I taught you in previous lessons that in the book of Genesis we see the seeds of understanding the king-priest ministry that eventually found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and his body the church. God told man in Genesis chapter 2 to cultivate and keep the garden.
The Hebrew word for cultivate is abad, and the Hebrew word for keep is shamar. These same Hebrew words are used to describe how the priest cared for the tabernacle of Moses. The tabernacle was a precursor to the temple of Solomon.
The priests were to cultivate and keep the tabernacle. In addition, we are told that God walked in the garden during the cool of the day. God also walked in the midst of the temple. The meaning is clear.
The garden was a temple for God. Like the temple, the garden was the joining together of God’s space and man’s space - the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm.
Adam was a priest who walked with God, bore his image, was clothed in his glory and demonstrated servant leadership in the garden. Adam was also a king created to rule, which means man was to be God’s representative in the earth and through man God was to exercise his rule and authority in the earth. God is seeking a people who will not only be redeemed from their sins but who will become His very dwelling place, His body, His priests. It has always been God’s desire from Genesis to the tabernacle in the wilderness, to the Temple of Solomon. However, the ultimate dwelling place is the heart of man. In the book of I Peter 2:5 it shows us that we are: Living stones, being BUILT UP INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE, a HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It is God’s desire to take us beyond the point of just knowing about Him. He is at work in our hearts and His desire is to LIVE IN US and WORK THROUGH OUR LIVES. Philippians 3:13 says, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Then we see in Ephesians 2: 10 that, “We are God’s masterpiece. He has CREATED US ANEW IN CHRIST Jesus, SO THAT WE CAN DO the good things He planned for us long ago”.
The switch from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant established through Christ blood, water and spirit is that everyone who receives him has entered into this priesthood.
It’s no longer according to the genealogy of man, but the new birth of the Spirit. I’ve taught you in previous lessons that God is Spirit and through the resurrection of Christ we have been given the very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. It is the down payment and guarantee that just as Christ was physically raised from the dead and given a new body in like manner we will too. However, right now we are called to be representatives of Christ displaying his nature of love, forgiveness and impart blessings to others because that’s what being a priest is all about.
The priesthood of the believer is about the Holy Spirit working through our lives to perform works of service and the Spirit giving us wisdom to implement the will of God. It’s a very simple focus upon the grace of God connecting us to the throne of the lamb in holistic worship dedicating our whole lives to Christ living through us. It’s the only way we can fulfill the original mandate given to man and fulfill our individual calling. It’s about being a part of the representative priesthood of Christ upon this earth.
As a part of the priesthood of Christ we are earthen vessels made of the dust of the ground, but through Christ resurrection and our identification with Him through the cross we have been given His power. The cruciform life is to be no longer us living, but us living our lives by faith working through love. In the last lesson we looked at how David revolutionized the concept of praise. If you have not listened to Lesson 25: Part I The Sacrifice of Praise I encourage you to do that first so you can get a better understanding. As we discovered in the last lesson, David setup his tabernacle on Mt. Zion and appointed four thousand who praised the LORD with the instruments which he made.
On Mount Zion where David set up his tabernacle he sponsored a four thousand strong full-time army of dedicated worshipers.
He oversaw the making of musical instruments and ensured his four thousand strong worship team were fully furnished. He divided them into shifts, and they ran three shifts of eight hours each. David set prophetic leaders over each worship team. For forty years David successfully implemented a twenty-four hours, seven days’ weekly worship. David established prophetic ministry leaders who were in charge of eight hours’ daily worship sessions in David's tent. Let’s take another look at the scripture in the book of Acts that speaks of establishing the tabernacle of David in the New Testament church.
Acts 15:6–18 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen, I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’
The issue that was being addressed here at the Jerusalem council was the issue of circumcising Gentile believers and bringing them under the Mosaic Law which the legalists wanted to do.
