The Sacrifice of True Worship

It's Love Month. Valentine's Day is this week. And for the next few weeks we're going to talk about our vertical relationship. There's vertical relationship with God, there's horizontal relationships with others, but for a few weeks we're going to talk about our vertical relationship with God and how we can love him. Well, the first and greatest commandment that we find in Scripture is found in Matthew, chapter 22.

When a lawyer, a religious leader, came to Jesus and he was trying to trap Jesus with a question. He wanted to make him look bad. And he said to Jesus, what's the greatest commandment? What's the greatest law? What's the most important?

And in his mind and in the minds of the religious leaders, it was an impossible question to answer because there were 613 different laws in the Jewish faith. And so they knew there's no way that he could answer that without starting a riot. And Jesus responds in Matthew chapter 22, beginning in verse 36. And he says, here's the question, Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? And Jesus replied, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.

This is the first and the greatest commandment. Now, if Jesus says that, don't you think that it's something that you and I should pay attention to? Don't you think it's something that you and I should endeavor to become really good at? So that's what I want to talk about. Like, what does it mean to love him?

Well, what's it mean to love him with all of our heart and our soul and our mind? And there's three expressions that we're going to talk about over the next three weeks. Weeks. We're going to talk about worship, we're going to talk about serving, and we're going to talk about obedience. Today we're going to talk about worship.

Now, the Apostle Paul compares worship to a fragrance, to an aroma that rises to God. Look at the Apostle Paul's words in Second Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 15, he says this. Our lives are a Christlike fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, watch.

We're a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we're a life giving perfume. A few weeks ago, thousands of tourists converged on Australia's Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney to see Patricia. Patricia is not a woman. Patricia is a flower A corpse flower.

There's fewer than a thousand in the entire world. They bloom once every two to five years, and the bloom lasts for 24 hours. So it's a rare occurrence. That's why thousands of tourists flock to the Botanic Garden, just to get a glimpse of putrycia. Now, normally, we think that flowers smell good, but the corpse flower, and it's named after a reason, releases an odor that they say is like hot cat food.

Now, listen to me. Our lives emit an aroma that will either be a sweet smell in the nostrils of God or that will be a stench to him. Here's the question, and I want to just set up the message for today. And I'm actually going to teach you some things that I taught about six years ago here at the Refuge. But here's the question I want to ask ask you, that I want you to ponder and I want you to contemplate.

And it's this. What is the fragrance of your life?

What is the fragrance of your life? So often we've made this thing that we've just done for the last few minutes of worshiping God. We just made it an event. We've made it just this liturgical thing that we have to do in a church service. And it's so much more than that.

So what's the fragrance of your life now? Genesis, chapter 22. I want you to stand. We're going to read, beginning in verse one, we're going to read several verses here. And the reason I have you stand, if you're brand new.

Here, the Refuge, we just simply honor the word of God. We believe it's the greatest book on the planet. We believe it's life giving, and we believe that it speaks to us today. We believe there are truths and principles from the Word of God that the Holy Spirit will highlight to us today that are gonna drastically improve the quality of our lives and that are gonna help us to live the way we should live. If you agree with that, say amen.

Genesis, chapter 22. Beginning in verse one, it says, sometime later, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, abraham, here I am. He replied, that's the Hebrew word, Hineni, here am I, Here I am. It's the same word that we find in Isaiah, chapter six, when God says, who can I send?

And Isaiah says, hineni, here am I. I'm making myself available. That's the same thing that Jeremy has done when he felt the stirring of the Spirit of God in his life and he said, hineni, he probably didn't really Say Hineni. But he just said, lord, I'm willing God, send me God, I'll go for you. And that's what's happening with Abraham. Abraham says, I make myself available.

And then God said, take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac. Go to the region of Moriah, sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will show you. Let's don't overlook the gravity of what we just read. Your son, your one and only son, whom you dearly love. Go burn him on an altar.

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. And when he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that God had told him about. And on the third day, Abraham looked up and he saw the place in the distance. It was quite a journey on the third day, three days traveling to this place God had sent him.

It's costly sometimes to obey the Lord. And he said to his servant, stay here with the donkey while I, while I and the boy go over there. We will worship them. We will come back to you. And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.

And as the two of them went, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, father. Yes, my son? Abraham replied, the fire and the wood are here. Isaac said, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering? Verse 8.

Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together. Come on, let's make some declarations. Everybody together. Ready?

Go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body.

