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Teaching from India

What is True Worship?

Teachings from India (9)

In the Old Testament, worship was always accompanied by sacrifice. Solomon once offered 22 thousand bulls and 120 thousand sheep and goats (2 Chron 7:5).  The temple was primarily a place of sacrifice (2 Chron 7:12). When a person in the Old Testament sinned, he confessed his sin and took a bath of purification.  Then he took an animal who was a substitute for his sins, and the animal was slaughtered as a sacrifice. A person was not allowed to offer his own animal as a sacrifice, but the priest did it for him.  One of the main functions of the priest was to offer sacrifices. 

According to the New Testament, we are now a royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9).  The blood of Jesus has made us priests and kings (Revelation 5:9, 10).  Again the function of a priest is to offer sacrifices.  Paul offered the Gentiles as a living sacrifice (Romans 15:16)  It was on offering of 2-legged animals who had a broken and contrite spirit (Ps 51:17).  Our worship is not complete without an offering of repentant souls; it is the main business of the church. 

When Abraham offered Isaac as worship to God, his main instruments of worship were a sword, fire and a sacrifice (Genesis 22:6).  Today, our instruments of worship are the same:  a sword–the Word of God (Eph. 6:17, Heb 4:12), fire–the Holy Spirit, and a sacrifice–an offering of repentant souls.

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