All right, well, beautiful singing. I’ve not met you. My name is Aaron, and I’m the preacher-pastor here. I’m glad you’re with us today. So, if you have a Bible with you, if you would open up to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter nine. Our textual study this morning will be verses one through fourteen. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are Bibles scattered throughout the pews, and it’s on page 583 if you want to turn there. So, Hebrews 9:11-14.
I’m actually going to read the entire passage this morning, and then I’m going to pray for the Lord’s blessing on this time, and then we will get to work through the text. So, Hebrews nine, starting in verse one, I’ll be reading out of the ESV.
So the Bible says:
“Even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared. The first section, in which there was a lampstand and a table and the bread of presence, is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was the second section, called the most holy place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, an iron staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot speak now in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but in the second, only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy place is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age. According to this agreement, gifts and sacrifices are offered. They cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but only deal with the food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctified for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
That’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?
Lord, thank you for this time. Grateful to be here. And, Lord, I pray that you would bless the preaching of your word for the glory of Christ. Please help me to be a good communicator. Help me to exposit this passage well. I pray for the congregation that you would give them ears to hear, that they would listen and rightly apply this word to their lives. I pray so in Jesus’ name. Amen.
So one of the truths we see in scripture is that God has birthed in our hearts a conscience. Now, our conscience is not free from mistake. There’s a score of a hundred on every exam. Likewise, we actually get so twisted around in our own sin. The New Testament tells us that we actually can, like, sever our conscience. But that being said, a conscience is something that God has given to mankind as a gift, a gift that can help guide us, direct us to good things. Or maybe at other times, a conscience is a gift from God that almost acts like a dashboard light in our cars, that warns us of some potential dangers ahead.
However, in scripture, one of the primary reasons why God has birthed a conscience in our hearts is to help us know that indeed there is a God, a God that we have been created for, one that we are to worship and to serve, one that we are to live in relationship with. Now, our conscience does not give us necessary information for us to know who this God is or how we are to properly worship him. So we actually need God’s revealed word to help us to know God and to know how we are to worship him in spirit and truth.
As mentioned, our conscience is still there to at least prick our hearts into knowing some general thoughts about God and our purpose to worship him. And this is why, as mankind, we can struggle actually with a guilty conscience if we’re not Christians. For those who are not yet Christians, like you, in a sense, you know some of your purpose, which the Westminster Confession so rightly states: that our purpose as mankind is to worship God and know him forever. But unless God reveals himself to you through his word, through his Spirit, who opens up his word, you can struggle in life with a conscience that will never be satisfied.
Which, by the way, I think is what the philosopher Pascal wrote about when he referred to, like, the God-sized hole in our heart. This is what our conscience is wanting to fill. This hole in our heart, left unfilled, as Augustine wrote, just leaves our life feeling restless. But it’s not just non-Christians, I should say, that can struggle with a guilty conscience; I think even more so actually Christians can struggle. Not only do we have a conscience, but we also have the Spirit of Christ living inside who convicts us as we get off course if we’re not living a life of faith in ways that are worshipful to our God.
Now, I share all this with you this morning to help set us up for a passage of scripture, a scripture that not only talks about the conscience, but how our conscience is satisfied. As through our passage today, we see in God’s revealed word how we are to come to God in ways that we worship and serve him in spirit and truth.
Before we get to our text today, just maybe a real brief reminder where we left off in our study of Hebrews. So right now, we’re in a larger section in this letter where the author of Hebrews continues to show why Jesus is a better and superior high priest in comparison to the high priests of the Old Testament, who ministered to an old covenant that God made with his people. This was a covenant where God’s people promised to follow his law, where in turn God promised to bless them, which was a good covenant in terms of the agreement that was made. But the covenant had a huge fault in that mankind continued to break the covenant with God by sinning, which required an old covenant meaning there would be a sacrificial system, which we talk about quite a bit more in our passage today.
So in Hebrews, Jesus is better, a superior high priest, an old covenant priest, because he is the one who ushered in a new covenant, which we talked about a lot last week. In this new covenant, God and God alone signs a covenant. So the entire new covenant will be based upon the Lord and his promises—promises that we know that he will keep. Because Hebrews has already told us that God cannot lie. And in this contract that God and God alone has made with his people, it’s one that he has signed and sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood that he shed as a sacrifice for his people on the cross.
