PASTOR ANONABA, KINGSELY C1. THE EASTERN NIGERIA UNION MISSION, ADVENTIST WOMEN MINISTRIES...

THE LIVING SACRIFICE

PASTOR ANONABA, KINGSELY C 1

A LECTURE PRESENTED AT

THE EASTERN NIGERIA UNION MISSION,

ADVENTIST WOMEN MINISTRIES CONVENTION 2010, HELD AT

ADVENTIST SECONDARY TECHNICAL COLLEGE, OWERRINTA, ABIA STATE.


DEFINITION OF SACRIFICE

A sacrifice is the fact of giving up something important and very valuable to one self in order to get or be permitted to do something that seems more important and valuable to the individual.

Whatever is giving up this way symbolizes the reason for the relationship between the receiver of the sacrifice and the sacrificer.


Religiously, the giver of the sacrifice worships the receiver making the practice of sacrifice an act of worship.

In this lecture, we will understand reasons and plans for our bodies being declared a living sacrifice.

Does that mean that there is a living and a dead sacrifice or a useful, accepted sacrifice and unaccepted sacrifice?


THE ANSWER IS YES!

Every living life is a play of sacrifice either for good or for bad.

But the life of a Christian makes the difference because Christ has sanctified it to make it a useful, accepted and living sacrifice.

However, the following plans will guide this lecture to explain how the Christian’s body could be declared a living sacrifice.


PLAN #1 – created in God’s image

In Genesis 1:26, God created man in His Image.

And He said, “let us form man in our own image”.

The image of God is man. And that

makes man a spiritually created being who was not meant by the creator to be ordinary, canal and just human. Lester Sumrall defined man as “the full content of the spirit” (809).


In John 4: 24, God is defined by Christ, as a “Spirit”.

And everyone who worships Him must worship Him in Truth and in Spirit.

Therefore, Truth (the gospel) and Spirit (the power) are the two main attributes of God. So the human body cannot know God except by the gospel or power of christ.


PLAN #2 – you need to be spiritual

Because the Spirit of God is not a physical being, He does not live in a physically made environment. Therefore, we cannot know Him unless we are spiritual.

The Spirit lives in spiritual places. God created man as his only alter of residence.

This He performed in the Garden of Eden.

For this reason man was created holy, perfect and obedient and must remain same.

The human spirit is a type to God’s spirit and man remains God’s image in righteousness, love, truth and holiness if the spirit of God resides in him (Matthew 5:48).


PLAN #3

Therefore, every spiritual carrier (i.e. God content), Person, must manifest the virtues of the carriage.

Because character manifestation defines the content. If you contain God you manifest good qualities (Galatians 5:22-24).

But if you contain Satan you manifest qualities of the flesh and of the mind.

Therefore, man’s character is designed by his thoughts and vision. His output is controlled by inputs already coded.

The inputs that control human behavior are made by the social, cultural and spiritual influence and challenges to people.

Often times we are the product of our environments, religious affiliations and profession (Galatians 19-21).


Plan #4 – your body is a temple

Your body is a temple. Your physical body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you (1 Cor. 6:10). This act of “Indwelling” procession refers to:

1. A special relationship between man and the spirit. 2. A special divine method of strengthening the

fallen (deceived) man.3. Indwelling God’s power to deal with sin and resist

Satan. So to resist a sinful idea, you must (a) know and understand the idea, (b) be greater than the idea (c) To accept the reason for the idea.


So we must understand Satan’s tricks, and be greater than those tricks, this we do by upholding truth, righteousness and faith, and decide not to accept death.

Nevertheless, no physical temple built with human hand can contain God (2 Chronicles 6:18).

But like an organized room, which is decorated with the furniture choice, our bodies must be arranged according to God’s life plan.


In Matthew 21:12-14, shortly after entering Jerusalem at the beginning of His final week, Jesus entered the temple at Jerusalem and was angered by the following sites:

1. the presence of the money changers and the merchants and He drove them out.

2. Christ decried their turning the house of God into a den of thieves.

3. Turning the house of God (the body) into a house of business, fashion, lust, interests and money exchange. These we have turned our bodies to be through the greed for money and thought of wealth, our actions of cheat and manipulations, and the end desire of moral or material gain in our relationship with God and man.


In John 2:13-17, Christ rebuked the Jews for turning the house of God into a house of merchandise. However, we see Christ’s anger for the misuse of the temple of God in:

a. Not using it properly for prayers, through

constant prayer and fasting - contacts with God. b. Not cleaning it up impurities, through sincere

repentance and forgiveness of sins.c. Not hosting God in it, through Godly worship and

sacrifice in our daily relationship with God, man and nature.


