Our God shall Come, He Shall Choose, Those Who Have Made a Covenant With Sacrifice

Study: # 820- Church in the Houses From: July 1 – 7, 2014

Topic: "Our God shall Come, He Shall Choose, Those Who Have Made a Covenant With Sacrifice" Psalm 50: 3-15 Verse 5 says, "Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." The Lord sends and speaks to His angels, His swift messengers, saying to them: Set aside the precious from the vile! Gather the wheat from the heavenly granary! That the elected, no matter how long they are scattered, as they are marked by my selective grace as my sanctified, be now congregate in one place! God will come and reward those who for centuries have lived to love and serve Him with a sincere heart. Not all saints who seem saints really are, that is why it is necessary to make the separation! Therefore, may all who profess to be saints gather before my throne of judgment and hear the Word which will scrutinize and test all and in this way can be found the FALSE and the TRUTHFUL ONES! (Quote from Rev. Charles Spurgeon) The people of God give evidence of being holy and true with their MERCIFUL CONDUCT. It is by their fruits, and not their feelings that they will be known as holy. It is not what they say with their lips or what they have professed to be before men, but rather, "by their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:20) The character of the saints is evidenced by their CONSECRATION TO GOD. The people of God are called HOLY when they are dedicated to God. The duty and privilege of the saints is to be consecrated to the service of God. That is why it says. "Those who made covenant with me by sacrifice" God says: Gather them before My throne to be tested! To know which of the saints are consecrated indeed. He who makes his presence before the Lord by the mere fact of saying that he is a believer, with a religious formalism, will realize that before God all external sacrifices are in vain. The Lord tells the people of Israel in verse 9, "I have no need of a bull from your stall." Those men made many animal sacrifices to the Lord thinking that they were making the greatest act, as if they were doing Him a favor. They did it as an external rite only, their hearts were far from Him. Men have foolishly dreamed that calves with horns and hooves will please the Lord. WHAT HE IS REALLY LOOKING FOR ARE HEARTS AND SOULS. They have wickedly imagined that Jehovah need those provisions and that if they provide fattened animals to the altar He will be pleased. They can’t remember what the Lord said. "... OBEDIENCE is better than sacrifice, and TO HEED (pay attention) is better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22) His is every beast of the forest and the thousands of animals! From which He cannot serve Himself? Everything is His! God wants your heart, your soul more than all your religious acts. What He wants is obedience to His commandments and to attend to His word with the heart. The Lord expects men who profess to serve Him, rather than offering any sacrifice of lambs or fat cattle, must first love as He loves righteousness and prepare to do good according to His Word in love, purity and holiness. In our secret thoughts we think we deserve something from Him by the religious acts that we present. If this is how we think what we're doing with this is showing our contempt to God’s sufficiency as if God needed us, and for that reason He was indebted with us, for what we do. As if God has the obligation to pay us. As if our devotions could bring a beatitude to God that is greater than the ones He already possesses essentially (His essence is all that He is by Himself) when really our kindness does not pass to Him. That is why God tells His people of Israel in the verse 12, "If I were hungry I would not tell you." This would be a very strange concept, that of a hungry God. However, if this idea so absurd was to be true, if the Lord wanted the meat, He would not ask men! He could provide it from His own provisions; He would not need provisions from His creatures. So let us be clear about the greatness of the Almighty and our smallness, let us not reclaim anything to God for what we can do eternally. What we can do to please let it be just a sincere devotion, love and gratitude. May our commitment and dedication be to a Holy God because of His love and free salvation. God does not depend on your worship to look great! He has millions of millions of angels who worship Him. Why do we think God needs us to feel like God? "If so the stars would raise their banner, the winds and waves would be His orchestra, ten thousand times a thousand flowers would exhale perfume, the snow would be His dawn, the rainbows His strap and the clouds of light His mantle." (Quote from Rev. Charles Spurgeon.) Verse 13 says, 'Should I eat the flesh of bulls I, or drink the blood of goats? Can The Great "I Am" have corporal needs that can be satisfied so roughly? That is the idea of the wicked with their idols, but to have that same idea of the Creator of heaven and earth? That is not known to Him! It is inconceivable to believe that external things can satisfy the Lord. What pleases Him is THAT we express our FAITH AND TRUE LOVE! That is why he says in verse 14, "Sacrifice to God thanksgiving ..." Do not look at your sacrifices in itself as

pleasing to God, what He wants from you is your faith and your love and the praise of your heart. Present the Lord thy sacrifices of praise as a tribute to your gratitude; It is then that they will be accepted, but not until your soul feels "the love" and "the gratitude" to such a wonderful God who has loved you. Our God shall come and choose those that have made a covenant with sacrifice. May you be one of those, one who has loved Him and has demonstrated it serving and obeying His Word, one who worships and praises wholeheartedly because you are thankful for His love and grace. Amen.