Expanding in Service

There are many churches that operate well, are spiritually healthy and fruitful without having a permanent place of worship.  It is common in Australia for churches to hire out schools or rooms on Sunday because this is what is available and affordable.  That's how it was for the church I grew up attending, and I faintly remember the services being held in the cafeteria of a local high school.  Whether a church fellowship meets house to house, rents a hall, is in the midst of a renovation, building project, or settled in a permanent location, it is always a good season to serve the LORD in one accord with each another.

In a passage I read today, it was instructive on how the service of the Levites changed when the temple was built in Jerusalem.  During decades in the wilderness, one main role of the Levites was to haul the tabernacle and the articles around, to set up and dismantle the tabernacle as the LORD led His people like a flock to the promised land.  A lot of Christians in portable churches look forward to the prospects of having a place to call their own like the Hebrews looked forward to Canaan, where ministry (finally!) goes beyond stacking and unstacking chairs or setting up the sound system and rolling up the cords every week.  It is ironic should these people one day have their desire, they will look back with fondness to the portable season--not for the inconvenience of setting up, tearing down and hauling stuff around--but the blessing to be part of God's work in a practical way with people who love Jesus.  A church being saddled with a building and staff can result in reduced opportunities for regular people to get in the trenches and be part of the work.

With the building of the temple, the scope of the work of the Levites was not reduced but expanded in their service to God and the priests.  Also at David's command the age of the Levites began serving in the temple was lowered from 30 to 20.  Rather than having less to do because the tabernacle no longer needed to be carried and constructed, there was more help needed!  1 Chronicles 23:28-32 explains:  "...their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹ both with the showbread and the fine flour for the grain offering, with the unleavened cakes and what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of measures and sizes; ³⁰ to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; ³¹ and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD; ³² and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the LORD."

A big shift of the focus of the service of the Levites was from carrying stuff to people--serving with their brethren the priests in the worship of God.  Regarding the church, it is important at all stages of development and growth the LORD Jesus be the one we focus on serving as well as edifying and supporting one another in love.  It would be a shame to be more intent on securing or renovating a building than to make disciples of Jesus, and for us to realise disciples can be made and strengthened in these very things.  When a day comes we do not need to load trailers with chairs and sound equipment, we can serve in different ways:  like helping project words during worship, host a prayer group, teach children, contribute financially, help clean, and make hospital or house calls to encourage others.  Having a temple, the Levite's scope of work increased and their usefulness grew instead of diminishing.  Their identity was not in what they did or how they contributed but in their awesome God.

Whether we are perpetually stacking and moving chairs or settled in a building on property owned by the church, at every age there is always good, profitable work we can do in serving our LORD Jesus and supporting one another in His service.  Just being present and demonstrating love for one another at church in obedience to Christ is a greater encouragement than most people realise.

Weary of God?

God looks for people who love, desire and seek Him willingly.  In the book of Isaiah, God pointed out the irony wild animals like owls and jackals (considered unclean under the Law of Moses) honoured Him for water He provided them to drink, but He received less honour from His people whom He redeemed and created to worship Him in spirit and truth.

The LORD, the holy Redeemer of Israel said in Isaiah 43:22-24:  "But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; and you have been weary of Me, O Israel. ²³ You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, nor wearied you with incense. ²⁴ You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities."  God observed people of Israel who had not wearied themselves for the sake of God.  People often embrace weariness to work and obtain their desire, like working long hours to gain wealth or physically exercising to exhaustion to improve health.  For them, the God of their fathers was more traditional than personal and relational.  Rather than wearying themselves in God's service joyfully, they were weary of God.  Obedience to the Law was empty and meaningless without love for Him.  He had not wearied them with demands that were greater than ones freely met for their own ends, and their response was to weary God with their sins and trespasses.

Our government is pleased to receive fees and taxes regardless of our attitudes, yet God looks upon the condition of the heart that gives.  God loves a cheerful giver, and He does not regard the selfish soul that begrudges giving to God who freely gives all things for us to enjoy.  It was ironic God's name would be magnified and great among the heathen and His own people held contempt for Him.  Malachi 1:12-13 says, "But you profane it, in that you say, 'The table of the LORD is defiled; and its fruit, its food, is contemptible.' ¹³ You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' and you sneer at it," says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?" says the LORD."  This observation could be made concerning the church:  people are willing to go great distances for Christian fellowship when they are first born again, yet people raised in the church forgo worship at church because it is boring, tiresome or unnecessary.  We offer God scraps rather than our best.

It is a good thing to ask ourselves:  are we willing to weary ourselves for God's sake?  Could it be we are weary of God because our desires are elsewhere?  Galatians 6:9 exhorts us, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."  Our weariness of body and mind can grow from a lack of dependance and reliance upon God for strength, when we take on labours God has not called us to.  Admitting our weariness--even of God and what we know is right to do--is an important step in repenting and turning to God in faith for restoration.  The wisest believer can stumble in sin; the most faithful Christian can grow weary in doing good even though God daily supplies strength.  Our limitations and folly prompt us to turn to God like never before, trusting in His word and wisdom to guide us always.  God always has encouragement for those who know, hear and believe Him.

