LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON,
OKLAHOMA
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Chapter
21 THE
ALTAR We
Have an Altar “Bound
on the altar of Thy cross, Our
old offending nature lies; Now
for the honor of Thy cause, Come,
and consume the sacrifice.” Wesley God
has so constituted the human mind, that it seems to require that truth should be
made obvious to its perception. The Old and New Testament Scriptures are
strikingly adapted to meet this necessity. The types of the Old Testament
prefigured the good things developed in the New. In proportion to the magnitude
of the truth to be developed, is the type kept in imposing attitude before the
mind. Hence the importance of the Divine admonition, “Comparing spiritual
things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 11:13). The God of the Bible never gave
one unmeaning type; and the pious Bible reader should not be satisfied, until
all the great leading truths of the Bible are made tangible to his mind. No one
subject was so prominently kept before the mind under the old dispensation, as
the altar and its sacrifices. From this we may infer that some truth of
remarkable magnitude is involved and prefigured. And now the question with every
one earnestly desiring to know of the most important truths connected with his
Salvation should be, “What great truth does God intend to illustrate by the
altar and its sacrifices?” Has
a Christian an altar answerable to the type so continuously kept before the mind
under the old dispensation? Let an inspired Apostle answer: “We have an altar
whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle.” If the first was
taken away in order that the second might be established where then may the
Christian’s altar be found? CHRIST says, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself,
that they may be sanctified through the truth.” “Sacrifice and offering Thou
wouldst not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me.” “By the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Paul, immediately after declaring the fact, “We have an altar,” directs the
attention to Christ, and says, “Let us therefore go forth to Him,” etc.
Benson, in his Commentary, says, “CHRIST, who also is the only Christian
altar, to which we bring all our sacrifices and our services.” Dr. Clarke
says, “The Christian’s altar is the Christian’s sacrifice, which is Christ
Jesus, with all the benefits of His passion and death.” All
true Christians belong to “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Dr. Clarke says, “In all metaphors there
is something in the natural image that is illustrative of the chief moral
property in the thing represented.” And how strikingly and tangibly has the
thing prefigured by the altar and its sacrifices been apprehended by Christians
of all ages! Where is the earnest believer who has not, in the exercise of his
holy vocation, exclaimed, “I lay all upon Thine altar, O Lord;” “I present
myself to Thee a living sacrifice?” These utterances were not in the words
which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; and were the
spontaneous effusions of the gracious soul, in the legitimate language of the
heart, accustomed to compare spiritual things with spiritual. After the comer
unto the Christian’s altar has been constrained by the mercies of God to
present himself a living sacrifice, and from the fullness of his heart exclaims,
“I now lay all upon Thine altar,” where is the lover of Bible phraseology
who would chide him, and have him substitute some other language? Where should a
sinner present his sacrifice but upon the altar which God has erected, whereunto
the polluted may come, and be made clean—the unholy, and be made holy? THE
GIFT “For
whether is greater; the gift, or the altar?” And
in what was the foolishness and the blindness of the Scribes and Pharisees
displayed, so justly calling down the denunciations and “woes” of the Son of
God? They made far greater account of their poor puny offerings than they did of
the sanctity and claims of the altar upon which their offerings were laid. The
Jewish altar, after being subjected to various symbolical cleansings, the
offering of a bullock upon it by way of atonement, etc. seven days in
succession, was anointed and sanctified, and was ordained to be ever after “an
altar most holy.” “Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.” This
altar was now the Lord’s altar in such a peculiar sense, that whatsoever
touched the altar became holy by virtue of the touch. From the moment the gift
touched the altar, it became virtually the Lord’s property. These Scribes and
Pharisees were comparatively unmindful of the great sanctity of the altar,
thinking much more of the gifts which they brought to the altar than they did of
the altar and its claims. The claims of God for the altar had been clearly
described, which were to be the choicest of the kinds designated. When that
which was blemished was offered in sacrifice to God—the lame, torn, sick, or
blind—it was an abomination to Him, and, however earnest or tearful in
importunity the offerer might be, his offering was not regarded, and those that
attempted to present such were charged with the awful, sacrilegious act of
polluting God’s altar! But these Scribes and Pharisees were not here rebuked
for sinning after this similitude. It was because they lightly regarded the
sanctity of the altar upon which their offerings were laid, and said,
“Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by
the gift that is upon the altar, he is guilty;” as though the gifts they
brought to the altar were a matter of greater consideration than the altar upon
which their gifts were laid, which God had ordained to be an altar most holy. ESTIMATE
TESTED Do
you regard the gift as greater than the altar? Do
you set a lighter estimate upon the altar than upon the gifts which you bring to
the altar? Thousands sin after this similitude, and bring such woes upon
themselves as those pronounced upon the Scribes and Pharisees. Christ, who has
redeemed you wholly unto Himself, now has, and ever has had, an all-commanding
claim upon all your ransomed powers. Body, soul, time, talents, influence, and
reputation, already belong to Him. Have you rendered all up to Him? or are there
points of reservation in relation to one or all of these gifts, with which God
has intrusted you? God has given you that body which now enshrines your spirit.
Do you think more about that gift than the claims which Christ has upon it? Have
you said in your heart, “How can I give up my body as a whole burnt sacrifice,
to be so laid upon God’s altar as to preclude my ever again regarding it as at
my own disposal?” or have you said, in relation to other gifts—your time,
reputation, or talents—“How can I devote my every gift so exclusively to
holy service?” To the degree you have been shrinking from the surrender of
these gifts, and thinking more about them than about the altar upon which they
ought long since to have been sacrificed, to that degree you have been sinning
after the same similitude as the scribes and Pharisees. And yet more surely will
you bring down the displeasure of God than they did; for the altar to which you
come is infinitely holy, and its demands on all your redeemed powers are
infinite. “Thou
God that answerest by fire, On
Thee in Jesus’ name we call; Fulfill
our faithful heart’s desire, And
let on us Thy Spirit fall. “Bound
on the altar of Thy cross, Our
old offending nature lies; Now,
for the honour of Thy cause, Come,
and consume the sacrifice! “The
power and life of sin destroy! Thyself
The Lord, The God approve! And
fill our hearts with holy Joy, And
fervent zeal, and perfect love. “Oh,
that the fire from heaven might fall, Our
sins its ready victims find, Seize
on our sins, and burn up all, Nor
leave the least remains behind! “Then
shall our prostrate souls adore, The
Lord, He is the God, confess: He
is the God of saving power! He
is the God of hallowing grace!”
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