Acceptable Sacrifice
Christians today are still to offer sacrifices to the Lord:
- 1 Peter 2:4-5 [4] Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, [5]you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice.
- Romans 12:1–2 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
- The sacrifice of praise, good works, & sharing.
- Hebrews 13:15–16 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
- The sacrifices of thanksgiving.
- Psalm 50:14 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.
- Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”
- Matthew 5:37But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
- Philippians 4:4–7 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
- And a broken, contrite heart.
- Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart- These, O God, You will not despise.
- James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
- 1 Peter 5:6-7 [6] Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, [7] casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The Incurable Deceitful Heart
The deep fountain from which all of man’s life flows is desperately sick
As the Hebrew term suggests, it is “incurably ill” (the same word)
- Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual And my wound incurable, Which refuses to be healed? Will You surely be to me like an unreliable stream, As waters that fail?
- Jeremiah 30:12 “For thus says the LORD: ‘Your affliction is incurable, Your wound is severe.
It is literally used for wounds that cannot be healed.
Moreover, according to Jeremiah, the depth of this illness can never be plumbed by the person himself or any other human. Only the LORD, the searcher of human hearts, fully knows it.
The incurable nature of the deceitful heart is seen in Isaiah’s comment concerning the foolish idolater who himself constructs the idol and then worships his own product:
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
The idolater is so deceived that he is no longer able to detect the lie and is thus incapable of curing his own deceitful heart.
- Pathological: being such to a degree that is extreme, excessive, or markedly abnormal
That our deceitful heart is finally unfathomable even to ourselves also makes the task of its cure impossible for us.
Perhaps the greatest self-deception of all is that we can cure our own deceiving heart.
Only the entrance of God’s truth into our heart can reveal and overpower our natural tendency to self-deception.
- Psalm 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.
- John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. [32] And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The deceit in the heart is directly related to its pride.
Despite the fact that the proud heart sets itself up as God, it is never able to fully convince itself that it is God.
As a result it must continually “suppress the truth” that it is not God with self-deceiving lies
- Romans 1:18–23 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
By convincing itself that such self-serving lies are actually the truth—that is, by deceiving itself—the heart is now free to follow the agenda of itself—godhood.
Thus Scripture warns against deceiving our own hearts by self-serving thoughts and the actions that flow from them.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
- James 1:26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
So, humility is truth
- Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
- James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
- 1 Peter 5:6-7 [6] Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, [7] casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.