What is Spurgeon talking about?

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A

atwhatcost

Guest
#1
This evening's devotional by Spurgeon has me confused. I could use some help, since the only way I could figure out what he's talking about is to read the whole NT and make a list. Here's the devotional:

Evening


“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”
- 1Sa_15:22


Paul had been commanded to slay utterly all the Amalekites and their cattle. Instead of doing so, he preserved the king, and suffered his people to take the best of the oxen and of the sheep. When called to account for this, he declared that he did it with a view of offering sacrifice to God; but Samuel met him at once with the assurance that sacrifices were no excuse for an act of direct rebellion. The sentence before us is worthy to be printed in letters of gold, and to be hung up before the eyes of the present idolatrous generation, who are very fond of the fineries of will-worship, but utterly neglect the laws of God. Be it ever in your remembrance, that to keep strictly in the path of your Saviour’s command is better than any outward form of religion; and to hearken to his precept with an attentive ear is better than to bring the fat of rams, or any other precious thing to lay upon his altar. If you are failing to keep the least of Christ’s commands to his disciples, I pray you be disobedient no longer. All the pretensions you make of attachment to your Master, and all the devout actions which you may perform, are no recompense for disobedience. “To obey,” even in the slightest and smallest thing, “is better than sacrifice,” however pompous. Talk not of Gregorian chants, sumptuous robes, incense, and banners; the first thing which God requires of his child is obedience; and though you should give your body to be burned, and all your goods to feed the poor, yet if you do not hearken to the Lord’s precepts, all your formalities shall profit you nothing. It is a blessed thing to be teachable as a little child, but it is a much more blessed thing when one has been taught the lesson, to carry it out to the letter. How many adorn their temples and decorate their priests, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord! My soul, come not thou into their secret.


And here's what I'm confused about. What did Jesus command of his disciples that's better to obey than to sacrifice? (I can think of only two instances of what he commanded, but frankly? I'm not a morning person. My mind doesn't really get moving until later, so that's probably why I can't think of more. lol) So can you add to the list?

All I remember is to love God fully, love others, and don't even think about adultery.
 
S

senzi

Guest
#2
This evening's devotional by Spurgeon has me confused. I could use some help, since the only way I could figure out what he's talking about is to read the whole NT and make a list. Here's the devotional:



And here's what I'm confused about. What did Jesus command of his disciples that's better to obey than to sacrifice? (I can think of only two instances of what he commanded, but frankly? I'm not a morning person. My mind doesn't really get moving until later, so that's probably why I can't think of more. lol) So can you add to the list?

All I remember is to love God fully, love others, and don't even think about adultery.[/SIZE]
Well if you love God and your neighbour you wont think about adultery will you, for love fulfils the law
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#3
Well if you love God and your neighbour you wont think about adultery will you, for love fulfils the law
Not my question. (Although I see your point.) I'm asking what commands did Jesus give his disciples?
 
K

KennethC

Guest
#4
To repent, be baptized, keep thy confession in Him, love our enemies, forgive others, and the list goes on..........

The one that sums it all up besides the two greatest commands given is Matthew 28:20......"Teach them to obey all that I have commanded."
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#5
To repent, be baptized, keep thy confession in Him, love our enemies, forgive others, and the list goes on..........

The one that sums it all up besides the two greatest commands given is Matthew 28:20......"Teach them to obey all that I have commanded."
Sorry. Rusty on my KJV abilities. (I used to have no problem understanding 17th century wording. Now I have very little ability to understand it.) Can you tell me where the "keep thy confession in him" one comes from? (Just looking for where that is, and I'm fine looking it up to reread that chapter again. I really mean I'm rusty.) It's not ringing a bell. Really bad, since my background was RCC, so "confession" has a whole different slant in my head. lol
 
L

Least

Guest
#6
Interesting article atwhatcost.

Is this what you mean?
Matthew 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

I did a word search and there are all kinds of verses that go with this.

Think I'm going spend some time on this.
 
L

Least

Guest
#7
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#8
Interesting article atwhatcost.

Is this what you mean?
Matthew 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

I did a word search and there are all kinds of verses that go with this.

Think I'm going spend some time on this.
Wow. Honestly? Not what I meant, but I didn't remember Jesus taught it too. This does look like a good study. You convinced me. Next time I get done a chapter (that doesn't continue on into the next chapter), I think I'll pause to do a study on this.

I am interested in what is better than sacrifice, since I didn't know it went beyond animals and high priests.
 

breno785au

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2013
6,002
764
113
39
Australia
#9
Wow. Honestly? Not what I meant, but I didn't remember Jesus taught it too. This does look like a good study. You convinced me. Next time I get done a chapter (that doesn't continue on into the next chapter), I think I'll pause to do a study on this.

