Come to the Altar, and be renewed.

Brothers and Sisters, one of the greatest challenges we face as Christians is repenting. t

Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

David teaches us to come to the altar. The LORD commanded David to go and buy the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. In , David and his men defeated the Jebusites in Jerusalem, and he lived stronghold of the city and renamed it the city of David. All the Jebusites who survived were banned from the City. A threshing floor was used to beat wheat or corn with flail; the threshing separated the healthful grains from the useless chaff.

The Threshing floor was elevated on a high place. This specific threshing floor overlooked the Kidron Valley and into Jerusalem, it was outside the city of David. An altar is a platform upon which offerings are made to the deity[1]. David purchased the fleshing floor and animals for 50 shekels of silver. Once it was purchased and David built the altar, and offered the burnt, and peace offerings the land became permanently holy, and was set aside for priestly use.

[1] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Altar. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 62). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Do It Yourself

It’s not easy for us to come to the altar. Brothers and Sisters a lot of things can prevent you from coming to the altar. We live in a culture that teaches us, to fix things on our own. It’s the do it yourself or DIY mentality. Companies such as Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ace Hardware promote this by having workshops. If you want to learn how to paint, build a shed, fix a plumbing issue in your home, fix an electrical project. You can go to the Home Depot on a Saturday morning and attend a workshop with a professional employee who will teach you.

This filters into our relationship with GOD, instead of coming to the altar and offering God our problems, pain, and sin. You try and fix it on your own. This is an act of worship to come and lay our cares, concerns, sins, and issues at the altar. And when you do you will be renewed. Putting off the old, and putting on the new in Christ

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

2. Jesus Offered himself for US

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Unlike David, we’re not commanded to build an altar and sacrifice a burnt, and peace offering, because of Christ. Jesus was our ultimate sacrifice for sin once for all. We have the freedom to come to the alar with our offerings to GOD. In the O.T. a burnt offering was the sacrifice for the atonement or thanksgiving. Christ is our atonement.

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Be a Living Sacrifice