Acceptable Sacrifices / Huseah Wu

Audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2riX4NXqS0E

So we turn to 1 Peter 2:5

You also as living stones are being built up as spiritual house; a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

And let as turn to Ephesians 1:4-6

Just as he told us in him before the foundation of the world having to be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestined us unto the adoption assigned by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of his will. To the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted to the beloved.

And let’s turn to the same book Ephesians 5 and we’ll pick the very last sentence of verse 8, “Walk as children of light” then let’s go to verse 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

That’s all the scripture verses will read for now. I feel like.. we will go over the few things we have last Tuesday evening just to reemphasize the importance of it.

Our adequate understanding of scripture truth is absolute foundation because our true spiritual experience is based on the truth that we can really apprehend in God’s word. Our experience that is based on God’s truth, that experience is the only good experience we can have through the Holy Spirit because the work of the Holy Spirit can’t be apart from God’s work, of Gods revelation to us. Holy Spirit is linking Christ's will to us. Holy Spirit is making God’s word real to us as light.

So there are several things, in contents, we need to settle before we can properly be into the experience of it. Now for example this is very important the man that he created for Himself, the man that created by God with intention that man will be accepted to Him or be acceptable to Him. So God does not create man without purpose. He created man with the desire that he wants to exhort man totally to Himself. So before man is created he has this idea on His mind. So we find it in the book of Ephesians. Before man was created, God has already this thought that we should be holy without blame. This was God’s thought before the creation of man. So we can be sure that man was created according to God’s thought, according to God’s mind.

 

So with the thought that men eventually were fully participated in all that God prepared for him. So to enjoy all this of God, man must be God’s light. So in this sense, we are created for glory. So that God’s thought for man before creation is that man should be holy, without blame and be formed in love. Now we know there is only one who is Holy. God is holy and I thank God man was created to partake His holiness. Without God’s light we will not be found acceptable to Him.

As what we share last Tuesday evening, God achieved that, He put us in Christ Jesus. So Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 said, “God alone had the power to put us in Christ Jesus”. So brothers it is not that we saw God, its God sought us and He found us. All God’s work is origin in God Himself. So God has His thought and He therefore act upon it. So he wants us to be acceptable in His sight and His way to achieve that is through His beloved son Jesus Christ. So Paul said, “Through God’s power", He sought us through Christ Jesus because it is only Christ and Christ alone who has the power to make us acceptable before God, because Jesus Christ is only force in all this creation, who is really the delight, who is acceptable to the Father.

So for us to be acceptable to God, He put us to His beloved, the one who is always acceptable to Him. And so all the sacrifices that we can present that is all through Jesus Christ because apart from Christ, God will not accept anything and all of it from Christ that he will accept.

So we shared last Tuesday evening about the offerer is more important than the offering because throughout the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, in fact the heart of the gospel is to make us acceptable before God. That is the heart of the gospel. And so we shared last Tuesday evening about the offering of Abel. In that offering, the offering of the animal was mentioned, the fat was mentioned but the blood was not mentioned. If you read through all the sacrifices in the book of Leviticus as well as the book of Numbers, majority of the sacrifices mentioned are offerings that will ascend aroma to God the father. It is for acceptance and even though there is mention of trespass offering or sin offering but there seems to occupy in the lesser important part than the offering of acceptance. So in God’s heart it’s for you, not so much about you are being forgiven but it’s you.

Forgiveness is not the end, acceptance is the end. Now the reason why the Lord Jesus saved us is because He is a savior. So a savior saves. Before we were saved He was already a Savior. So He was the Lamb that was sanctified before the foundation of the world, for the foundation of the world. So the proven is already there. So there is the right sacrifice that even from the foundation for us because God knew what men can do. He knew one day we will turn our back at Him. But He will never turn His eyes away from us because we are created for His pleasure.

