of pleasing Him.

Do you know this God? Do you have this Savior? Understand that's the difference for time and eternity. People who go to this church aren't better than other people, people can go to this church and not know the Savior. Have you ever been broken in spirit, humbled in heart? Cast yourself on the mercy of God. God, I want to claim the forgiveness you have provided in Christ, I'm trusting Him. In that instant of time He will make you new, give you a new heart. Now you can serve Him, live for Him, call Him Father, come before Him and find strength, find help for you every need. You can serve Him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of your grace. Thank You for all that You have done for us and all that You have provided for us in Christ. Lord, we have just begun to taste all that we have in Christ. We have all eternity to grow and come to a fuller appreciation of the salvation that we have been given as a gift through faith in Christ. May we as Your people be living every day as a testimony of that grace. I pray for any who are here who have yet to partake of the grace and the salvation that is found only in Christ. May this be a day of salvation for them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.