I was invited to minister on the 7th of December, 2013 at the monthly Women Breakfast Meeting of Woodcliff Community Reformed Church in North Bergen, New Jersey. Here is the transcript of my message. I pray it ministers to you as it did me and them.
I’m honoured to be in your presence today and I pray that you’d see less of me but more of God as we spend time discussing His Word. I bring greetings from my family and sisters at FRC Fort Lee and RCCG The King’s Court in Hackensack, they were to come with me today but other events took precedence. Today we will be reminding ourselves of how to study the Bible as we weave the beautiful story of Jesus Christ around the theme of Worship.
Let us pray. Father, I thank
you for this opportunity to learn at your feet and grow thereby. As we enter
into your Word, may we receive new life and understanding through which we will
grow in the light of your Word in Jesus name.
How many of us do personal
Bible Study or what some call quiet time or time alone with God or time with
Jesus? We need to. It is required of us and I am happy to let us know it can be
simple and enriching. So what do we need? First a willing spirit to know Him
more and yield to being taught by Him. Secondly, time and space to be alone.
Thirdly, resources e.g. The Bible, Bible Guide, Jotter, Pen and if you are not
new to study, a concordance.
How do we go about it? First
you plan (if using a guide just determine the best location and time for what
you plan to do. If not using a guide, you need a topic or what others have
written about the topic of your choice). Then pray then proceed then pray again.
By the close of your study, you need to meditate on what you have read, connect what you have read to you and those close to you, make a
decision to live by what you have read and pray. I need someone to
share her short study prayer with us. Thanks for sharing; for those who are new
just understand that prayer is talk with God. This prayer can also be used as
guide:
Dear Lord, as I try to learn about you and your commandments, may I seek
the truth in all things. May I look upon the Bible as the authority that comes
from you. May my heart be receptive to your truth, and may I have the courage
to change my life when I am shown the truth. May I be honest and sincere in
this study, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Today our theme is Worship Jesus the King and our
reference is Luke 2 and Matthew 1:18-2:23. As part of proceeding we need to
read. May I ask us to read three verses each? For the purpose of this study,
we’ll look at 4 salient points:
- The Prophetic
Birth of Jesus
- The Call to
Worship
- Worthy Worship for
the King
- Invitation to
Worship
If you are studying the Word
of God with a guide, just prayerfully follow the guide. If without a guide, you
can look up these themes via the concordance where you’d be directed to what to
read or research ahead for what other credible resources have written.
The Prophetic Birth of Jesus
So how was the Birth of Jesus
foretold? Let’s all read Daniel 9:24-25
God said the prophecy would begin “from the going forth (the issuing) of
the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem...” At the time God gave Daniel
this prophecy, Israel was a slave nation under Babylon; however, God had
foretold that the enslavement would last 70 years. This 70-year period was
coming to a close; non-Jewish history records that the Medo-Persian emperor
Artaxerxes issued such a decree on March
14, 445 B.C. Therefore, precisely 173,880 days from this day should bring us to some
significant event in Jesus’ life which presented Him to the nation Israel as
their Messiah.
If you study the book of Nehemiah, you will find the account of the
Jewish pilgrimage to rebuild Jerusalem following King Artaxerxes’ decree. The
prophet Nehemiah assumed charge of this rebuilding effort, which was carried
out in such extreme hardship and danger that the builders carried swords with
them as they built the walls. Thus was fulfilled precisely the prophecy in
verse 25b, “...it shall be built again with city square and moat, but in
troublous times.” Nehemiah 4:17. God also foretold to Daniel the exact day on
which Messiah was to announce Himself as King. The learned Magi knew of
Daniel's prophecy and of his reputation of reliability in such matters. They
knew the story recorded in Daniel, where their own Zoroastrian brethren had not
been able to interpret the King's dream, but Daniel's God had revealed it to
this Jewish prophet, and Daniel had used this information to save the lives of
the Magi! To the Zoroastrians, Daniel was a phenomenal individual, one whom
they had greatly respected in every generation of Magi since Daniel. Therefore,
just prior to Jesus’ birth, they must have been buzzing with anticipation,
because they knew they were living within the lifetime (approximately 30-40
years) of the completion of the specified time period. They knew that, if someone
were to announce Himself as Messiah in just 30 years, he would have to be born then.
So the Magi were actually looking for a sign. The Holy Spirit was also not
leaving anything to chance, and was prompting their minds to anticipate and
properly understand what they were about to observe.