 

We may give up Him but He will never give us up. And that is how loving is our Heavenly Father. He saves because He is our savior. He delivers us because He is the deliverer. He is our refuge we can hide in him. He is our fortress, we found security in Him. It is not what He does to prove who He is. It is who He is that is why He does what He does. And so the scripture said, “We must believe that as He is”. We believe what He is then we enjoy what he has done for us.

So this morning I just want to share couple of thoughts because in our fellowship group sometimes we need clarification, because sometimes it is very difficult to cover all aspects. So when I share about our acceptableness to God, and we have the understanding that ones I am in Christ Jesus I’m instantly become mature, I’m instantly become acceptable to Him. So because when I look into myself I’m not by thing I ought to be and I become very discouraged.

Now God’s standard about acceptance, Gods standard about acceptability is not changed. Christ is the standard of our acceptance, there is no other way. He is the only way. Christ is also the only standard for our acceptability. So from one end to the other end is all Christ. Christ is the beginning, Christ is the end. In between there is a progression and thank God we all had a good beginning. But we are not at the end yet but then God got weighed in the process. We are moving toward that end because in what pushes begun, He will surely carry us all the way through.

So at the beginning it’s all His doing but in the process we need to learn to allow Him to do in us what He wants. So even at the very beginning there is a small measure of our life that is of Christ. No doubt, right? But that small measure of Christ, that measure is very precious to God the Father. Anything that we let to His son is precious to the Father. Even that little feet is so acceptable to Him. But we don’t remain there, we move on. We want our acceptability before him always in the increase because we are moving forward in the increasing way to satisfy His heart.
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Now whatever that measure of Christ, whether small, medium size or big size, that measure whether big or small, that all belong to God. We are in Christ, Christ is in God. We belong to Christ. In Christ we belong to God so do not despise even it is little in measure in Christ that is in you but do not remain there. So you know, I thing Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 said, “When we are children we think children and we act like children”. As long us you are a child, you can think as a child that is normal. Either I child or you children, you act like a child, very beautiful, very cute, that it is Ok. So as you are little children you can play little toys, nobody can blame you. But if you have grown spiritually, you are growing up, and you remain playing with those things, it does not look right. So what is acceptable in one stage of your life might not be acceptable in other stage of your life?

 

We have to take note of that. But, unfortunately many of the Christians, believers, remain on what they were many years ago. So what was acceptable before God, in them, is now unacceptable. You have grown. You should change your thinking. Change the way you act. So what was good few years back is no good now. Not good for yourself and not good for other people.

Now I want to share a true story. The reason why I want to share this story is because I think it is important to know because we can never be sure that what we think is acceptable to God. And that is why in Philippians 5 says, “Always seeking to do what is pleasing to His sight", always looking, seeking for that which is pleasing in His sight”. Search; find out what is pleasing in His sight. Now that is continues thing, it is a continuous thing we need to search and to find out what is acceptable in His sight.

So now I mentioned a while ago, “What is acceptable to you in one stage of your life may not be acceptable now”. So sometimes the Lord has to do a very drastic work with us so he would shock us. So that we discover what we’ve been doing is totally unacceptable to Him. Brothers, that is God’s grace is. To know what is not acceptable to God is God’s grace. God is working in us so what we discover, what we do, is not acceptable that creates in us that longing for what is acceptable to Him. If you from time to time discover that what you do is not all that is acceptable to God, thank God for it. It was God wanting to show you and wanting to work in to you that is acceptable in His sight.

So this is a story of a brother that we know, and quite few of brother and sister in this conference know this brother. He was very gifted or he is still a very gifted brother. In the 50’s, 1950’s, he is very active for the Youth For Christ Movement. And then later for some reasons he left the Youth For Christ organization. And he studied in and kindly it was quite acceptable and the Lord blessed our work and we know one who was saved under this brother’s ministry. So in order to please the Lord and he was very active in the so called the Lord's work. Now most of Christians, they don’t hear the individuality of believers priesthood. That is not the understanding of most Christians even though it is in the scripture but God’s people just don’t quite grasp it. And in their understanding, to serve God you have to be a clergy or you have to be a pastor an ordained pastor or you’ll go to a foreign country or be a missionary. If you are a lay Christian no more you are not called to serve you, you are just to sit on Sunday and listen to God’s word. And you come regularly then you are a good Christian.

