The Altars of Life - Bobby Mackay

For the final meeting of the Spring season, Listooder welcomed Bobby Mackay to speak on the Altars of Life. The life of an individual can be separated into various different stages, including childhood, school life, careers and relationships. The journey of a believer, through the Christian life, is no different. The various stages of the Christian walk can be seen in the life of Abraham, who built altars to God after each special experience with His heavenly Father. The Altar of Corruption Like each of us, Abraham was born with sin in his heart. This, then, is an altar that every man and woman builds without God. It is an altar of corruption, and an altar that can lead only to destruction and a life without Christ. The only solution is to turn away from this altar and turn to Jesus Christ for Salvation. The Altar of Conversion Although we do not read in Scripture of the specific time that Abraham came to know God, we know that at some point in his life he must have turned to Christ the Redeemer for Salvation (Isaiah 29:22). It doesn't matter when or where this altar was built, but it must be built for a man or woman to see the kingdom of God. It is here that we meet with Christ. The Altar of Cleansing God brought Abraham out of his home, out of his comfort zone (Genesis 12:7). It was a journey of cleansing. Abraham's conversion was not the end of his journey with God, but the start. God had many lessons for Abraham to learn, often bringing him through firey situations where he was forced to rely solely upon the Saviour. Likewise, in our lives, God will often bring us through troubled times, as gold refined in the fire, so that He can shape us into His image, and fully experience His blessings. The Altar of Communion In Genesis 12:8, Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. The altar of communion is where we meet with God in the place of prayer. A symbol of our faith in God is the new desire He gives us to speak to Him in prayer. When Abraham went down into Egypt, symbolic of his fall from the presence of God, he forgot about the place of prayer. Yet God graciously brought him back, for in Genesis 13:4 we read that he returned to the altar of communion, where, once again, he called upon the name of the Lord. The Altar of the Covenant Following God's delivery of the famous covenant to Abraham, we read that Abraham again built an altar. The altar of promise is a special place in the life of a believer. Nothing should be so precious to us as a clear promise from God concerning our lives. It is something that we can bring back to God time and again, knowing that He is faithful to do it. But we must remember that God's timing is not our timing. Often we are called to be patient. Abraham waited until he was 100 years old to see the promise fulfilled. The children of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness before they entered the promised land. The promises of God never fail, but they won't always happen as soon as we want them to. The Altar of Consecration In Genesis 22 we see the story of the sacrifice of Abraham's son, Isaac. It was here that God tested Abraham's faith. A change had taken place in his life. Before he met with God, Abraham could not have gone through this situation. Yet here, he obeyed God even when it meant he could lose everything he held dear. He showed faith in God, believing that the covenant of God would be fulfilled through his son, Isaac, as God had promised him. Faith is a gift from God, given to every believer the moment they put their trust in Him. The Altar of Crowns A believer in Christ has many privileges in life. But in death, we experience surely the greatest privilege of all. It is then that we will meet our Saviour face to face, and stand before the altar of Him who died for us, and bow before Him. It is also here that we will take that crown of life, the crown of righteousness that God has placed upon the heads of those who turned to Him for Salvation, and will cast them at the feet of Christ, a symbol of our ultimate surrender to Him for all eternity. The altars of life. The various stages in the life of a believer. And although each one of us is currently experiencing a different altar with God, the vital question is: has there been a point in our lives when we have left our altar of corruption behind and turned to Christ's altar of conversion. If not, we can never know what it is to have a true relationship with the God of heaven, nor the assurance of an eternal home. Without Him, this life holds no joy for you, and death has no comfort. Trust Christ, and experience the altars of life with Him.