To who are weary, there is encouragement and rest in our great God as it is written in Isaiah 40:28-31:  "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹ but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

According to the Spirit

Jesus has done a marvellous thing by the power of the Gospel for all sinners who repent and trust in Him.  As a man raised under Judaism and the Law of Moses, he realised the Law could not save him but only condemn.  It was extremely effective to reveal to self-righteous sinners their sin, yet it gave no reprieve, mercy or hope for the guilty before God or man.

After coming to faith in Jesus Christ, Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."  In the previous chapter Paul provided an example of a woman who was bound by the law to her husband, but if her husband died she was free of that law.  It was considered adultery under the Law of Moses to marry another man while married.  A widow under Law, however, was not be deemed an adulteress to remarry after the passing of her husband because the Law no longer applied to her situation.  Paul began chapter 8 with "therefore" because Christians have been made dead to the Law of Moses by the life of Christ.

The Law of Moses cannot condemn those who have died to it, and that handwriting of ordinances has also been taken out of the way--nailed to the cross and crucified with Christ--never to rise again as the way Christians are to relate to God.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we are spiritually regenerated by the Holy Spirit and have a relationship with the living God guided by His love.  Our death to the Law of Moses does not make us lawless, for we are called to be governed by the Gospel to walk in step with Jesus whose words trump the letter of the Law of Moses.  Notice how Paul explains this change concerning who and what we are to submit our lives to in the fear of God:  no longer walking according to our flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament has many exhortations to "walk worthy" of our calling as children of God, having been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus.  Rather than working to uphold the letter of the Law of Moses, we are to obey the call and leading of our LORD Jesus as it is written in Ephesians 4:1-3:  "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  In God's view, how we walk is as critical as what we think, say and do because He looks upon the condition of our hearts.  We are called to judge ourselves and receive correction from the LORD that we should not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32).  Condemnation means to judge, and it also means to pass sentence.  There are actions that can be condemned and rightly judged as sinful, but we ought not to pass sentence on other Christians as if we are God and know perfectly the hearts of men based on what we can observe.

Since there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, let us choose not to condemn others Jesus Christ died to save.  Who are we to judge another man's servant?  To condemn others is to condemn ourselves!  It is before God people will stand or fall.  Rather than condemning sinners, we ought to make our focus to walk worthy of the calling with which were were called by Jesus with all lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  This is an accurate snapshot of what walking according to the Holy Spirit looks like, a way of living made possible by the Gospel of Jesus.

Word of Their Testimony

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

Revelation 12:11

In the sermon this morning, this verse from Revelation 12 stood out to me.  Revelation 12:10 said what happened after Satan was cast down from heaven:  "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down."  The redeemed inhabitants of heaven praised the LORD and rejoiced in God's salvation, strength and kingdom was revealed by permanently excommunicating the accuser of the brethren.  Due to Christ's blood shed on Calvary for sinners, the power of Satan, sin and death is overcome by faith in Jesus.

Those in heaven also overcame Satan "by the word of their testimony."  The Greek word translated "testimony" is "martyrias" which means "witness."  The book of Revelation describes some residing in heaven who were indeed martyred for their faith in previous passages, and this was strong evidence they loved Jesus more than saving their own lives--having been bought with the precious blood of Jesus.  While some people see a martyr's death as an ultimate act of devotion to God, it is only ultimate in that it is the last thing a person can humanly do before their lives end.  In no way do I seek to detract from the courage and fortitude countless Christians have demonstrated in choosing to die for Jesus than to deny Him when their lives were at stake.  The strength and resolve they showed by God's power is commendable, and such sacrifice for Christ's sake ought to be an inspiration for us to live for Jesus every day.

When a witness shares a personal experience with a friend or stranger, testifying of what was seen and heard does not often come with the price of death.  There are places and regimes in the world where witnessing about how Jesus has saved us by the Gospel could potentially put our lives and families at risk.  We ought not be cavalier and foolhardy in our flesh to make waves but humbly led by the Spirit as we follow the example of people who have gone to heaven before us to overcome by the "word of their testimony."  "Word" is "logos," what Jesus is called throughout John 1:1-18, and John affirmed the "Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."  John began Revelation 1:1-2 in this way:  "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw."

In one sense Jesus personifies the word of the testimony of Christians, and our lives are to be living epistles through which God reveals His love, grace, mercy and life to the world (2 Corinthians 3:3).  It is by faith in Jesus Christ we are His witnesses, not merely repeating what the Bible says, but by the evidence of the life of Jesus being lived out in and through us.  When it came time for Jesus to die on the cross, He did not shrink from God's command but set His face like a flint for the joy set before Him.  Paul willingly went to Jerusalem knowing bonds awaited him, yet incarceration was a small thing when he was ready to spend and be fully spent for Christ.  Personal sacrifice for Christ is not reserved for witnesses who face the threat of execution for their faith but for those who live in lands of tolerance and inclusion.  Christians can expect intolerance and exclusion, and considering what Jesus endured we are steeled and encouraged when troubles arise.  Being accepted, included and loved in the kingdom of God is the Gospel message we should boldly share and live out before Go--and in full view of others.

Those who have been martyred for Christ's sake are strong witnesses for Him, and every Christian God chooses to preserve alive unto this day has the potential to provide an ongoing witness just as strong by God's grace.  It isn't just those who are killed for Christ's sake who overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, but those who die to themselves daily in following Jesus as His joyful servants wherever He leads.