How To Build An Altar | VIVE Church

thanks for joining us at 5:00 Church for our podcast if your local to the Bay Area come visit us in one of our four locations visit five church at work for more information I'm just gonna let you know I feel real mischievious today because we're not broadcasting so I could do whatever I want I don't have to play by any rules I don't have to look at any cameras I get to just look at you and I get to have some fun today are you ready for the Word of God I got a Word of God that's giving me that I believe is gonna shape not just the end of this year but really help us step into a new season and a new year with anointing and power and I want to prepare us by opening up while you stay standing to Exodus chapter 20 could you go there real quick Exodus chapter 20 Genesis Exodus 20 and I want to read from verse 22 it says this and the Lord said to Moses say this to the people of Israel you saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven remember you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me build for me an ultimate of Earth and offer your sacrifices to me your burnt offerings and peace offerings your sheep and goats and your cattle build my altar wherever I caused my name to be remembered and I will come to you and bless you if you use stones to build my altar use only natural uncut stones do not shake the stones with a tool for that would make the altar unfit for holy use today on this commissioning Sunday I want to preach to you on how to build an altar Halla build an altar and I do believe that God wants to speak to us through this word something profound as we cap off one season and we step into a new season there is always a transition God wants to do something in the transitions how many people know that that God works in the transitions and right now is the right time for God to work in your life in a transition and if you're ready your hearts to receive it I do believe God will bless you today so as you prepare to receive the Word of God find seven people thanks those are 17 people find 17 people say you're ready to build come on tell them get ready to build seventeen people do not cut it short or your blessing will be cut short come on [Applause] how to build an altar oh tar altar oma how to build an altar how many people enjoyed that Christmas you receive some gifts I love the Christmas season I love Christmas morning I don't know what it looks like in your house how many how many of those we people open gifts on Christmas Eve just judge them how many people are traditionalist and you like to wait til Christmas morning like the Christmas Day is intended you know Jesus wasn't born on Christmas Eve anyhow I love the tradition of Christmas morning I really do I love lavishing upon our girls and giving them gifts and watching the joy as they unwrapped gift after gift and they you know they're just casting things aside you know like they're worthless even though they cost me a lot of money and I love it I love I love how they're hungry for more and they have an appetite for for more and it's always a fascinating witness year we spent Christmas with a bunch of families and just seeing all the kids open gifts and the fun that it is to to open gifts and in that moment it is a sweet paradise I'm telling you for a parent it's a sweet moment of joy nothing can go wrong no one's crying no one's upset everybody's happy at least for 45 minutes how many people know that for 45 minutes there's a window into heaven of gift-giving by 45 minutes elapses and sure enough we go back to the usual grind of complaining arguing and I want to use this line I want to tell them hey can you just remember like 45 minutes ago about the gifts that you were given can we just go back to to that place and this is what I feel as a parent and I wonder sometimes if God feels the same way towards us in our life can I just jump straight into the hard stuff this morning don't to lead you down a false path I wanna it's gonna be it's gonna be good in here but better I wonder if that's the way God wants to speak in our life would you could you just possibly remember all the things I've done in your life and stead of looking at what you don't have or what you wish you had or what we could have if God did this could we just for a moment remember could we just remember you know this passage that I read may have seemed obscure to you but what we have in this scripture from really from Genesis in fact way before access in Genesis we have a worship system established by God that involved what is known as an altar a structure upon which God's people could could focus their worship and and they could recognize and glorify God in a way that was actually acceptable to him and ulta that that was a place of sacrifice and alta was a place of redemption it was a place of memorial and remembering God's provision God's break through in his power and and also was where a place where the divine and the human actually interacted and would actually take place and transact it was a place of exchange a place of encounter this is what the altar was and not only where the specific practices that that are outlined in God's word for what took place at an altar but but the very construction of an altar was also very specific whether it was an altar built for memorial purposes or a sin sacrifice how the altar was built came with specific instructions as to achieve the very impervious intended for said altar you staying with me cooked a little bit history just