I will be a doer of the word, not a hearer only. And I am confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me, in Jesus name. You can be seated. I'm not going to go deep into the backstory. Most of you are familiar with it.

But at the age of 75, God speaks to Abraham and he says, and at that time Abraham had no children. God says to him, you're going to have many children. You're going to be the father of multitudes. You're going to be the father of, of many nations. And then at the age of 125 years later, God visits him again and says, this year your wife Sarah, your 90 year old wife, is gonna get pregnant.

She's gonna give birth to a son. And so later that year, that's exactly what happened. And they named the boy Isaac. Isaac represents the promises of God through Abraham that many generations would come watch, including the Messiah adds to the gravity of what we read a moment ago when God speaks to Abraham and says, I want you to take the promise that represents multitudes of nations and represents the coming Messiah and I want you to worship me. I want you to sacrifice him to me.

I want you to demonstrate that nothing in your life is higher than me. And so the Bible says, and I think this is noteworthy, that when God speaks that to Abraham, the Bible says the very next morning, in other words, without hesitation. Anybody ever had a word from God and you needed time to process it, AKA reason your way out of it.

Yeah. I mean, listen, when God gives us an assignment, whether it be something like Jeremy's doing or something else, maybe it involves your work, maybe it involves your family, God gives you an assignment. And our response oftentimes is, well, you know, there's some reasons that that doesn't really make sense or that that's not going to work. And I love the fact that Abraham, the Bible says the very next morning, he quickly obeys. He doesn't talk himself out of it.

He doesn't try to logically explain why he should not do that. God was aware of the promises. God was aware of the generations. God was aware of, of the coming Messiah. And so Abraham just obeyed.

Now here's where we get into the crux of what I want to talk to you about as it relates to worship, as it relates to the aroma of your life. Because we see four things that Abraham did in order to prepare to worship. Number one. Number one, I hope you take a note. He had to be willing to move.

He had to be willing to move. You cannot stay in the same place and expect to experience something different. The Bible says Moses had to go up on a mountain to encounter God. He had to move. The Bible says David had to go to the house of Obed Edom and take the Ark of the Covenant.

And he had to move. He had to do something.

He had to be willing to take action. Listen to me. Worship is moving towards God. Selah was about moving towards God. Selah was about killing your flesh.

Selah was about moving in the direction of God. The the Bible says if we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. We know in Luke 15, the prodigal son, with the smell of pig slop still on his clothes, still on his body, that he got up out of the big pen and he started moving towards his Father. And the Bible says when he did that, that the Father ran towards the Son. God requires us to move.

A lot of people sit around and they say, God, you've got to move. First we come in on a Sunday morning or we go through our lives and we just say, well, Lord, you know, here I am. And God, if you want to move in my life, then go ahead. And we just wait and wait for God to make the first move. Listen to me.

Church only benefits you. What we're doing here is a beautiful thing and I love it. And I'm so grateful, man. We have anointed psalmist and musicians that don't take this for granted. They don't take this lightly.

Let me tell you something. These people that are up here on Sunday after Sunday, this is not a gig for them. They're not doing this because they get paid to do this. No, they're volunteering their time. And they don't just show up on Sunday morning and say, well, I hope this goes well.

No, they prepare throughout the week. They're learning, they're preparing. And I'm so grateful that we have worship leaders, that we have Pastor Trent, that we have Danielle, that are helping to prepare the atmosphere for worship. These musicians and singers that take seriously the role that they have to come in and to create an atmosphere where we can encounter God. But listen, if you're showing up at church and you come in and you're not willing to participate, but you just want to watch others perform, you're missing out.

We can't treat this like we're going to the movies. You got to enter in. You hear me? Church, you got to move. You got to come ready.

Worship will change everything. Here's the second thing Abraham did. He gathered the wood for the sacrifice. Verse 3 says, when he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that God had told him about. In other words, Abraham took it upon himself.

Watch. To make sure that when he arrived at the place for worship and when it was time to offer the sacrifice, he would be ready. Let me ask you a question. Do you really prepare for worship? Do you prepare?

Do you prepare your heart, like throughout the week, do you come in ready? When we have these corporate gatherings that we love, and it's a vital part, According to Acts 2, it's a vital part of the New Testament believer's journey that when we come into this place, do you come in ready? Do you come in prepared? Is your heart right? Have you thought, thought about the Lord?