As mentioned, our passage today in the next few weeks is part of a larger section of Hebrews where the author is very deliberate and very thorough to ensure that we, his readers, see just how much better and how much superior Jesus is, as he is the only one who can satisfy our conscience.
So at the intro, if you want to look back to me, starting at verse one, if you’re visiting with us, please just keep your Bible open. I’m just going to walk us back through the passage.
So verse one, which is the author picking back up some of the teaching in the Old Testament Tabernacle teaching, they touched on in our passage last week when he refers to the tent made by human hands, which was the tent that was made according to the pattern that God gave to a man named Moses. So in verse one, now, even the first covenant, referring to the old covenant, in that covenant, God laid out regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness, which is a place by which mankind could approach God.
Verse two of our text describes that place. It reads that the tent was prepared, where there were rooms. Inside the tent, there were rooms where in the first room, or the first section, which you enter into, that room had some furniture filled with it. In our text specifically, there was a lampstand and a table where the bread of presence sat upon. You can read more about this in Exodus 25, not just a point of interest for us this morning.
So last week, I mentioned the tabernacle seems to actually be a callback to creation, to Genesis one and two, where God and mankind dwelled together in the garden of Eden, which was like a temple-like place, where Adam, our first father, actually served like a priest-like figure. So if you remember, in that garden, there was a tree of life. Many scholars think that this lampstand here is meant to be like a tree of life type figure, as the lampstand had several prongs, three on each side and one up the middle. The bread of presence, which our text just mentioned, obviously, this is a meal. This communicates fellowship. This is what man had with God in the garden. In fact, this is why mankind was created—the purpose of living in fellowship with God. That’s what our conscience is longing for. Our conscience will not be satisfied until this is met.
So that’s the first room inside this tent, which is called the holy place. Verse three, if you want to take your eyes here or there. Then the author moved into the second room in the tent, one we actually talked about a few times in our study of Hebrews. As the author continued, he talks about this room, which was the most important, most significant room inside the tent, which in verse three of our passage is a room that was separated from the holy place and separated by a curtain, which you can read about in Exodus 26 in our text. The second section, the second room, this place is called the most holy place, or at times referred to as like the holy of holies. And this is like a cube-sized room where the fullness of God would dwell, which is why this was the most important room because God uniquely filled it with his presence unlike any other place.
Verse four, if you want to keep looking there, we see that that room also had some pieces of furniture in it. In our passage, we see there is a golden altar of incense, which, let me mention here, there’s some ambiguity in Exodus on exactly where this piece was located. In Exodus, it seems like the golden altar is located kind of right at the curtain, where it actually physically sat in the holy place, the first room. But it seems what the author is communicating here is how the effects of the incense, the smoke, would travel inside the most holy place to fill that room.
Verse four, the other piece of furniture inside this most holy place was the ark of the covenant, which is the most important piece of furniture inside the tabernacle because on the ark, this is where the sacrificial offering for atonement of sin would be offered up, which was the requirement of the old covenant, which we’ll get to a little bit more in just a second. But in verse four, we see that this ark was a beautiful box-shaped object in our text that was covered with gold on all sides. We also see that this ark had an inside compartment that was used for storage, where inside the storage unit, our text tells us, sat a golden urn that held manna, which you can also read about in the book of Exodus. Remember how manna was like this bread, like food that God supernaturally provided for his people as they were on the pilgrimage to the promised land?
In our text, we also see that inside the ark was Aaron’s staff that budded. Now, if you may remember, Aaron was the brother of Moses. He was the first high priest. And in Exodus, as God was appointing Aaron to be the high priest to give validation that this is indeed God’s desire, God made a staff sprout with almonds, which you actually read about in Numbers 17. This staff sprouting with almonds not only seemed to indicate some type of flourishing that God would grant his people through this priesthood, through this covenant, but this word ‘almond’ sounds similar to the word ‘guard’ or ‘watch.’ So it seems like there’s maybe a little bit of play on words here with the almond staff, as Aaron, the first high priest, was to guard, to watch over the tabernacle in similar ways in which Adam was to guard and watch over the Garden of Eden, with both the manna and the staff being stored in the ark.
