The Power Of Sacrifice
The Power Of Sacrifice
In a culture that promotes self-interest and personal success, the biblical principle of sacrifice offers a counter-cultural path to true transformation. King David's story in 2 Samuel 24 reveals this profound truth when he refused Araunah's generous offer to provide free materials for an altar. David's response - that he wouldn't present offerings to God that cost him nothing - demonstrates his understanding of sacrifice's true nature and power.David's wisdom unveils four remarkable results of genuine sacrifice. First, it breaks the destructive power of pride and selfishness that damages relationships and communities. Second, it grants spiritual authority that comes not from position but from posture - the authority that flows from a heart of love and service. Third, sacrificial living creates eternal impact, changing lives through acts of encouragement, forgiveness, and selfless love. Finally, sacrifice leads us into God's presence, as He dwells where genuine sacrifice is made.Practical sacrifice involves choosing forgiveness over resentment, serving others without recognition, putting family needs before personal comfort, and offering our time and resources to bless others. While living sacrificially can be challenging and sometimes unnoticed, God sees every act of love and service. The heart of Christianity is offering ourselves to God - not our achievements or talents, but our hearts in love and trust. When we become living sacrifices, we discover the same transformative power that changed the world through Christ's ultimate sacrifice.
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The Power of Sacrifice: What David Knew That We Need to Learn
In a world that constantly tells us to look out for ourselves, build our own success, and prioritize our needs, there's a powerful biblical principle that runs completely counter to this message. It's the principle of sacrifice - and it holds transformative power that most people never discover.
What Does True Sacrifice Look Like?
In 2 Samuel 24:18-25, we find King David in a difficult situation. He had made an arrogant mistake that resulted in a plague affecting Israel, and God instructed him to build an altar and make a sacrifice. When David approached Araunah to buy his threshing floor for the altar, the man offered to give it to him for free - along with the oxen and wood needed for the sacrifice.
Most of us would jump at such a generous offer. Free is good, right? But David's response reveals something profound about the nature of true sacrifice: "No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing."
David understood something crucial - that sacrifice without personal cost isn't really sacrifice at all. But why did this matter so much to him? What did David know about sacrifice that we need to understand?
Why Does Sacrifice Have to Cost Us Something?
Think about the parents in your life, especially mothers. From the moment a child is born, parents naturally sacrifice without even thinking about it. They give up sleep, personal time, and their own comfort for someone they've never met before - this tiny person who can't even say thank you.
This natural instinct toward sacrifice reveals something important about how we're designed. We're created to give, to pour out, to sacrifice for others. But in our self-focused world, we've lost sight of the incredible power that comes through sacrifice.
Four Life-Changing Results of Sacrifice
1. Pride and Selfishness Are Broken
David was a man who struggled with pride. He had wealth, power, and at times let these go to his head. But when God called him to sacrifice, it broke the power of pride in his life.
Pride leads to selfishness, and selfishness destroys relationships, marriages, friendships, and communities. God's solution? Sacrifice. When we choose to give up our need to be right, our desire to promote ourselves, or our tendency to look out only for number one, something powerful happens - the chains of pride are broken.
As Jesus said in Luke 9:23: "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me." This isn't about earning God's favor - it's about being set free from the things that imprison us.
2. You Receive Spiritual Power and Authority
When David brought his costly sacrifice, the plague stopped. A miracle happened because God responded to the heart behind the sacrifice. This reveals a crucial truth: spiritual authority doesn't come from position or popularity - it comes from posture.
Jesus demonstrated this perfectly. He didn't have an official religious position, yet He spoke with authority that amazed everyone. Why? Because His entire life was one of sacrifice and love.
Parents, you don't need to be the coolest or most up-to-date person to have authority in your children's lives. Your authority comes from the sacrifice you've made - the sleepless nights, the prayers, the love you've poured out when they didn't even notice. That gives you spiritual authority to speak truth and love into their lives.
3. People's Lives Are Changed for Eternity
God is waiting for His people to understand the power of sacrifice and use their lives to change others. Throughout history, God has changed the world through people who understood this principle.
When you choose to encourage someone who's struggling, lend a helping hand to a neighbor, or forgive someone who's wronged you, you're operating in the power of sacrifice. These acts of love and selflessness have eternal impact, even when no one seems to notice.
As Jesus said in John 12, if a seed remains isolated, it stays alone. But if it dies to itself - if it sacrifices - it produces a harvest of new life. Your sacrifice creates a ripple effect that can change lives for eternity.
4. You Experience the Presence of God
Here's the most beautiful result of sacrifice: it leads us into the presence of God. David didn't just buy a place to make a sacrifice - that very location became the site where Solomon would later build the temple, the dwelling place of God's presence.
