Psalms 31:1-4, 8:1, and 16:2
My Shepherd sent me into His green pastures to examine Hebrews, where 13:15-16 caught my attention:
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Hebrews 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Fitting, I think, that the New Testament sacrifices that replaced the Old Testament sacrifices for sin would be presented in the book written to the Hebrew Christians, in which the Spirit makes clear the Old Testament sacrifices for sin are done away, fulfilled by Christ (Hebrews 9, et al).
Here is the sum of the matter (Hebrews 8:1): Jesus has satisfied all the Law, and removed the entire Aaronic sacrificial system, replacing it with the Melchisedek Priesthood (Hebrews 7), with Christ, the eternal High Priest (Hebrews 8:1). He is at present set at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens (Hebrews 8:1), a “minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 8:2). Now, here is the surpise: “For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer” (Hebrews 8:3).
Did you hear that? “It is of necessity that this man [Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant, and High Priest of the New Priesthood] have somewhat also to offer” (Hebrews 8:3).
Christ, our High Priest, has “not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:4). He has made the way for us to enter by presenting His own blood, the atonement for our sins (For “now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” —Hebrews 9:26). There is no more “sacrifice for sins”: For “this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).
Yet, He has ordained New Testament sacrifices. Two of these are presented in this book: first, the “sacrifice of praise” and the second, “to do good and communicate” (Hebrews 13:15-16).
The sacrifice of praise is mentioned in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 33:11). The word communicate is related to giving to ministry (Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:14; 1 Timothy 6:18), and so the word has the same meaning in Hebrews 13:16, where it is included as among the New Testament “sacrifices.”
Along the still waters, I thought about the truth that Jesus receives Tithes today: “Here [Earth] men that die receive tithes; but there [Heaven] he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth” (Hebrews 7:8). Did you notice that Jesus, Who sits at the right hand of the Majesty, receiveth (present tense) tithes? Did you notice He does not take them? He receives them. This means they are presented to Him freely by those who love Him, not under the duress of Law, but as Abraham paid tithes centuries before the Law to Melchisedec, the exact pattern in which we pay tithes to our High Priest, Who is a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec (Psalm 110:4; see Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 17, 21).
Our High Priest presently receives tithes. The Apostle Paul described how God had ordained the Old Testament ministry would be supported by tithes, and then said, “Even so” (in the same manner, or in the same way), “hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:12-14).
The Sacrifice of praise is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name (Hebrews 13:15), and to “do good and communicate” (Hebrews 13:16) are sacrifices we bring to Jesus, our High Priest, Who presents our sacrifices to God on our behalf.
I thought about other New Testament sacrifices. First, ours are spiritual: Peter said, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). The fact that they are spiritual means they are not fleshly; it does not mean they are presented without physical action. Prayer is a spiritual offering presented to Christ with our physical body. Of course, one of the New Testament sacrifices includes the presentation of this body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).
As I pointed out earlier, we find two of these sacrifices in Hebrews: the sacrifice of praise and the sacrifices of doing good and communicating (Hebrews 13:15-16). Paul speaks of the presentation of our bodies, the “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-2). He also speaks of the “sacrifice and service of [our] faith” (Philippians 2:17), which is included in the sacrifice of doing good (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are exhorted to pray always, and, like the tithe, prayer is a crossover sacrifice well-pleasing to God (Psalm 141:2; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Except, we present our tithes to the eternal Bishop of our souls (1 Peter 2:25), the High Priest of our profession (Hebrews 3:1).
In the valley, as I knelt before my High Priest to present the New Testament sacrifices, I felt the searching eyes pass over my heart, and heard the voice as the sound of many waters: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). And I realized the this must be the sine qua non, the one thing that must be else nothing else matters. Without a proper heart response to this call of Christ, no offering will be accepted, no sacrifice will be received. The Cross is the very heart of any service that can be acceptable to Him Who gave all to us there. Selah! Only then may our sacrifices be made acceptable by Christ.
At the table, I dedicated all my service to Him with the same mind He dedicated His sacrifice to God for me (Philippians 2:5-11), and yielded to endure the same as He endured for me: for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). For this, I must be ever “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1). He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy attended as we went into the harvest.
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
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