“If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use.” (Exodus 20:25)
God gave specific instructions to Moses how to build an altar on which to make their sacrifices. The stones were not to have any man-made touch on them. Anything man touched would pollute it. Unregenerated man is full of sin. The people were not forgiven. There was no atonement for sin yet. Sacrifices for sin could not be offered on an altar built with stones which man had perfected because anything man touches is not perfected but polluted and contaminated with sin.
Would it surprise you that it’s still true today? The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient. It is holy, initiated by God and solely a work of God. It is eternal because if comes from God. It was what God required. We cannot add anything to it. To do so, we pollute it. Any sacrifice we offer, any praise we offer and any work we do must be truly holy, God inspired, God driven, and God completed. Only that which comes from God is eternal. Anything we touch is contaminated and temporal.
Our salvation is a work of God. He opened our eyes. He drew us first. “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44) God initiates salvation. He draws us first. If the Lord would have skipped over us, we would not be saved. But He drew us to Him. He gave us a desire to know Him. We responded to Him, desiring to know Him. Remember that yearning to know all about Him, eagerly searching the Scriptures to learn more of Him. And how we longed to be in His Presence. That was God initiated. He revealed His perfect gift of salvation to us. We were full of sin. God does not accept any sacrifice we bring that initiates from us. We are polluted with sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1John 1:8) We are forgiven because of grace that we believed that Jesus is the Son of God, made man, sinless, Who died on the Cross taking our punishment and death so that we could have eternal life. We believe in Jesus Who rose from death and lives forever seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. And when our time ends here on earth, we will be joined with Him for eternity. ““For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
The same is true of any sacrifice we offer. It’s that perfect sacrifice of praise we offer when we gather together. We sing praises and love songs to the Father and Jesus. When we are in perfect harmony and unity, it becomes something more, a pure and holy sacrifice. The Holy Spirit descends in a special manifestation and the priesthood of believers become living stones on which the perfect sacrifice of praise is offered. “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.” (1Peter 2:5) It is something not man-made. It is spiritual, holy and eternal, initiating from God, not man.
The works that we do. It is not in our human nature to do good works. You may feel that compassion, mercy and love come from you, but they don’t. They are placed there by the Lord. They are gifts from the Lord to do good works. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
So, brothers and sisters don’t take pride in what you do or say. We have nothing to boast of. It’s all God. If we put our touch on anything, we pollute it. It becomes temporal and will not be eternal. Yes, we can start good works. And they might be very successful. But they’re not eternal. Do you want to do you will or God’s Will? Are you willing to wait on the Lord? Can you tell the Lord, surprise me I am here to do Your Will? “For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9:15-16) P.S. The title is taken from Pastor Conrad in Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico. It’s something he always says.
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