The principle is clear: God comes to dwell where sacrifice is made. In the New Testament, we learn that we are the temple of God. When we become living sacrifices, offering our lives in love and service, the presence of God comes to fill us.
Romans 12:1 puts it this way: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." When you live as a living sacrifice, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in you in a powerful way.
What Does This Look Like in Real Life?
Sacrifice isn't just about money, though that can be part of it. It's about choosing to put others before yourself in practical ways:
Choosing to forgive when someone has wronged you
Giving your time to help someone in need
Sacrificing your pride to restore a relationship
Using your resources to bless others
Putting your family's needs before your own comfort
Serving in your church or community without recognition
The key is that it must come from the heart, not from obligation or to earn something from God. True sacrifice flows from love and trust in God's goodness.
When Sacrifice Gets Difficult
Let's be honest - living a life of sacrifice can be tiring. Sometimes you wonder if it's worth it, if anyone notices, if it really makes a difference. Teachers pour into students who may not appreciate it for years. Parents sacrifice daily for children who take it for granted. Healthcare workers serve others at personal cost.
Here's the encouragement: God sees every act of sacrifice. He knows every sleepless night, every moment of service, every time you chose love over selfishness. Even when the world doesn't notice, He does. And He promises that your sacrifice is never in vain.
The Heart of Christianity
If we had to summarize the Christian life in one concept, it would be this: God wants your heart. He doesn't need your money, your talents, or your achievements - though He'll use all of these. What He desires is you - a heart that says, "Here I am, Lord. I may not be much, but I'm yours."
This is the heart of Christianity. Give God your heart out of love and trust, then listen to what He calls you to do. When you live this way, you'll discover the incredible power that comes through sacrifice - the same power that changed the world through the cross.
Life Application
This week, ask God to show you one specific area where He's calling you to sacrifice. It might be in your family relationships, your workplace, or your community. Don't look for something huge - often God starts with small acts of love and service.
Remember David's words: "I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing." Let your sacrifice cost you something - your time, your comfort, your pride, or your resources. Then watch as God uses that sacrifice to break pride in your life, give you spiritual authority, change others' lives, and fill you with His presence.
Ask yourself these questions:
Where in my life am I holding back from sacrificing because I'm focused on protecting myself?
How can I demonstrate sacrificial love to my family this week?
What would it look like for me to be a "living sacrifice" in my workplace or community?
Am I willing to let God break areas of pride and selfishness in my life through sacrifice?
The power of sacrifice isn't just a nice biblical concept - it's the key to experiencing God's presence, authority, and life-changing power in your everyday life. When you understand this principle and live it out, you'll discover what David knew: sacrifice is the heartbeat of God, and it's the pathway to a life that truly makes a difference.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, chapter 24. 2 Samuel 24:18. I want to talk About a passage that's an interesting passage, and it's a powerful passage about David, King David, thousands of years ago. This tells about a story of sacrifice, the sacrifice he brought.
And before this happened. We won't go into the details, but before this happened, David had done what David does sometimes, and that's made a mistake and an arrogant mistake. He'd done something that God wasn't happy with. He'd taken a census. God in an arsenal was sort of arrogant and.
And he'd caused there to be a consequence. And a plague had broken out on the people of Israel. And about 70,000 people passed away from this plague. And David was like, oh, what do I do, God? We go to what do I do to fix this?
What do I do? And he got instructed here to go and make a sacrifice. So we're going to read about this and what David knew about sacrifice and what we can learn. I've titled today's sermon the Power of. Of sacrifice.
The Power of Sacrifice. So we're gonna have a look at it and then we're gonna talk. That day, Gad came to David and said to him, go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Aruna, the Jebusite. So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. When Aruna saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.
Why have you come, my lord, the king? Aruna asked. And David replied, I've come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there so that he will stop the plague. Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish. Aruna said to David, here are the oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar.
I will give it all to you, your majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice. But the king replied to Aruna, no, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord, my God, that have cost me nothing. So David paid him 50 pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen, and David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped. I want to focus on that little part there.
There's a lot we can learn from this. But there's a little part there where this man says, david, just take it. You can have it. I don't know about you. If someone offers me a freebie, my answer's thank you very much.
Usually I'll take it on your birthday. You know these restaurants and they give. The birthday person gets a free meal. Thank you. I receive it.
I don't go to them and go, no, no, please, I insist, let me pay full price. I will take it. But David says, no, I insist on paying, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord, my God, that have cost me nothing. I want to ask this question. What did David know about sacrifice?
That I need to know. What did David know about the power of something costing you personally a sacrifice? This idea, I'm not talking about, and I want to broaden this out. I'm not talking about money right now. Now, that might be a part of it, because money is a form of sacrifice from us.