The apostles rejected the legalist position. It was clear to the apostles that all who believe are made a part of the body of Christ by grace through faith and freely given the Holy Spirit as an evidential down payment. In using this scripture, they clearly declared that the church is a many membered royal priesthood made up of both Jews and Gentiles purchased with the blood, water and Spirit of Christ.
The New Testament never mentions the using of instruments in relation to praising God and some would use this absence of mentioning instruments as a prohibition to musical instruments in the church. Now if we look at this scripture used by the apostles in regard to the church being a re-establishing of the tabernacle of David: then I think we can easily conclude that musical instruments should very much be a part of our gathering together, as a New Testament priesthood.
Music like money can be used for good or evil.
Music has the power to affect us in a powerful way and even scientists can confirm the power of music. Research findings have demonstrated that music supports our physical, mental and emotional health. It can help in regulating our emotions, improving our mood, and enhancing our productivity. Music is a great aid to help us concentrate, meditate and can even help us sleep better.
As we look at the Bible as our guide and lens by which we view the world we have to understand this one truth. The Bible does not tell us everything about world history or everything we need to know to make it through this life. The Bible is history, but its telling us the story of God’s redemptive history in time. It is God’s love story to humanity showing us His redemptive hand through the Hebrew people, his chosen vehicle to redeem a fallen humanity bringing us back to Himself.
As I’ve said throughout this school if you keep the main thing the main thing then you will stay on course. Covenant is the main theme of scripture from Genesis to the book of Revelation because covenant is God’s redemptive history.
It has been said by some that the book of Revelation is about praise declaring the final culmination of the redemptive story.
Revelation 5:6–10 says, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God.
Our worship here on earth is preparation for worship in the heavenly realm when we are in the fullness of God’s glory.
Galatians 3:26 reminds us that in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 NIV). It is our faith in Christ that unifies us and makes us One body. It’s the primary lesson that we get from Acts Chapter 15 when speaking of the tabernacle of David, however it’s also about the heavenly glory of God captivating the heart of man here on earth.
Jesus taught us to pray that the kingdom and will of God would be done on earth as it is in heaven. First of all, we are the earth that Christ wants to live as our bodies are to be a living sacrifice. The Incarnation is what I call Christ in us and us by faith allowing him to live His life through ours. It’s learning to lean on the strength of another whom you cannot see, but who is our covenant partner. It’s the cruciform life of faith simply relying on the grace of Christ to lead you, strengthen you, protect you and provide for you along your journey. It’s all about fulfilling God’s will for our lives through vertically loving God with all of our hearts and horizontally loving others as ourselves.
We have been saved so that Christ can live his life through us since we are his body in this earth. We are literally his hands and his feet on this earth as we walk along our journey.
It is a journey of faith from beginning to end. Paul wrote to the church in Rome telling them that the message of Christ which transforms us through the cross is the power of God at work in this creation, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first then people in all nations who will receive it. It’s Good News of how God brings us into union with Himself through the grace freely given through Christ. It is accomplished from start to finish and beginning to end, by faith. Praise is about declaring the wonderful works of God and there is power in praise! God has given us spiritual weapons and the sacrifice of praise is one of those mighty weapons to destroy the works of the enemy.
To the natural man praise can seem silly, fake or a waste of time, but to the spiritual man praise is a mighty weapon.
Chapter 11 of Hebrews is called the great hall of faith where the author tells us what faith is and how those who have done great things for God through the centuries have accomplished those acts by faith. Hebrews 11:1 says now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The New Living Translation translates this text saying faith shows the reality of what we hope for it is the evidence of things we cannot see. God’s Word Translation says it this way. Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. I like how the God’s Word Translations says it. To me it helps me understand that faith is a fully persuaded position that the unseen hand of God is moving in the tangible seen creation on our behalf to lead us, restore us, heal us and provide for us.