Plan #5 – what type of a temple are you

The question to every Christian today is what type of a temple are you? How do you use your body temple? For God or for flesh? However, let us understand that some people have turned their body-temples into den of thieves through:

Resisting the “household” truth of the bible by doing any of the following works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21.

Exhibition of wickedness and wicked acts on people, family, compound, street, and neighbors. Your husbands, wives, maids, daughters and sons in-laws, your mother’s and father’s in-laws, co-workers and church members (Ephesians 5 and 6).

Disobedience to God’s laws (the Ten Commandments), marital laws (extra marital relationship), moral laws (unholy interaction and talks), spiritual law’s (idolatry, cultism and tradition) (Exodus 20:1-17).


Plan #6 – turning God’s temple into a centre of trade

Another attitude of the Jews that really offended Christ about God’s temple was turning God’s temple into a center of trade, where competitive bargains were made for selfish, business and social interests.

Strange things, ungodly acts, unholy relationships and interactions must not be allowed into the temple of God because God is dwelling in our body (physical) temples. For example, all forms of unholy chats through phone calls, chat names, symbols, and dependence trade with our moral and spiritual loyalty to God (Psalms 139: 4-12).

Furthermore, Ellen, White in her book steps to Christ, Youth

edition tells us that when Christ abides in the hearts, the whole nature of the believer is transformed, and the following defiling instrument will not be found in him or her:


Idolatry (spiritism)

This is the act of giving loyalty and worship to creatures and deities that are not the creator God. (Exodus 20:3-4).

Attendance to exorcist centers defiles the body-temple of God. Practically those prayer merchants pollute the body-temple by giving out such prayer objects like water, powders, olive oils, foot sand, bush leave, finger rings, waist bangles, special handkerchief, scarf, power-chalk, perfumes, salt and villa tails.

Jesus prayed for us, and asked that we might be one with him even as He is one with the father. What a union with God. As the son cannot do anything of himself but by the father that dwelled in Him, so must we not do anything, say everything or think anything but by the Christ who dwelleth in us (John 5:19). So if Christ is dwelling in our hearts, He will work in us to do His good works (77-79).


Fashion (Intermit and External):

In 1 Corinthians 3:17 the body of ours is compared to the church of God, which represents the body of Christ.

Defile the temple of God and you incur the wrath of God, because the temple of God is holy.

Earthly and canal desires must not be found in the temple of God.

It was thus that the early disciples gained their likeness to Christ when the disciples heard the words of Jesus (the bible), they felt their need for Him.

They sought they found Him, and they followed Him. They neither stopped at hearing nor seeing of Him, when they found Him, they followed.


Every temple of God is only devoted for services to God. The temple of Jerusalem was to be a place of prayer. Therefore

your temple, which is your body and mind, is to be devoted to God.

Your body is to be a living sacrifice, (Romans, 12:1; Colossians 3:5-9). Your mind is to be renewed, retrained and focused on things of God. (Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:1-2).

The Christian woman must not put on emotional wears, stink body-hogs, show-back blouse, mini and hot miniskirts, etc.

She should not dress worldly by engaging in body paintings, super make-ups and artificial wears and lusty adornments (1 Peter 3:3, 1Tim. 2:9. Titus 2:10). These body outfits do not truly portray our discipleship to Christ.

Also our verbal confession and religio-social activities of the church do not equally tell our discipleship. But when we believe Christ, we prove that He lives in us as recorded in Galatians 5:22-23, (88).


pride

Pride is a sin of the mind. It is an act of wrong placement of oneself at a given time. For example, figures 155 is pronounced one hundred and fifty five but if you place it the other way 551, the value and figuration changes, and it will become five hundred and fifty-one.

Therefore when someone identifies a personal glory of success, beauty, intelligence, privileges and advantages, in the individual self, he or she tells the environment what he or she is or what oneself can do or offer, for example the proud would say:


1. I am better than him or her2. I should be respected or recognized

before him or her.

Do you know me? I will be this, and I am qualified to be it,

and lots more.


But remember, if you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples do, to win soul for Him, you will have the need of a deeper experience and a greater knowledge in divine things and will hunger and thirst after righteousness and truth (81-83).

Scripturally, we have seen how the temple in Jerusalem was abused. (a) A place designed for prayer, turned into a market place. (b) A place that needs to be cleansed was left defiled.

Likewise we human temples can also be guilty of setting, our minds on earthly things. So we begin serving our bellies (lustful appetites), rather than serving Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:18-19).

However, Pride exalts oneself above God at all times. The proud say what he wants to say, dresses how he wants to dress, and do what he wants to do, he does not seek, consult or advice. Therefore, let us not allow the cares of this world, the riches, pleasure, of life, which are characters of pride to detracts us from the true worship, true service and our readiness to serve God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:13-18).


fear In John 14:1 Christ said “Let not your heart be troubled…” God

commands us to believe in Him, in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. The word believe means trust.

