Religious offering

“ In every case the offering was required to be perfect in its kind, and without blemish.
The sin-offering was more especially for atonement; but the voluntary and other offerings are spoken of as contributing thereto (Lev. i. 3) : coming from the voluntary will of the people, they expressed the heart’s devotion, and bore a “sweet savour to God.” ”

“ Every mind reflects, and every heart is melted.
Then comes the offertory; and all present, according to their various means, make their offerings for those "who serve the altar," and for the poor. While the priest raises in offering the paten with the Post and the chalice with wine, the villagers also, kneeling, make an offering of their homage to their new-born Redeemer; and mothers lift their little ones to heaven in spirit, praying that they may advance "in wisdom and age and grace with God and men," as did the Child of Mary. ”

“ Acceptance with God is the great thing we should desire and aim at in all our religious services, particularly in the Lord's supper, which is our eating of the sin-offering. ”

“ He was to offer a lamb every morning and evening, and a double number on the Sabbath, the burnt-offerings ordered at the beginning of months, and the same on the feast of Unleavened Bread, and on the day of the First Fruits; to receive the meat-offering of the offerer, bring it to the altar, take of it a memorial, and burn it upon the altar; to sprinkle the blood of the peace-offerings upon the altar around about, and then to offer of it a burnt-offering; to offer the sin-offering for the sins of a ruler or any of the common people; to eat the sin-offering at the holy place ”

“ The offering is the substitute of the offerer. The priest is the substitute of the offerer. The priest and the sacrifice were one symbol. [Hence, in the new dispensation, the priest and the sacrifice are one—both are found in Christ.] ”

“ But, besides the accustomed offering to the minister, the woman is to make a yet much better and greater offering, namely, an offering of herself, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice to God. ”

“ We must, according to our power, communicate to the necessities of the souls and bodies of men; not contenting ourselves to offer the sacrifice of our lips, mere words, but the sacrifice of good deeds; and these we must lay down upon this altar, not depending upon the merit of our good deeds, but of our great high priest; and with such sacrifices as these, adoration and alms thus offered up, God is well pleased; he will accept the offering with pleasure, and will accept and bless the offers through Christ. ”

“ The manifest lesson is one for all who preach the Gospel. Of the incense of praise which may ascend from the hearts of God's people, as they minister the Word, they must take none for themselves. "Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name be the glory."
Such then was the meaning of the meal-offering. It represents the consecration unto God by the grace of the Holy Spirit, with prayer and praise, of all the work of our hands; an offering with salt, but without leaven, in token of our unchanging covenant with a holy God. ”

“ It is most holy.
7 "'As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. 8 The priest who offers any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. 9 Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the pan, and on the griddle, shall be the priest's who offers it. 10 Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another. ”

“ In all your prayers, at all your communions, you should remember to renew to God the offering of yourselves, saying :
" Here I am, O Lord ! I no longer belong to myself: I am wholly thine. I have already given myself to thee, and I now give myself to thee again. Deign to accept my offering, give me strength to be faithful to thee, and to retire as soon as possible into thy holy house. ”

“ I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. ”

“ We are ignorant of what it is good to ask for. You know what is good for us. Give it to us.” These two specimens of prayers are chosen because they show how closely prayer is connected with sacrifice, how the offering is brought and the favour asked with it, just as would be done to a living chief. ”

“ But if with careful thought we wish to see how their threefold kind of gift is also offered by all who come to Christ with the foot of faith, is not the same offering repeated in the hearts of true believers? ”

“ The δωρα, or gifts, mentioned here by the apostle, included every kind of eucharistical offering. The θυσιαι, sacrifices, included victims of every sort, or animals whose lives were to be offered in sacrifice, and their blood poured out before God, as an atonement for sins. The high priest was the mediator between God and the people; and it was his office, when the people had brought these gifts and sacrifices, to offer them to God in their behalf. The people could not legitimately offer their own offerings, they must be all brought to the priest, and he alone could present them to God. ”

“ I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
[Then the alms are collected while one or more of the Offertory Sentences are read. Always try to give {25} something at the Offertory, no matter how small the amount is, but never stay away from the service because you have nothing to give. When you have made your offering, kneel down, and say:—
All that is in heaven and in the earth is Thine. All things come of Thee, and of Thine Own have I given Thee.] ”

“ His "need" is, not to be always offering, but to be always an Offerer. He meets that need by being for ever the Priest who had Himself to offer, and who offered Himself, and who now dispenses from His sacerdotal seat the benedictions based upon the sacrifice of which He is for ever the once accepted Offerer. ”

“ In these three classes of offerings, then, we have typically set forth, first, expiation restoring man to God's favor, then self-consecration, then holy communion in thanksgiving and praise—all three only through the sprinkling of the blood of christ, the great Antitype of the Levitical priests and sacrifices. ”

“ The High Priest passes within the veil, bearing in His hand the offering which He has made, and by reason of that offering, and of His powerful presence before the mercy-seat, all the spiritual gifts which redeem and regenerate and sanctify humanity are for ever coming forth. ”