 

So this brother had a training camp. And on this particularly training camp they have many colleges’ people come there to receive their particular training. So once this brother was away from that camp and he received a call, Evangelist?. A fire set to that camp all the buildings were destroyed except what…. and so that news is very hard for him take in. But I would assume that before that evening he had a dream and that dream is something like what we find in 1 Corinthians 3. Let us look at those few verses. Paul has very good thoughtful verses for us. 1 Corinthians 3:11

“For no other foundation can anyone lay then that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Now brothers and sisters that is our foundation, that is our common foundation. That is our ground of faith. That is our ground of acceptance because that is Christ and Christ and His work. That is the ground of our understanding. Then Paul says, “We all have the same ground to stand on. But now beware what you build upon it." What you build upon it may be acceptable, what you build upon it may not be acceptable. And the day will come the fire will test you out and what can go through fire that will endure, and what will not go through fire will disappear.

So this brother he had a dream and he said it was a much vended dream. So there was a crowd of believers standing before the judgment seat of Christ. They were all there to give an account before Christ what they have done. When he was standing there he looked around at all those who were there and he saw somebody carrying a very heavy thing on their back, a sack they use, something that is very big. And some carry their smaller package but he noticed some people they don’t simply notice they carry anything. They only have very small thing they can hold between their two hands. And he kept looking, keep looing. Those who carry a very heavy load before the Lord to, to show the Lord what he can do what he has achieved but to their disappointment God did not accept those things they have brought. Now those who don’t have seem much, they only have a little bit on the palms of their hands, the Lord was delighted.

So all those volumes the things good those are hay and straw and all those little things seems nobody can see, only God can see, those are treasure. Those are real thing gold, silver and precious stone. And this brother is work from his dream. And that changed the whole direction of his ministry. No doubt what he did ones upon a time was acceptable but now it is not acceptable. Now is the time to change. The Lord has something more for you. Don’t remain where you are. We have to move on. Remember I shared to about the leaders of the tribe they offer six wagons, Numbers chapter 7, covered carts.

 

Now you know carts or wagons have wheels. Now what are wheels for? Wheels are not just stay stationary. Wheels are for movement for motion to move on. And so our spiritual service can never be put in one spot for too long they are on wheels so we have to move on. But the other thing has its cover because our ministry that is acceptable to God should not be seen by man it should only be seen by God. Because only God knows what is acceptable. We don’t serve God for man to approve us. We serve God just to be acceptable just for His sight alone.

So I hope the story, this testimony of our brother will touch our heart. What was good at one time might not be good today. God is always looking for Christ increase in all of us. Without his increase God won’t to be satisfied. Now for this evening I want to share a little bit how can we live our lives that are acceptable to Him.

So in our fellowship group we still have that conception say if I have worked hard enough God will accept me. So I pause a question is there anything in us, no matter how we try, do you think God will find us acceptable to Him? So before I say that, let me share about the work of Lord Jesus on the cross, the significance of His death and resurrection. Of course He died for our sin individually but take note brothers and sisters because in His death He concluded a race that is impossible to be acceptable to Him. He concluded and He finished that. He said there is no possibility for us to be accepted in His sight. He put it out of sight but on the other side of His resurrection He is the head of a new race that is totally acceptable to Him because of who He is. Supposed the old race that can never satisfy Him or be acceptable to Him, that race is finished. On resurrection He started something new altogether. In Christ there is a new race that is totally acceptable to God. Now those two choruses we sang this morning, for me to live is Christ, to live is Christ because only Christ is acceptable to God. No other but Him. And also that life is worth living for and Apostle Paul found that life that can be acceptable pleasing to God. That is Christ. Now I have Christ.