The Call to Worship
Who were called to worship?
Astrologers! (Matthew 12:1) Star-seekers “from the east” probably Persia where the Jews were exiled many
years earlier. Due to Daniel’s influence, these men were familiar with the
Scripture’s predictions about a great leader who would be born in Bethlehem.
They understood the times, seasons and believed the prophecy
of Jesus’ birth. In the eyes of you and I, these were unworthy men; why should
they be called to worship when they were not Christians. Let’s see what Luke
19:10 says: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost.” These seekers were busy in their career; they weren’t
loafers, they weren’t lazy, they were focused on the aim of deriving meaning
and wisdom from studying the stars. Today God still calls out to those who
diligently seek the truth. Hebrews 11:6 says But without faith it is impossible to
please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
So they were called to seek and directed to
worship and adore Him. They did not seek to share, deny or usurp his power like
Herod. How? They accepted what God showed them by means of a star that is
different from all the stars they have studied so attentively. But how did they
differentiate this star and knew it carried Messianic prophetic
significance? Remember that the birth was foretold, not only in Daniel 9:24-25
but also Isaiah 9:6. They knew the times and understood the sign (Isaiah
7:14). Today God keeps calling those who are lost but not all those who are
called yield. The Magi paid such attention to detail as is expected of us
today, Amos 3:7 says, Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he
revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Though they went first to King Herod, the
enemy who feigned interest to worship the King, their desire to worship in
spirit and in truth made God reveal Herod’s real intention to them.
Worthy Worship for the King
What is worship and how did the Magi give worthy worship to the King?
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery says, “Worship is first and
foremost a verb, an action” (p.970). This is revealing because so many equate
worship with either a place (usually a building) or a feeling. The underlying
concept of worship in Scripture is that of service and homage consisting of
both an attitude of deep respect and adoration to the one revered. Worship
includes and involves highly regarding and then serving the one revered.
Worship was laborious until Jesus came. A consecrated priest had to make sacrifice
in a condoned off place sealed by a veil called Holy of Holies once a year and
that was on the Day of Atonement, which the Jews still celebrate as Yom Kippur.
The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant with a cover on which sat
the cherubim, which is referred to as the Mercy Seat. But following Jesus birth
and ministry, He gave himself as a living sacrifice and the mode of worship
changed. This change was shown to us following his birth by the Magi and again
and again throughout his life. When Jesus said it is finished at death, the
veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the tabernacle split into
two symbolizing the fact that we could now approach God directly since He paid
the capital price with His own life Matthew 27:51. His blood replaced the
sacrificial offering in the tabernacle. John 15:1-7 talks about the true vine…
We can only worship God through Jesus Christ.
Worship is an internal decision that creates an attitude,
which is acted outwardly. The Magi acted on what they heard from God by seeking
Jesus. Matthew 6:33 say, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all other things
would be added to you. As they sought, their knowledge, wisdom and
understanding increased. Would they have sought Jesus if they didn’t believe He
is King? No. What was their act of worship? They knelt and bowed; they fell on
their faces, in humility and in reverence then they presented their gifts in
gratitude and thanksgiving. Matthew 2:11 says, “After coming
into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the
ground and worshiped Him.” The wise men are so called because they yielded to
the call and acted to worship baby Jesus by making the journey bearing
significant gifts, which suggests that they were being prompted by Daniel's
prophecy, and fully understood the prophetic and religious implications of
Jesus’ birth, ministry and death. Consider the gifts they presented to Jesus:
- Gold - Daniel said in 9:25 that the coming Messiah would be a “prince”.
This term denotes royalty. The most valuable metal of the time was the
perfect gift for a king.
- Frankincense - God said in Exodus 30:34-36 that frankincense
was to be prepared for the “purpose of sacrificial fumigation”. Jesus
Christ was killed on Calvary as the Perfect Sacrifice, which would be
acceptable to God to take away the sins of all who would accept it. Did
Daniel's prophecy reveal this sacrificial aspect? Yes! In 9:26, God revealed
that Messiah would be “cut off” meaning sacrificially killed. The priests
also used frankincense during the regular service in the Temple; as such this
gift could also point to Jesus Christ as a priest, whose office is known
for service rather than being served (Matthew 20:28) and the ultimate High
Priest, an office, which He assumed after His ascension into Heaven.
- Myrrh - The Jews used Myrrh as a burial spice for embalming and to mask
the odor of decay. John 19:39-40. This gift foreshadows Jesus’ divine
mission of giving His life to bring salvation to mankind.