We've worked hard for that and it's a part. But I'm talking about all the ways that we sacrifice in life.
Why did David understand that it meant something, that it was something powerful in this idea of sacrifice? And why should I understand the power of sacrifice? How can it be affected in my life so that I can live that way? With that understanding in mind, I was thinking about this and I started to think about parents and I thought about mums and dads, and particularly in this case, I thought about my mum. And, you know, who knows?
And we've got a few new mums in the place who knows that mums usually, almost all the time, sacrifice without ever even thinking about it. They just naturally sacrifice. Here's a child, that child, I mean, yes, it's got your DNA and all that, but it doesn't. I mean, you know, it's this kind of foreign person you've never met before, and suddenly you're going with sleepless nights, you're feeding it, you're literally. You put your life on hold for this baby.
Mums know how to sacrifice. And I thought about my mum and I went, I was very easy on my mum. I didn't cost her anything.
The story goes, young Adrian, and some of you with babies, you go, well, thank the Lord they're not like this. I decided at a very early age that my mummy was very dear to me and that I would not go to sleep unless she was holding my hand or I was holding her hand or her finger. And so my mum is a very caring person. She couldn't let me cry. And so I'd start.
She'd put me in the crib and I'D start crying and so mum would go in there and I'd reach out, mommy, Mommy. I didn't say Mummy because I couldn't talk, but. And I'd reach out my hand and she'd grab my hand. She'd probably held me and then put me down and then my hand would go out and she. The story is told.
I asked her last night whether this is true. For 19 months, every single night for 19 months, my mum had to sit by my crib and hold my hand until I was absolutely fast as sleep. And I'm not just saying, closed my eyes. I'm saying because she would. Sometimes she tried this, closed her eyes.
I'll tell you now, the moment I could not feel her hand anymore, I would burst into tears. My dad didn't matter. I didn't want his hand. I didn't want the babysitter's hand. It had to be Mummy's hand.
I had to hold my mum's hand for 19 months. She did that and sacrificed her sleep. Has anyone had a kid like that? There we go, there's a bunch of us. And guess what?
You might have been like that for your parent. Moms and dads sacrifice. They give their life, you know. When we got a bit older, my mum was looking out for us and trying to provide. She had three jobs, three different jobs.
And I still remember being in primary school and she would pick us up from school and take us to the local tafe and she wasn't studying at the time, she had a job to clean the TAFE. And so about 4:30 we'd go to the TAFE and she didn't have babysitters so we, my sister and I would have to just look after ourselves or my mum would vacuum through the tafe and we'd always. We looked forward to the drink dispensing machine because we got a Coke each and that was our little bonus. And then we'd go to the computer room and the computer room not to play the computers because we got to sit on the wheelie chairs. This is like a.
It was like a ride for us and we'd spin round and we'd go up and down on the wheelie chairs while my mom is working hard to try and provide for her family. Sacrifice the power of sacrifice. And I want to talk to you about what did David understand about sacrifice? What did my mum understand about sacrifice? What are moms and dads?
What do we understand as Christians about the power of sacrifice? And if this is not as much meant to be what is a challenge? But it's also supposed to be an encouragement. This is an encouragement because as Christians, I believe in this church, I believe we are all at different levels, sacrificing. We have a heart to say, I want to give out to others.
I want to help others. What does a sacrifice mean? A sacrifice means help doing something that doesn't naturally benefit you. That's a sacrifice, isn't it? And we live in a world that, if we're honest, is about benefiting you.
All the ads you watch. Well, don't want to watch, but they come up. All right, what are they about benefiting you? The things that come up on your Internet. It's trying to say, you need this, and this will help you, and this will help you.
The whole of capitalistic society is about benefiting you. But God calls us to a life of sacrifice. What is the power in that? And David understood it, and that's why he said, it cannot cost me nothing. And I want to talk about the four ways, the four things that happen when we sacrifice.
The first one is this, and it's a very important one, that pride and selfishness is broken in our lives. David, I was just talking to someone before. David was actually quite a prideful man. He had a lot of wealth. He had a lot of power.
At one stage, we won't go into all the details, but he stole someone else's wife. Wife. Well, she also was a part of it. But he killed off a man, sent him to the front lines of war so he could marry another man's wife. He had a lot of pride.
He had a lot of selfishness. But there were times in David's life where he would do things that would break that. And this was one of those times he'd done something wrong. God challenges him. And how does God bring.
How does God break the power of pride in our lives? You know what he will do every time he will ask you to sacrifice something. Sometimes it's as simple as sacrificing your pride, sacrificing being right. You know, and I've been telling Narelle that for a long time, but she still hasn't got the.