Have you spent time with the Lord throughout the week, or do you come in with just a laissez faire, you know, kind of, well, maybe God will move, and I'm just gonna wait and sit back and watch and see if God moves. Do you come in prepared? Do you come in ready to worship? Or do you come in and put all the pressure on the worship team? Do you put all the pressure on the pastor to make all the preparations for you?

Do you show up on time? Or do you say, well, you know, if I miss worship, that's not a big deal. I'll get there for the message. Guess what we're going to do for all of eternity. Guess what?

The only activity that you do on earth that will be repeated in heaven is worship. It's a big deal. It's not just some gig. It's not just something that we check off of our list of some liturgical responses. Responsibility.

This is a time to really express our love, our love relationship vertically, to love him with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind. We cannot show up at the place of worship unprepared, whether it's here or whether it's in your quiet time during the week, like, you got to go in ready. You got to be willing to provide the things that cause worship to be activated in your life and an expression of love to the Lord. Watch this. Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 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. Not just these folks, not just a few of the elders and leaders or pastors here in the church now. The fruit of your lips, giving thanks and blessing his name. It doesn't matter about your musical ability. It doesn't matter about your vocal ability.

What matters is you releasing and expressing your heart to the One who gave his son Jesus to die on the cross for you.

It's not about how you feel. It's not about what kind of week that you've had. It's not about how much pain, maybe in your body. It's not about how discouraged you've been in your relationship with the Lord. It's about the fact that he's still on the throne today and he's worthy of your expression.

Are you with me today?

The third thing that Abraham did is that he carried the fire and the knife, verse 6. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and he placed it on his son Isaac. And he himself, he himself carried the fire and the knife. Listen to me. You cannot use somebody else's fire to light your sacrifice.

When you're in a relationship with Jesus, guess what? He puts the fire of his presence and the fire of the Holy Spirit inside of you.

And it then becomes your responsibility to be a keeper and a carrier of his presence. Can I just tell you something? It's not my job to make sure your fire stays lit.

No, listen, I'm gonna do my best to throw fuel on your fire. I'm gonna do my best to bring people in here that are anointed by the Holy Spirit that are gonna throw fuel on your fire. We're gonna work hard every single week to create an atmosphere that'll hopefully throw fuel on your fire. But it's your responsibility. Listen, the priest had the responsibility in the temple to make sure that the fire that represented the candle that represented the presence of God, never went out.

And now you're the temple.

You're a nation of priests, and it's your responsibility to come in prepared to carry the fire to guard and protect the fire of the presence of God in your life, regardless of how you feel, regardless of what's going on.

Listen, if you go camping, any campers in the room, I know there are some. We as a family, we haven't camped in a long time, but we've had some great camping experiences and we've had some real complete disasters. You might know what I'm talking about. But one of the things that's so important, I don't care if it's middle of the summer, when you go camping, you're gonna have a fire. You're gonna have a fire at night, you're gonna have a fire, right?

Doesn't matter what time of year, especially if it's the fall or the winter or whatever, it becomes, like not just a luxury item, it's a necessary thing. And you gotta make sure, like, before you get there, you gotta make sure you got the stuff. In order to have a fire, you gotta have firewood, you gotta have starter, you gotta make sure you've got matches or a lighter. You gotta make sure your matches don't get wet. You gotta make sure you don't lose the fire starter.

And the same thing is true in your relationship with the Lord. Like so many people have become careless with the presence of God in their lives. Careless because of the things that we watch, Careless because of the things that we allow to mix with the holy and with the divine that water down and cover the presence of God in your life. We've become careless as the priests who were supposed to make sure that the fire never goes out. Abraham carried the fire, but he also carried a knife.

Why? Because, listen, when you come to worship, something has to die. In the presence of God, something has to die.

I think this is so important for us. When we see what Abraham did, he made sure that there was fire when he went to the place that God had called him to to worship, that he would have what was needed in order to release an expression and an aroma to God. And a part of that was, Abraham knew something's going to have to die. Listen, for you and I now, when we come into the presence of God, whether it's here or whether it's in your quiet time, fear has to die. Anger has to die.

Lust has to die. Doubt has to die. Apathy has to go. Indifference has to die. Listen to me, church.

Selfishness has to die. Jealousy has to die. Materialism has to die. Idolatry has to die. Die.

Our flesh, man has to be crucified every single time we come into his presence.

And listen to me. I hope you don't feel like I'm beating you up today.

I have a true shepherd's heart for you. I want to see the people of God go deeper in intimacy with him. I want to see us love him well. I want 2025 to be the year that we really learn to be those who worship him in spirit and in truth. But some things have got to die.