Now, most agree this is the Lord reminding his people of the provision that he gave to them as he cared for them. This is something that the Lord did not want his people to forget. In the text, in the ark, we also read that the tablets of the covenant were also stored inside this box—the old covenant was there where God promised to care for his people, where the people promised to obey him. And that covenant, that contract, was written out on tablets.
Verse five. Above the storage portion of the ark, we see all the things that were just mentioned in verse four, but above that, there were the cherubim of glory on both ends of the box, overshadowing, covering the storage area. There also was a lid, which not to simply exist, it’s to keep the storage things covered up. But more importantly, this lid served to be a mercy seat, not to back up the cherubim of glory that overshadowed the ark. You read about this also in Exodus 25; it was the depiction of basically two angelic beings with wings that covered or overshadowed the mercy seat. I think this here was symbolizing God, the glorious one, who sits on the throne surrounded by his angels.
The mercy seat, as I mentioned, is a place that now was represented where the Lord would sit. This also was a place where the atonement was given by blood sacrifice, which happened once a year on the Day of Atonement, which verse six speaks of. But to finish off verse five, even though the writer of Hebrews spoke about the different pieces of furniture inside the tabernacle, even though he spoke about the first and second sections, verse five, he finished off by saying of these things—the different pieces of furniture, the two different rooms—of these things, we cannot speak in detail, not because the author of Hebrews didn’t know the information of those details or because that detailed information didn’t have importance. Rather, the author of Hebrews did not speak on those things in a more elaborate way because he didn’t want us, like his readers, to get so focused on those details that we missed the most important details that he wants to stress to his readers, which are details concerning the sacrifice, worship, and conscience.
By the way, kind of on this note, I think this here, this is the author kind of skimming over some of these details to focus on those more pressing details. This is the example, I think, of the scriptures talking about how there are more weightier matters of the law or how the death and resurrection of Jesus is of first importance. It’s like, no doubt everything in scripture is important; there’s value to it. But there are some aspects that are just weightier, of first importance that deserve more of our time, more of our attention, more of our thought, more of our focus, and more of our understanding. This is actually something we talked about a few weeks back. I think this is actually what Christian maturity and the ability to discern looks like, is to be able to keep the main things the main things, which is what the author of Hebrews is wanting us to do.
In the passage today, verse six says this: These preparations have thus been made with all the furniture placed where God desires for them to be placed. Then the priest would regularly go into the first section, the room with the lampstand and the table of presents, and the priest would go into that first section on a regular basis to perform his various ritual duties. Our text tells us that in these duties, the priests would do things like ensure the lampstand was lit, the oil was full, ensure the bread was properly prepared, and the incense was burning. The priest would do this like all the time. This was a very common or very regular part of his normal duties, where over and over again, the priests would go into this first section to perform these rituals.
We keep going in the text. In verse seven, but the second section, the inner room, the most holy place, the priest was only allowed to enter into that room one time a year, on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. And on that one day a year, the priest would very humbly, very fearfully pull back the curtain that separated the two rooms and enter into the most holy place, the very place where the fullness of God would uniquely dwell. Our text tells us the priest would enter in by taking blood of an offering, where the priests would take that blood and place it on the mercy seat as an offering, which our text tells us he first had to do for himself and then for the unintentional sins of his people.
Now, this offering, according to Leviticus 16, was actually a multifaceted offering that led up to the unintentional sins of the people. The pillar commentary in Hebrews summarizes the multifaceted offering, saying that first, for his own sins, the priest would offer up a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, which he had to do first before he could enter into the most holy place. Then he was to take the burnt incense to cover everything with smoke inside the most holy place, and the smoke would be like a covering for him before he entered in so he would not die.