How many conversations do you have at home? And you end up in this dialogue, and both of you are trying to be right, and no one wants to budge. And it actually doesn't help anyone, does it? It's like, well, I'm right on this. Well, I'm right.
And then. And then if you've been together, if you've known each other for a Long time. Sometimes you rub it in. It's like if you, if you are proven right, you're like, see, told ya. Told you I was right.
I had a little thing I used to do with my sister. We'd do something and we just would like, you know, trying to be right all the time. And if we were proven right on something, we'd do a little smart aleck, arrogant thing and we'd just look at the person and be like, take a drink and be like, just the kind of arrogant.
And I was like, why do we do that? Because we're full of pride and we like to be right. And pride leads to selfishness and it leads to looking out for yourself and not others. And God says it's going to wreck your life. That's how marriages get destroyed, that's how friendships get destroyed.
That's how the world gets destroyed. That's why people end up going to war many times because of pride. And I want this selfishness for ourselves. All of the things we haven't. You work with people who are like that.
What does God want to do to break that in our own lives and break that in our world? He calls us to sacrifice. David came into, said, you can have it, David, you're the king. And David said, no, it has to cost me something. It has to cost.
Because he knew that if he didn't humble himself, if he didn't humble himself, then he would cause damage and it would go to his head. And he already done that. And we see this in the world. We see it. God's way of dealing with pride and selfishness is sacrifice.
Look at this. Psalm 51:17. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart. O God.
Luke 9:23. Jesus said it. It's one thing to know that Jesus said it. It's another thing to imbibe that into your heart and try and say, God, is that part of my way of seeing the world? Am I living this out?
Listen to what he's he said to the crowd. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. Take up your cross daily and follow me. If you try to hang onto your life, you'll lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain? The whole world better yourself lost or destroyed, isn't that the opposite of the world? Isn't that the opposite? Look after yourself, promote yourself. You've got it in you.
You can do it. You can build a successful life life. And out of that there might be some overflow. And Jesus came and said, actually, no, no, you want to save the world? Give up your life, surrender, sacrifice.
You want to change things. Your pride gets broken, your selfishness gets broken. And it will change things in your heart and life. It'll set you free. That's the first thing that happens.
I often think of this, and I was thinking about this idea of breaking things in our lives, you know, God has made. And when he saves us, we're full of this beautiful perfume of God's presence and love and all the gifts he's given you that can impact lives and be a blessing, your encouragement, your. All of these things. But it's bottled up, isn't it? It's bottled up.
And one of the things that can bottle up in it is our own pride and selfishness. I've got to look out for me. I can't give that out. I don't have enough. And sometimes what God wants to do is he wants to come and just smash that bottle open, smash the pride.
And it's not breaking us in a negative way way. It's breaking the things that are stopping our lives from being a beautiful aroma to others. Let the beautiful perfume of your life out. You've got so much to offer others. You can impact their lives.
But our pride and selfishness has to be broken first. That's the first thing that sacrifice does. It sets you free from the power of those things. The second thing that happens, and it's a flow on from this, is you receive spiritual power and authority. They're yours.
Spiritual power and authority. David brings a sacrifice. He'd done something wrong. He was not a perfect man, but he comes with a heart of sacrifice. And it wasn't just we got to read this so many times in the Bible.
Esau. Sorry. The brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain brought a sacrifice that was arrogant and full of pride and Abel didn't. And God received this.
God's not looking for what it is, he's looking for the heart. And because David brought a heart, said, this has to cost me something. I know it needs to. God saw the sacrifice of his heart, wasn't how much he gave, it was the heart. And because of that, what happened was the plague stopped.
A miracle happened that God intervened in this world. When sacrifice happens in our lives, we gain spiritual power and authority. Jesus had that, didn't he? Jesus came with a heart of sacrifice, a heart of love. And what happened?
Miracle, miracle, miracle, miracle. Everywhere he Went miracles. He spoke with authority and power. There's lives are changed and miracles happen. When we learn to sacrifice, there's power in says of Solomon, when they finished building the temple and they're just given and sacrifice and put all and presented all these sacrifices in the templ.
There was fire flashed down from heaven and the glory of God filled the temple. And they couldn't even stand in the presence of God because suddenly his presence and power was made manifest. See, we live in a world that says, your position, your popularity gives you power. All right? If I. Oh, Adrian, you've got the position.
So what you say has to be done. I go, that's not how God works, all right? God doesn't work through position, all right? Or through popularity. God works through our posture.
Your posture of sacrifice, your posture of faith. I know mighty men and women of God, they don't have a position of power. In fact, the people I respect the most in the kingdom of God are the people that don't have great positions of power, but they have. They have authority. And then, you know the people I'm talking about, when they speak, you listen because it comes.
They've lived this. We talk about it and say, hey, this person, they've lived it out. They've gone before. It's like they've paid the price. Isn't that what we think about?
