"Altered At The Altar."

I. Introduction, Text & Setting.

Something very special happened the day that Noah stepped off the ark into a new world.

We meet the moment in Genesis 8:20.

Where it simply reads:

“And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord.”

I’ve often wondered about Noah, what he looked like, and his personality.

Do you ever wonder what kind of man Noah was?

He must have been a big man to build what He did, strong and wise.

I imagine you’d have to be very stubborn to work on one project for 120 years as the whole world mocked you!

For sure, Noah was a very unique man.

Here’s how I know:

Out of all the people in his world, only Noah was willing to obey God!

It was that obedience that saved his life and that of his family!

If it was you, what would be the first thing you did after coming off the ark?

I promise you, I would have kissed the ground!!!

I’d have squished my toes in the mud and relished standing on something that did not move!

It would seem to make sense that the first thing Noah would do would be to set up some kind of perimiter and establish camp.

Resources next! Someone would have to scout out the immediate area to establish available resources and supply.

It is a new world after all! We gotta start somewhere!

But I want you to notice how Noah began the life of men on solid ground:

Directly following His salvation,

Noah first built an altar and made sacrifice unto God!

After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration!

The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe!

There are those in this church, who can build things!

I respect that!

Anybody can tear down a wall, but it takes no how to build it!

Bro Paul could frame a house no problem!

I learned Thursday that Bro Sti did woodwork back in Fiji.

Different ones build different things.

But when we think of Noah’s construction abilities, we think of the 120 years he spent building a boat!

Boatbuilder Noah!!!

And yet, there is another construction project that came after his salvation…

No less important!

This second build was not about escaping judgement.

This build was about worship and relationship!

Noah built an altar…..

Now, I don’t know how it was for you,

But allow me to testify this morning:

When God saved me, it was no less dramatic than a flood and an ark!

That night that God baptized me with His Holy Spirit, I’ll never forget it!

And then, when the Name of Jesus was called over me in water baptism, Oh, it was so powerful!

You are looking at a grateful man!

But I have learned something about salvation….

When you realize that God has saved you,

When you realize that He kept you from death and eternal judgement,

There is only one response

It’s time for you to build something!

And this build is not just about escaping judgement.

There comes a time when we have to move past that!

It is possible to spend all of your time time and energy trying to live in victory.

Just trying to barely survive.

I’ve known folks that were kind of stuck in a cycle.

All they seem to know about God is escape and rescue, and to them, the ark is where it ends!

One week, they seem to be doing pretty good, but then they fall into an old way of living.

And the next time you see them, they’re begging God for forgiveness.

Well, of course God does forgive us!

But God has more for us than an endless cycle of flood, ark , flood, ark, flood ark!

Mankind does fail at times, and God does forgive, bless His Name!

But at some point, you’ve got to realize, it’s not supposed to be an endless cycle!

The rain has stopped!

The water has drained off, now you gotta get out of the ark!!!

It’s time to build an altar of worship and relationship!

We know this is true:

Jesus can deliver anybody from anything!

Jesus gives us power to live clean and holy!!!

And yet He does not intend for you to set up shop in the ark and live there all your life!

He expects us to mature and grow!

BIgger, grander things wait for you!!!!

God has put great potential deep down inside of you!

Down there, where nobody sees, God has planted seeds of greatness!!!!

But for you and I to meet our potential in Christ, we absolutely need to build a day to day relationship with Him!

When God forgave you, and you escaped the judgement of sin, that is the very moment to begin building your altar!

The crucial moment, is when you establish an altar in your life!

What is an altar?

It is the place where you talk to God.

It is the place where God enforces his covenant and blessings upon your life!

It is the place where you sacrifice valuable things unto God!

It is the place where we are changed.

We are altered at the altar!

II. Scripture Support.

With so many individuals living their own stories in Scripture, it comes as no surprise that your Bible is full of altars!

As we consider one after another, you will learn that the altar is a place of Worship!

Anything you put on the altar is a gift to God!

You give it and don’t expect it back!

You lay it down and let God take the responsibility for it!

It’s God’s now! Don’t look to take it back!

The altar is a great place to put down a bad attitude!

If you want to be free from hard feelings of hurt and resentment, the altar is the place to lay them down!

The Patriarchs used Altars as memorials to the provisions of God!

When God provides for us, we ought to say thank you!

We ought to have an attitude of grattitude!

At the altar!!!

The altars stood witness to the Covenants that God made with men!

The altar has always been a place of worship, a place of discipline, of memorial of choice, committment and affirmation!

I know a family that came to God a few years back. I recall finding out how that after coming to the Lord, the Holy Spirit challenged them to give their savings in a certain offering. Some thousands of dollars.

Many today would consider that foolish.

“What, you gave your savings?”

But listen folks, God’s ways are higher than ours!

