Bring an offering and come before His courts

5.         Bring an offering and come before His courts

The fifth integral component of true spiritual worship is to bring an offering when appearing before the Most High and the spirit or rationale for bringing this offering is simply stated as follows; “These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day -- besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD” (Leviticus 23: 37-38).

As simply stated, the rationale or main objective for having a holy convocation is to offer an offering to the Lord and this offering is besides or in addition to observing the Sabbath and it is besides or in addition to any gifts, vows or freewill offering one may desire to offer to the Lord. This offering is the gateway or the prerequisite by which one can have access to the Most Holy place in the presence of God

This offering is the practical fulfillment of Jesus’ statement when He said; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” This statement was endorsed by the apostle Paul who wrote; “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19-25).

This offering is the medium by which the worshiper is sanctified and granted access to the throne of grace to serve the Lord in righteousness and true holiness and it is also the medium by which members of the body of Christ become one with each other and have fellowship with the Father and the Son as alluded to by the apostle Paul who wrote; “I speak as to wise men; judge for your-selves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1Corinthians 10:15-17).

This offering is also the formula by which one becomes holy, righteous, irreproachable and acceptable before the Father, for this is what the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ' By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.' Now the way one regards the Lord holy is by being holy themselves, for this is what we have been duly admonished saying; “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 10:3; 1Peter 1:14-16).

Now, the process by which one attains holiness and righteousness is through the same process that the Lord ordained for the children of Israel. One should not forget that the Lord’s dealing with the children of Israel was simply a shadow or copy of the reality, but now what is in effect is the reality itself which includes the tabernacle, the priesthood and the sacrifice being offered.

And so, under the new covenant, in the heavenly sanctuary, we have been instructed saying; “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:11-14).

The way of sanctification under the old covenant we are told; “was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience ---concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.”

The animal sacrifices were insufficient to sanctify the worshiper in that, they were a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. If they were sufficient to sanctify the worshiper, then they would not have ceased to be offered! For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year: For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 9: 9-10; 10: 1-4).

And so when Christ came into the world He said; “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come ---In the volume of the book it is written of Me ---To do Your will, O God.' "Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10: 5-10).

This once and for all, signifies that, once and for all there is an offering which can present the worshiper perfect, sinless, blameless, and irreproachable in the presence of God. Remember, if animal sacrifices could present those who approach the presence of God perfect, they would not have ceased to be offered. But because they could not, God took away the first, which were the animal sacrifices and established the second, which is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

One important thing that has eluded the minds of many professing believers especially those who do not follow the protocol for true worship is that, God’s dealing with the children of Israel was symbolic a shadow and copy of the reality: When Moses was about to build the tabernacle the Lord instructed him saying, “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (Exodus 25:40).

And the apostle Paul echoed a similar sentiment with regards to the new priestly service by stating; “For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (Hebrews 9:3-5).

What we are to learn from that is, the necessity to appear before the Lord at His appointed time and bring Him the food for His offerings is still relevant and in force and has not become obsolete, but has rather been reformed, and the truth, which is the word of God and represents Jesus Christ Himself endures forever, does not change and remains the same yesterday, today and forever. 

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To b continued, stay tuned

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph