Participants:
Series Code: LGS
Program Code: LGS019410A
|
00:01 Hello, I'm Andrew Russell, and welcome to Let God Speak.
00:04 Israelite worship was very vocal 00:06 and very exuberant. 00:08 Everything included in their worship had a purpose. 00:11 In our study of the scriptures today, 00:13 we will discover helpful insights 00:15 into the Hebrew worship service. 00:43 On our panel today we have David Currie 00:45 and Morgan Vincent. 00:46 It's good to be here with you, gentlemen. 00:48 Thank you. 00:49 As we study the Word of God together, 00:50 but before we do that, 00:52 let's, let's have a word of prayer. 00:53 Let's pray. 00:55 Loving Father, Lord, we are about to open up 00:57 Your Word again. 00:58 And, Lord, we claim the promise of Your Son, 01:01 who offered the Holy Spirit, Lord, 01:02 to guide us into all truth. 01:04 Please be with us and our viewers now, 01:06 and help us to open Your Word 01:08 and rightly divide the word of truth. 01:10 We thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 01:11 Amen. Amen. 01:14 Well, let's begin, Morgan, what great occasion 01:17 for worship stands out with the Jews, 01:22 that in their time when they return 01:24 from Babylonian captivity, 01:26 back to Jerusalem when it comes to worship? 01:28 Yeah, sure. Let's... 01:30 We're going to begin opening our Bibles today, 01:32 we're in the Book of Ezra. 01:34 Ezra Chapter 3, and we're going to read 01:36 verse 10 and 11 to begin with. 01:39 And so the Bible says in verse 10, 01:41 "When the builders laid the foundation 01:43 of the temple of the Lord, their priests stood 01:46 in their apparel with trumpets." 01:48 So here it's something, joyous, it's something musical. 01:51 Bible goes on and says, 01:52 "And the Levites, the sons of Asaph, 01:55 with symbols to praise the Lord, 01:57 according to the ordinance of David, King of Israel." 02:01 So here we see, you know, they're praising God, 02:03 not praising a temple but they're praising God. 02:05 That's right. 02:06 And verse 11 says, "And they sang responsively, 02:09 praising and giving thanks to the Lord, 02:11 for He is good, 02:12 for His mercy endures forever toward Israel. 02:16 Then all the people shouted, with a great shout." 02:19 Can only imagine what that's like. 02:21 And when they praised the Lord, 02:22 because the foundation of the house 02:24 of the Lord was laid, 02:26 and so here you know, they're praising God, 02:28 they're giving shout, a great shout to God, 02:31 because the foundations 02:33 of the Second Temple have been laid. 02:35 But if we go further on to Ezra Chapter 6, 02:39 and in Ezra 6:15-16, 02:42 the Bible goes on and says, some 20 years later, it says, 02:46 "Now the temple was finished 02:48 on the third day of the month of Adar, 02:50 which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. 02:54 The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites 02:57 and the rest of the descendants of the captivity 03:00 celebrated the dedication 03:02 of this house of God with glory, with joy rather." 03:05 And so here they're praising God 03:07 some 20 years before 03:09 because the temple is starting to be built... 03:11 Rebuilt, it was destroyed previously. 03:14 And you know now they're praising God 03:15 because it's been finished, it's been dedicated to God. 03:19 Okay, and there's the, the laying of the foundation, 03:21 isn't it, with this rebuilding, 03:22 on this occasion for worship here. 03:26 What stands out, do you think from this text, 03:28 what stands out for you in the way 03:30 that they worship? 03:32 To me, it's in verse 11 of Chapter 3. 03:35 Here they're singing responsively 03:36 and they are praising 03:38 and they are giving thanks to God, 03:39 and this is something which happens in a community. 03:43 It happens collectively. 03:44 And so here we see that 03:46 they're also singing with a great shout 03:49 as well, that to me stands out. 03:51 Yeah. Okay. 03:52 Great shouts. Quite loud, isn't it? 03:54 Very vocal. 03:55 That's right, it's very exuberant. 03:57 And, David, does this compromise 03:59 on the solemnity of things at all? 04:01 Well, I don't think so, they were happy about 04:03 coming back for one thing 04:05 and then seeing the rebuilding program. 04:07 And you know that, the last part of that verse 04:11 that Morgan just read, 04:12 the dedication of this house of God with joy. 04:15 You know, there was a tremendous 04:17 amount of happiness among these people, 04:19 that's for sure. 04:20 And it was just spontaneous. 