But their worship did not end there, as they left the King
of kings they defended him by not returning to the enemy. They also continued
to talk about their experience, which we can call witnessing – Matthew 28:19-20
enjoined us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. The Magi who were also referred to as shepherds made their
experience a matter of public confession and praise. They returned,
glorifying and praising God, in concurrence with the holy angels. If others
would not regard the report they made to them, God would accept the thanksgivings
they offered to Him. They praised God for what they had heard from the
angel, and for what they had seen, the babe in the manger, as it
had been spoken to them. They thanked God that they had seen Jesus Christ,
though in the depth of his humiliation.
Invitation to Worship
How well do we defend the King in our life?
True Worship rests in believing and accepting that Jesus is
Holy. My dear sisters, we can’t afford to believe or accept Him with pride but
with the spirit of submission, obedience and reverence. The Magi worshipped.
Today, there is a demand placed on us to worship and adore him. Worship is all
about who Jesus is and Christmas is all about Jesus. Seeing what the
Magi did, can we say that we are worshipping God the way we should? We need to
note that, it is not only sin that can separate us from God; our levity in
worshipping Him can also create a bridge between the King and us. Remember
Cain. Do we join others to say Happy Holidays or we defend our King in worship
by retaining the true meaning of Christmas – proclaiming our faith in Jesus
Christ and worshipping the King in spirit and in truth.
The Magi did not think themselves older than a baby; they
sought with purity of heart. They did not consider themselves experts; they humbled
themselves and acknowledged their limitations. They may have done something wrong
– sinned, by going to Herod first but they came to a point of realization and
knew not to return to that sin. They accepted the grace of being led to find Jesus
by the divine act of God, the grace of salvation, which offered them genuine
peace, security and joy. They found all these when they found Jesus.
To truly rejoice at this
Christmas time, one must view the event through the eyes of faith, like Mary
and Joseph, the shepherds of old, the Magi from the east, and a handful of
others. We must look beyond appearances, and see the reality. Appearance made
it seem like Jesus was conceived in fornication but reality is that the birth
of Jesus was via divine conception. We
must understand the event in terms of the prophecies of the Old Testament
Scriptures and in the light of the revelations given at the time of His birth.
Some are neutral
towards Jesus, interested in their own goals of giving and receiving of gifts and
unconcerned with the miraculous story of Christ’s birth. Others are hostile
toward the name of Jesus and all it represents. A few will truly worship Him
this season. I pray that like the wise men, you will fall on your face before the
King and adore Him with all your heart. Set aside all the busyness and
festivities of the season and make time to honor Him with your life and words.
Let the beautiful story of Christ’s birth motivate you to worship the One who
died so that you might have eternal life. The
wisest thing the Magi did was worship; will you worship the sovereign God.
Sing: All Hail the Power of Jesus name…
Sisters, our circumstances does not change the fact that we
were created to worship and worship is His due. When I lost my mother recently,
I wondered why it was necessary to continue to devote time to praying because I
had prayed so much yet God’s will overruled mine in the area of keeping my
mother alive. Her absence in body caused me so much pain such that instead of
words I had and still have tears. But one thing is certain, how I feel does not
change the fact that worship is due to The Redeemer and my being has not being
able to stop worshipping The King. In spite of where we are on the journey of faith,
He demands our worship. If you would like to give your life to Jesus or rededicate
your life to His worship, please stand where you are and place your right hand
on your chest as we pray
together – Dear Lord, we come humbly to you afresh, we ask for your forgiveness
and your love. Please blot out our transgressions and renew our fellowship with
you. Take over the affairs of our lives so that we may reign here on earth and there
with you in eternity. Help us to see you more clearly, love you more dearly and
follow you more closely day by day. Guide us to grow in you. In Jesus name we
have prayed. (If you made that commitment, please endeavor to see any of the
ministers or leaders for guidance on walking in faith.)
As we
close, may we bow our heads for prayer:
Dear God,
we thank you for the grace to learn and grow. As we continue our faith journey,
help us to worship and defend you as truly as we should. In doing so, help us
to draw others to you so we can expand the community of those who can share the
joy and beauty of salvation. I pray that God’s love would continually be available
to us as we grow in the area of doing His will. Thank you for all the beautiful
women gathered here; you know ours hearts, you see our pain, help us to believe
in your Word and truly accept your loving arms and live daily knowing that your
grace is sufficient for us. In Jesus name I pray.
Thank you and God bless.
