Author: Bill Brinkworth

Missionaries of the Past

Words to
Find:
Barnabas
Carey
Edwards
Hamlin
Jesus
John
Jonah
Judson
Livingstone
Luke
Martyn
Moffat
Muller
Noah
Paul
Philip
Taylor
Timothy
Titus
Wesley
Whitefield

Sacrifice and Service
Missionary David Livingstone
People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owed to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own best reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny heareafter? Away with the world in such a view, and with such a thought! It was emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege!

www.OpenThouMineEyes.com is a resource containing: Sermon and Sunday school lessons, biblical-based studies, articles and puzzles, Bible View archives, and a daily devotional.

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A free publication from: www.OpenThouMineEyes.com Vol.: 325

Our High Priest
Bill Brinkworth
During Old Testament times, there were priests that served as mediators between God and man presenting their prayers and sacrifices to Him. Before Moses, the priests’ duties were often done by the head of a household as did Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During Moses’ day, God appointed priests from the Levite lineage, and this practice was intended to continue until the perfect priest came, Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament priests were not perfect. Their limitations were because:
They were ordained (“appointed by”) men, although they were of an ancestry ordered by God (Hebrews 5: 1). Not just any man could be a priest.
They had to go to God with sacrifices and gifts (Heb. 5:1, 3). The offerings were not a one-time gift. They had to be offered more than once. They were only temporary appeasements to a Holy God.
The priests themselves were sinners. They also had to give an offering for themselves. (Heb. 5: 2, 3).
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A Mother’s Sacrifice
D. L. Moody
When the California gold fever broke out, a man went there, leaving his wife in New England with his boy. As soon as he got on and was successful he was to send for them. It was a long time before he succeeded, but at last he got money enough to send for them. The wife's heart leaped for joy. She took her boy to New York, got onboard a steamer, and sailed to San Francisco.
They had not been long at sea before the cry of “Fire! Fire!” rang through the ship, and rapidly it gained on them. There was a powder magazine on board, and the captain knew the moment the fire reached the powder, every
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man, woman, and child would perish. They got out the life-boats, but they were too small. In a minute, they were overcrowded. The last one was just pushing away, when the mother pled with them to take her and her boy.

Our High Priest
Continued from Page 1
Soon the priesthood stopped. The sacrifices halted. Intercessory prayers and gifts to God ceased, but man was still in desperate need of a mediator between him and God.
God then sent man the perfect priest. He was not appointed by man. He only had to make one offering for all of man’s sins. That sacrifice covered sins past, present, and even into our future. This priest was not of Levi’s lineage. He was very much like a priest of Abraham’s time — Melchisedec. Like Melchisedec, whose name means “king of righteousness”, this God-appointed priest was the real King of righteousness. This priest was the only God-appointed priest. This priest was God’s only begotten son — Jesus! Jesus’ one-time sacrifice that never had to be re-offered was His own life.
Unfortunately, many have not allowed God’s High priest to be the sacrifice for their sins. Too many have rejected Jesus and are still appointing their own priests. No matter what those sincere people offer to God, it will be refused by the Creator. They are doing it their way and are refusing the one-time sacrifice Jesus made for them on Calvary’s cross.
The Old Testament priesthood was for another time — a time before the perfect priest had been sent by God. Today we have the privilege of going to that High Priest, who is not sitting in some earthly temple or church, but is sitting at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. We can accept His offering on the cross to cover all our sins. After we have accepted Him as our Saviour, we can go to Him anytime with our prayers and needs. We no longer need an imperfect middle man, we have the perfect mediator — Christ Jesus.
A Mother’s Sacrifice
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man, woman, and child would perish. They got out the life-boats, but they were too small. In a minute, they were overcrowded. The last one was just pushing away, when the mother pled with them to take her and her boy.
“No,” they said, “we have got as many as we can hold.” She entreated them so earnestly, that at last they said they would take one more. Do you think she leaped into that boat and left her boy to die? No! She seized her boy, gave him one last hug, kissed him, and dropped him over into the boat.
“My boy,” she said, “if you live to see your father, tell him that I died in your place.” That is a faint type of what Christ has done for us. He laid down his life for us. He died that we might live. Now will you not love Him?
What would you say of that young man, if he should speak poorly of his mother! She went down to a watery grave to save her son. Well, shall we speak contemptuously of such a Saviour? May God make us loyal to Christ! My friends, you will need Him one day. You will need Him when you come to cross the swellings of Jordan. You will need Him when you stand before God. May God forbid that when death draws nigh, it should find you making light of the precious blood of Christ.
Three Sacrifices
N. Caussin
In the law presented by Moses, there were three kinds of sacrifice. They were immolations, libations, and victims. Immolations, which were made of the fruits of the earth; libations of liquors, as oil and wine; victims of living creatures. Today, God requires that we give Him our actions in place of the fruits, our affections in places of the liquids, and ourselves in place of victims.
Christ’s Last Will and Testament
Author Unknown
Jesus sacrificed all for us!
He left His purse to Judas.
His body to Joseph of Arimathea
His mother to John
His clothes to the soldiers
His peace to His disciples
His supper to His followers
Himself as an example and as a servant
His Gospel to the world
His presence always with God’s children the family of God.
Be encouraged; those born-again are on the winning side. We are not just people passing through this world; we are God’s children!

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“It is what we give up, not what we lay up, that adds to our lasting store.” — Ballou

“Sincerity is the salt of the sacrifice. Without it the offering can never be acceptable to God.”
— Spurgeon

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“For the child of God, death is the entrance way to heaven.”
” — Corrie Ten Boom

“Jesus knew that He had come to kindle a fire on earth … He saw that what was exalted among man was an abomination before God.” — Walter Rauschenbush