Where Are the Sacrifices?

Read 1 Peter 2:1-10

These verses describe the privileged position of the New Testament believer in Christ. We are “a royal priesthood” (v. 9) and “an holy priesthood” (v. 5); it is our privilege to “offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ.” What are these spiritual sacrifices?

Let’s begin with Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.” Not a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice, yielded on the altar every minute of every day. Our bodies must be burnt offerings, wholly surrendered to Him for His glory. For the practical side of this surrender, read Romans 6.

Prayer is another spiritual sacrifice: “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps 141:2). Prayer is more than a child telling the Father his needs; it is the priest offering fragrant incense to the great High Priest. When we look upon prayer as a spiritual sacrifice, it makes us realize how far short we fall in our prayer life.

A third spiritual sacrifice is a broken heart: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps 51:17). How God rejoices to see a broken and contrite heart! “To this man will I look,” says the Lord, “even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (Is 66:2).

Have you brought these sacrifices to the Lord?

(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)

Warren Wiersbe

Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).