04:23 They were praising God for His mighty acts 04:25 of what He had done. 04:27 And, of course, they were pleased that 04:29 they were back in their own area once again. 04:32 Yeah. 04:33 So it's almost like a revival, right? 04:36 Yeah. 04:37 A revival of faith, a revival of hope 04:39 for the children of Israel. 04:40 How could they do anything less but shout praises to God? 04:43 A wonderful picture of, of what is possible 04:47 when it comes to that relationship with God. 04:49 He's worthy of that praise and, 04:51 and that shouts of acclamation and joy. 04:54 Let me ask you, David, 04:55 what was the next great event of religious celebration 04:59 recorded after their return here? 05:00 Well, of course, the walls were built 05:02 and that gave them tremendous security. 05:04 And in Nehemiah 12:27, it says, 05:08 "Now the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, 05:10 they sought out the Levites in all their places, 05:13 to bring them to Jerusalem 05:14 to celebrate the dedication with gladness, 05:17 both the Thanksgiving and singing with cymbals 05:19 and stringed instruments and harps." 05:22 You know, here was a great orchestra 05:23 of these people with the instruments 05:24 that they had at those times. 05:26 A little different to ours today. 05:28 But it goes on to say in verse 29, 05:32 "And they went out, their singers were in villages 05:35 that they had built for themselves. 05:37 And they came in and there they were singing 05:40 and joyful with God and playing their instruments." 05:43 I think it's just wonderful that around Jerusalem, 05:45 they had these little villages 05:47 where they'd have all these singers. 05:48 That's right. That's right. 05:50 And the walls being rebuilt, of course. 05:51 Yes. This meant security. 05:53 That's right. 05:54 This seems like a highly organized event. 05:56 Would you say, Morgan? 05:57 Yeah. Definitely, it definitely is. 05:58 You know what David just read alludes to that as well. 06:01 And we also find in Nehemiah 11:22. 06:07 That going along 06:08 with the idea of being in orchestra, 06:11 you know, this sense of organization, you can say. 06:14 Verse 22, says, 06:16 "Also the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem 06:19 was Uzzi, the son of Bani, 06:21 the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, 06:24 the son of Micah, of the sons of Asaph." 06:27 And this was, this was mentioned 06:29 centuries before, 06:30 okay as the descendants whom King David had chosen. 06:34 Yeah. 06:36 And here it goes on and says that the singers, 06:39 they were in charge of the service 06:40 of the house of God. 06:42 The house of God, that's right. 06:44 I noticed now that Ezra mentioned David and Nehemiah's 06:46 mentioned David, as well, 06:48 what's the significance of that? 06:50 Yeah, there's great significance there. 06:52 We notice in Nehemiah 12:24, 06:56 the Bible goes on and gives us some more help here. 07:00 It says, "And the heads of the Levites were Hashabiah, 07:03 Sherebiah and Jeshua the son of Kadmeil, 07:07 with their brothers across from them 07:09 to praise and give thanks. 07:11 So here, it's just, it's being repeated so often, 07:13 you know, they're praising, 07:14 they're giving thanks for what God has done for them. 07:18 And the group, alternating with group, 07:21 according to the command of David, 07:23 the man of God." 07:24 So here's this, another indication 07:27 that David was this, 07:28 this great figure in the history 07:31 of what God had done for Him and for the people as well. 07:34 That's right. 07:35 And I'm reminded of where David had secured the ark. 07:39 And, and there was that praising, and Solomon as well 07:42 with the building of the temple. 07:44 There was that praise too. 07:45 And, of course, here we see it again. 07:48 It'd be worth in looking at how David organized 07:51 those leading out in worship. 07:53 So I want to direct us now to the Book of 1 Chronicles. 07:56 We go to 1 Chronicles 25:1. 08:00 1 Chronicles 25:1. 08:04 It says, "Moreover David and the captains of the host 08:08 separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, 08:11 and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, 08:14 who should prophesy with harps, 08:16 with psalteries, and with cymbals: 08:19 and the number of the workmen 08:20 according to their service was." 08:23 And then it goes on. 08:26 It's quite impressive here, David. 