So with the offering at hand, the incense providing a covering, the priest would then take the blood of his own sin offering and sprinkle it seven times before the atonement cover on the mercy seat, which is followed by the offerings of the sins of the people, which included taking two goats and a ram for burnt offering. So for the goats, what they would do is bring those before the priest, and lots were cast, whereas determined which goat would be marked for slaughter, where the other goat would be actually a scapegoat. And as the goats learned their fate, the priest would make the sacrifice of the one, which we actually do outside the holy place.
So for the second time, the priest would enter in, now sprinkle the blood of that goat as an offering on the mercy seat. After the priest performed this series of sacrifices, which included the unintentional sins of his people, he would leave the tent, go back to the scapegoat, where he pronounced a judgment on the head of the scapegoat by placing on the head of the scapegoat all the sins of the people, for letting that goat flee from them, taking the sins away.
Now, there’s a lot more taking place here. It’s going to be the whole process of what happens, like what the priests have to do afterwards and these various ceremonial cleansings that the priest had to perform. But to honor the intentions of our pastor today of these things, we will not speak in detail here so we don’t lose the main point with the author’s driving to us. So let’s just keep going.
Verse eight. By this, this entire one-time yearly priestly duty that took him into the holy, most holy place, that took the priest into the presence of God. By this, the Holy Spirit indicated to everyone involved—from the priest to the least of God’s people—a part of the old covenant, that the way into the holy place had not yet been opened to them as long as the first sight, which in verse nine of our passage—and I look there—this first section was symbolic. It was a parable, an illustration for the present age, which I think is speaking of the entire old covenant, this old contract that God and man signed, this contract that mankind continued to fail to keep.
Thus, if all we had was the old covenant, outside of the priests entering once a year, mankind cannot enter into the presence of God. In our text, according to the old covenant agreement, gifts and sacrifices that were offered, friends, they could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. It was not fulfilling. It did not fully satisfy. There were parts still missing. Because the gifts and sacrifices, verse ten of our texts, they dealt with food and drink and various washings and regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation, did not make us fully right with God. Meaning as real as the entire sacrificial system was, as real as God used these gifts and sacrifices, they never fully satisfied. They were faulty.
However, as we keep going, we do see the answer that will satisfy. We see the weightier matter. We see the thing of first importance, the object by which maturity and discernment have set our focus, the very thing the author did not want his readers to miss out on. So the text tells us. But when Christ appeared as the Lord Jesus Christ, as he came, as the truest great high priest of the good things that have to come, as he has come, he does so from a greater, a more perfect tent, one not made with hands (one that’s not of this creation), which is speaking of the tabernacle. Rather, as the Lord Jesus Christ has come, he did so from his heavenly tent, whereas Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the second member of the Trinity, as he came, he entered into the holy place just once for all.
This is already covered. Friends, this is so much different than the Old Testament priests who regularly went into the first section, performed duties, who each year had to go into the second place to perform duties. But Jesus, the great, the true high priest, he enters in for his people just once because that’s all that was needed. Because as the Lord Jesus Christ entered in, unlike the priests of old, he didn’t enter in with the blood of goats and calves, not just for the sins of the people, but for their own sins. But as Jesus Christ, as he entered in, he did so by the means of his own blood—the blood that he shed on the cross as the truest sacrifice of sin, as his sacrifice, the shedding of his blood on our behalf. That blood, our text tells us, secured an eternal redemption for all those who are called by him, for all those who call upon his name.
The reason why Jesus came to shed his blood is because, in verse 13, the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, which speaks of a defiled person, which is now the author also including some things that happen in Numbers 19, when sins through the blood sacrifice, through the ritual cleansing, if that was in a sense able to purify sins, purify his flesh.
Verse 14, so we’re going to end this morning. If God forgave sins through the faulty old covenant, through the priesthood, through the sacrificial system, through a scapegoat, friends, how much more will the blood of Jesus, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, where he would be the perfect, spotless sacrifice—the one true Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of his people. The truest scapegoat, the one who removes our sins as far as the east is from the west, so that through him we could be fully forgiven. Friends, it’s through Jesus, through his sacrifice, through our faith in him, friends, that’s where we finally and fully are able to satisfy—or in our text, purify our conscience—to purify him from dead works, where we actually are able to serve the living God.
