CREATING GLORY
Kings and Priests part 7
KINGS AND PRIESTS part 7
Worship with Understanding!
Let me share with you a True Statement that I want to build upon…
New Testament Priests offer Sacrifices and Kings wage Spiritual Warfare
The process of growth to maturity
Let’s review a little from the last message…
Like everything in the Kingdom of God, walking in this Great Calling as New Testaments Priests of God.
1 John 2:12-13 shows us three stages of Spiritual Growth:
1. Little Children
2. Young Men
3. Fathers
These three relate to the 30-fold, 60-fold and 100-fold aspects of Spiritual Growth that Jesus spoke of in the Parable of the Sower seen in Matthew 13:8.
Living as Royalty
Remember, what the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
As “Royalty” we are Princes and Princesses!
And, as Princes and Princesses, we must learn the Ways of The Kingdom before we can sit on the Throne with Jesus!
Our goal is to grow up in the Lord so we can function as New Testament Priests faithfully giving our Offerings to God…
Priestly Offerings
We have talked about Three Distinct Offerings:
1. Giving God the Sacrifice of Praise with our Worship!
2. Giving our Finances for The Work of the Ministry!
3. Doing Good Deeds and Sharing what we have!
Every Child of God can do these things and, as we continually Offer these “Sweet smelling Sacrifices” to God we will continue to Mature as New Testament Priests!
Remember, before we can fully function with Authority in the Realm of Kingship we must begin to Mature as Priests first…
I want to build upon this Statement now.
New Testament Priests Worship and offer Sacrifices and Kings Wage War…
Since we are called to be both Kings and Priests, we must combine the two somehow!
You see, we are called to a Dual Role.
We are called to be Priests who are Worshiping Warriors!
And our starting point in this Spiritual Process is to Learn how to become True Worshipers (John 4:23-24) for that’s who The Father is looking for!
A Worshiping Warrior Example
Now, we can use David as an example because David was both a Worshipper and a King… And we know that he was a Worshiper long before he became a King!
If we look into the Psalms of David we will find the keys to living in this “Dual Role”.
David says repeatedly in the Psalms to “Give God Glory”…
Look at what he says in Psalm 66:1-2 Make a joyful noise and shout for joy to God all the earth. Sing and make glorious music unto His Name. Make His Praise Glorious!
Let’s break that down…
David, the Worshipping King is telling us to:
Ø Make a joyful noise and Shout for Joy!
This is talking about Blowing the Rams Horns and having the people shout in a Joyful, Victorious Way!
Ø Sing and make glorious music unto His Name!
Sing is the word “Zamar” which means to play instruments and Celebrate Him with Songs
Ø Make His Praise Glorious!
The word of Praise here is “Tehillah” and it goes way beyond just good singing and music and entertainment.
This is talking about “Praising God with Songs that are filled with Glory!”
Ok… But how do we give God Glory? How can we Praise Him with Glory filled songs?
How to Give God Glory
When The Bible tells us to Give God Glory we must wonder; “How do we do that?”
Because you can’t go to “The Glory Store” and buy some!
Glory is not for sale anywhere!
So just how do we actually “Give God Glory???
Well, The Bible shows us how…
We have to Create it!
Let’s go to The Word of God again and see what it says…
Going to The Word is vital for us because if we are going to “Worship in Spirit and in Truth” then the way to do that has to be in God’s Word because, as Jesus said to The Father; “Thy Word is Truth!” John 17:17 KJV
And, in John 17:22 KJV, Jesus says that “He has given us the Glory” that the Father gave to Him!
Therefore, Glory is within us. We don’t have to go anywhere to get it! We have to find out how to release it!
The Word says that it is deep within our Innermost Being or our “hearts”.
And in the Bible, Glory is likened to Rivers.
So, look at what Jesus said in John 7:38-39 (NASB)
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being (that’s where Jesus placed ‘The Glory’) will flow rivers of living water.‘” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
So, Jesus is talking about The Holy Spirit being inside of us in our “Innermost Being”… And that through Him, The Holy Spirit, out of our Innermost Being we can “release Rivers of Living Water” which is Glory!!!
With Understanding
Let’s look at two Scriptures… One in the Old Testament and one in the New…
Psalm 47:7 (NKJV)
“For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises (Zamar) with understanding.”
Now the word Zamar means to play instruments and Celebrate Him with Songs…
Now, look at what the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:15 (KJV)
“What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
So, there is something that we have to “Understand” about Praying and Singing…
Worship or Entertainment?
If we are going to make His Praise Glorious there has to be a lot more going on than just playing instruments and singing because even the unsaved and the heathen can do that!
Some play instruments and sing and they call that Worship. But Jesus talked about “True Worship”… and there’s a big difference between those two!
Sadly, most of what the Church calls Worship today is really nothing more than Entertainment and Talent on display!
You see, if we want to “Worship in Spirit and in Truth” then we must “Praise God with Understanding”…
What that looks like
Let’s look at a Psalm of David and compare how it is written in the Old Testament and then see how it is translated in the New Testament.