08:28 Yes, it's very impressive. 08:29 You know, when I was younger, 08:31 we had a big choir in Western Australia, 08:33 we had 130 people in it. 08:35 But this text says that they were something like 288, 08:41 more than twice as many we had. 08:43 And then you just imagine the sound that 08:44 they can make at that particular time. 08:46 And the joy that came to them is just amazing 08:49 how so many people were involved in worship, 08:53 but in singing and in instrument 08:54 it's just amazing. 08:56 That's right. 08:57 I remember I used to do 08:59 a little bit of extra background acting, 09:00 you know, for anything that came to Sydney 09:01 here in Australia, 09:03 and I remember standing 09:04 doing an opera one time called Tuned-Up. 09:06 And standing in front of the choir, 09:08 I wasn't singing, I was one of the actors, 09:10 but it was incredible just to hear the voices, 09:13 it blew my mind away. 09:15 I'll never forget that experience. 09:16 Okay. 09:17 It resonates with me what you're saying here? 09:19 Well, what insights then do you think 09:21 we can draw from this for worship today, David? 09:24 Well, I think the main thing is that 09:25 we can really think about excellence in worship, 09:28 how worship should be of a high order. 09:31 And with all the instruments and things 09:33 that we have available today 09:34 and the voices that people have, 09:36 we could do much more praise, I think... 09:37 Yes. 09:39 But excellence is one thing that is very significant, 09:42 and praising God for who He is. 09:43 I mean, this is what Israel were doing. 09:45 They're praising God for bringing them there, 09:47 building the walls, building the temple. 09:49 They had so much to praise Him for. 09:51 And we today have so much that 09:53 we can see God has done that we can praise Him for. 09:56 Yeah, absolutely. I was... 09:58 Sorry, yeah. Just a point. Yeah. 09:59 You know, on that, it goes to show, 10:01 we find it a little hard and think, 10:03 oh, walls are rebuilt. 10:05 You know, that's nice to know. 10:06 But, you know, for them, 10:07 it was their whole civilization... 10:09 Their whole sense of identity that, 10:11 that was restored as well. 10:13 And so, you know, for us today, 10:15 there's much that we can praise God 10:17 for with our identity in Him as well. 10:19 The freedom to worship, you know, 10:21 that's what they were being given here as well. 10:23 How many struggle with that in the world today 10:25 to have that freedom to worship God. 10:27 And we here in Australia, particularly we have freedom, 10:30 we hope it stays that way. 10:32 There are laws that may stop that 10:34 or some people would like to stop it. 10:35 But you know, we can praise God for the fact 10:38 that we do have freedom of worship. 10:40 That's right. That's right. 10:42 And I just love what you shared there, David, 10:43 in terms of excellence. 10:46 I think of what the Apostle Paul wrote, 10:47 you know, and stated, he said, whatever you eat or drink 10:51 or whatever you do, do it all... 10:52 Do it all to the glory of God. 10:54 Do it all to the glory of God. Absolutely. 10:56 So, nothing casual about worship here, Morgan? 10:59 Not at all, not at all. 11:01 And, you know, it's something that they took seriously. 11:05 But it came from the heart 11:06 as we're going to find out in Nehemiah 12:30. 11:11 We find here that they're purifying themselves, 11:13 they're cleansing themselves. 11:14 Okay. 11:16 And the Bible says, 11:17 "Then the priests and Levites purify themselves..." 11:20 Goes on here, it says, 11:21 "And purified the people, the gates and the wall." 11:24 So there's this idea of, they're purifying, 11:27 they're cleansing more than just themselves, 11:29 but they understood that 11:31 they needed to purify themselves 11:32 before they could purify others as well. 11:35 And so preparation of heart, of mind, 11:38 of a total surrender to God as well. 11:40 Yeah. 11:41 So what would be the point of worship 11:44 and singing songs of praise if the heart was un-right. 11:47 Do we need this kind of purifying today? 11:49 Absolutely. You know, absolutely. 11:51 And I think we can all agree with that. 11:53 And we turn in the New Testament. 