The Sign That Said Too Much

Sermon by Apostle Ren Schuffman What is the difference between building a platform and building an altar? Both involve elevation, but they elevate completely different things. One lifts your name. The other surrenders it. This is one of the most important questions any believer can ask about their faith, their ambitions, and the foundation underneath everything they are building.The story of Job is one of the most powerful examples in all of Scripture of what it looks like to have a genuine altar beneath a life of influence and blessing. Job had wealth, honor, and a voice that commanded respect. He was the greatest man in the East. But when God spoke about him in heaven, He did not mention any of that. He simply said, Have you considered My servant Job? Earth knew Job by his platform. Heaven knew him by his altar.When Satan stripped everything away, the test was simple: would worship remain when the blessing was gone? Job sat in the ashes and kept his trust in God. His surrender ran deeper than his circumstances. And in the end, he received back twofold what was taken, not because he performed perfectly, but because what remained when everything was removed was an altar, not a platform.The cross of Jesus is the clearest picture of what an altar truly looks like. He rejected every platform man tried to give Him. He walked away when people wanted to make Him king. The only elevation He accepted was the cross, and above that cross, Pilate unknowingly wrote the divine name of God in Hebrew. The Pharisees saw it immediately and begged him to change it. He refused.God is not a distant, wrathful Father being held back by Jesus. He is a God who loved you so much that He Himself stepped in and bore what you could not. The cross reveals a God of love, not a God of punishment.If you are in a dry season right now, this is for you. Your desert is a journey, not a destination. God wants to build a platform around you, but He needs the altar to be in place first. If the blessing comes before the altar is built, it will not last.Topics covered include the difference between platform and altar, the story of Job and spiritual surrender, the meaning of the sign above the cross of Jesus, the character of God the Father, surviving dry seasons in faith, building influence for God's glory, and what it means to pick up your cross daily.Keywords: platform vs altar, Job in the Bible, spiritual surrender, picking up your cross, sign above the cross, Pilate inscription YHWH, God the Father and Jesus, dry seasons in faith, building faith on a foundation, servant of God, Christian living, biblical teaching, faith and influence, surrender to God, Job restoration, tetragrammaton cross, Christian sermon, purpose and calling, altar of surrender, what does the cross mean#BuildAnAltar #SurrenderToGod #ChristianLiving #StoryOfJob #PickUpYourCross #FaithInGod #PurposeAndCalling #SpiritualGrowth #Leadership #Influence #Purpose #Identity #Adversity #FindingPurpose #ChristianSermonhttps://www.ffc.church (Our Website) https://www.facebook.com/freedomfellowshipokc (Follow us on Facebook) https://anchor.fm/freedom-fellowship/message (Subscribe to our Audio podcast) Were you blessed by this message? Give to help us spread the gospel https://www.ffc.church/give