to catch us up as a church there's no point in wasting a Sunday it's the end of the year by mass we'll go ahead and teach you something today amen he came out so the intended purpose of the altar came with specific instructions or constructions for the altar and here in Exodus what we have is God speaking to Moses right after he'd revealed to the people of Israel the Ten Commandments he'd gone up there with came down with the ten commandments and after he came down with the ten commandments he he speaks through Moses to the people and essentially what he gave them with the Ten Commandments was the law that they had to live by in order to obtain righteousness you with me God's own people however God knowing that his people cannot live up to the standard of the law also combined with this standard of the law a system of sacrifice to redeem them when they couldn't live up to said standard you with me system that involved sacrifice and a system that essentially revolved around an altar a system where an animal's blood could be shed and it turned temporarily for the sins that were committed there for redeeming the individual that committed such sin this was the very act that was placed upon an altar and in this passage we have God giving Moses a specific description of how and when to build an altar he said build me an ultimatum earth and offer your sacrifices to me your burnt offerings and peace offerings your sheep and goats and your cattle build my altar wherever I caused my name to be remembered and I will come to you and bless you if you use stones to build my altar use only natural uncut stones do not shape the stones with a tool so that would make the ultra unfit for holy use so God instructs Moses to build an altar from natural uncut stone just just a stone just to start wherever wherever you find yourself I feel God wanted to make it convenient to actually just come to him and make sacrifices to to not have to go on a journey to find an altar but but in your everyday there is an opportunity to build an altar or really all God did will say just find something natural just find a place upon which you could put some wood and you could put your land and you could put your neighbor's cat whatever it was you could just you could just put it on there and you can easily there's no hurdle to acknowledging God's goodness in your life to acknowledge what God done will to come back to God and be redeemed all you need is a natural uncut stone not a stone that you take with you and you shape and you begin to glorify the altar but you use the altar for the process and the purpose that its intended stay with me today's just stay with me in fact we see this several times throughout scripture many times in Genesis 28 we see that Jacob actually fashioned an altar from the rock that he was sleeping on as he met with God and God filled the place where he was he he actually lifted the stone and he stood it upright me and he made me put oil on it like an altar and said this will be a memorial pillar the place I will call beth-el the place where God meets with his people and and he made an altar of a stone we see that with Abraham in fact Abraham many times three times in a row the three different places that God took him - he took a stone made an altar and set up a memorial pillar to recognize that it was God that brought me here it was God that provides we even see with Joshua as he went through the Jordan he actually took 12 stones from the Jordan and then they erected them as memorial pillars recognizing God's breakthrough and God's God's deliverance for his people he's powering the altar and these Old Covenant altars actually were a place of remembrance and where sacrifices could be made now what started out as a simple altar actually is Scripture we find becomes very very complicated like much of what we do and what God's people do is we take what's so simple in Scripture and we seem to complicate as past events as the heck out of it we add things to it and we complicate the process and in fact what we see under the system of law is that the altar became a very complicated process and procedure in where there were actually very specific sacrifices for specific sins you with me specific situations you couldn't just do any old sacrifice it wouldn't just any old old so you had to have a specific sacrifice a specific process and a specific situation let me give you an example in Leviticus that actually gives us great detail a description of what offerings and sacrifices attained for what's in there were grain offerings there were there were gilt offerings there were sacrifices for for coveting there were sacrifices for stealing and there were even sacrifice a specific for situations when you had a skin disease because that you couldn't just do the sin sacrifice when you at the skin disease you couldn't just do the stealing sacrifice when you had a coveting that didn't work you were still covenant you were still sinful you had to do the specific sacrifice that match the specific sin are you with me even if we see this in fact Jesus actually imports in and plays a part of this sacrifice in his interactions if you would go with me real quick down to down to Luke because I like what Jesus does in fact Jesus as he's traveling to Jerusalem we see a fascinating interaction between Jesus and some lepers men with some skin disease and it says this in Luke chapter 17 verse 11 as Jesus continued unto a Jerusalem he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria as he