“A” ALL THE WAY!!!
Not only is ALL Scripture God-inspired (2 Tim 3:16), even the order in it is God-inspired. In God’s scheme of things, a B never comes before an A, so to speak. Consider this Scripture…
He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers –I Kings 6:29
He, of course in this context is King Solomon and sanctuary in question is the Temple, he built in Mount Moriah for the Glory of Adonai (Sovereign God). Notice the Scripture and see the order in which the three figures are listed…Palm trees do not come in front of the Cherubim but it is the other way around. What is the faithful Scripture trying to teach us through this singular order in this Biblical portion. Welcome to the World of As’…opps sorry…I mean sub-headings of As’.
I) ADORATION
He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of CHERUBIM, palm trees, and open flowers – I Kings 6:29
Cherubim are symbolic of worship, for what is the primary calling of angels if not worship. There we see Angels surrounding the throne and whole-heartedly worshipping the Creator in Isaiah’s vision of Heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3).
Nothing, when I say nothing, I mean nothing can take place of Adoration (read Worship) in the life of a Christian too…no not even ministering for Him, for man was primarily created to worship God. Today, we are in the business of winning souls for His Kingdom, because Adam and Eve fell into sin, otherwise we their offspring would have spent all our time enjoying His presence and worshipping Him. By the way, what do you think we would do in Eternity apart from fully enjoying worshipping Him? Hallelujahs’ will rent the air in Heaven 24*7* eternity. Ministry, however noble minus the worshipping heart, would be like pen without ink in His sight.
While on the subject of Worshipping Him, it is indeed good to worship Him for the good things, He pours graciously into our lives generally (where would we be without regular sunlight or periodic rainfall) and specifically (food, clothing and shelter-Matt 6:33) but we would be fully fulfilling our potential, ONLY when we worship Him, just for WHAT HE IS…YES, FOR HIS UNIQUE QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES.
Let me take you back in time to Moses and Mount Sinai (Exodus 33). At a time his fellow Israelites were clamoring for Egyptian food (not being content with the Heavenly Manna), Moses got his priorities right…his “As’ before his Bs’ “…as it were…he sought the best from the Lord…he did not settle for anything less than wanting to see the Almighty’s glory and lo and behold, how did God respond (Exodus 33:18-34:6)!!! He made all His GOODNESS pass before Moses and declared the virtues in Himself. In other words, God’s Glory is actually the SUM TOTAL OF ALL HIS UNIQUE TRAITS AND QUALITIES. When we ascribe glory to Him, we are worshipping Him for WHAT HE IS. Incidentally, the word worship is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “weorthscipe” which means ‘worthship’ and then ‘worship’.
A devout Saint summed up worship thus… “Worshipping God is nothing but opening our hearts to the love of God, quickening our conscience to the Holiness of God, purging our imagination with the beauty of God, filling our minds with the truth of God and committing our purposes to the will of God”.
Just as a cynic would lose out on not “enjoying” the sublime work of say a Michael Angelo expressed by transcendent brush strokes on a canvas, we would be the biggest losers, if we do not worship the PERSON WHOSE AWESOME, ALL SURPASSING GREATNESS can never be adequately captured in words.
II) ASSIGNMENTS
He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, PALM TREES, and open flowers – I Kings 6:29
Next in order…hmmm…what do the Palm trees signify? Before that raise your hands, those who know as to how many uses a Palm tree can be put to? 360 uses…ladies and gentlemen!!! If it is not a staggering number, then what is?
So what is the ever-so-faithful Scripture teaching us here…if you are a worshiping Christian, first and foremost…then the good Lord would put you into “360” uses…would bring numerous God-honoring responsibilities your way….would take you around 360 cities in the World to glorify Hs Name and edify His BODY OF BELIEVERS (read the Universal Church) but for all that fulfilling experiences to come your way, you need to fulfill your primary calling…that is to worship Him with all your heart, strength and soul (Deu 6:5/Mark 12:29-30).
Let’s dig a bit deep here and see and how can we go about going about fulfilling the God-given assignments to perfection…
a) Availability
Hey, the good Lord sees the FULL picture, while we with our finite vision may not be able envisage the “A to Z” of our future…so some of the responsibilities that He sends our way, may not be very appealing to us initially but in hindsight we would discover they were customized for our temperament fashioned by His upbringing …ask a certain Moses. So in God-given assignments, more than our ability, it is our availability which counts. Once we say, YES to the Lord, sky is the limit.
