A Call To The Remnant

What can happen in the Kingdom of God without sacrifice? Sacrifice is a fundamental concept among believers. Even our praise is considered to be a sacrifice and we know that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. For the Lord to come in our midst we have to offer the sacrifice of our praise to God which is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name (Heb 13:15) You know I missed out one word when I was paraphrasing that Scripture, that word is continually. To praise God we must be in a position to give thanks continually. We cannot be in that position without sacrifice. We must sacrifice many aspects of the flesh in order to be able to genuinely give thanks. So sacrifice is a vital part of our walk.

Now in order to sacrifice,an altar is required. Under the law there were different types of altars, the golden altar of his intercession and the one I am interested in is the brazen altar of sacrifice. Now the altars of the Old Testament were types, types of Christ. They were the shadows of what was to be when the light came forth. Now the brazen altar lay at the beginning of the tabernacle in the outer court. There was three main parts to the tabernacle. The outer court, the Holy place and then the holy of holies. The temple also had, for the most part, three main parts. The court of the gentiles, the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. And so in every example of tabernacle , Solomon’s temple or Herod’s temple we see three main divisions.

The order of progression would go something like this. When entering the tabernacle we are faced with a huge brazen altar, a place of sacrifice. There could be no moving forward without a sacrifice or a burnt offering. A sacrifice was a partial burning, a burnt offering was all consuming. After that you made youR way to the laver bowl where you cleansed your hands. Now you moved into the holy place where you would find the Menorah and the table of shewbread then the altar of incense, a place where prayer is offered, then behind the veil and into the holy of holies.

Today we have an altar in most churches and for the most part it is a place where you come and get something is that not correct? And yet we see in the types of altar we just described that they were a place of sacrifice, a place where you brought something, where you laid something down. Nowadays for the most part its a place to get something. Come forward and get salvation, come forward and get healing, come forward and receive a gift. Now of course, none of these things are inherently wrong. Yet if it is in the context of looking for something rather than laying something down it becomes grasping and self fulfilling. A church I have visited runs to the altar. Seriously, they sprint to the altar to receive something. They believe their running is a virtue, that they so desire the things of God for their life that they run to it. It sounds kinda good, but there is no aspect of it that is sacrificial, it is only a place where you might get something. What a disaster. They will never, as a church or individually. make it past the brazen altar, they are forever stuck in the outer court.

So how does one rightfully proceed in our hearts as we come before the Lord? If there is something before us and the Lord we must lay it down, it must be sacrificed, there has to be a burned offering if we are to move beyond the outer court. Let me suggest that the greater part of Christendom dwells in the outer court, the court of the gentiles as it would later be described. They dwell there because they refuse to sacrifice, they refuse to lay down that foul smelling thing that requires to be burned in the refining fires of the brazen altar. And so there they stay and there they will stay. For those who would move forward to the holy place, they are the ones who are willing to lay their sin down at the altar. Jesus is the altar. Confessing sin one to another is the beginning of a burned offering.

Now one can cleanse their hands in the lavar bowl and move through the door into the holy place and leave the outer court and the gentiles (the world) behind. Jesus is the door. Jesus is the altar. Jesus is the laver bowl. In the holy place we are nourished by the shewbread. Jesus is the shewbread. He is the bread of life. We stand illuminated in the light of the Menorah, Jesus is the Menmorah, He is the Light of our lives and in Him there is no darkness. Then we move forward to the altar of incense. Jesus is the altar of prayer. He made the way for us to come before the Father and cry Abba. Then the incense of of prayers infuses the Holy place with a sweet smelling savor. Jesus is that sweet smelling savor for He has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Eph 5:2)

Finally brothers and sisters our prayers come before the throne of grace, we now stand in the Holy of Holies before the Living God Himself. In that place we touch eternity as we stand in the manifest presence of God. We are surrounded by shekinah glory. His glory. It fills the temple, the tabernacle, the place of meeting. This is not a place that is to be found in the court of the gentiles so to speak. Not in the world nor in the outer courts nor even in the holy place. The brazen altar and the altar of incense has done its work. Jesus has done His work, He has made a way for us to come back to the heart of God. This, I would argue, is far removed from the altars that men have erect4d in most churches. One is self serving and the designs of man, the other is sacrificial and the work of God. Sacrifice is the key. Are you taking up your cross every day? Are you continually giving thanks unto our great God who is worthy to be praised? Diligently seek the Lord our God today for in the diligence ( a word that encompasses sacrifice, taking up ones cross, overcoming, enduring and thankfulness) you will find that God’s manifest presence is your exceeding great reward.

I wanted to add one last thing. Almost 13 years ago I had a vision. I have only had a few in my 30 years of salvation. I was “taken up,” by the Lord.I Dont really know how to define that. I saw some kind of amalgamation of the tabernacle and the temple. The Lord showed me the court of the gentiles and how almost all of what calls itself after His name dwelt there and refused to move forward. There was a wide low door that led to the brazen altar ( so that would be more akin to the temple) It was wide because all were welcome. It was low because to enter one must humble himself and face the brazen altar. Most of the folks in the court of the gentiles had no desire whatsoever to humble themselves and face the brazen altar. They were quite content with their activity in the outer court. Only a few would come to the place of sacrifice. Then the scene changes and I saw people who flew in the lofty heights of the presence of God. Few there were. Most were earthbound, laden down with gifts they had accumulated. The gifts were love and mercy and forgiveness. They refused to share what had been freely given to them and the weight of what they had gathered to themselves and stuffed into their pockets held them down. In order to fly into the heights of His glory they would have to empty themselves and give to others what they themselves had received. The very gifts, that were designed to bless, when held back from others, became a terrible weight that held them earthbound. And the great irony was, those who gave to others what they had been given received even more in the presence of the Living God.