entered the village there ten men with leprosy stood at a distance crying out Jesus master have mercy on us he looked at them and said go show yourselves to the priests and as they went they were cleansed of their leprosy not only do we have an amazing miracle take place here recorded but what we essentially have is we have an intersection in Scripture of Old Covenant and New Covenant I'm gonna do my best to teach this before I preach this okay we've got an easy where where Jesus essentially heals them that any imports an Old Covenant practice of altar and sacrifice and system that if you had a skin disease under the old Levitical law you had to then approach a priest who would then make a sacrifice on your behalf and then CLE and that was a detailed sacrifice I mean you involve two doves and one had to go free one had to be killed the blood had to be shed all over the altar and then seven days you had to wait until you were clean and you'd come back with the lamb was a costly sacrifice and if you're too poor to get a lamb then you could get more birds and I don't we everyone's getting these birds but regardless it was a very detailed and complex and expensive process to be cleared and so here goes Jesus he he heals them and then says don't get checked out with the priest but what's fascinating what's complex about this passage is that that the ten lepers who had been outcast they'd been sitting really in the borderland that they weren't allowed in the city if you had a skin disease in those days you were unclean unfit to be a part of the community you were exciting to the outer territory and you were really in no-man's land you're in between Galilee and Samaria you're in a place a holding place waiting to die waiting to just just literally just existing hoping to hold on and in this place not by coincidence not by accident but by the intended purpose of God God met these lepers in that holding place in that place where they felt barren in that place where they felt isolated in that place where they felt alone and recognizing Jesus they cry out to him to heal them and Jesus does something so fascinating to me he combines them he don't say anything except command them to go and show themselves to the priests employing this Oh Levitical law system of being cleared by the priests and then the Bible says that as they went they were healed man if I had time I would preach a whole sermon that line about Peter had to step out onto the water how a woman had to bring empty jars how you have to dig ditches in dry places man I could preach about how often we've waited for things we've waited in 2017 for God to answer prayers but I think God has been waiting for you to step out in faith so he can answer those prayers I don't have time to preach that though I'm preaching about altars cuz the guys don't to say this and verse 15 one of them when he saw that he was healed came back to Jesus shouting praise God he followed the ground to Jesus feet think thanking him for what he had done this man was a Samaritan Jesus I was denied healed ten men where are the other nine has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner and Jesus said to the man stand up and go your faith has healed you're gonna pray for some people today but but stay with me because I've got to set you up to enter the year the new year with power because here we have 10 men nine of them were Jews one was a Samaritan now Jews and Samaritans never ever mixed in ordinary circumstances but how many people know that misery loves company so you will find yourself congregating and connecting with people in your condition all that what's really good that was powerful that I'll just let a simmer for a minute there you will find yourself connecting with people in your condition hoping that they will be the ones to pull you out but yet they had the wherewithal in their condition to yet cry out to Jesus Jesus commands them doesn't say any other words doesn't say be healed then go he says just go just go to the priest go and get checked as they went something happened as they stepped something began to tingle something began to shift something is like I don't know if was goose bumps or cold I know what it was but as they're walking they begin to notice man my skin's not so dry anymore uh-uh what if the temperature changes up in the hills or in the valley I don't know where they were but but something began to shift and as they went they they recognized that they were healed and and then Jesus asked his peculiar question because the one one of them asked he realized he's like whoa I'm good that was Jesus and instantly he returns to Jesus and then Jesus asks this what I consider a peculiar question he says didn't I heal ten men where are the other nine has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner now what makes this question peculiar to me is that the Samaritan didn't return to Jesus after seeing the priests but upon seeing that he was healed so Jesus essentially knew we had the other nine word because he sent them now we're the quandary because if Jesus knew who had they were essentially they weren't in disobedience maybe it's a part of the process they're thinking maybe maybe we just like stage one of healing and and the priests will do the rest yet he asks something specific which maybe tells me that Jesus not only knew where the oven nine men were but actually what Jesus was doing was much more than a healing I believe Jesus was revealing how to build a new covenant altar just go with me he