We’ll just say it one more time. This is what we’ve been created to do, friends. We cannot satisfy our conscience by any of our own acts. That is, by placing our faith in Jesus Christ is by turning from sin and turning to him. Friends, that’s how we can have a relationship with the living God, one that satisfies. And if you have a relationship with the living God, you know how satisfying that is. Friends, there’s nothing better than knowing, believing, trusting, following, obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where our conscience is satisfied.
Now, there’s a close time here; I just want to keep pushing what our text is speaking towards the conscience. How I wanted to close is just by speaking about our conscience, by using the four church pillars that we have to help us provide maybe some application for today’s text.
So first, something I’ve mentioned a few times already: worship. Our first pillar: worship alone can satisfy our conscience. The true worship of worshiping the one true and living God, which comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, worship alone can satisfy our conscience.
Now, for those who are here who are yet Christians, who are not yet trusting in Jesus Christ, friend, as you look for meaning and purpose in your life, as you look, and you can maybe feel a guilty conscience as you look, can I be honest with you? You really ought to listen to your conscience before your conscience becomes seared. The guilt that maybe you’re feeling is true. Listen, there’s real guilt that’s on you. Because when left to your own sin, you are indeed guilty before God. Because of sin, because of the guilt, the curtain between you and God still remains, which not only keeps you from entering into the fullness of God’s presence, but that curtain is actually an indication of judgment on you. And there are no works that you can do on your own to wipe away your guilt, to remove God’s judgment from you.
That’s why our text even talks about like dead works. Even your best efforts, scripture tells us, are like filthy rags to God this morning to appease your conscience, to find atonement for sin. Listen, I got good news for you: you can have eternal redemption, but the answer for that eternal redemption is not within. Rather, I want to invite you to turn from sin and turn and trust in Jesus to worship him as he’s revealed to us in his word. To worship him in spirit and truth, in ways that not only do you believe indeed that Jesus is God’s eternal Son, but you believe that he died and rose again for you to bring about forgiveness of your sin.
And within that, you believe that Jesus is better; he is superior; he is actually the one worth leaving all things in order to have. Your conscience will not be satisfied unless you enter in through the curtain. That is Jesus, Jesus alone. That is where your conscience will be satisfied.
Now, for those who are Christians who have faith in Christ, if you’ve been living in ways where your conscience is maybe a bit uneasy, where you’re feeling conviction—maybe on some choices, decisions—I want to speak just a few things to you. First, I do want to remind you there is no guilt on you. That’s the message of Jesus Christ, who entered in one time to bring about forgiveness of sin. Because on the cross, Jesus took away all of our sin, all of our shame, all of our guilt on himself to set us free, so that now there’s no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Now, as I say that, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do something with your conviction or matters of conscience you’re wrestling with. So I’ll talk about more in just a bit. But as you work through convictions, you work through matters of conscience, do so in ways understand that in Christ there’s no condemnation on you.
Second, for you who are Christians, where you’re feeling matters of conscience and conviction, let those drive you back to worship. I mentioned at the start, our conscience. For Christians, we also have this conviction of the Spirit living inside. There can be like warning lights going off on the dashboard. And as these warning lights are going off in your conscience, pay attention to those in ways that you’re maybe trying to discern to see if these warning lights are legitimate. But if these warning lights, if they do line up with the truth of God’s word—sometimes our conscience, sometimes our convictions, sometimes they can be wrong—that maybe they’re not actually coming from the Lord but maybe come from our own insecurities or maybe some false beliefs, or maybe fear of man, or maybe the approval of man.
So we do need to make sure that whatever conviction, whatever matters of conscience that we’re wrestling with, we do need to make sure that they do line up with God’s revealed word. And if they are as they are, let them drive you back to worship where you’re turning from whatever sin that maybe you are entertaining. Who is your actively fleeing sin to worship? Jesus Christ, who you know is better, who you know is superior, who I hope you know always receives his people of faith, who run to him as he receives his people as their great and sympathetic high priest, who delights in ministering to his people in our times of need, where he loves to minister his people with his mercy and grace to give us help.
Now, let me just give you three ways, if you are having matters of conscience and conviction, by which you might display your worship. These are the final three pillars of our church.