I am interested in what is better than sacrifice, since I didn't know it went beyond animals and high priests.
Some religious folk take on the vow of poverty and celibacy etc. This is them doing a sacrifice unto God, thinking somehow its His will (it may be for some) but unless the Lord has personally mandated it to you, it means nothing. His purposes for you in life may be the complete opposite of what you're sacrificing, therefore you're not being obedient and doing what you think He wants. Intimacy with the Holy Spirit is important.
 
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K

Kefa54

Guest
#10
Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees that well knew the law.
12 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate[a] the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! 7 If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice,[c] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Samuel 15

17 Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel

18 and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’

19 So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

20 “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.[d] “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

22 Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obeying the Lord?

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.

God prefers obedience over sacrifice.

For a better understanding read Samuel 15 and Matthew 12.


Kefa


Wow. Honestly? Not what I meant, but I didn't remember Jesus taught it too. This does look like a good study. You convinced me. Next time I get done a chapter (that doesn't continue on into the next chapter), I think I'll pause to do a study on this.

I am interested in what is better than sacrifice, since I didn't know it went beyond animals and high priests.
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
9,261
2,386
113
#11
Atwhatcost,

Cool devotional from Spurgeon.

I don't think we need to get too buried in minutiae over this.
It's just a really great general principle, that covers a lot of problems we get into.



The key is "contrast":

What we have here is a sort of Antithetical Parallelism,
or in plain English, a CONTRAST TO TEACH SOMETHING.
(We see this a lot in Proverbs.)

So the key, very simply, is just to EXAMINE THE CONTRAST.

What is the contrast (or distinction) between OBEDIENCE and SACRIFICE?
If we just examine the contrast, then we get the lesson.

(Before we go further, "obedience" and "sacrifice" are NOT necessarily opposites, but they are placed in contrast to each other, AS IF they are opposites... to force us to find the distinction between them.)


Breaking it Down:

Sacrifice:
In a nutshell, SACRIFICE is viewed as a SOME KIND OF WORK to MAKE YOURSELF by your own effort, RIGHT WITH GOD.
It is to DO SOME KIND OF WORK, TO EARN GODS FAVOR.
(This work you do, as a sacrifice, might be a good work. It might be a good thing. But God says it's not as good as "obedience".)

Obedience:
This is simply to DO WHATEVER GOD HAS TOLD YOU TO DO!
This very simply, is COMPLETE SUBMISSION TO GOD.

The contrast:
So, if we now contrast these two things, we see that SACRIFICE (doing a work to earn God's favor)
is not as good as OBEDIENCE (submitting to God's will).

Break it down further:
GOOD WORKS aren't as good as REAL SUBMISSION TO GOD IN YOUR HEART.




Pride vs Submission

So really, this is all about PRIDE & SUBMISSION.

It is possible for us to do GOOD WORKS, and do them out of PRIDE.
Right?
We've probably all done this.

God doesn't want WORKS (sacrifice),
God wants us to SUBMIT OUR WILL TO HIM.
God wants us to put down our pride, and submit our will to him.

To give obedience rather than sacrifice...
is to put down our pride, and give God our hearts.





Priorities - HEART BEFORE WORKS

Now... once we have this priority straight, that God wants our HEART, not just our PRIDEFUL WORKS,
God WILL THEN GIVE US WORKS TO DO.

It isn't that there should NEVER BE ANY SACRIFICE.
It isn't that there should NEVER BE ANY GOOD WORKS.

It is just that God has priorities for us, to keep us in check.
We set our heart right first (obedience) and THEN we can do good works (sacrifice).

First we get our heart right (obedience), and then we do good works (sacrifice).



Verse that sums it all up:

Psalm 51:16-17
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.





 
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L

Least

Guest
#12
Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees that well knew the law.
12 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate[a] the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! 7 If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice,[c] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Samuel 15

17 Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel

18 and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’

19 So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

20 “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.[d] “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

22 Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obeying the Lord?

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.

God prefers obedience over sacrifice.

For a better understanding read Samuel 15 and Matthew 12.


Kefa


Yep Kefa,

That is what I'm seeing in the passages as well, "obedience rather than sacrifice," Is a theme that repeats itself throughout the scriptures.

1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalms 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psalms 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isaiah 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isaiah 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isaiah 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.


This is something that I found very interesting, I've seen offerings of praise being tied to sacrifice, but looking at obedience with a connection to sacrifice and the offerings, is really something!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psalms 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

---------------------------

Jeremiah 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jeremiah 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jeremiah 7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 reminded me of the next verse right away.

Mark 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:


Hosea 6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Hosea 6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Micah 6:6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Ecclesiastes 5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.


Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.


This was really a blessing today atwhatcost thank you for posting it, I love how God's word is so deep. there's always more to consider, to pray about and to learn.

Obedience has always been more than sacrifice.
 