Human beings know this is true. We know this is true. Jesus had spiritual authority over the Pharisees. He didn't have the position, but he had the spiritual power because he. He came with a life of sacrifice.
Look at this. In Philippians 2, this famous passage, if you haven't read it before, it's amazing. It talks about humility and then it talks about power. Philippians 2. 5.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.
Cross. Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It's time, brothers and sisters, for us to stop thinking of ourselves as believers. Or is not important. When you sacrifice, when you love the Lord, Your God with all your heart. When you're giving out, the world doesn't look at that as the things to give honor to. The world doesn't look at that as the things to give power to.
Right? God does. When you sacrifice, you don't have to fight for a position. You step into it with sacrifice, and God gives you authority. Parents, it's time to rise up in authority.
All right? Not because you're trying to control, but because you know what sacrifice is. I've gone to the secret place and I've sought the Lord. I'm talking about the sacrifice of prayer. I'm talking about the sacrifice that's poured out in your children.
I loved you when you didn't even know. I'm the one who was there for you when you needed me the most. They might not be saying thanks at the moment, but you know you did it. You know the sacrifice, you know the love. You know how you fought for them.
And that gives you you authority to speak God's truth, to speak God's love. Parents, there's a battle at the moment to try and diminish parents power. Try and diminish parents authority. We're out of touch. We don't understand the lay of the lamb.
We don't understand all the things going on. We don't know the lingo, right? Hundred percent wouldn't have a clue. They laugh. I get laughed at.
Some of the young guys, I'll say something and they'll be like, what's that, man? Or I have to ask them, what does that word mean? All right, parents, a few of us like that. We wouldn't have a clue. I don't care.
Because guess what, guess what. Some of you young guys, you're going to be old like me one day and you're going to be laughed at. It's all just a little phase. That's not where authority and power is. We want to learn it a little bit so I can communicate, be effective.
But my spiritual authority doesn't come from that. I don't have to be cool as a person. I don't have to know that. I don't have to give everyone what they need. I need to be a person of sacrifice.
I need to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in your workplace. You don't need the position. Be a person of sacrifice. All right? Why don't you be a person who forgives, right?
You want power. You want power? Be a person who forgives when someone's wronged you, right? The world looks at that as like, what's wrong with you? Oh, that's a bit crazy, right?
God looks at that and says, there you go, there's the key. You want spiritual authority. You want influence, all right, you want to stand. That's how you do it. You don't have to fight for things.
God fights by letting go. God fights spiritual battles through sacrifice. Don't we see this in the cross? How did Jesus Christ defeat the devil? You know what he did?
He sacrificed. And some of us, I guarantee you, some of us would have been like Peter, right? We'd be standing. Jesus is being for trial. We'd be there going.
We'd have plaques up going, set him free. Let him go. Jesus, what are you doing? Speak up. We're getting a lawyer for you.
We're gonna sort this out. We're not letting this happen. And Jesus says, I'm sacrificing myself. You don't understand the power of it, brothers and sisters. You gotta understand the power of sacrifice.
That's where spiritual power comes from. That's where authority to defeat the devil comes from. Some of you want to overcome for your children spiritual authority through sacrifice. Pray, seek God and lead the way with forgiveness and love. That's how we conquer the world.
Not through building bigger buildings and getting control of governments and all these things through sacrifice that God changes the world world.
Do you have spiritual authority?
Do you walk in that spiritual authority? Because then the third thing that happens is this. People's lives are changed for eternity. I'm telling you right now, God is waiting for his people to understand the power of sacrifice and use your life to change others lives. David had to go and sacrifice before the plague stopped and people's lives are saved.
I just heard of some people in our church. They walked out of here and someone needed a truck. They needed to because they're moving and they had one and they said, you know what? Use our truck. There you go.
Just sacrifice. We'll give it. I went, there you go. That's the power. Go.
People's lives are impacted when you give out of a heart and say, hey, you know what? I'm going to give encouragement. I'm going to sacrifice. People get change. God changes lives through sacrifice.
All throughout history. He did it through the cross and now he wants to do it through your life. Jesus said in John 15, Love each other in the same way I've loved you. There's no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. He talks about in John 12.
He says, if a seed just sits isolated, it's just there, isolated. Do you know God has not called you to just sit by yourself, isolated, making sure you're protected? But he goes, if that seed dies, if it sacrifices itself, if it lets go of what it contains within it and lets it out, he goes, what happens? Other kernels form and other seeds grow and something beautiful grows. And he says, there's a beautiful harvest of new lives.
That's the power Jesus talks about. Brothers, do not be deceived by the devil. Do not be deceived by this world that says, look after yourself. Build for yourself and you'll do something great. Sacrifice is the key.