11:56 We find this wonderful passage in 1 John. 12:00 And in 1 John 1, we read verses 7-9, 12:05 you know, sin's a daily struggle, 12:07 but there's daily help that the Bible gives us as well. 12:11 And so the Bible says, "But if we walk in the light, 12:14 as He's in the light, 12:15 we have fellowship with one another. 12:18 And the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son cleanses us, 12:20 or purifies us from all sin." 12:23 And so it's not just something in the Old Testament, 12:25 in Nehemiah's time 12:26 but it's applicable as well for the New Testament 12:29 and for us as well. 12:30 Verse 8 says, "If we say that we have no sin, 12:33 we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 12:37 Verse 9, "If we confess our sins, 12:39 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 12:42 and to cleanse us or to purify us 12:44 from all unrighteousness." 12:46 And so true worship comes from the place of realizing 12:49 how much God has forgiven us. 12:51 Yeah. 12:52 And what He has 12:54 and is doing for us as well today. 12:55 And I would say that, that's the worship 12:57 that's acceptable to God of Ezra. 12:58 Definitely. 12:59 The worship that comes from a pure heart, 13:01 and a right relationship with Him. 13:03 So, David, seems as we were looking here that 13:08 worship is an integral part of life for these, 13:12 for the Hebrew people. 13:13 Yes. 13:14 And one of the things that amazes me, 13:16 there were two choirs, 13:18 and they're brought up on the walls. 13:20 Now, if the walls are similar to what they are today, 13:22 you can get up on the walls 13:23 and you could have a lot of people up there. 13:25 And I've been on those walls 13:26 and you can just see it but to me, 13:29 we can reflect back 13:31 to when there was Ezra and Nehemiah. 13:33 And Ezra was really 13:35 leading one group in one direction. 13:37 And in verse 38, 13:39 it says the other Thanksgiving coir 13:40 went the opposite way. 13:42 And I was behind them. 13:43 Here is Nehemiah right behind all the choir people. 13:46 I don't know whether he was singing, 13:48 but at least it says he was behind them. 13:50 He was at the back of them. 13:51 And you know, it was quite a big pass. 13:55 So the two groups coming up on the walls 13:57 and then they'd come down into the temple area 13:59 singing and praising God. 14:01 What a beautiful activity 14:03 that must have been at that time. 14:04 So it's almost like worship, 14:06 the music, worship for music was brought to the people. 14:09 Absolutely. 14:10 You know, as I reflect on this, 14:12 I think of, I know, in our church, 14:15 there's been times 14:16 when we've gone to a retirement village 14:18 and some church members have sang for those 14:22 that are there in the retirement village 14:23 or in the nursing home, 14:25 and it just seems to lift their spirits, 14:26 you know, the music... 14:27 It does... Just uplift their spirits. 14:29 So it's wonderful to see, you can take, 14:31 actually take it to the people. 14:33 Now this wasn't just a concert, right? 14:36 This is just not just 14:37 a matter of the music concert, right David? 14:39 Well, no, and it moved the people to prayer. 14:41 And what I like about it, it says they were the women 14:46 and the children and who are involved 14:49 and the fact that they were involved 14:51 must have shown that 14:52 the city was secure at that particular time. 14:55 They had their walls, 14:56 and the women and children could come in 14:58 and worship as well. 14:59 And I think that 15:01 that's a significant part of the worship 15:02 'cause everybody was involved. 15:04 That's right. 15:05 I asked that question because, you know, 15:07 sometimes in churches we'll put a music concert on, 15:10 but it's not, it's not about that, is it? 15:12 It's about praising God and praying with Him 15:14 and the music 15:16 I think lifts people's spirits up, 15:18 and particularly when it's the Christian music 15:20 that we serve and much love, that does a lot for people. 15:23 That's right. That's right. 15:25 Worshiping Him in the beauty of holiness. 15:27 That's right. Absolutely. Well, let's go to Revelation. 15:30 I want to take us to Revelation 5:9, 15:33 there's another act of worship to read about here. 15:37 And, Morgan, I'm wondering if you can comment on this, 15:39 where this worship is taking place. 