Hebrews 11:2–3 goes on to say that God has always accepted, walked with and provided for his people on the basis of faith. Faith convinces us that the unseen God created what we can see, hear, feel, taste and smell in this created space we live in. It was all done through the creative power of His word when He spoke, and it was done. The gospel of John chapter 1:1-3 says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen. It also means the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God is a more solid, stable and secure reality than the one we experience through our physical bodies.
God’s means of operation from the beginning has always been about speaking the word of faith because faith is the nature of God. It’s how He created all things which was His spoken word.
Faith is learning to trust in the unseen God who reaches into this tangible creation to take care of those who walk by faith. It is an amazing reality that everything that we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste with our five senses was made out of what you can’t see. In the dimension beyond what we can physically see with our natural eyes is where the real action originates. Do you see radio waves or Wi-Fi running through your house? No, you don’t. How about 5g transmissions? No, because it moves by the power of the air beyond what we see with our eyes. Do you see the wind? No. Now you can feel and see the effects of the wind, but you can’t see the wind.
We live in a spiritual world, but trapped in a physical body. Speaking the word by faith is the channel by which we pull the unseen into the seen and it’s the unseen hand of God that heals, restores, and provides for us.
It’s the river of grace flowing from the throne of the lamb and we just become the channel that the word of life flows through. It’s through declaring the mighty works of God by faith that the unseen realm of the kingdom is breaking in upon this world like a river. You can’t see it with your eyes, but you see its effect in the heart of man. When we lift up our voices by faith and live out our faith in this world, the kingdom of darkness is exposed, people’s eyes are opened, chains of addiction are destroyed as we live and speak the word of God.
Faith is the means by which the spiritual man operates. Faith could be called the mouth, hands and feet of the spiritual man releasing the life of God from the inside out.
Grace is about change from the inside out while faith is about releasing the power of grace from within our hearts to the physical creation bringing change to the created order. The power of the sacrifice of praise on your lips is a sword to release captives, fight spiritual battles or to encourage and protect wounded soldiers.
As a part of the royal priesthood each believer is to offer up the sacrifice of praise by faith. Praise opens the door of heaven to enter the earth and brings change in our hearts and the atmosphere around us. I find so many are wanting to change the world and we should want to impact this world with the gospel, but I think the emphasis should first be about the inward transformation of our hearts. If we allow the Spirit to change us from the inside out and we truly demonstrate the cruciform life of loving God with all of our hearts and loving others as ourselves, then people’s lives will be changed around us.
Jesus and his apostles were focused on the inward change that was produced through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ: not trying to force change on others through governmental power or political persuasion. Producing the fruit of the Spirit and displaying the nature of Christ should be one of the fruits of the sacrifice of praise on our lips.
The main change the Spirit wants to bring is transforming our hearts to display the nature of Christ. It’s about change from the inside out since we are the earth that needs to be ruled by the king of Kings first.
When you praise the Living God, He will manifest Himself in your times of need and fight your battles for you because we overcome this world, not by military or political force, but by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony and loving not our lives even unto death. Praise enthrones God to the place of highest honor so He can come and show himself in our lives and be 'our very present help' in times of need (Psalms 46:1). We are called to enter into the presence of God through the sacrifice of praise.
In Hebrews 13:15 it says that the sacrifice of praise is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. The word for "GIVE THANKS" in the Greek means to confess. So praise is simply making confessions of faith to the "Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (Heb. 3:1). Whether we have musical instruments or not, we can still lift up our voices and begin to confess God's goodness, mercy, saving power, love towards us because it will defeat the enemy of our souls and build us up, along with others.
King David, the man after God's own heart, showed us the way as a prophet, a priest and king. David was of the tribe of Judah, and he was both a warrior and a worshiper. It was David and those prophets he appointed in his tabernacle who wrote much of the Book of Psalms. Many of the Psalms are songs of praise about victory over the enemy and a passionate love for God. The scriptures says that David's hands were anointed to do warfare. When David would play his instrument to worship God the power of the Holy Spirit would come and set people free from the powers of darkness (I Sam 16:23).
