Giving That Lasts Forever

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030216AM

Transcript

As we were worshiping, have you thought about what happens when we launch those words and prayers from our heart? Where do they go? What happens is there any response up there when we offer all that? Have you thought about the fact that God seeks two things? He seeks to seek out and save the lost. And then He seeks such to worship Him in spirit and in truth? What does He do with all this worship He’s seeking? Let’s open our Bibles to Revelation 4 and 5.

We’re going to read some verses from both, and I want you to consider with me where our worship goes as it rises from our hearts, as it blends in the oneness that we share in Christ, and as it is descends before God. Where does it go? What does He do with it? Why does He want it? While we’re here seated and standing with songs of Heaven on our lips, God’s Word tells us that something is happening in the place we have pointed our hearts toward. What we do, what we say, what we think, what we pray, and what we give, not merely at the end of our lives but right now rises to the Lord and He does something with it.

He receives it. And all of the Bible is built around the reality that right now, continuously before the presence of God and His throne. There is collection and then the offering of the worships of each individual saint poured out before Him. We’re going to read about that. And do you realize how much, what we do today as we gather to worship and what we offer every day of our lives, how much that matters to the Lord?

So right now, as we sing, as we give, as we worship right now, what happens is the scene that we see in Revelation 4 and 5. In a few moments as we look at these words, I trust God will tune our hearts to be in touch with what He is doing right now and how we can be in step and in tune in our offerings to Him, of these acts of worship that He saved us to offer.

As we look in Revelation 4 and 5, we see God pulling back the veil. We look through the Apostle John’s eyes. In this book of Revelation, we see Heaven as John seems to be transported on an angel’s wings to look down and to see from each perspective and vantage point. The throbbing hum of worship at the very center of the universe, the throne of God. John gets a guided tour of Heaven, and his inspired words portray for us a scene of angels, hundreds of millions of them. As the Bible puts it 10,000 times 10,000 in our text. Their mass is clustered all about that smooth crystal sea. And that sea is reflecting back toward God all the awesome sites, images, colors from its mirror-like surface.

As we look into these few verses we’re going to read in a moment, our senses are almost besieged. There’s so many different sensations. There are sounds, there are sight, there are colors that just almost overload our capacity to process. The colors, the materials surrounding God’s throne, as John records, are almost beyond description. As we enter into chapter 4, we see a an emerald green rainbow. I’ve never seen one of those. I can’t wait till I can. The only thing is, it’s going to be the first complete rainbow we get to see because of the pure as glass crystal of the golden pavement. That emerald green rainbow continues to its full orb and the throne of God is surrounded in that iridescent beauty.

Then the city that stretches beyond has thick walls, John says. But they’re made of Jasper. To us, Jasper, what’s that? That’s the ancient Roman word for diamonds. Now imagine with me a diamond ring and think of the color. And you can grab your wife’s ring and hold it up, or yours, and look into the light and you’ll see the refraction and all the colors. But imagine diamonds big enough to make walls out of. And then think of walls that extend 1,500 miles high, and you can think of the incredible dazzling flashes of light multiplied by those diamonds. But then when you look down, you see the gold that is transparent to the overpowering radiance of God’s glory, refracted and glistening through the entire city.

And everything is made of gems of such colors that we can’t even begin to understand as they send forth the light of God’s glory. Here are the colors of Heaven in the order that they appear in our text. In these words, Cornelian and Jasper, they don’t mean anything to us. Let me just tell you the colors because these are the colors that God has chosen to surround Himself with. His glory is reflected in all these hues. There are sky blue stones with translucent colored stripes, parallel layers. These stones that are named have red and white, orange red and brownish red, and even blood red colors. Then there’s a transparent one of yellowish gold, and then a light blue one, and a yellowish green, and an apple green, and a gold tinted green. God loves the greens. And then there’s deep blue, and then a shining violet, and then finally an intense purple color. And all those colors mentioned in those stones surrounding God all are reflecting His glory. But the sight is so hard for us to take in. There’s so much beauty, so much color in our text, and so much brilliance that overwhelms our eyes.