Once you trust in what God has done to save you and set you free, you don’t doubt Him anymore. When you are in need of His grace, protection, defense, favor and blessings, you confirm your need by believing it. However, in other to live a fear free life, the Christian believer must:

(1) Separate from the world: What does Christian separation mean? Your effectiveness as a Christian hangs on your concept of what this separation means perhaps most of our personal and church problems would be solved if we had a biblical concept of what it really means.

So this question of separation has been a bone of contention among Christians for many years. Though the scriptures are very clear on this matter, the believer must hold to the importance of separating from their immediate world (2 Corinthians 6:14). This divine instruction is achieved by letting Christ be known and seen by your environment.


Also these words “come out from among them, and be ye separate” (2 Corinthians 6: 17a) have been nailed to the masthead of many denominations and church groups as supremely important idea that Christians should head in these days.

Then we have that very strong passage in first John 2: 15-17 which tells us “not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world” “to love” in this context is to place active priority to things of the world. Furthermore, we should know that the friendship to the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God (James 4:46).

To sum it up, the Christian’s allocation is to be in the world, but not of it; to

represent Christ in it and to intercede on its behalf because the world is under God’s judgment (this is the Christian’s priesthood).

The Christian is to identify himself with its sufferings but not with its attitudes, to bring his influence to bear upon the world’s life without being equally corrupted by the world’s ways: God want us to stand on the frontier, holding forth the word of life and so to love and obey the word of God that has been delivered from the evil one and sanctified in the truth, by the death and resurrection of Christ (White, 389).


Also, a believer who seeks to be in the world, as our Lord was in it, but shows that he is not of it because he is a Christian and in Christ should find his or her cross to bear for the salvation of others.

The cross of endurance, patience, long suffering, temptations, moral challenges, family challenges, material challenges, social challenges and financial challenges are not for the destruction of the believer, but the moral and spiritual strength of the believer, to take him or her to God’s own expected end (White, 184).

Furthermore, fear is Satan’s greatest instrument of destruction

among men. Satan plants the fear of death, fear of the future, fear of failure or evils in the mind of men to destabilize the human focus, consciousness and mission.

Therefore, God advised us in Matthew 6:34 not to take any thought of tomorrow, but to be contented with today, and allow the evils of tomorrow for tomorrow. With such contentment the fear of the unknown will be made a stranger in a Christian’s life (Revelation 21:8).


canalism It is very practical to offer one’s body (temple) to that which it does not belong.

Some people offer their bodies to inherent sinfulness (1 Corinthians 6:13-18), while others do offer their bodies to cares of life, riches of the world, pleasures of life, and the demands of the flesh. These external attentions detract us from our true service to God, in hosting the holy spirit in our bodies (Luke 8:14).

Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:16-18, advised the believer to walk in the spirit and

not in the flesh, as not to fulfill the lust of the flesh (canalism). Such canal behaviors include: Adoption of strange styles, mundane displays, truth resistance, speaking of sectional languages, (example) reigning songs and dances, reigning hair styles. Also canalism includes application of body or moral boosters, in effect adoption of body sensual aids and chating.

In effect, the love of pleasure and the misuse of our sensory organs condemn

our body temples. The adoption of what we see, what we hear, what is said and things we like gives passage for the demons into our lives. For example, satanic demons, mamonic demons cosmic demons, hedes demons, belzub demons and UFOs (unidentified flying object) are the possesant and universally attendant demons to the human body-temple if our sensual body organs are not well spiritually protected.


These demons transform our loyalty to pride, our spirituality to moralism, our commitment to lukewarmness, our humility to selfishness and our obedience to disobedience. These are some visible and invisible forces and situations that have made our religiosity nonsensical.

We pretend what we are not. Some of us commit adultery and fornication, but work to appear good and moral. Many Christians are in various secret cults, diabolism and witchcraft but move around clothed with church garment. Don’t forget that God sees all and knows all and He has set aside a day of judgment for sin (Romans 14:10).


plan

However, the medieval concept of human perfection and self (body) cleanness, especially in its mature form, can be natural for modern man. This concept according to Peter Lombard’s philosophy implies that perfection is a result of human development. This idea is not applicable to the regenerated man or woman of God. The sinner needs to be cleansed. And what does one need to be cleansed?

A. The presence of Christ: Christ Jesus is an expert at

“temple – cleansing”! even more so when it comes to cleansing the temples of our bodies and spirit, He (Christ) knows that it must be done from the inside out (Matthew 23:25-27).

For this reason Christ died that he might purify us, and His blood

is the cleansing power to purify us from all sin and sinfulness (I John 1:7, Titus 2:11-14).


