Come The The Altar

Altars have always represented a place of consecration [a place where something was declared to be sacred].

Before God gave His Law to Moses, and men made altars wherever they were… out of whatever material was available

Beginning in Gen. 12:7…We see Abram build an altar upon arriving at Shecham and the land that God promised to give to Him… He worshipped the Lord. He glorified the Lord.

In 1 Chronicles 21:26 - David constructs an altar to God in repentance for his pride. [He pd full price for the land….NASB “When David recognized his sin…He took responsibility…admitted it…and prayed for forgiveness.

[[People often want to add God and the benefits of Christianity to their lives w/o acknowledging their guilt and turning from their sin. We have to realize that confession and repentance are prerequisites of receiving forgiveness. Like David we must take full responsibility for our actions and confess them to God before expecting his forgiveness and work in our lives.]]

and then Gideon…

Judges 6:24 - Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

The altar that Gideon built to the Lord served as a constant reminder of God faithfulness to the Israelites

Later…Altars were a part of the make up of the Tabernacle and the Temple and were the place where the High Priest of Israel would make sacrifices on behalf of the entire nation of Israel….

There are many more examples of altars being built and God being worshiped upon these altars after having a unique encounter with Him.

It was upon these altars that God’s people offered sacrifice to their creator as they consecrated [dedicated or devoted] themselves fully to the Lord….We… See… This… All… Over… the Old Testament.

However…this is 2024…this is not the Old Testament and we no longer live under the sacrificial system of the past.

So the question is…What role… if any… does the altar serve in today’s church?

The modern day “Altar Call…invitation…response time…” gained prominence in the late 18 to early 1900s. Men like, DL Moody, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham employed altar calls as a way to call the unbeliever to repentance.

STORY: And As a pastor’s kid… I grew up watching my pastor [whether that was my dad, or my father in law or someone else] stand before their church at the end of each and every service.

I Mean…Sunday after Sunday. Week after Week. Month after Month. Year after Year. These men beckoned the people of God to come to the altar. I have witnessed and been the recipient of feelings of failure Sunday after Sunday. Week after week. Month after Month. Year after Year.

It is these men who have faithfully stood before their churches. Who have spent countless hours preparing and Boldly preaching God’s Word over their congregations. And Faithfully waited week after week…month after month..year after year… for those they knew should have been swayed by the Truth of the message… only to have the invitation to respond go seemingly unanswered…..

But could it be?….Could it be That the reason for the lack of movement?…Could it be That the reason for the lack of response is not all the time due to a lack of desire to respond…

but because the church does not have a “”good grasp”” on what the “Invitation” at the end of the service on Sunday Morning is for?

I mean…when we are “invited” to respond on Sunday Morning…do we know what we are supposed to be responding to?

Over the past century or so…we have developed a mindset, an idea that “The Alter Call” in church is ONLY for those who need to accept Christ or for those who are walking through some extraordinary event or tragedy in their lives.

Many hold to the belief that “walking the isle” and saying a prayer is synonomous with salvation. Never realizing that if the lone standard of “walking the isle” is not followed by obedience [beginning with baptism, and continued faithfulness to the Lord and the church, then the body of Christ may well doubt whether the one-time response to the gospel… was evidence of real regeneration.

Folks….if you have carried this belief…that the “Invitation or response time” is only for sinners and broken people. Then you have both a bad view of what the invitation time is for… and a much higher view of yourself than you should.

The Opportunity of the Altar

Only 52 opportunities to come spend intimate time with the God of the Universe

I asked Some Wednesdays back “If you could live forever, but as a result never see the Face of God” Would you do it?

Do miss out on an opportunity to take a step for the Master?

The Altar: Affirms The Reality Of Who We Really Are

John 8:31–32 - So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus is the Word.

He is the Truth.

John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the perfect standard of what all that is right. He frees us from the consequence of our sin. He [The Word] shows us the way to eternal life.

And He gives us a weekly opportunity to surrender all that we are to Him. Some of you have done that. Some of you have not.

Some of you walked an isle and said a prayer. Others of you were saved by the Lord Jesus and continue to be obedient to His Word today.

Some of you will go to Heaven when you die. Others of you will not.

And God has laid this opportunity in front of you this morning, to come to the altar and surrender to Him. Sure you can do it anywhere else, but why would you wait…respond to the Gospel…give yourself to Jesus…Choose obedience to Christ! Do it now!

CHURCH…The Altar…This whole thing…. is about responding to the Word….

James 1:22–25 - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law [The Word] of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Clear the stage…

Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze If that's the measure you must take to crush the idols

Jerk the pews and all the decorations too Until the congregations few then have revival

Tell your friends that this is where the party ends Until you're broken for your sins you can't be social

Then seek the Lord and wait for what He has in store And know that great is your reward so just be hopeful

'Cause you can sing all you want to Yes, you can sing all you want to You can sing all you want to And still get it wrong, oh worship is more than a song

Take a break from all the plans that you have made And sit at home alone and wait for God to whisper

Beg Him please to open up His mouth and speak And pray for real upon your knees until they blister

Shine the light on every corner of your life Until the pride and lust and lies are in the open

Then read the Word and put to test the things you've heard Until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken

Men - Husbands - Dads - Brothers in Christ

Women - Wives - Moms - Sisters in Christ

Our hearts change at the altar.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.