15:42 It says in verse 9, Revelation 5:9, 15:44 "And they sung a new song saying, 15:47 thou art worthy or you are worthy 15:49 to take the book, 15:50 and to open the seals thereof, for you were slain, 15:53 and have redeemed us to God 15:55 by your blood out of every kindred, 15:57 and tongue, and people, and nation." 16:00 What's happening here? 16:02 It's such a, an incredible and exciting window 16:06 and glimpse into worship in heaven 16:09 around the throne of God. 16:10 Absolutely. 16:11 You know, John, he in the context of Chapter 5 16:13 of Revelation, you know, 16:15 he, he's seeing in vision the throne of God. 16:18 He's seen Jesus there. 16:20 And you know, David, you mentioned before about, 16:23 you know, a coir of just under 300 16:25 and you know he in heaven, 16:27 you know there's this innumerable number 16:30 The vast universe you might say. 16:32 Yeah. 16:33 And these are the people who are praising God 16:36 because of what He's done. 16:37 He's the one who is worthy to redeem us, 16:40 the only one who's possible to do that, as well. 16:43 Yeah. 16:44 I remember growing up in the church, 16:46 you know, and not really understanding the gospel. 16:51 And so when it came to worship, 16:53 sometimes you sing, sometimes you didn't. 16:56 But once you come to know who Jesus truly is, 16:59 and He brings you 17:00 into this relationship with God. 17:02 And you come to experience the presence of God, 17:04 all of a sudden, you know, 17:06 songs take on new meaning and purpose. 17:09 I remember singing Amazing Grace, 17:10 as you know, growing up in the church 17:12 and not really understanding what that truly meant, 17:14 until I was an adult and I experienced God's grace 17:18 toward me as a sinner. 17:19 And then I sang that song with, with meaning and purpose. 17:23 So truly, truly want to, and to think that 17:25 we'll be doing this even in heaven 17:28 is quite incredible. 17:29 Now, were there any other aspects of worship 17:34 that we need to consider here? 17:35 It's not just music is it, in terms of the life 17:37 of the children of Israel, Morgan? 17:39 Yeah, we find too in Nehemiah 12:43, 17:45 the mention of sacrifices. 17:48 So the Bible says, "And also that day, 17:50 they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced." 17:53 They're not two mutually exclusive ideas here, 17:55 you know, sacrificing and rejoicing. 17:58 You know the Bible here sees them as synonymous. 18:01 It goes on and says, 18:03 "For God has made them rejoice with great joy. 18:06 The women and the children also rejoiced 18:08 so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off." 18:14 And so sacrifices, you know, the redeemed realizing that 18:18 God's you know, set them free. 18:19 Yeah. 18:21 A sacrificing to God for what He's done. 18:23 Yeah. 18:24 So it's not just a matter of killing an animal for sin, 18:27 it's part of worship. 18:28 That's right. 18:30 It brings forth worship, isn't it? 18:33 How central, David, 18:34 were these sacrifices, in the life if Ezra? 18:37 Well, they were most essential and, 18:39 you know, they look forward to the sacrifices of Christ 18:42 whenever their blood was shed. 18:44 They were looking forward to the Messiah. 18:46 And you know, when you come to Hebrews 9:22, 18:50 "But Christ came as a..." 18:52 Yeah, in verse 11, 9:11," But Christ came as high priest, 18:56 the good things to come with a greater 18:58 and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands 19:01 that is not of His creation. 19:03 Not for the blood of goats and cows, 19:04 but with His own blood, 19:06 He entered the most holy place once for all." 19:09 The children of Israel 19:10 were looking forward to this time 19:12 when the Messiah would come. 19:13 But shedding His own blood, what a thing that was, 19:15 that we might be able to be saved. 19:17 Yeah. 19:19 So this is central 19:20 to the Christian's worship today, David? 19:23 It really is. 19:24 And when you come to John, 19:28 the first chapter of the Gospel of John, 19:32 two times here, verse 29, 19:35 and verse 36, he talks about Jesus as the Lamb of God. 19:39 Here, John was obviously using a prophetic statement 19:43 that Jesus would be the Lamb of God. 19:45 And you know, you come over to Revelation 5, 19:48 where we were just a little while ago with Morgan. 19:51 Revelation 5? 19:52 And here again, 19:54 we see the whole of the universe praising God 19:58 because Jesus came and was slain. 