It is a peace that you need. Heaven’s forgiveness and peace and love in the soul.

Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot procure it, wisdom cannot attain to it; you can never hope by your own efforts to secure it.

But only God offers it to you as a gift without price to pay, and this gift of purity and righteousness you get through:


faith

The sustaining faith of a Christian comes from hearing, and hearing begets attention and study. It is important that we take time daily to study the bible and pay attention to what we read.

It is important that we pay attention to the sermons and messages we hear at worship and fellowships. Adopt the prophetic pronouncements and claim God’s promises made in the bible and through the men and women of God.

It is only through faith contact that we can please God and benefit from His goodness (Eph. 3:17, Heb. 11: 1-5).


Obedience

Every loyalty is measured by the quality of obedience attached to it. Man was created with religion and he remains religious.

Therefore, religiosity means the act of obeying a reverenced deity.

So God expects man to obey Him for a worship and not for a favor. For the non-Christian, such faith and obedience includes baptism of the flesh and of the spirit.

Baptism unites the believer with Christ and the spirit of God that the body of sin might be destroyed (Romans 6:3-4) for in baptism we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). For the Christian who is in need of cleansing to receive the second birth, his total obedience to God must include repentance from every sin and fervent prayers for spiritual sustenance (Acts 8:23).

It is only through prayer that the Lord is allowed back into our minds

and then the believer can obey God (Revelation 3:20).


The power of Christ

Jesus exercised strength to overturn the tables and drive out the merchants. Even so he did offer strength for the Christian to resist Satan and survive temptation.

For without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:45), and with Him we can do everything (Philippians 4:13).

Thus we need to stand strong “in the power of His might” Ephesians 6:10, Colossians 1:11).

Christ asked His disciples to tarry at Jerusalem till they receive power. This is the power of truth, sustenance and grace, every Christian man or woman need this power (Act 1,2).


Our participation with christ

While we are dependent upon Christ for our cleansing, we cannot sit by idle, we must cleanse ourselves of individual sins like hatred, malice, gossip, grudges, covetousness, fornication, lies and sins like that for they make us most pitiable in the conditions of spiritual decay and sinfulness, we and our families have fallen into.


We must pursue peace and holiness within and without.

Give your environment peace and make it sacred, don’t wait to expect your environment to consecrate you else it defiles you.

Be the peace broker wherever you are, be a peace doctor and a peace informant, then you will remain holy unto God (Hebrews 12:14).

If you have confessed your sins truly, put them away

from your hearts and give yourself to God and no more to canal and sinful emotions.


Therefore work very hard to put away things of the world as:

counseled by James in chapter 1 vs. 21, instructed by Peter in 1Peter2:1-2 and commanded by Paul in Ephesians 4:22-32.

For things that are worthy of praise and virtue will ensure God’s presence in our lives and our transformation will take place as our minds are renewed (Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8-9).


The issue now is ..

What is the condition of your temple? Do you need a major spiritual overhaul which is

salvation?

Or do you need some spring cleansing which is restoration and rededication? In either case you need the following spiritual therapies to have a cleansed and transformed body-temple:

Self discipline (Job 36:10) Moral management (2 Peter 1:5-8) Apostolic faith (Ephesians 3:5) Christ’s righteousness (John 14:15).


Now the big question

The big question remains; who lives in your temple?

Who do you worship? For it is the one you allowed to occupy your body-temple that you worship?

Do you worship the truth or tide? Self or sacrifice? Wealth or wisdom? Pleasure or peace? Pride or proof? Lust or chastity? God or Satan? WHO REMAINS IN YOUR TEMPLE TODAY? That one you worship every Saturday.


If your temple needs cleansing, then look for Christ, only. He can provide the cleansing you need. He alone provides power for righteous living.

Be careful that you do not just let Jesus clean your temple and nothing else, for cleansing without replacement can make thing worse in your life (Matthew 12:43-45).

Therefore we must fill our body-temple with prayer,

praises, virtues, and godliness. Otherwise our bodies will soon be filled with idols of the mind and times (2 Corinthians 6:16).


In God we trust

Thank you!


PASTOR ANONABA, KINGSLEYENC PRESIDENT

Reference text: (Exodus 20:22-26; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17)


REFERENCES

THE HOLY BIBLE(NIV) WHITE, ELLEN G. STEPS TO CHRIST.

SILVER SPRING MARYLAND. THE ADVENT PRESS, 1992.

WHITE, ELLEN G. THOUGHT FROM THE MOUNT OF BLESSING. PACIFIC PRESS, CALIFORNIA, 1995.


PASTOR ANONABA, KINGSELY C1. THE EASTERN NIGERIA UNION MISSION, ADVENTIST WOMEN MINISTRIES...

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