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A Story: “For The Praise Of His Glory”

Live a Life of Love LESSON TWELVE: The Celebrating Family (Part 1) A Story: “For The Praise Of His Glory”

Do you remember Alepso? He had difficulty hearing Scripture because traditional ideas filled his mind. Later, however, a major scandal shook his religious group. He began to read the Bible, which led him to become a Christian.

At first Alepso does not realize that Scripture speaks of worship in two ways: a specific way and a general way. The specific meaning is when a person most consciously directs praise, prayer, song and offerings to God or His Son.25 In this sense, a person or group “worships” when focusing full attention on God,26 for example in assemblies for worship. The Old Testament gave many regulations for its formal assemblies. The New Testament gives few rules, mainly ensuring good order so that all can grow spiritually by understanding what is said in the praise27 and in the teaching.28 At first, Alepso sees only this specific meaning. So he treats worship as a small part of his life. He ‘worships’ for a while each day, and he ‘goes to worship’ on Sundays. These, of course, show great improvement over his old idea of ‘worshipping’ only at Easter and Christmas. And daily time set aside for prayer is vitally important! 29 But Alepso has yet to hear the more general meaning for worship in Romans 12.

Fortunately, Alepso keeps learning. He notices how Ephesians sums up our reason for living. Paul says we were chosen to “be for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12).30 The verb “to be” shows that we are – we exist, we have being – for this very purpose: bringing praise to God!

Alepso reads John 4 more carefully. A woman asked Jesus which was correct, Samaritan worship on Mount Gerizim, or Jewish worship “in Jerusalem” (John 4:19-20). Jesus answered,

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21,23-24). M

Jesus promised a complete contrast in place. God had centered Jewish worship in Jerusalem, but all that was about to change. The new places of worship would not be physical but spiritual – in spirit and in truth. These fit the reality of God’s spiritual nature. “God is spirit” (John 4:24). As spirit, God lives everywhere. He sees all things at all times. He seeks worshipers who honor that spiritual reality. They worship “in spirit” – in the inmost person, loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. The spirit within is the sacred place of worship, which is never left behind. Likewise, true worshipers worship “in truth.” 31 When should Christians be away from truth? While they remain “in truth” they remain in the place for worship!

Alepso realizes that this new worship matches other passages. Christians are “giving thanks always” (Ephesians 5:20). “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Along with spoken words, there are many other “sacrifices” to offer: 32

Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:15-16). M

… you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:5,9).

When is the true Christian not a royal priest? When is he off duty? When may he neglect the fires of spiritual fervor and sacrifice and let the lamps dim? When is he not part of God’s “spiritual house” for sacred offerings?

… in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple33 in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22).

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16) M

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) M

In Jerusalem, Jesus forcefully emphasized that God’s temple is “a house of prayer” (Mt 21:13). When is the believer away from his body, the new house of prayer? He is the place of worship! Alepso thinks about his body, which reminds him of Romans 12:1, “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. All of bodily life is sacred service! What a discovery! What a turning point for Alepso’s spiritual growth! Every activity takes on purpose. Even tedious duties now shine with holy significance. Closeness to God no longer waits for next Sunday. Every day becomes special: a sacred gift from God, and a sacred offering to God!

CHRIST IN YOU MAKES YOU A TEMPLE FILLED WITH PRAISE AND PRAYER!

25. Research Subject – Specific worship: Genesis 22:5; 24:26,48; 47:31; Exodus 3:12; 4:23,31; 12:27; Matthew 2:2,8,11; 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; 12:20; Acts 8:27; 24:11; 1 Corinthians 14:25; Hebrews 9:1; 11:21; Revelation 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:4 cf. Matthew 4:9-10; Luke 1:10; 2:37; Acts 13:2; Revelation 11:1; 14:7,9; 15:4; 19:10; 22:8-9

26. cf. Luke 18:43; 19:37; 24:53; Acts 4:27; 11:18; 21:20; Romans 15:9-10; Hebrews 2:12; Revelation 7:9-12

27. See 1 Corinthians 14:14-17. In the first century, the Holy Spirit empowered some to speak in tongues or miraculously learned languages (Acts 2:4-11). Though these tongues were Spirit-inspired and gave real praise to God, they were forbidden in the assembly if others there could not understand them. This shows that, though the New Testament gives few rules, it has clear guidelines and goals for assemblies. Assembled worship is not just any activity that people may like, or may wish to impose on others. Rather it is ordered for the specific purposes that honor God and give His people encouragement and instruction through clear understanding of His word.

28. 1 Corinthians 14:26-33

29. Time dedicated to personal prayer: Daniel 6:10; Mark 1:35; 11:1; Acts 10:9

30. In Ephesians 1:12 Paul refers to the earliest Christians. But we know this purpose of praise extends to all Christians because Paul repeats the same theme throughout God’s plan to choose and save us, Ephesians 1:3,6,12,14; 2:10 cf. Isaiah 43:7; 29:23; Psalm 100:2-5. Our living purpose is to praise continually, Psalm 63:4; 71:8 with 30:9; 88:10, and also to cause others to praise and honor God, Psalm 67:3-7; 102:18; 103:20-22; 138:4-5; 148; Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:9,12. As sinners saved by grace, we are uniquely qualified for heartfelt worship and thanks, “to the praise of His glorious grace” Ephesians 1:6 cf. Luke 7:37-47; Psalm 107:2.

31. Truth: John 1:17; 8:31-32,40; 14:6; 16:13; 17:8,17; 18:37; Ephesians 4:21

32. In the New Testament “spiritual sacrifices” 1 Peter 2:5, include the Christian’s body, Romans 12:1; evangelism and converts, Romans 15:16; giving for evangelism, Philippians 4:14-18; praise and confession, Hebrews 13:15; doing good and sharing, Hebrews 13:16; prayers as incense, Revelation 5:8; the heart as music, Ephesians 5:19; and faith, suffering and death as offerings, Philippians 2:17; 2 Timothy 4:6 cf. Ephesians 5:2.

33. Here again, there is a wider use of a word, and a more specific use. The world-wide church, as the body of Christ, is God’s “temple,” Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:21-22. Yet, more specifically, the Christian’s physical body is God’s temple, also for His glory, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Both truths relate to the reality of Christ’s personal body as God’s temple, John 2:19-22; Colossians 2:9.

Research Subjects

  • Jesus and prayer
  • Paul and prayer
  • Fasting
  • Joy in persecution and suffering
  • Need for encouraging fellowship
  • Noble examples
  • Specific worship

Memory Verses

  1. 1 Peter 5:7 – …casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
  2. Philippians 4:6 – … do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
  3. 1 John 2:1-2 – My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
  4. Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
  5. Mark 11:22-24 – And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
  6. 1 John 3:22 – …and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
  7. 1 John 5:14-15 – And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
  8. 2 Corinthians 1:20 – For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
  9. Romans 8:31-32 – What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
  10. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 – …pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
  11. Ephesians 5:18-20 – …be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…
  12. Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
  13. 1 Timothy 4:13 – Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
  14. 2 Timothy 4:2 – …preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
  15. John 4:21,23-24 – Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
  16. Hebrews 13:15-16 – Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
  17. 1 Corinthians 3:16 – Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
  18. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

In the words of Psalm 8, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Who am I, that You want my prayers? Your love is a mystery beyond my understanding. But I accept Your promises. Confident of Your welcome, I come to You with these requests and praises…

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