That precious family did not even realize it at the moment, but God was pulling them into His economy just like Noah on a renovated earth!

When that family came to God, when they climbed off the ark, so to speak, the first thing they did was to sacrifice unto to God, something that was very valuable to them!

And I have seen God bless them ever since!

They were altered at the altar!!!

More than for example, a vehicle I later saw given to them free of cost,

More than daily blessings of Grace on their home and their children,

We celebrated together when their chiildren were baptized and recieved the Holy Spirit!

I have seen things in their life that have grown out of relationship with Jesus!

Why?

How?

It’s because they have an altar!

A place to thank God for salvation,

A place to ask for counsel,

A place to give valuable things to God,

It could be your kitchen table, with heads bowed and hearts open!

It could be the side of your bed, on bended knee.

It is an altar of relationship where we submit to and aknowledge Jesus as the sovereign of the Universe!

The altar is a place of fire, where offerings are consumed in flame and smoke!

It is a place to lay down some thing or attitude or behavior that has become too important to you!

The altar is a great place to put down an offense or some personal prejudice.

Abraham, the father of faith, built an altar as a memorial to the promises of God!

He learned that the altar was a place of blessing!

Jacob learned that even though His Father had an altar, and even though His Grandfather had an altar,

Every generation must build their own altars!

Guess what? Your Mother’s Prayers are not enough for you!

Thank God for them, but you need to build your own altar!

It has to be your experience!

It has to be your devotion!

Dad’s religion, Grandma’s relationship with God is not enough for you!

It’s like this: I can eat for you, plate after plate of delicious, home made comfort food!

But you will stay hungry unless you eat also!

Each of us need our own relationship with God!

Each of us must stand alone before Him and search out our own salvation with fear and trembling!

King David learned that a true altar experience and a real sacrifice has to cost you something!

A real sacrifice, A real offering isn’t an offering unless it hurts!

Don’t give God the second best, the stuff that you don’t want anyway!

Learn to Give God your very best!!!

We read in Malachi for example, how that the people gave God their leftovers!

And God said: “I don’t want your trash offerings!”

They were giving the sick animals, the leftovers, and God was trying to teach them a principle!

A true offering must be something of value!

We also learn that sometimes the altar isn't just about you!

It is a place to pray for, to intercede for others!

It is a place to weep for the souls of men!

You have to pay attention at the altar!

Now there is time to have fun and do other things, but at the altar, we have to pay attention!

You can’t serve at the altar while you scroll your social media!

You can’t serve at the altar and multitask!

Your relationship with God requires you to invest your heart and your full attention!

This is your devotion to God!

The altar deserves all of your attention!

And when God does big things for you: The prayer answered, the thanksgiving, the direction comes that you were waiting for, the job you needed so badly, this is the time to build your altars and offer thanks!

This is how we memorialize our life and our walk with Christ Jesus!

Here this morning, you ought to be able to look back over your life and see the altar stones of your past!

“That is where God delivered me.”

“That is where God gave me a breakthrough!”

“I got my start back there on that day, and I honor God as the source of my blessing!”

The altar is a place where you affirm your choices and Jesus’s Lordship in your life!

Listen, you cannot stay away from the altar long and remain spiritually well!

If you avoid the altar and if you never make sacrifice unto God, your spirit man will shrivel and die!

When the world is pulling at your mind and your heart,

When the world pulls at your affections, trying to change you, make your stand at the altar!

The altar is the place where we affirm our choice to serve God with all of our heart!

Again, I hear the voice of the prophet echo across the ages:

“How long will you be of two opinions? Either serve baal or serve God!”

How many people find themselves at that particular crossroads?

They want the benefits of salvation, but they also want the world!

Their appetites are not wholesome!

And a double minded man the Scripture says, is unstable in all his ways!

The best thing they could do, the best thing that any man or woman can do, is tear down altars to false Gods and build a relationship with the one true God!

Elijah built an altar!!!!

And the simple test was:

“Let the God who answers by fire, let Him Be God!”

God still answers by fire!!!!

Friend, hospitals cannot throw biohazardous material into the dumpster!

Some things are only safe, once they’ve been burned up!

And we humans have a way of collecting hazardous material!

No really!

Do you think it’s healthy to walk around with hatred and resentment in your heart?

Do you think that you can carry greed and lust and wrath and not get soul sick?

Think again!

That stuff can only be resolved by fire!

You’ve got to put it on the altar!!!!!

Lay it down!

Take that issue that bothers you, the one that really hurts,

Lay if on the altar and give it to Jesus!

If He wants to burn it up, that’s His choice!

But at least you don’t have to deal with it anymore!

I was going to give you Scripture after Scripture today, verses that preach the altar!

But, there are so many!

I couldn’t choose!

The entire Bible is my text this morning!

Some day you ought to sit down with your Word and travel from Genesis to Revelation, looking for the altars!