knew where they were but he highlights has only one just this just this foreigner returned to thank me you see an Old Covenant altar was an altar of uncut stone it was not touched by man it was not shaped by man though tools were allowed to be upon it and the tools were allowed to glorify it the stone itself was a humble instrument that God already fashioned before time that Guardi preordained and there's plenty of them to find them you had to find a place and upon that store in this uncut stirring this was the Old Covenant you could make a sacrifice but but but there was another element to the uncut stone not just anybody could do it you had to get a priest you had to get an inane priest who could actually make the sacrifice be the intermediary on your behalf between you and God that they would make the sacrifice on your behalf and it was a lengthy and repetitive process in fact but I like what Peter Peter who traveled with Jesus Peter who was close to Jesus arguably one of the closest to Jesus Peter in 1st Peter chapter 2 actually has a fascinating way of describing Jesus he he has a particular word that he uses in reference to Jesus he he says as you come to him the living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ is my hope your mind but I need you to go with me because it will hold so much power if we just break through the frustration for a moment this is what I slept preparing a sermon by the way can't tell you about this this is my day job this is why I've done all year long frustration this is why my hair is receding because you get to a point in scripture where where after a while you're so frustrated going so what so what God but I guarantee you if you just push through the process a little bit the God may just illuminate something that may want you to get up from your desk run around the office high-five every staff member aside I got it because we know that the old system of sacrifice required a stone it required two elements in fact you couldn't just have a stone you needed a priest but Peter knew that there was something about the new system of sacrifice a new coven not just an Old Covenant but a new covenant system that didn't no longer require a stone in a priest but but Peter knew that Jesus is the living stone and like Jesus he's made us living stones so where as one element that is always with us no longer is it just in the desert easy to find wherever you go like the Old Covenant principle that just find an uncut Rock God says now you be the stone who is me and furthermore Peter said he's not just shaped us into living stones but we are a royal priesthood then no longer do you not need an intermediary to actually make sacrifices on your behalf but jesus said come I've made you a living stone and a royal priesthood bhutesu together actually make a dangerous concoction for God to do something powerful in your life go with me about halfway there and so what we've got is we've got essentially this Samaritan while we see the nine go to the priests this American actually becomes a priest and he makes his altar at the feet of Jesus which was an altar of praise oh man I need I need a church to get happy with me today it's New Years Eve people we're gonna party like it's 99 but I need you to get with me because I believe that God wants to unlock something in your understanding about the process to push forward in this life the process to push forward into the promises the process to step in to the purpose and the plan and the promises and the prosperity everything that God has for you requires this key that God wants you to understand and this is what happened for the Samaritan while he was on the journey you had to go when you feel like I was good you go to the priest he makes the sacrifice he cleanses that he doesn't you get healed but on his way the Samaritan said check this out I'm healed already why waste my time going to a priest I'm just gonna become a priest and he makes this altar at the feet of Jesus his thankfulness is thankfulness in thankfulness what is the New Covenant altar that's a good question I'm glad you asked in Hebrews we have something fascinating Hebrews chapter 13 I'm gonna give you a lot of scripture you've missed out a lot of reading scripture this year so I'm gonna catch you up before the year's end Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15 says through Jesus therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise the fruit of the lips that confess his name and do not forget to do good and to share with others for with such sacrifices God is pleased this is how we build an altar we build an altar with praise we build an altar with praise didn't we no longer do we just build an altar of stone uncut stone we like Jesus who is the chief Cornerstone we are also living stones and so when we come the stone is already there we just place upon the stone praise we come with thankfulness we come with remembrance no longer off stone but of our hearts and we come to that altar in fact to alter our perspective of what the hell is good to alter our perspective of God this is this is the altar that God wants us to import and play go with me still in fact go back to Luke 17 because I want to really reiterate this Jesus asked didn't I heal 10 men where are the other nine has no one returned hermas they returned to give glory to God except this foreigner and Jesus said to the man stand up and go every one say go your faith has healed you has no one returned stand up and go has no one returned stand up and and go I wonder if the new covenant altar has a really specific purpose in mind to actually be an instrument that sets the pace of our life let me say two different way I wonder if the pace of our promises and the pace of our purpose in 2018 I wonder if our pace was determined by the rate of our return because he says this he says has no one else returned stand up and go essentially what happened there was much more than a healing what we have in Scripture is a salvation we have we have eternity placed in his heart and a commissioning so now go in the calling and the anointing that came upon him in that moment an anointing that came upon him because he made himself a priest by setting an altar of praise before God as he returned to God he actually the returning is what actually determined the pace in which he would go and I feel like we're at a critical Junction right now at the precipice of a new year to actually return to God make some alters praise him for what's done before we step forward because sure we could just step into the new thing thank God I'm ready for the new thing but I wonder if God maybe just wanting to set a practice in our life of returning to him before we step forward and we would get a have it in our hearts to keep returning back to God where are the other nine didn't I do miracles all across this church did not do miracles all across the bay but some people that may just return to him just maybe can I show you I'm gonna keep going I keep going I gonna close I'm gonna pray for people so their hurry in fact in fact what we see with a new covenant altar is that there are there actually no more sacrifices I'll prove it to you in Scripture Hebrews shows us Hebrews 10 verse 16 for God's Will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifices of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all time under the Old Covenant the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day offering the same sacrifices again and again which can never take away sins but our high priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins good for all time then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand but let me say this just because the New Covenant ultra does not require sacrifices any longer does not mean we don't need an altar because check this out verse 13 he goes on to say there he waits until his enemies are humble to made a footstool under his feet for by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy and the holy spirit also testifies that this is so for he says this is the New Covenant remember New Covenant ultra the new covenant I will make with my people on that day says the Lord I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds instead of an altar made from uncut stone God has made an altar out of your very heart and mind that God wants you dead every step you keep returning back to him that you recognize the source that you recognize the provider the very power to step into a new season comes from your ability to return to the provider to return to the source to return to the one who gives the anointing to the Anointed One and the anointing we always want God to anoint us for what's new but God wants us for to return to come to him make an altar of praise and thanksgiving this habit in your life will perpetuate God's glory through your life that every step you take will be done in reverence and understanding that God is the one who provided this when I walked with that humility in life constantly returning his daily bread to come back to God and be thankful for what he's done that is the very thing that will set us up to step into the purpose that he has ahead of us to make halters to make my life an altar altar of the heart an altar of the mind I have to bring sacrifices he was the sacrifice the perfect lamb once and for all time but it doesn't mean I've done away with the altar in fact now the altar is a forever altar and I feel like for us as a church I know what God has for us in the new year I know God has some things for us that are beyond us beyond our capability beyond our resource but God doesn't really look at the limitations because he is a God of the miraculous all he's looking is for is those who will not just go but hose who will return and I feel like at this transition between seasons this transition between years many of us look forward to a new year like a fresh start like new commitments like new resolves a new opportunity and new outlook and it's fantastic I believe that's how we need to look at seasons but before we step into anything and make any commitments or promises to ourselves or our spouses I feel like we need to return return to Jesus and just out of thankfulness and praise that altar of our heart as we use our minds to remember what he did do this year so easy for us to go what didn't happen or what could have happened or what I was hoping would happen but instead recognizing God you put breath in my lungs what I have right now community friendships God let me be thankful let me acknowledge where it came from and I believe it's our rate of return that sets up the pace for our progress we hope that you were blessed by this podcast for more information service times locations or to partner with us financially visit us at five church net org

Channel: VIVE Church

Views: 23,587

Keywords: christianity, jesus, worship, church, vive church, church service

Id: bsJAkW6mlTg

Length: 33min 0sec (1980 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 02 2018