It is the universal key over the whole universe. The world just doesn't know it. Jesus has shown us the truth. You want to live in truth, live in the power of sacrifice. He gave up his life, life, so that others could be saved.
Hebrews 10:10. For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
We've got to understand this about sacrifice. Sacrifice was not God's second plan to fix things. Sacrifice is the very heartbeat of God. God, it's how he lives. It's what's in his heart.
He gives, he sacrifices for the benefit of his creation, and he wants to impart that to us. And when you do, people's lives will be changed. He knows the story of Simpson's donkey. We just celebrated. We just remembered Remembrance Day this week.
Gone World War I. One of the great stories of Australian war heroes is John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who was a. He wasn't a great fighting soldier. He was a stretcher bearer. His job was, go out there and help people who are injured and collect them and bring them back to the hospital and we'll try and treat them.
And he got out to the. To the front lines and he saw the devastation. And these young men running and being shot down and just being injured and dying on the fields because no one could get them. No one was willing to have the courage to go out. And he said, I'll go and get them.
And so the story goes, he got a donkey, found a donkey, and he said, I'm gonna take this donkey out into the fields and I'll collect injured people and bring them back while gunfire was happening. And he did that for 24 days. He did it and he saved all these lives. He brought them back and many people were saved. And the 24th day, the gunfire went out and he got shot and he died on the field himself.
But even then, the man that he'd saved on the donkey, got back, and he saved that person's life. And I think it's incredible, isn't it, that a story like that, well known across Australia and Australian history over 100 years ago, we celebrate that because inherently human beings know the power of sacrifice. We know that it changes lives. And your sacrifice to your kids, in your workplace, in your church, to others, I don't know where God's challenging you to continue to sacrifice. I know we are.
Sometimes we get tired, don't grow weary in doing good, because people's lives are going to be changed for eternity. And I've decided this for myself. Whenever I'm challenged, I go, God, help me to be a person of sacrifice. Help me to be a person who gives. Because I don't want to just build up things for myself.
I want to change lives for eternity. And thank you, brothers and sisters, we're doing it. But God's got more lives to be changed. More lives through you, through me. This is the third thing or the fourth thing, sorry.
And the final thing, and this is the heartbeat of everything, is that David understood this. He was the guy who wrote many psalms. He was the guy who worshiped the Lord. He understood the heart of God. It says, even after all the things he's done, he did wrong in his life.
Life. It says in the New Testament. He was a man after God's own heart. He understood God's heart. What did he understand then about sacrifice?
You know what he understood? He understood that sacrifice is the passion of God. It is the very passion of God, and it leads to us being in the presence of God. Some people say, how do I pursue the presence of God? Pray, read your Bible.
Yeah, they're all practical things. Do you know how you understand and be filled with the presence of God? Learn the power of sacrifice. That's the heartbeat. David came and he sacrificed.
He said, this must cost me something. Not because I'm earning brownie points with God. Not because God says, well done, Elisha, you've sacrificed. Therefore, here's, you know, three encounters with me. You know, that's not how it works.
God's looking for people who say, do you understand my heart? And when you bring a heart of love, when you bring a heart of surrender, when you bring a heart that says God, here I am. The presence of God comes and dwells. So this is the interesting thing in this passage. This whole story is told again in 1 Chronicles.
There's slight differences there. Instead, in 2 Samuel, it says, david bought just the altar Area. He bought the threshing floor for 50 silver pieces. It was about a month's wage or so. It might have been more than that, but it was.
But it was. It wasn't incredible. But then in 1 Chronicles, he bought the whole site. He bought all the land off the man and. And his family.
And people. Some people said, no, see, the Bible's wrong because it says that there and that there. No, no one place. It was saying he paid a little bit for the. For the altar plate.
But then he went ahead and bought the whole area. And it says in 1 Chronicles, because this is why he bought the whole thing. It says in 1 Chronicles 22:1. Then David said, this will be the location for the temple of the Lord God and the place of the altar for Israel's burnt offerings.
He says, the place of sacrifice will become the place of God's presence. You understand? The power. He didn't say, oh, the temple's going to be a place where we sacrifice, and then God's presence will come. He goes, no, no, I've sacrificed first and now the place where I've sacrificed from my heart.
It cost me something. It was my worship to the Lord. Now this place is the dwelling place of God. And this is where we'll put the temple where God dwells. So that very place of that sacrifice that he paid that money for became the site for the temple of God.
Here's the thing about that. As we get to the New Testament, we don't have a temple like that anymore. And we don't need a temple like this. Because God says, I'm going to come and dwell in you. I'm going to come.
Do you know how God comes to dwell in you? Be a place of sacrifice. God comes to dwell where the sacrifice is. God came to dwell in his son through what? Through sacrifice.
