SACRIFICES OF PRAISE AND GOOD WORKS
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
HEBREWS 13 : 9-21
Key Verse
“Through Christ then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name”
Hebrews 13: 15
INTRODUCTION
There is a proverb which says, Talk is cheap. That means people will always say things that sound good when they want to impress others listening to them. But you cannot always trust them and think that they mean what they are saying. People always promise to do good things to others but very often they do the opposite.
God gave us a mouth and He expects those who believe in Him and thus are his children to mean what they say, and do good things for others. Their words must match their deeds.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews had to warn the believers in the churches that God had made them to offer sacrifices of praise to Him. They should as the Ten Commandments state love God with all their hearts and soul and love their neighbour, the people around them and those they meet outside of their neighbourhood as they love themselves.
The writer of the book of Hebrews told the members of the church that God expected them to love and care for others just as Christ cared for them and went to the Cross and offered Himself as a sacrifice to bear their sins. Some believers would undergo hardships and may even be in prison. Believers should have a ministry of hospitality. They should have compassion for those in trouble. They should remember God would never leave them or fail to help them. Jesus had been rejected, suffered and died outside of Jerusalem just like the animals the priests of Israel had offered in the sin offering. The bodies of those animal had been burnt outside the city. But Jesus though He died outside the city on the Cross He was the altar at which believers could worship.
Believers’ sacrifices consisted of praising God everywhere and doing good works everywhere. They had been given a God which brought them peace and mental health. He was their shepherd and under the covenant with them would protect and guide them.
So the brethren were encouraged to look to what Jesus had done for them, offer themselves in sacrificial actions to save others outside of God as well as those in the family of God. That is great advice for us today.