Follow the text from altar to altar, and you will learn so much about serving God!

You will come to love the altar!!!

Hey, the best moments of my life have been spent at the altar!

I prayed through at an altar.

I was married at an altar.

I have known joy and peace at the altar!

And I’ll tell you another thing:

People that live at the altar are recognizable!

Oh, you can tell who spends time at the altar!

You hear it in the way that they talk!

You hear the joy and the peace that comes from face time with Jesus!

Don’t tell me that you want heaven, if you never pray!

Don’t tell me you love Jesus, if you never give Him anything!

Hear me:

The only way you will go to heaven is if you want to be there more than you want to be here!

How can we say we want heaven, an eternity with Jesus, and we only give him ten minutes of our day?

Don’t live beneath your privilege!

If life is too much, and you’re worn out, the altar is where you need to go!

Ever known somebody and the whole world is always against them!

Complain and fuss and just negative all the time!

When all I hear is negative talk, negative negative, I know what’s wrong!

You just need to get back to the altar!

Fix your rotten attitude!

Get some joy once more!

Source some motivation for the work of God!

Let the fire of God into your life once more!

In a few months we will be celebrting Christmas and the birth of our Lord.

The imagery of course, is baby JEsus in a manger.

But can I preach to you today: Christ Jesus did not stay a baby!

He Grew in wisdom and stature unto the age of priesthood and then He served!

He gave all he had and then He crawled up on the altar Himself!

So many altars in your Bible, Big altars, small altars, Wooden altars, Gold altars.

And yet I am convinced that the greatest altar was not covered in gold!

It was covered in blood!

Sheets of copper hot blood rand down that old rugged cross!

There He hung, between life and death, Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory!

That cross, that altar was the hinge of which turns all of salvation history!

It was an explosion of grace!

Everyone that was ever counted righteous in the OT, was saved on credit!

But when Jesus offered Himself that day, Grace and mercy raced back to the patriarchs of Old!

Grace and mercy rushed forward to you and me today!

And so:

It is impossible to remove the altar from Christianity!

They are one and the same!

II. Application.

So here’s the deal, each of us need an altar in our lives, and you are responsible for it! Nobody else can build your altar.

What altars will you build?

I challenge you to build altars of obedience, of decision and consecration!

And here’s one way to do it!

When you talk to Jesus, as you begin your prayer time, here is one way to do it:

“Lord, today I do not come to you on the basis of my sacrifice. I am filthy rags! Rather, I come to your throne room this day on the basis of your sacrifice!

“I want you to know How grateful I am!”

“Jesus, I want to have a real relationship with you!”

“You gave everything for me, I want to give back to you!”

“So today, I give you my mind.”

“”I give you my eyes.”

“I give you my tongue.”

“I give you my hands.”

I give you my feet.”

“I ask you to burn out of me, anything that is not like you!”

I love how that God makes us all unique.

He gives us our own personality and desires and creativity and makes us who we are!

And that of course means, that your altar may look a little different than mine!

No prob Bob!

Make it your own!

So lately, my altar has looked a little different than before.

Here’s what I’ve been doing and you are welcome to try it too!

So you know those spare moments in life?

Waiting in a line, waiting for someone or something?

These days, we fill those spare moments scrolling on our smartphone.

Here’s what I’ve been doing: I take some of those spare moments and I leave my phone in my pocket and I use that time to thank Jesus for the blessings in my life.

Give examples.

IT feels so good to share life with Jesus!

It feels so good to know there is an altar where He can meet with me!

I know that God wants to do some incredible things among us and through us!

I feel the pressure mounting!

God wants to send a spiritual firestorm through this state that will consume iniquity!!!!

A Sovereign Move of God!

The harvest is white, but the laborers are few!

He wants to develop you and use you.

There are hundreds and thousands of people out there, who know God, but somewhere along the line, they were hurt or grew cold.

Lets’ get them back to the altar!

God has a place for each of them in this revival!

But it will require altars!

Nobody else can build them for us! we’re gonna have to build them!

Each of us will be required to build our own altars

It’s amazing what you can find on amazon!

On prime, you can buy Hindu Puja tables, you can buy the Buddha shelf altar that you see in the Asian restaurants sometimes.

You can buy wiccan pentagram altars and even fancy beautiful Chinese altars for thousands of dollars, guaranteed two day delivery.

But the altar I’m talking about takes time.

You can’t buy it, you have to build it.

Simply put, this is where you make your devotions to God!

It is your prayer closet, your private time with Jesus.

Make a commitment to God, I’m spending more time at the altar!

I long for HIs presence!

I want to know Him deeper than I ever have before!

Heaven meets earth at the altar!

Tell story of Roberto, the altar, his longing.

“Let’s turn this church into an altar today why don’t we?”

Set up a family devotions schedule with God!