“ This typified the continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make, in virtue of his satisfaction, for the continual sanctification of his church: though he offered himself once for all, yet that one offering thus becomes a continual offering. 2. This teaches us to offer up to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening, in humble acknowledgement of our dependence upon him and our obligations to him. Our daily devotions must be looked upon as the most needful of our daily works and the most pleasant of our daily comforts. ”

“ I conjure thee, O my God, by the perfect oblation of my divine Saviour on the altar of the cross, to pardon my past ingratitude, and to grant me the inestimable grace of preservation from all mortal sin. But, O my sovereign Benefactor, how shall I thank thee for the precious gift of thy body and blood, which thus enables me to satisfy my obligation V This gift, which the homage of angels and men would be insufficient to acknowledge, can only be repaid by itself. ”

“ For offerings to the gods we purchase goats, sweet cakes and spirits; and having prepared a feast we throw a handful of the savoury food upon the fire in the name of the gods who have most assisted us; but of the feast so consecrated no female but a virgin can partake. The offering is made through the man who has successfully invoked the god on that particular occasion; and, as my god had guided us this time, I was employed to prepare the feast for him and to throw the offering upon the fire. ”

“ BEHOLD me, O my most loving God, loaded with the general and particular benefits which thou hast bestowed, and wilt bestow upon me, in time and eternity. I know that thy mercies to me have been and are infinite. But I am ready to pay thee for all, even to the last farthing. Behold the tribute of my gratitude. The payment which I offer for all thy goodness is this divine blood, this most precious body, this innocent victim, which I present to thee by the hands of thy priest. I am certain that this oblation is sufficient to pay for all the gifts thou hast conferred upon me ”

“ In one, the annual offering to the work of the American Missionary Association was made that day. But, before the contribution was taken, the pastor offered a prayer that both impressed and instructed me. It was a prayer of special consecration of the offerings that were about to be made. He prayed that the people might give thoughtfully and intelligently; that God’s blessing might rest upon the gifts, accompany them to the treasury, and out upon the mission field of the society. No mere formality was this petition, but a glowing, heartfelt prayer for the object in view. ”

“ It has been said—it is true—that a better and more honourable offering is made to our Master in ministry to the poor, in extending the knowledge of His name, in the practice of the virtues by which that name is hallowed, than in material gifts to His temple. ”

“ This new-chosen god is immediately presented with an offering, which is accompanied by a solemn vow, that if it pleaseth him to prosper our undertakings, for the future we will always worship and esteem him as a god. If our design prove successful, we have discovered a new and assisting god, which is daily presented with a fresh offering ”

“ He had the faith which enabled him to believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. His attitude towards God was sound; his life was a diligent seeking to please God; and from all such persons God gladly receives acknowledgment. When the offering is the true expression of the soul’s gratitude, love, devotedness, then it is acceptable. When it is a merely external offering, that rather veils than expresses the real feeling; when it is not vivified and rendered significant by any spiritual act on the part of the worshipper, it is plainly of no effect. ”

“ There God will accept their offerings of themselves in heartfelt consecration, and the first and best of their offerings and all their possessions, then hallowed by the influences of the Kingdom of Love. ”

“ But, Oh that the Church might awake to its glorious provision and its wonderful privilege in this conformity to the law of giving! When a man asks for the grace of giving and receives the impulse to open his purse to abound in this grace, then comes to him God’s rule, The Tenth is holy unto Me as a first-fruit of this grace, and immediately he begins to see where it is that a man crosses over the boundary line of selfishness and steps into the plane of devotion to God, and he takes the step and rejoices in it. ”

“ The third lot203 was for new men who came to offer incense, and they cast the lots. The fourth lot was for new men with the old, who should carry the members from the ascent to the altar.
5. The daily offering was with nine, ten, eleven, twelve, priests; not less and not more. “How?” “Itself with nine: at the feast of Tabernacles in the hand of one, a glass of water there is ten. The evening offering with eleven, itself with nine, and in the hands of two, two fagots of wood. On Sabbath, [pg 111] eleven; itself with nine, and two, in their hands two fragments of incense of the showbread. ”

“ Every sacrifice is an oblation or offering: but every offering is not a sacrifice, in 677that strict and proper acceptation we seek. For tithes, first-fruits, heave-offerings in the law, and whatsoever indeed is consecrated unto God, are oblations or offerings; but none of them sacrifices, nor ever so called in the Old Testament. ”

“ For the Saviour commands us to present offerings, though not of irrational animals or of incense, but spiritual offerings—praise, glory, and thanksgiving, and also liberality and good deeds toward the neighbor. ”

“ I likewise offer my communion, O merciful Father, in memory of the passion and death of Thy dear Son, my divine Redeemer, to love Him with more ardor and perfection; to participate in the merits of His labors and sufferings; to acquire His spirit; to imitate His virtues; to model my life on His, and to make His adorable Heart a public reparation for all the sacrilegious communions, irreverences, and profanations which are committed against Him in this sacrament of His love. ”

“ It is like the pagan custom of bringing gifts to the altar: the god demands the gifts and rewards the bringer of gifts for his lowly obedience. It is true that the more enlightened churches are rapidly outgrowing this belief in the ceremonial efficacy of church service ”