20:03 "Blessing and honor and glory 20:05 and power be to Him who sits on the throne 20:06 and to the Lamb forever and ever." 20:09 And here you have 20:11 all the saints singing together. 20:13 I mean, we talk about a choir of 288. 20:17 But here, there are thousands and thousands upon thousands 20:21 singing praises to God because the Lamb was slain, 20:24 gave his life for us. 20:26 And those people 20:27 and particularly the angels saw all this happening. 20:30 And, of course, they were displeased that 20:33 it was going to happen, but now they can praise 20:35 because there was now 20:37 redemption throughout the universe 20:38 and particularly for our planet. 20:40 Yeah. Amen. 20:42 And we think of that in the Christian context, 20:44 the true Lamb of God has come 20:46 and so we're getting a picture here, 20:48 Morgan, of how impactful 20:51 this may have been for the Israelites, 20:53 the sacrificial aspect? 20:54 I suppose one thing about this song 20:56 is it's the conclusion of the Great Controversy story. 20:59 And people are so grateful that there is a conclusion. 21:03 And it's a conclusion of joy and happiness much 21:06 like they had in Nehemiah's day. 21:08 They were happy about 21:10 their reconstruction of the walls and the temple. 21:15 Yes. Nothing to be happy about. 21:16 But here we see 21:18 the reconstruction of our planet. 21:21 The planet was a sinful planet. 21:23 That's right, the restoration of all things. 21:25 That's right. 21:26 We can't imagine 21:27 what it'd be like to sing praises that day, 21:29 when we come to that full realization. 21:32 And you just think about us all singing Worthy is the Lamb. 21:36 You know, we have that in the Messiah 21:38 that was made by Handel. 21:39 And that's a beautiful anthem that they sing. 21:44 But this is even greater. So it's all because of him. 21:47 He's made it all possible for us, 21:49 He makes it all possible for us, 21:51 restoration in this life, and of course, 21:54 the restoration that will last for eternity. 21:56 Amen. I want to jump to Nehemiah. 21:59 Nehemiah 12:44, let's read that together. 22:04 Nehemiah 12:44. 22:09 It says here, "And at that time was some appointed 22:12 over the chambers for the treasures, 22:14 for the offerings for the firstfruits 22:17 and for the tithes to gather into them 22:19 out of the fields of the cities, 22:21 the portions of the law, for the priests and Levites, 22:24 for Judah rejoiced for the priests 22:27 and for the Levites that waited." 22:30 Why is there rejoicing here 22:32 over the priests and the Levites, Morgan? 22:35 Yeah, it's not in any sense giving, 22:37 you know, undue, you know, 22:39 rejoicing to the priests and not God. 22:42 But there's a very real sense 22:44 in which the role the priests had was, 22:47 was integral in interceding for the people. 22:50 You know, we again, 22:52 we come to things like offerings 22:53 and firstfruits and tithes, you know, these things were, 22:56 were so key to the civilization of God's people. 22:59 Yes. 23:01 And so the fact that they were not just interceding 23:03 for these things, but also, you know, 23:06 ministering the blood on their behalf, 23:09 the blood of the Lamb, which, which is we've looked at 23:11 so far is pointing to the Messiah, 23:14 you know, the Savior of the world to come. 23:16 And so, really the priests were there 23:18 to direct the minds of the people 23:21 to the hope would come through Jesus. 23:23 Yeah. 23:24 So they're very appreciative in other words, aren't they? 23:27 Very appreciative of that of the ministry 23:29 that they were performing. 23:31 What's the deepest message here, 23:33 David, in the sense of the ministry 23:35 of these priests and Levites? 23:37 Yes, I think the fact that 23:38 we mentioned before that they were looking forward 23:41 with the people to the Messiah, who is to come. 23:45 And as it says in Hebrews 9, that we read before, 23:49 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, 23:51 but with his own blood, 23:52 he entered the Most Holy Place once for all." 23:55 The priest must and even the high priest 23:56 must be looking forward to this time 23:58 when Jesus would take their place. 24:00 Maybe they didn't understand all the details, 24:02 but they knew the Messiah would come 24:04 that one day their sins will be forgiven. 