I give of myself. I give what I have. And you say, God, I don't have much to offer. He says, I don't need much. The woman with the two mites.
Remember that? All these people given all their riches, and Jesus couldn't care less. He was like, well, that's good. That's nice. That's nice.
And then a woman came, a poor, poor woman, obviously poor. And she put into the tent, she gave two mites of a sacrifice of her life. And Jesus saw. He said, that woman. There's a woman of sacrifice.
There's a woman who's gonna change the world. There's a woman who knows the heart of God. Because it can't be forced. It can't be used to say, God, I'm trying to buy something from you.
It has to come from a heart.
And David understood that about a place, but we are to understand that about ourselves. Romans 12:1. The apostle Paul knew this, and he's trying to teach the Israelite people, you don't need a temple anymore. You are the temple. Hebrews talks about it.
You're the temple of God. And he says this in Romans 12:1. And understand this verse in this context. Sacrifice, you says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Says, be the place of sacrifice. Be the person of sacrifice. And do you know what happens when you are. The presence of God comes and fills you your life. The holy Spirit will come and dwell.
You want the presence of God? We've got a conference coming up in this building, and it's beautiful to come together and worship. But the only power of that conference is if people come with a sacrifice of worship and a sacrifice of our lives. If you come saying, what's in it for me? Garbage, right?
You should expect something, right? You should expect God to come and move. But if you're coming, going, I want this for myself. No, come with a heart of sacrifice, saying, lord, I'm coming to bring myself to hunger after you. I'm coming to bring my worship to you.
And in response, I know that you'll respond and come and fill me with your presence. Because that's what he does. Lord, here's the altar. I'm the altar. I'm the living sacrifice.
Use me, fill me, and let me be filled afresh with your presence and your love and your grace. And he will give you everything you need. You'll have power, authority, love, grace. Oh, I hunger after the presence of God. There's nothing greater than the presence of God, brothers and sisters.
There's nothing greater in your life. It's better than any other thing that can be given. Better than riches, better than money, better than fame, better than sex. The presence of God. It's true.
David understood that. Where can I go from your presence, oh, Lord, I need. Come on. Bring yourself as a living. The power of sacrifice, you say, God, I need to know you more.
Come and bring yourself to the altar. And he will fill you afresh. And you will know his power, and you will know God, the purpose of your life. And. And you will go forth from that altar, and you will change lives.
And you will have spiritual authority and power and pride. And selfishness will be broken, and you'll pass it on to your kids and those around you and we'll change the world together. Living sacrifice. Oh, that's my cry.
I'm called to be a place where his fire burns on the sacrifice that keeps living. It doesn't get burned up. That's the beauty of it. God, your life. You keep going.
He actually gives more life to you. There's more. There's more. Listen to this. In Ephesians 5:1.
This is the call for each of us. This is the challenge for us, the encouragement for us. Imitate God. Paul says, imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.
He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us. A pleasing aroma to God.
What does the Lord desire of you?
Not much. Just you. And then a whole lot you. He doesn't need your money, doesn't need your popularity, doesn't need my preaching. He'll use all those things in our lives.
The heart of God says, if you get caught up with them, you've missed it. You've gotten caught up with the things of this world. The heart of God says, what I desire is sacrifice. A broken heart, a broken spirit, a spirit without pride that says, here I am, Lord. I might not be much.
I don't know if this is. You deserve so much more. But, Lord, here I am, a living sacrifice before you. And can I say this, brothers and sisters? This is the church.
This is the heart of Christianity. If I had to say one thing that I could say to you, if I was not going to be preaching again, I'd say, God wants only this. He wants. He wants you. He wants your heart.
You want to live the Christian life. This is how to live it. Give God your heart and then just listen to what he tells you to do. Then don't have to follow a person, a rule. Give God your heart out of love and out of trust and out of sacrifice.
And then listen to what he's called you to do. And then. Can I say this?
And then be kind to yourself when you are sacrificing, because so many of us are. And it gets tiring. It gets tiring. And sometimes we go, is it worth it? Is it worth it?
Does it really make a difference? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Can I tell you? Yes.
Yes. You're changing lives. Teachers. And when you don't know, they're not going to run up to you. Most of them are they, Matt.
And tell you, wow, that Was awesome. Thank you for believing. Thank you for bringing it. They might remember it in 20 years time.
Doctors going up to Tennant Creek. Sorry to, but you know, it's a sacrifice. It's a sacrifice of marriage. It's a sacrifice to help others. It's worth it.
It's worth it because you're saying, lord, here I am. This is my worship to you and can I say this? Bring that to the Lord. Bring that to the say, Lord, when you've sat, when mums and dads, you're giving out to your children out of love and grace, you're giving forgiveness, giving your time, bring it to the Lord. Say, this is my living sacrifice to you, Lord.
