We studied last Sunday the one perfect and final sacrifice made for the sins of the whole world, when our Lord Jesus Christ completed our propitiation on the cross. We found that that sacrifice differed from those of the ceremonial law, in the great fact that it was once and for ever; that it was so perfect, so complete, so fully sufficient to satisfy the whole claim of the law, that when it was once offered there was no place left for repetition, perpetuation, or addition. The veil of the temple was then rent from the top to the bottom, and there was no space left for any further rending. The Lord himself said, “It is finished;” so the whole was done, and done for ever.
But still we read in Scripture of another sacrifice—a sacrifice which Christian people are called to offer. Thus in this text St. Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” To this appeal the words in our Communion Service are the Christian’s reply:—“And here we offer and present unto thee ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee.” It clearly remains, therefore, for us to examine the character of this second sacrifice, and also its relationship to the great and perfect sacrifice completed on the cross for sin. This, then, if God permit, shall be our subject this morning. May the Lord dispose our hearts to bring to Him this holy sacrifice, that we, if we live, may live not unto ourselves, but unto Him “that died for us, and rose again!”
I. What, then, is the nature of the sacrifice? or, What is it we are to offer? It is not a lamb, or a goat, or a bullock, but, according to the language of our Communion Service, the offering which we are to render is ourselves. “Here we offer and present unto thee ourselves, our souls and bodies.” Just so we read of the churches of Macedonia, “that they first gave their own selves unto the Lord.” A moment’s thought will suffice to show that such a sacrifice as this is much more costly than any other. It would be a light matter to sacrifice a bullock, but it is a very costly one to sacrifice Self—an easy thing for the wealthy prince to bring a thousand lambs to the altar, but a hard thing for either rich or poor to bring his own will to be crucified with Christ.
But here a question will arise in the minds of all those who really desire to make this sacrifice to the Lord, viz. What does it practically involve? What is the real meaning of it? What will be the practical result of such a sacrifice in our own life and character? Some will tell us that it involves the necessity of conventual life, a separation from common duties, and the seclusion of a nunnery, or the vows of a sisterhood. Let any one read this chapter through, and he will see at a glance that this is not the meaning of the Apostle. There are no rules there for a monastic order, but there are very full directions for common business, and common life. All such ideas, therefore, may be dismissed at once. That is not the meaning of the sacrifice. Then, what is? What is the sacrifice which we, living at home, are to offer to God?
1. There must be the sacrifice of our sins.
In this present world we are in a mixed condition, and however truly we may be walking with God, there is the old man and the old nature left. It is just the same with us as it was of old with Canaan. Israel had taken possession, but the Canaanites were still in the land. So, even when the Lord Jesus has taken possession of the heart, there are sins still abiding there—tempers, lusts, covetousness, selfishness, pride, and a thousand others—some prevailing in one character and some in another. Now of all these the Christian man must be prepared to make a sacrifice—his temper, his pride, his ambition, his covetousness, his self-love; he must be prepared to bring all to the altar, without mercy and without reserve. Thus, in Col. iii. 5, St. Paul addresses those who are risen with Christ, and says, “Mortify therefore,” or put to death, or sacrifice, “your members which are of the flesh: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” There is no occasion to be shut up within the walls of a nunnery for this; nor will the walls of a nunnery in the least help us to it, for they are just as effectual in shutting sin in as in shutting it out. Here is work for home life, and for all classes in home life—for husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants: we all have our great temptations, so we all have to throw ourselves heart and soul into the great struggle, and with an unsparing hand deal resolutely with besetting sin.
2. But the sacrifice goes farther, and involves the dedication of our powers to the Lord’s most sacred service. The text implies this when it says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” There is clearly, therefore, to be service,—a service involving the active use of human powers. In some cases the body has been actually surrendered to bleed, or burn, in martyrdom. Many a noble man of God has given his body to be burnt rather than acknowledge the doctrine of the Mass. To this, however, we are not called. But still there may be sacrifice without martyrdom, dedication without death, and such a surrender of the living powers as may correspond to the description, “That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him that died for them, and rose again.” This is the secret of the missionary spirit; this it is which has led some of the noblest young men in our Universities to abandon all home prospects, and to devote their whole lives to the great work of proclaiming Christ in distant lands. This, again, is the spirit that at this present time is stirring thousands of our own people at home, devoted men and devoted women, to spend their lives labouring for God, helping the poor, comforting the afflicted, nursing the sick, and striving in every possible way to make known the sweetness of the sacred Name which has brought life and peace to their own souls.
3. Once more: the sacrifice involves the free gift of money. Money with most men lies very near the heart. Open the heart, and you open the purse. Let the heart become dull, lifeless, cold, and unfeeling, and the purse soon closes. Thus the sacrifice of Self is almost sure to lead to the offering of money. Cold hearts give little; but when the heart is full the offerings flow freely. The men of Macedonia were poor people, but no sooner had they given their own selves to the Lord than “the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” Now these offerings are described in the Scriptures as a sacrifice to God. St. Paul alludes to them, in Philip, iv. 18. It is not perfectly clear whether he alludes to a contribution towards his own maintenance, or to the collection in which he took so deep an interest for the poor saints in Jerusalem; but, either way, he describes the offerings as an odour of a sweet smell, a “sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” This gives a delightful view of contributions in a right spirit for the service of the Lord. It shows that the free and generous giver thereby offers a sacrifice well pleasing to God. It rebukes at the same time the niggardly and parsimonious spirit, the spirit that gives reluctantly, and complains of many calls. Yet I verily believe that to give freely can scarcely be called a sacrifice, for no money gives so much pleasure as that freely offered to the Lord’s service; and no people enjoy property so much as they do who are free and open-hearted givers. I have not the slightest hesitation, therefore, in appealing to you for free and generous offerings, for I can say as St. Paul said (Philip, iv. 17), “I desire fruit that may abound to your account;” and I am thoroughly persuaded, that no person who is induced to give freely will ever repent of “a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God.”
II. We may turn, then, to our second subject, the relationship of this sacrifice to the great and perfect sacrifice offered once and for ever on the cross.
One thing is perfectly clear, that these sacrifices are not a supplement to the one great sacrifice for sin. They are not intended to supply any deficiency in the great work of our Blessed Lord. There is no deficiency there; and if there were, nothing that we could do would supply it. There is no deficiency, for by the “one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” And if there were deficiency, how could man supply it? Is there not something dreadful in the thought of a patchwork atonement, partly by the Son of God and partly by man; partly perfect, and partly imperfect; partly pure in all the infinite purity of God, and partly defiled with all the defilements of a fallen and sinful manhood? No! the propitiation is perfect, unmixed, and undefiled for ever. It is the sacrifice of the Son of God, and it stands alone for all eternity.