24:06 The fact that they actually shed blood 24:08 at that time didn't bring the forgiveness of sins. 24:11 Only Jesus' blood could bring that forgiveness. 24:14 But they look forward to that time. 24:15 And that was the deeper ministry, 24:17 I think that they went into at that time. 24:20 And, you know, being, being a small nation. 24:22 You know, they weren't any, any means, you know, 24:24 that's huge, and, you know, 24:26 millions and millions, tens of millions of people. 24:29 But you know, for them, having this collective worship, 24:33 this collective sense of praising God of sacrificing, 24:36 you know, it would have strengthened them, no doubt, 24:39 but it also would have given security as well. 24:42 And so there's a message in here for us 24:44 to not just worship individually, 24:46 in solitude, but also collectively, as well. 24:50 And I think that's a really important part. 24:53 You know, we're not to just, 24:55 you know, praise God by ourselves in quiet, 24:57 but there's going to come a day 24:58 as we've looked at where the whole universe 25:02 will gather together in worship to God. 25:04 That's right. 25:05 I was asked recently by a gentleman I was visiting, 25:08 just started some Bible studies with a family. 25:11 And he said to me, "Is it okay if I, 25:13 you know, can you worship God and not go to church?" 25:15 You know, just as long as you worship God, 25:18 isn't that okay? 25:20 Just believe in God. 25:21 I said that doesn't quite fit 25:22 in with the context the Bible gives us about 25:26 coming together as a people. 25:28 People called into the salvation of Christ 25:31 and in worshipping Him together 25:33 and praising Him and receiving from Him 25:35 together as a people. 25:36 Yeah. 25:38 It's pretty hard to be singing on their own 25:39 and just with a little family 25:41 when you go to church and sing with 25:42 200 or 300 people maybe. 25:44 Yeah, that's right. 25:45 And it should be very uplifting. 25:46 That's right. 25:48 I recall just recently, actually, 25:50 we had a music group at the front of our church 25:52 and one of the girls as she was singing was crying. 25:56 And I thought perhaps she was upset. 25:59 Maybe something had happened. 26:01 And I thought for a moment, it didn't look good that 26:03 she was at the front of the church crying, 26:05 you know, out of the four ladies 26:07 that were, four or five ladies that were singing 26:09 this musical item. 26:11 And anyway, afterwards I asked her, 26:14 I said to her, Are you okay? Is something wrong? 26:17 And she said, "No, no." 26:19 She said, "No, I'm just crying because of the song." 26:23 The joy that was there. They were tears of joy. 26:26 We have the tears of joy, because it had so much meaning 26:28 as she sang about Jesus, had so much meaning for her. 26:32 And so it was wonderful to hear that response. 26:34 Yeah, that's good. 26:36 Now, priest's ministry, 26:38 the priest's ministry was not just 26:39 about making sacrifices, David? 26:42 No, it seems to be that they brought the Levites 26:45 also to sing, and to be a part of the music, 26:48 family and worshiping God. 26:50 So not only that, but I think that 26:52 the priests were also to set an example 26:55 to the people of how they could live. 26:56 Yeah. 26:58 And if they could live with joy and happiness, 27:00 that was one of their ministries out for sure. 27:01 Thank you. 27:03 Let's say the church has a similar role today, isn't it? 27:05 The Bible calls the church the... 27:07 a royal priesthood. 27:08 And so we have the role of ministering as well, 27:12 the salvation of Christ and bringing others in, 27:14 that they too may be joyful. 27:15 Amen. That's true. 27:17 Thank you, gentlemen, that's all we have time for. 27:19 Well, the gathering of God's people 27:20 for formal worship 27:21 was central in the faith of Israel 27:23 as we've learned. 27:24 It is the same for God's people today. 27:26 Our faith is deeply enhanced by presenting ourselves 27:29 as a church family to worship God 27:32 and claim His blessing. 27:34 We're glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. 27:36 You can watch this and other past programs 27:38 on our website, 3abnaustralia.org.au. 27:41 Teachers notes are available there. 27:43 You can email us on lgs@3abnaustralia.org.au 27:46 Looking forward to see you next time. 27:48 God bless. |
Revised 2020-03-02