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KEEPING HOUSE FOR THE LORD
Written by H. Frank Fort

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"KEEPING HOUSE FOR THE LORD"

Lesson #4

 

Today we shall consider "Worship in the spirit" Phil. 3:3 in which those who keep house for the Lord,

·        "offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" 1 Pet. 2:5

·        "shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" 1Pet. 2:9.

 

The word "praises" here is translated "excellencies" in the margin. Putting the two texts together, we learn that they who are spiritually able to "offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God" will be found speaking of the "excellencies of God. Today we shall consider the factors essential to such offerings.

·        The truth. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God…that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" 1Tim. 3:16,17. By this we are taught, "how to walk and to please God" 1 Thess. 4:1.

·        The inner man. David said, " Thou desirest truth in the inward parts" Ps. 51:6. "Thy word have I hid in my heart" Ps. 119:11. "The heart of man…the spirit of man" 1 Cor. 2:9,11, "is the lamp of Jehovah, searching all his innermost parts" Prov. 20:27, A.S.V. The spirit of man being "the lamp of Jehovah" is lighted by "the entrance of thy words" Ps. 119:130. Thus Paul wrote to Christians, "God…hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face, (the word "face" here is from the same word translated "person" in 2 Cor. 2:10 of Jesus Christ" 2 Cor. 4:6. Paul says, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels" 2 Cor. 4:7. This "treasure is "the light" vs. 4,6. They in whose heart it dwells, are commanded to "shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life" Phil. 2:15,16. To the end that this. May be done, "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" Phil. 2:13.

·        "To will". Paul said, "If there be first a willing mind" 2 Cor. 8:12.

·        "To do”. Perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, there may be a performance also" 2 Cor. 8:11.

·        “The body”. The doing demands the employment of the body. Where the "inner man" fails to control the body, "the treasure" which Paul said dwells in "earthen vessels" is not seen in the character of "treasure". Treasure is something desirable, but it must be seen as "treasure". To the "new born babes". Peter said, "For you therefore that believe is the preciousness" 1 Pet. 2:7 A.S.V. But the believer is to present the "treasure" in a manner supported by a life, which that treasure has obviously blessed. Thus Paul said to the bearers of the "treasure", we bear the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body" 2 Cor. 4:10. There are two things to be manifest in "the body" of those who testify as "the light".

·        "The dying of the Lord Jesus". This is to be evi­denced in putting off those things for which Christ died. "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" Rom. 6:2. No, Paul said, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” Rom. 6:12. Paul told Timothy, "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity…If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel prepared unto every good work" 2 Tim. 2:19,21. Again; "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" 2 Cor. 7:1. The spirit, in which God works, will evidence the effectuality of that working by what it does with the flesh. The cessation of evil is evidenced in "the works meet for repentance" Acts 26:20, or "fruits meet for repentance" Matt.3:7.

·        They who "put off concerning the former conversation the Old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" Eph. 4:22, is thereby "bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus" 2 Cor. 4:10. Thus Peter wrote, "For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh; arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God" 1 Pet. 4:1,2.

·        "The time past of our life" 1 Pet. 4:3 was marked by surrender to "lusts", but being  "dead to sin”.

·        "The rest of his time" is to be dedicated to "the will of God".

 

This is "the will of God even your sanctification" 1 Thess. 4:3. Sanctification as the Christian's responsibility, is from something, and to something; thus, Paul said, "abstain from…unto" 1 Thess. 4:3,7. This will be done wherever God's people "abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good" Rom. 12:9. Now we are to remember that our "bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus" is to the end that, "the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body" 2 Cor. 4:10. This is done as the evidence of the effectual working of God in the believer "to will". Notice:

·        "Present your bodies" Rom. 12:1.

·        "Glorify God in your body" 1 Cor. 6:20.

·        "Yield…your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" Rom. 6:13. When this is done, believers are "filled with the fruits of righteousness" Phil. 1:11. And the "Father is glorified" Jn. 15:8. The purpose, for which men are to see "your good works" Matt. 5:16.

 

Worshippers are commanded to "offer the sacrifices of righteousness" Ps. 4:5, but to offer them so as to please God is something else, Let us see what must precede the offering of the worship, if we would "please God".

1 Thess. 4:1. David marks the point of God's pleasure with a "then". Notice, "Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness" Ps. 51:19. Before this David said, "Thou desirest not sacrifices; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering" Ps. 51:16. But why not? Certainly the law required them? Why then were they not a pleasure to God? Because God "desirest truth in the inward parts" Ps. 51:6, before he will accept that which is offered through the outward parts. David wrote, "If I regard iniquity in my heart (inward parts), the Lord will not hear me" Ps. 66:18. God said to sinful Israel, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me…when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" Isa. 1:11,15. Jeremiah wrote to Judah, "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have with held good things from you" Jer. 5:25. Again, "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you" Isa. 59:2. Thus "he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifice a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if lie offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol…they did evil before mine eyes (no fruit of repentance) and chose that in which I delighted not" (no fruit of righteousness) Isa. 66:3,4.

                      

What then does God require as prerequisite to an acceptable perfor­mance, “to do of his good pleasure “? God says, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trernbleth at my word” Isa. 66:2. Of how many of God’s people, out of fellowship with the Lord, can it be said, he “trembleth at my word?” How many of God’s people go for weeks and months in cold-hearted indifference to the sharp edge of truth? Will God dis­regard such an attitude toward his word? No, he will visit it with the rod. Will God dwell with such indifference? No. He says, “I dwell in the high and holy place with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15. Again, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” Ps. 34:l8. David wrote in the great penitential Psalm, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” Ps. 51:17. Notice the order of truth.

·        "Have mercy upon me…blot out my transgressions. Wash me…cleanse me…­for I acknowledge my transgressions: Against thee…have I sinned. …purge me…wash me…hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew aright spirit within me…restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit…deliver me from blood guiltiness". Ps. 51:1‑4,7, 9,10,12,14.

·        Then "make me to know wisdom…make me to hear joy and gladness…open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise" Ps. 51:6,8,15.

·        "Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness"

Ps. 51:19.

·        "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee" Ps 51:13.

 

It is written, "Cease to do evil; learn to do well" Isa. 1:16,17. "If ye be  willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" Isa. 1:19, and remember that" it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" Phil. 2:13.

 

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"