Worship Series: Part II

April 14, 2002

 

 

 

Ministering To The Lord

 

 

Worship is all about Jesus, not you and me.

 

Worship demands that we bring our best.  The Old Testament sacrifice had to be perfect, without blemish……..without flaw.

 

Second best is never an option in worship.

 

Scripture repeatedly calls us to worship God “with all” our heart.

 

·        Psalm 9:1

 

·        Psalm 111:1

 

·        Psalm 119:2  “How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.”

 

·        Psalm 119:10  “With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wanted from Your commandments.”

 

·        II Samuel 6:14  (I love this!)  “And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,……” 

 

 

Review: Part I

 

·        Ptolemy and the Geo-centric Theory

 

·        The Church needs to “discard” the Geo-centric Theory.

 

·        Colossians 1:15-18,   Jesus is the center of everything!

 

·        Jesus must be the central focus of our worship.

O.T. Priests: Ministered To The Lord

 

God ordained the O.T. priest as ministers to Him.

 

·        Exodus 28:1-3,41  

 

§        Aaron and his four (4) sons (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithmar) were set apart to the Lord.

 

§        In verses 1,3 and 41, God says clearly that they are to minister as “priests to Me”. 

(Understand the focus service here is critical.)

 

·        Exodus 40:12-16   

 

§        This was the actual dedication of Aaron and his sons.

 

§        Notice that the holy garments were “put on them”; they did not put them on themselves.

 

§        Again, the focus of their ministry (v. 13&15) was on the Lord not the people.

 

·        II Chronicles 29:11

§        God reminds the Levites (the priests) that they have been called and set apart to minister to Him and to represent Him before the people.

 

O.T.  The Nature of Ministry & Worship

 

·        Offer the sacrifices.

 

·        While they were God’s representatives, their primary function was “on behalf of the people” to the God.

 

·        The process:  Outer Court…Inner Court…..Holy of Holies.

 

·        (Insight)  The children of Israel were to be “a kingdom of priests”.  See:  Exodus 19:3-5 and Isaiah 61:6

 

N.T.  “The Priesthood of the Believer”

 

·        I Peter 2:5,9  (Read)

 

§        Believers are to “minister to the Lord”.

 

·        Hebrews 13:15       The Nature of the N.T. Sacrifice and Worship

 

§         Praise and Worship

 

§        The fruit of our “lips”, not our heart.

 

§        (Insight)  Praise isn’t Praise until it is verbalized.

 

 

The Result of “Ministering To The Lord”

 

·        I Samuel 2:11&18      The boy Samuel “ministered to the Lord”.

 

·        I Samuel 3:1-20      “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.  And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.”        

 

§        This passage troubled me for a long time.

 

§        Why are there two divergent thought in the same verse?  (i.e.  Samuel ministered to the Lord….and  word from the Lord was rare…….visions were infrequent)         

 

§        In this passage God gave Samuel an amazing revelation.

 

·        Acts 13:1-3            The answer to I Samuel 3

 

·        (Principle)  Ministering to the Lord opens our spiritual eyes and ears to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and see where He is working and what He is doing.

 

·        (Insight)  The primary reason that people don’t have eyes to see what the Holy Spirit is doing or ears to hear the voice of the Spirit saying, “Separate this one….and that one to the work I have called them to” is because we focus more on: Being ministered to than on ministering to the Lord.

 

 

How To Minister To The Lord

 

1.  Have your focus right.

 

·        Focus on Jesus……and not yourself.

 

2.  Be “washed in the Word” and put on “holy garments”.

 

·        Prepare for worship, don’t just show-up.

 

·        We are meeting with the Creator-God of the universe!  So, prepare yourself in body, soul and spirit.

 

3.  Come with an offering……a sacrifice to present to God.

 

·        Tithe…your heart 

 

·        King David said, “for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord ,my God which cost me nothing”.

 

·        There is a cost associated with worship.

 

4.  Make a decision to enter-in to worship.

 

·        Expressions of worship (raising your hands, etc) are not the real issue here.  Its all about the attitude of our hearts.

 

·        The Principle of Sowing & Reaping:  You will never get more out of worship than you are willing to put into it.

 

5.  Expect God to move…….expect the Holy Spirit to do something.