We got to come ready to kill some of these things that we've allowed to remain in our lives. And we have to understand this. It's not about us. And sadly enough, we've made it about us in so many ways. We've made it about us.

Well, let me see what God can do for me today. Let me see what the worship team's gonna do for me today. Let me see how the pastor can motivate me today. We've just made it all about us. We've made it about celebrity Christianity.

We've made it about artists who have this name or they've done this or they won a Grammy last week or whatever it is. And it's not about any of that stuff. John says we've got to decrease so that he might increase. Listen, we've perverted worship and made it so much about our style and our taste and our favorite songs and whether or not we're in the mood or whether or not we're feeling it. I don't care if you're feeling it or not.

Oh, there's many days I don't feel it, but it hasn't changed the fact that he's worthy, that he deserves the best that I can give to him. It's not about me. It's not about us. It's about the fact that we are guarders and keepers of the fire that he's put inside of us. And every time we come to worship, we kill our flesh a little bit more, we decrease a little bit more.

Here's the last thing. And then we're going to worship. Abraham had faith that God would provide, that God would do his part. Watch. This is so amazing.

It's so beautiful. Verse 4 and 5. On the third day, Abraham looked up and he saw the place in the distance. And he said to his servants, watch. Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.

Watch. We will worship and then we will come back to you. That's faith. That's faith. Somehow Abraham knew, I'm going to obey.

I'm going to be willing to put my son. And we don't know how old Isaac was, but he was old enough to walk and to talk and to reason.

Abraham says, I'm willing to put that thing that represents the long awaited promise of God for multitudes of generations. And for the Messiah, I'm willing to put him on the altar because my God is worthy of whatever I can give up, whatever I can sacrifice, whatever I can do. But he says, we're going to go worship and we will come back to you. Because he had faith that God would provide. Verse 7 and 8.

As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and he said to his father, father. Yes, my son? Abraham replied, the fire and the wood are here. Where's the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide.

That's where we get the name Jehovah Jireh, my provider. God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7:17 through 19. It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him.

Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, isaac is a son through whom your descendants will be counted. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. Listen, when we come in, we have to seek his face before we seek his hand.

Listen, he's aware of your needs. He knows what you need today. He knows the physical Touch. He knows the miracle you need in your body. He knows the miracle you need in your finances.

He knows the prodigal child that's still running crazy. He sees all that. He knows all of that. But when you come to the place of worship, whether it be at home or whether it be here, you come in and you say, today, God, I will seek your face. And as you seek his face and as you pour your heart out to him, then all of a sudden, provision comes for everything that you need.

It was while Abraham strapped his son to the altar and tied him to the altar that all of a sudden, there's a ram caught by his horns in a bush that God then provided. We're gonna worship in a moment. I want you to prepare your heart. I don't care how you feel. This is not about you.

Last weekend, some of you know, those of you that have seen some of the things I posted on social media, you know that I was at the largest prison in America. It's called the Alcatraz of the East. At one point, it was the bloodiest prison in America, an hour north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called Angola. Right now, there's over 4,000 inmates, and the majority of them have 25 years to life without parole. Hardened criminals.

I was there with God behind bars, by the way, those of you that are incarcerated today, that are watching our service right now, we're so grateful. We're so thankful for the work that God's doing in your heart. We're so thankful that we can connect with you today. But I was there as a part of what God behind bars was doing. And we gathered in a chapel there in the largest prison in America.

Over 700 inmates packed into that chapel. It's a moment that I will not forget as those inmates lifted their voices, and I mean a sound that filled that chapel of them singing at the top of their lungs. Hardened criminals on fire for Jesus singing, all my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good, worshiping the Lord. But let me tell you something.

Worship is more than a sound. Worship is a substance. You had men there, and I stood among them who were thanking God for their freedom even though they were still incarcerated because they realized freedom is a state of the heart. Some of you are here and you're free because you're not in prison, but you're not free. You're in bondage, and the Lord wants to set you free.

Today, worship says, I'm going to release a sound. I'm going to release an expression. I'M going to release my love to him. When things are good, when things. When things are bad.

When he says yes and when he says no. When I get the job or when I get fired. I'll give him glory on my best day and on my worst day, I'll give him praise and glory. When I'm healthy and when I'm sick, I'm gonna worship him. When a loved one dies, I worship him.

When. When a child denounces Jesus because he's worthy on my worst day as much as he is on my best day.