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A

atwhatcost

Guest
#13
Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees that well knew the law.
12 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry— 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate[a] the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! 7 If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice,[c] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Samuel 15

17 Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel

18 and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’

19 So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

20 “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.[d] “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

22 Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obeying the Lord?

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.

God prefers obedience over sacrifice.

For a better understanding read Samuel 15 and Matthew 12.


Kefa

Thanks. You just made studying it much easier.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#14
Atwhatcost,

Cool devotional from Spurgeon.

I don't think we need to get too buried in minutiae over this.
It's just a really great general principle, that covers a lot of problems we get into.



The key is "contrast":

What we have here is a sort of Antithetical Parallelism,
or in plain English, a CONTRAST TO TEACH SOMETHING.
(We see this a lot in Proverbs.)

So the key, very simply, is just to EXAMINE THE CONTRAST.

What is the contrast (or distinction) between OBEDIENCE and SACRIFICE?
If we just examine the contrast, then we get the lesson.

(Before we go further, "obedience" and "sacrifice" are NOT necessarily opposites, but they are placed in contrast to each other, AS IF they are opposites... to force us to find the distinction between them.)


Breaking it Down:

Sacrifice:
In a nutshell, SACRIFICE is viewed as a SOME KIND OF WORK to MAKE YOURSELF by your own effort, RIGHT WITH GOD.
It is to DO SOME KIND OF WORK, TO EARN GODS FAVOR.
(This work you do, as a sacrifice, might be a good work. It might be a good thing. But God says it's not as good as "obedience".)

Obedience:
This is simply to DO WHATEVER GOD HAS TOLD YOU TO DO!
This very simply, is COMPLETE SUBMISSION TO GOD.

The contrast:
So, if we now contrast these two things, we see that SACRIFICE (doing a work to earn God's favor)
is not as good as OBEDIENCE (submitting to God's will).

Break it down further:
GOOD WORKS aren't as good as REAL SUBMISSION TO GOD IN YOUR HEART.




Pride vs Submission

So really, this is all about PRIDE & SUBMISSION.

It is possible for us to do GOOD WORKS, and do them out of PRIDE.
Right?
We've probably all done this.

God doesn't want WORKS (sacrifice),
God wants us to SUBMIT OUR WILL TO HIM.
God wants us to put down our pride, and submit our will to him.

To give obedience rather than sacrifice...
is to put down our pride, and give God our hearts.





Priorities - HEART BEFORE WORKS

Now... once we have this priority straight, that God wants our HEART, not just our PRIDEFUL WORKS,
God WILL THEN GIVE US WORKS TO DO.

It isn't that there should NEVER BE ANY SACRIFICE.
It isn't that there should NEVER BE ANY GOOD WORKS.

It is just that God has priorities for us, to keep us in check.
We set our heart right first (obedience) and THEN we can do good works (sacrifice).

First we get our heart right (obedience), and then we do good works (sacrifice).



Verse that sums it all up:

Psalm 51:16-17
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.





I admit, I do get caught up in minutiae. This time it felt like I missed a whole major part of what he was saying, and I was picking out the part I thought I didn't get. But, you're right. It caught me into the nitpicky mode, and you fleshed it out into the overall mode. Thank you. That's it.
 
A

atwhatcost

Guest
#15
Yep Kefa,

That is what I'm seeing in the passages as well, "obedience rather than sacrifice," Is a theme that repeats itself throughout the scriptures.

1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalms 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psalms 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isaiah 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isaiah 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isaiah 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.


This is something that I found very interesting, I've seen offerings of praise being tied to sacrifice, but looking at obedience with a connection to sacrifice and the offerings, is really something!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psalms 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

---------------------------

Jeremiah 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jeremiah 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jeremiah 7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 reminded me of the next verse right away.

Mark 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:


Hosea 6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Hosea 6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Micah 6:6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Ecclesiastes 5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.


Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.


This was really a blessing today atwhatcost thank you for posting it, I love how God's word is so deep. there's always more to consider, to pray about and to learn.

Obedience has always been more than sacrifice.
All this feels like this:

Except you did all the work, and all I had to do was enjoy it.

Whew! Tough work! That was easy. lol

Thank you!
 
K

KennethC

Guest
#16
Sorry. Rusty on my KJV abilities. (I used to have no problem understanding 17th century wording. Now I have very little ability to understand it.) Can you tell me where the "keep thy confession in him" one comes from? (Just looking for where that is, and I'm fine looking it up to reread that chapter again. I really mean I'm rusty.) It's not ringing a bell. Really bad, since my background was RCC, so "confession" has a whole different slant in my head. lol
I was speaking of Matthew 10:32:

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
 

notuptome

Senior Member
May 17, 2013
15,050
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#17
Consider what Jehovah said to Israel.

Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Mt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Mr 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

God is worshipped in the heart for He is Spirit.

For the cause of Christ
Roger