Tell him not to boast, but to say, lord, it's yours, it's yours. I promise you he'll encourage you and say, come on, it's worth it, you're doing good, you're doing good. Come on, come on. Others might not see it, but he sees it. He knows.
Have a revelation. It's the power of sacrifice. Mother Teresa got a revelation. She didn't ask for fame, she just went. Because she said, I've got to be a living sacrifice.
I've got to help those who can't help themselves. And the world cottoned onto something in her particular case and said, oh, wow, what a hero. She just had a revelation of the power of sacrifice. And some people, the world lifts up and other people they forget about, but God doesn't forget a soul. God doesn't forget any of it.
And he says, well done, good and faithful servants who've had a revelation. Don't you want to be in that group? I want to be there. So we're going to pray and we're going to say, lord, help me be a living sacrifice in my family, my church, my workplace, in my heart and my life before you. And when you do, the presence of the Lord will come and fill your life.
Come and fill your life. Oh, because he's a good, good, good God.
We're gonna pray right now. Want us to close our eyes?
Ah, Holy Spirit, I sense your presence.
I know you love your people, Lord, and they love you. And we are a people of sacrifice, Lord. That's our heart's desire. So we don't come, Lord God, feeling like, oh, more and more, Lord, we come saying, lord, here we are. It's an honour, it's a privilege.
And Lord, if we've missed that, if we've been off the wrong track, Holy Spirit, you're going to lead us. You're going to guide us. You're going to show us and draw us back to being people of sacrifice.
Close to you, filled with you. So we can change the world and bring glory to your name. Be intimate with you, Lord. So I pray for your people, Lord. I pray give them the power to see that.
Let them not be deceived by the devil. Let them not be deceived by the things of this world. Let them not be deceived, God, by the instruments of power that this world brings. But Lord God, know that sacrifice is the heart, heartbeat of who you are.
Let it change our children, our workplaces, our hearts, our church and our communities. Lord, fill us. Holy Spirit, I pray.
Oh Jesus, keep leading me. Lead. Lead me on. Lead me on. Lead me on.
Please lead me on. It's not me I'm leaning on. Lead me on.
Oh Jesus, Jesus, keep breathing. Maybe in this place and the Lord's drawing you into relationship with him. Maybe you've been far from God, maybe you've never known him. You say, jesus, I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I accept your sacrifice and I give you my life in return.
We're going to say a prayer. If you want to say. We're going to say it all today together. There's some people in this place. It's time, you know.
It's time. Jesus has made himself real to you. He's shown you who he is and your heart says, I want him. So we just say this prayer and you're giving your heart to the Lord and it's going to change your life forever. And then afterwards, we've got a Bible we can give you in the.
In the bookshop to help you in your walk. But this is the moment. This is the moment. So let's pray together. Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice.
I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead. So forgive me Jesus. Be my Lord and Savior. I give my life to you. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Amen. People walked into eternity just then. People walked in. The devil's tried to steal, kill and destroy in your life.
But God's given you life and love and grace and forgiveness because of sacrifice. Isn't it powerful? Isn't it life changing? Yeah. Come on, let's give the Lord a hand, a shout.
Thank you Lord.
Here's what we're going to do. We're going to finish up, but I'm going to invite. We're going to sing this song one last time. I want you to make it your prayer to the Lord as we finish. And we're gonna invite you to stand.
Maybe you wanna lift out your hands to the Lord. Moses is gonna lead us just for another minute or so as we finish up saying, lord, here I am. Thank you, Jesus. A living sacrifice to you, Lord. That's who we are.
That's my prayer, God.
Thank you, Jesus.
Lead me on? Keep Lead me on? It's not me I leave me on le.
Oh, Jesus, keep lean One more time?
Leave me alone? Leave me alone?
Tell me I leave?
Oh, Jesus, keep me.
Thank you so much for coming this morning. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Thank you so much.
Related Bible Verses
Key Scriptures – “The Power of Sacrifice”
2 Samuel 24:18–25 (NLT)
That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him. When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked. David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague.” “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the LORD your God accept your sacrifice.” But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Psalm 51:17 (NLT)
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Luke 9:23–25 (NLT)
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
Philippians 2:5–11 (NLT)
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 15:12–13 (NLT)
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 12:24 (NLT)
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.
Hebrews 10:10 (NLT)
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
1 Chronicles 22:1 (NLT)
Then David said, “This will be the location for the Temple of the LORD God and the place of the altar for Israel’s burnt offerings!”
Romans 12:1 (NKJV)
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Ephesians 5:1–2 (NLT)
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Mark 12:41–44 (NLT)
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”