So second, friends, connecting. This is a real way in which we worship. Now, we do have to be careful that we don’t worship connecting, which can be an easy thing for us to do, that connecting becomes a goal more than worship. However, that being said, as a church body, we believe that one of the more clear truths of scripture is that God has designed his people to live in relationship with him and with each other. In fact, living in a relationship with each other is actually also part of our design in creation.
So one of the real ways we seek to worship the Lord is actually by connecting with other believers in ways that honor the Lord. We’re helping each other to worship the Lord. We’re actively spurring each other on to do good works that are not dead, but good works are filled with life that bear fruit for the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. Dear Christian, if your conscience, your conviction is a little uneasy, I wonder if perhaps this is something you need to explore, to look at your life, to see if you’re connecting with others in Christian community. If you’re connecting in ways that you’re spurring each other on, to help each other use gifts, do acts of service, helping each other to grow.
Next thing, if you’re having matters of conscience and conviction, friends, growing is a real way in which we worship. Spiritual growth is a fruit that comes when one’s life is filled with the worship of God, where God is growing us through his word, where he’s growing us in our desires to obey his word, where he’s growing us in ways that we talked about last week or a few weeks back in Hebrews five, where we’re growing into maturity, we’re actually actively teaching others about the faith, which, by the way, I know can be hard. It can feel costly; it might require us to get out of our comfort zone. But friends, if we’re to grow, we have to trust the Lord and take steps.
By the way, if you’re looking for areas to grow in this way as a means of worship of God, which I hope you are, there’s a book in the back called “Discipling.” There are only a few left, but you’re welcome to that book. It’s a really helpful book. Or if you’re interested in mentoring or even leading some type of small group where you can teach others, please come talk to me. If your conscience, your conviction is a little uneasy, I wonder if God is maybe chipping away some areas of your life where he’s pushing you to grow.
Last one: going is a real way in which we worship. That’s the real way we worship our God, where we declare the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ to the world around us, starting with the people God has already placed in our lives—our neighbors, our family, our friends, our coworkers, people we interact with as we go through our various hobbies and interests. We go to them to tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let me read you a quote that I love. I’ve actually not read this for you, to you for a while. This comes from the book “Let the Nations Be Glad,” which also is a great book. This is how the book starts out. It says, “Missions, or for us, going, is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It’s a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the people in the greatness of God. The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts be glad.”
From Psalm 97: “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,” which is a quote from Psalm 67. But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t command. We do not cherish missions; we will never call out, “Let the nations be glad.” We cannot say from our own heart, “I rejoice in the Lord; I will be glad and exalt in thee; I will sing praises to thy name, O Most High.” Missions begins and ends in worship.
And, friend, if you know in your heart, your conscience, if you’re feeling a little uneasy, perhaps maybe this is something you need to look at as well. See, when’s the last time you went to the world around you to tell them about Jesus Christ? Going is not the problem; worship—the lack thereof—that’s where our conscience, that’s where our conviction, that’s where we feel it.
So this morning, let me invite you to respond to the conviction of our faith and worship the Lord in ways that you can’t help but declare God to others. You can’t help but tell people about Jesus Christ. It’s like bubbling out of you in worship. And by the way, if this is something you need some help with, get some good news for you: next week, Wes and Ben are starting a Sunday school class after school on this topic. As an act of worship, we would love for you to go to that at Reveals Church.
May God give us the grace to live out our life in line with God’s word in ways that we have set our hearts and minds to worship Jesus Christ in spirit and truth. And if and when we get out of line, may we feel his conviction, his loving conviction, stop where we’re going and turn back to him, the one who alone can satisfy our conscience.
Let’s pray. Thank you for Jesus Christ. Thank you for all that Jesus has done and is doing for us. And, Lord, thank you for his blood that was spilled on our behalf. And, Lord, I do pray that today that would help us to worship Jesus in spirit and truth in all areas of our life, whether it be for the first time or maybe just the next time. Please help us to worship you in ways that we connect well, that we’re growing, that we’re going. Lord, I pray that Red Village Church would just be a place where much glory, much glory is given to Jesus, who is always better. In his name we pray. Amen.