Written by: John Sernaque
Call to Worship
Leviticus 1:3
1:3 If his offering [be] a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.
Every Sacrifice Inspected by God—
It is Christ who searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men. All things are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. In the days of ancient Israel the sacrifices brought to the high priest were cut open to the backbone to see if they were sound at heart. So the sacrifices we bring today are laid open before the piercing eye of our great High Priest. He opens and inspects every sacrifice brought by the human race, that He may prove whether it is worthy of being presented to the Father (Manuscript 42, 1901). {1BC 1110.5}
Animal sacrifices are no longer required. The sacrifices of old pointed forward to the greatest sacrifice of all, Jesus on the cross at Calvary. The sacrifices of old were abolished at the cross. That is when type met anti type. Christ Jesus as our sin bearer and redeemer. He who never sinned became sin for us. What can we do to repay our debt? We are to believe that we will be saved. Confess and repent of our sins and take on Christ’s righteousness. Live a life worthy of having your name written in the Lamb’s book of life. Live as Christ lived, so that when people look at you, they do not see you, they see Jesus. Get on your knees and pray to the Almighty with a sincere and contrite spirit. We cannot hide anything from God; He is all knowing and all seeing. Man looks on the outside, but God sees what is in your heart. If you are holding on to any known sin, He will know and your prayer will go unanswered. Pray for Christ Jesus to help you overcome your sinful ways and He will cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Let Christ prove you worthy when presenting you to the Father.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
We thank You for giving us yet another opportunity to come into Your presence in prayer and to bring our petitions before thee. We are so ever grateful to You for being our sin bearer and redeemer. For abolishing the animal sacrifices at the cross. You gave up divinity for humanity to walk among Your children here on earth because of Your great love for us. We thank You for the Word and Your commandments to live by. You have told us that if we love You, to keep Your commandments. It is an honor and privilege to abide in Your ways that You may abide in us and us in You. We are sorry we have sinned against You in different ways. It is our prayer that we can overcome all of our sinful ways. To be like You, so that when others see us, they will not see us but see You. We pray that we can be of service to You. We pray that You shape us and mold us, You are the potter and we are the clay. Make us into Your vessel and fill us with oil. Let our cup run over unto others who are in need. There are still many areas in the world in need of the gospel message and good news of Your second coming. We pray to be faithful witnesses to the whole world for all to know of You and all Your wonderful promises. We pray to see You soon. In the while, we pray to remain in continual communion with You through prayer and meditating on Your word. We thank You for giving us a lifeline to heaven through prayer. We thank You for presenting us before the Father as spotless and blameless and worthy of having our names written in the Lamb’s book of life. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