It will show us about “Giving God Glory”!
Psalm 16:9
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: and my flesh shall rest in hope.”
Acts 2:26
“Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced! And, even more, my flesh shall rest in hope”.
Where The Old Testament says “Glory” The New Testament says “Tongue”…
That’s seems strange unless we apply the “Understanding” Paul speaks of to both of these words.
The word “Glory” in the Old is translated “Tongue” in the New because the Apostle Luke knew that the proper use of our tongues in True Worship is how we give Glory to God.
When we Sing unto the Lord from our Heart, from our “Innermost Being” and we do that “with Understanding” we are releasing Rivers of Living Water and, that Living Water is Glory!!! And that’s how we “Give God Glory”!
Look at what David says in Psalm 30:11-12 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 so my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Here again, you can see that the word Glory is speaking about our Tongues!
Just think of it… No, better still… UNDERSTAND IT…
Your Tongue is a Glory Maker!!!
When you Prepare Your Heart… When you Sing and Make Music unto the Lord with Understanding and Intentionally use your Tongue as a Glory Maker you will be Creating Glory and giving it to God!
You can see this again in Psalm 57:7- 11 Let’s break it down piece by piece.
“My heart is prepared, God; my heart is prepared.”
What is he talking about? He is talking about doing something “Intentionally with Understanding”
“I will sing and praise you. Wake up, my soul. Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn.”
Here he is saying “Come to your senses! Use the harp and the lyre Intentionally with Understanding”!
“Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing and play songs of praise about you to all the nations. Your great love reaches to the skies, your truth to the clouds. God, you are supreme above the skies. Let your glory be above all the earth.”
It’s perfectly clear… We truly Create Glory for God when we Play Instruments and sing songs with a Prepared Heart! Can you see it?
Worship in Spirit and in Truth…
When we INTENTIONALLY and PURPOSEFULLY with UNDERSTANDING Sing and Play Instruments and we are doing it to “entertain” the Congregation, we Create Glory and Offer it to God as the Sacrifice of Praise!
When we sing and play instruments “with understanding” we function as New Testament Priests and Offer to The Lord the Sacrifice of Praise. It is an “acceptable sacrifice” made from The Glory we created!
We create Glory Filled songs and Offer them to The Lord and when we do the very atmosphere around us is filled or charged with Glory!
You’ll never be the same
Once you see this you will never sing the same way again…
You will never play an instrument the same way again…
And, now that you UNDERSTAND this I want to show you one more thing about True Worship…
True Worship Releases the Spirit of Prophecy!
We can look and see this in 2 Kings 3:15 (KJV) where the Prophet Elisha said:
“Bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him” and he Prophesied the Word of The Lord!
We must never “casually” approach Worship as “Entertainment”! We must approach The Throne of Grace with Living Water flowing from our Innermost Beings Worshiping Him in Spirit and Truth Creating and Releasing Glory along with the Spirit of Prophecy into the atmosphere!
This is our Duty as New Testament Priests!
You see, a part of my Mission is to “Equip the Saints”…
So, I’m equipping you with “Understanding” to be Worshiping Warriors!
All the earth will be filled with Glory
Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
This word “knowledge” is a very special word. It speaks about “knowing something by experiencing it.”
That is the word that God used in the Bible when Noah “knew” that the waters were gone from the earth in Genesis 8:11 when he sent the dove out for the second time…
“This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone.”
So, the Lord is saying in Habakkuk 2:14 that there will be a day when the whole earth shall Experience and be aware of the Glory of The Lord filling the whole earth like the waters cover it!
So, for us, Worship is much more than just singing some songs and playing some instruments…
For us as New Testament Priests, Worship in “Spirit and Truth” is something that we do “Intentionally” with “Understanding” because when we Sing and Play Instruments, we “Create Glory” and “Release the Spirit of Prophecy”!
I remember when The Lord opened my eyes to these truths. I was in awe! I was the Lead Singer in a rock band for years and I know and understand what entertainment is and can do. But when I saw this truth and I started to sing with “Understanding” and “Create and Give God Glory” I was completely changed! I cannot just play a guitar and sing anymore… When I stand up to Worship God I put on “Understanding” like a garment of praise and I enter a higher realm. I pray each time that the Spirit of Prophecy would be released and the whole congregation would enter into the heavenlies and stand before The Throne of Grace and Worship our God!
Can you see yourself doing this now? Let’s go forth and “Fill the earth with His Glory”!
Bishop your messages are so profound and thought provoking it takes reading them more than once to fully grasp such as this one. It would be awesome to give you a podcast on our platform to expand on them. But this I take away from this message:
“Therefore, Glory is within us. We don’t have to go anywhere to get it! We have to find out how to release it!”
I found a way. Ty Bishop 🙏
W.O.W.!!!! Amen Amen Amen Amen!!! This is My/Our Anthem “Here I AM to Worship” in Spirit and Truth onto our ABBA!!!!