Moses in his finite strength buried one Egyptian in fear and ran away (Exodus 2:11-15) and fast forward by 40 years and what do we see, the same Moses in God-ordained capacity as DELIVERER of Jews in OT TIMES in God’s infinite strength burying the entire, hard-hearted, hostile Pharoah’s (a type of anti-christ in the O.T TIMES belonging to genre of Haman, Antiochus Epiphanes etc) army…now no prizes for guessing where…(Exodus 14:26-28)!!! A foreshadow of what Christ in His capacity of a DELIVERER of the Jews in NT TIMES (Romans 11:26) would do to the Anti-Christ and his Anti-Semitic army in Armageddon…at not too distant future…from now (Rev 19:19-21)…
b) Adaptability
Wherever the good Lord has placed us in His sovereign wisdom, the key to effective Ministry is adaptability. On the subject of flexible “flexing of spiritual muscles”, none cannot put it better than Apostle Paul…
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I HAVE BECOME ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.-I Cor 9:19-23
Wanna see Apostle Paul’s adaptability in action…then let’s board the time machine and go visiting the Mars Hill forum in Athens and what do we see the Blessed Apostle standing up to address the Athenian Philosophers prone to idol-worshipping and how does he begin his message…with words of harsh criticism for idol worship? NO! Let the Scripture take over…
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,…” in a tone full of love, devoid of any sarcasm. Now how’s that for “bridge building” before going on to proclaim the Gospel, which the Apostle did with commendable results. (Acts 17:22/33-34)!!!
Though Apostle Paul was largely an Evangelist, remember he virtually “shepherded” (read Pastored) the Ephesian Church for 3 years (Acts 20:31) and his words “to the weak, I became weak” needs to be taken seriously by all Pastors, when it comes to feeding the “new borns” in Christ. Those taking baby steps in Christian faith should not be “bombarded” with sermons from Book of Revelation, rather they should be fed with “easy to digest” Scripture like John’s Gospel, Paul’s “prison” epistles… Colossians, Ephesians etc.
c) Accountability
“We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God.”- 2 Cor 8:21 (The Message).
Observe Apostle Paul’s words exuding concern when it comes to a Minister’s accountability to God and men.
In the assignments’ given to us by the Almighty it is imperative we ought to be not only fair but also SEEM to be fair at all times, as invariably a Servant of God’s actions are under the public microscope.
Let me go as far as to say that in going about the God-given assignments, we are not only accountable for our actions but ALSO THOUGHTS (Pro 23:7 a KJV). Let’s strive to keep our conscience clear at all times (Acts 23:1).
III) AROMA
He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and OPEN FLOWERS – I Kings 6:29
Finally what would be outcome of carrying out God-allocated assignments with a heart full of adoration for Him…emanation of “sweet aroma” as symbolized by the “OPEN FLOWER” which would bless God and all His people!!! When a Christian leader leads an exemplary life, through his life and lip, he would silently be inspiring many to toe his line of godliness bringing glory to his Saviour, all the while.
Mind you this aroma may sometimes last even after the life and ministry of a Christian has come to an end…in other words, it would continue to “encourage many of the Kingdom”, long after his physical departure from this World. Here, I want to share the “effect of aroma” of Hudson Taylor’s pioneering Evangelistic Ministry in China, even after his ministry had ended therein. Long after he had died, in order to tarnish his image the ruling Chinese communist government appointed a Special officer. His mission? To tour all the places, where this seemingly devout soul had ploughed the lonely furrow and examine all the related records available of his ministry, with a magnifying glass as it were to detect “irregularities” therein and then publish a report to the Government, which in turn would duly publish the same in the National Newspaper. So off went this Special Officer on this “classified assignment” to detect irregularities in the way this pioneer missionary to China went about his ministry. So what did this special officer find? Place after place… in only increasing measure the evidence of Hudson’s Taylor sacrificial commitment to Christ borne out of his great love for his Redeemer!!! The result of it all? This Special Govt-deputed Officer was so moved and touched by Hudson Taylor’s ministry that he surrendered his life to Christ. Talk of the touch of Prophet Elisha’s dead bones bringing a deceased man to life (2 Kings 13:20-21)…
Ah speaking of aroma, doesn’t the account of adoring Mary coming up with an adorable act of anointing the Lord with a very costly ointment come to mind? Yes it does. While on the subject of scents, let me tell you the scents market is a very competitive one. So it is not all a surprise to see one fragrance manufacturer after the other blowing his own trumpet about his brand frequently. Some years back, I vividly recall one advertisement of a scent manufacturer claiming that the fragrance of his brand would last for THREE FULL DAYS. You guessed it…his competitor would come up with one more ad…claiming that fragrance of his brand would last for FOUR OR FIVE DAYS.
Now what about Mary’s “ministry” of anointing the Lord with a heart overflowing with love for Her Saviour? What about the fragrance of that costly spikenard, she used -primarily moved by unbridled devotion for the Master- in anointing Him. WELL, THE SWEET FRAGRANCE IS STILL EMANATING FROM THAT BOTTLE OF SPIKENARD EVEN AFTER 2000 YEARS. Did not the Word (another name for Jesus) say “And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:9). YOU CAN TAKE THE WORD AT HIS WORD, FOR THE WORD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS WORD. In conclusion, let’s consider what the Word of God says about the Ministry done with an adoring heart…
“So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection.”- I Cor 15:58 (TLB)
Suresh Manoharan
An unworthy servant
ps...This message replete with pics is also available at the following URL...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_feb1_14.asp
