Exalting the Lord — His Way . . .

 

After reading that survey yesterday about what people say makes them happy, I’ve had several thoughts. One item on the list was ‘being in control of my own life’ and while the attitude of going our own way rather than toward God is the root of sin, there are people in the world in slavery. The NT has much to say about the godly response of Christians who are slaves, however enslaving people is also sin. What then is an acceptable form of slavery? In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he said that he and Timothy were servants or bond-slaves of Jesus Christ.

It is interesting that evil spirits knew this. As Paul and his companions were going to a place of prayer . . .

We were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16–18)

Her words were correct, but their source was not the Holy Spirit. Why would a demon do this?

On the other hand, Paul’s goal was to exalt Christ and tell others the gospel. When he was in jail, he said:

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15–18)

The slave girl’s words annoyed him in contrast to those who preached to hurt him? Her words came from an evil spirit. This makes me wonder about cults and false teachers, even Christian preachers who use the right words with the wrong motives. Also, were these evil spirits trying to create the impression that they had the same interest in exalting Christ as did Paul? This is a lie!

There are many enemies of the gospel including those who twist it, those who preach it with false motives for personal gain, and those who are demonically influenced to make their evil motives seem good. I will not name names, yet some of these enemies are prominent, and draw large crowds in which some may actually be saved, but they are also making money and enjoying their power.

In contrast to the lifestyle and motivation of these enemies, the Lord said of Paul, “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15–16) Paul was a slave of a different kind, not to money, power, or personal gain. In fact, he gave up much:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain . . . . But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death . . . Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 1:21; 3:7–12)

This is profound. Paul exemplifies true slavery as well as true joy. He wrote from jail. His life was filled with struggles and yet his desire to exalt Christ gave him endurance in trials. His goal remained, even when facing Satan’s tactics to appear as ‘an angel of light’ or when others tried to out-preach him while he was in prison. His focus was to glorify Jesus and share the Gospel, not a false Jesus, not a false gospel, and not with self-centered motives. I need to be discerning of teachers and speakers on radio and television, and who write books. I also need to watch that my motives and actions line up with truth and never find their source in the world’s notions, the flesh’s selfishness, or the devil’s lies.

Lord Jesus, I am blessed to understand that You want my attitude and actions to line up with Your will. ‘God-talk’ is not always about God. False teaching is subtle and everywhere. The enemy and his cohorts disguise themselves and try to look ‘Christian’ to deceive people. May You keep me from all that, that I might glorify You.

MORE: Read Exodus 15:1–21 and Psalm 99 looking for ways I can exalt the Lord.

 

Why is more significant than how . . .

Worship takes many forms such as, fasting, prayer, praise, gratitude, singing, lifting hands, service, and silent reverence. However, Jesus stated it most succinctly when He said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Tozer writes, “Worship means to express in some appropriate manner what you feel.” He adds that this means we do not always express it in the same way all the time or in the same manner, just that it will happen.

I like what Jesus said because He clarifies that worship is from the heart and according to truth. I like what Tozer says because he clarifies that worship is expressed from an inner attitude and cannot be faked.

“For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” (1 Chronicles 16:25–29)

To worship in truth means giving homage to God according to His revelation of Himself. These verses say He is great and I should be in awe of Him, turning my back on worthless idols because God created all things, even the stuff that people use to fashion their idols. He is magnificent, strong, and a God of joy. He is worthy to receive all the honor I can give Him — and He wants me to worship Him in holiness.

As Tozer says, we are not told to worship Him in the same way, as if we are cookie-cutter Christians. I learned that at Bible school. Each day the student body attended chapel where we sang and worshiped God. I saw many different expressions of worship. At first some of it made me feel uncomfortable, yet I soon realized that these students loved the Lord, whether they stood in awe or were almost dancing in the aisles. Their expressions of what they felt about Him were as varied as their denominational labels, but all of it was in spirit and in truth.

Not only that, these variations brought us together. The hands-in-the-air people did not stand in one corner, nor the serious-faced types in another. We rejoiced in God together because those chapels were not about us but about our Lord and Savior — and God loves variety!

Part of the reason for this conclusion is simple: look at the world, even just the flowers in the world. Their faces are turned toward heaven yet even those with the same shape and name come in different colors. Also, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1) Of the billions of stars and heavenly bodies, each has its own distinctives, like snowflakes, blades of grass, and grains of sand. When I consider the handiwork of God, I must worship.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, what a delight to look at what You have made and marvel at the variety and intricacy of it all. What a joy to realize that I am part of that and You do not ask me to be like everyone else, just to be like me. You do desire that my worship be in spirit and from the heart, and that it be in truth and according to who You really are. You also ask that I worship You in holiness which is the most amazing thing because holiness is a gift of grace, a status bestowed on me because of Your sacrifice on the cross, Your death to give me life. It is because of You that I know who You are and because of You that worship is possible.