It was David who wrote, "my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy I will sing, yes I will sing praises to the Lord."(Psalms 27:6). Through David's heart of praise God was able to come onto the scene and fight his battles for him. It was David who said, "the battle is the Lord's" (I Samuel 17:47). Through praise God is able to fight our battles.
There was another King of Judah who recognized the power of praise and his name was Jehoshaphat. This king was being invaded by foreign armies and he was told he would not even need to fight, for the battle was not his, but the Lord's (I Chronicles 20:15). This king, "appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised God" to go out before the army. As they went out "singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against" the enemy (II Chronicles 20:22). It was through the power of praise that the enemy was defeated. God inhabits the praises of His people and when God arises His enemies are scattered (Psalms 68:1).
The enemies of the Lord cannot stand when God's people lift their voices in praise to Him.
If you look at Acts 16:22 you can see that praise can open prison doors. Paul and Silas were following the Lord and doing His work when they found themselves beaten and put in prison for preaching the gospel. In this prison they had the opportunity to get down and become defeated by the schemes of the enemy. However, these men of faith saw the attack of the enemy as an opportunity for the Lord. It was at the midnight hour when, “Paul and Silas began praying and singing hymns of praise to God when there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were unfastened".
What can we learn from this lesson of praise? When the enemy attacks us and we are in a difficult place, we should not come under our circumstances, but look to Him who helps us. We serve a God who is abundantly available in tight places (Psalms 46:1) and when we lift up a voice of praise, He comes on the scene of our lives to help us. As we lift our voices up to sing praises to God, it will not only affect us, but all those who are around us.
The book of Hebrews encourages us to not forsake our assembling of ourselves together. We can’t fulfill our journey of faith isolated, we need others who will encourage us, strengthen us and build us up. Ephesians 5:18-19 encourages us as we come together to be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. Speaking out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments]. (Amplified Translation). When we are together as the people of God praising Him, we are also to build up and encourage one another.
One way we do this is through the simple gift of prophecy. In I Corinthians chapter 14 Paul declares that when we meet together as the body of Christ that prophecy is important for the building up of one another.
Prophecy played an important role in David’s tabernacle because it’s an aspect of the sacrifice of praise.
The simple gift of prophecy found in I Corinthians 14:1 is to simply declare truths through the inspiration of the Spirit. It’s not predictive, but it’s uplifting, for encouragement and consolation. It’s the Spirit helping us to love, encourage and spur one another on to love and good works. It may be 2 or 3 meeting together for prayer or in a large gathering, but as we praise God His manifest presence will come and we should prophesy to one another because it transforms our hearts.
In I Samuel 10:5-6 when King Saul was anointed to become king, he met "a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they" were speaking and praising God. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he was changed into another man.
In this text we see that through praise the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon us and change our lives.
When we lift up the high praises of God our lives become more open to the Holy Spirit because we give Him more of our lives. Through the sacrifice of praise the Holy Spirit's fire is able to come and transform our hearts. If we will lift up our voices in praise, then God will consume us with His presence and change our lives to be more like Him.
In the Tabernacle of David, they continually offered up the sacrifice of praise before the Ark of the Covenant, which was symbolic of God's manifest presence. As a holy priesthood we must continually offer up the sacrifice of praise and the Holy Spirit will manifest Himself to us. As we do this we will be changed, set free, and able to declare that the battle is not ours but the Lord's. The power of the Holy Spirit is available to all, we just have to surrender all to Him. Come before the Lord with singing, clapping, shouting, dancing, giving of thanks and you will declare along with Nehemiah who said, "the joy of the Lord is my strength?
The enemy will try and steal your joy, but take the weapon of praise and lift up the voice of triumph found at the Cross of Christ! Jesus is our VICTORY.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 27 - The Place Of Worship
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