John seems to look at one piece at a time and starting in chapter 4 he sees the angels and those capture his attention. And those countless white robed angels are standing like living walls of pure white linen robes. They rise in circular rings, seemingly reflecting the light of God, but they’re not standing still. They seem to be rising and falling to the sounds of those four creatures that are crisscrossing the expanse on the four corners of God’s throne. They move as one, all those angels. Hundreds of millions of them falling down together on their faces as they speak of the wonders of God’s glory. I was thinking this morning, hundreds of millions of them in unison, all at the same exact instant falling down. All of them saying the same words. I have trouble getting eight children in the car at once. Can you imagine hundreds of millions in absolute unison together?

Then, John’s gaze goes toward the floor, if it can be called that. It’s an ocean of completely clear and reflective glass. He calls it a crystal sea. This crystal sea reflects and amplifies the colors, the lights and the objects all are reflected back, intensifying what’s going on in front of God.

And then there’s that throne. Central to Heaven is the throne of God. 36 to 39 times mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It’s completely encircled by that emerald green rainbow that is over and around and beneath the throne, but we’re overwhelmed as we… by John’s inspiration, look and see. Not only are there colors, there’s sound coming out of this throne. He says that there’s a massive rumble of powerful sounds as endless peels of thunder with lightning flashing outward, from the throne, seem to radiate from within the throne of God. But it’s not just thunder, we hear. John listens carefully and hears loud voices with the sound as loud as roaring waterfalls rolling past. But in front of the throne he sees there are seven geysers or towers, burning flames coming up. Seven of them surrounding this throne with the lightning radiating out and the fire going straight up and then burning in a circle around God’s throne.

Our other creatures he introduces us to; they’re called the burning ones or the living creatures. We know them as seraphs, plural seraphim which literally in Hebrew means the burning ones. They capture our focus. Our eyes follow those four glistening living beings. They seem to be the worship directors of Heaven, each of them having four distinct faces. A lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle. Each of them completely inside and out, covered with eyes. Ezekiel tells us they move like flashes of light. And when they move, fire passes between them. We’ve never seen anything like this. It’s overwhelming to us. And listening carefully, John says that their wings as they flash around have a deafening roar as they glide around the expanse surrounding the Ancient of Days. In a theocentric orbit, each one of them always having their face facing Him as they move. Never taking their faces off from the Ancient of Days.

And then, john points out that beyond that throne with its rainbow, with the lightning coming out, beyond those seven torches burning, and those four living creatures that are crisscrossing and blazing with light, he said there’s another ring around that throne. There are 24 elders. 24 thrones with 24 celestial men. 24 white robe celestial humans that are sitting on those thrones. Each one has a harp. Each one wears a crown. But where we come in this morning, the scriptures say each one is holding a golden bowl. And that bowl contains the collected worship of the saints of God. What you and I are to be offering right now, the reason we were saved. And those elders collect our worship. And then as the worship leaders, these four seraphim give the signal, everyone falls on their faces before God. And when those elders fall right in front of His throne from 24 Thrones, those men tip their bowls and pour their worship out.

I wonder this morning as that scene is continuously replayed and as that worship call comes, and as those 24 elders fall and as their bowls are tipped out, was there anything from you in that bowl this morning? Are you offering the offerings of worship that God collects? Are you offering the sacrifices of devotion and praise and giving to Him that those representatives of us, the redeemed, can pour out? That’s the question that this scene begs from each one of us. Are you giving what is being poured out in eternity, this morning.

Let’s read just a few verses, Revelation 4 and 5, and with what I have shared with you. Let us listen and watch through John’s eyes. And I’m going to start with verse 3, and it says… and He who sat there on the throne… this is the Ancient of Days…, was like Jasper. That’s the old word for diamond. And Sardis stone, one of those beautiful colored stones in appearance. And there was a rainbow about the throne with the appearance like an emerald. And around the throne here are those 24 thrones. And on the thrones, I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes. They had crowns of gold on their head. Verse 5, and from the throne proceeded lightnings radiating outwards. Thunderings. And there are those voices. And seven lamps of fire like geysers were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before that throne, there’s that sea of glass like crystal.

In the midst of the throne and around the throne, the four living creatures full of eyes in front and back. And the first living creature was like a lion. The second, like a calf. The third had the face of a man. The fourth, like an eagle. And the four living creatures, each having six wings full of eyes around and within, do not rest day or night. This is a constant ongoing worship service. Saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and lives forever.

Verse 10, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him, who lives forever and ever. And cast their crowns before the throne saying, You are worthy, oh Lord to receive glory and honor and power. You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created. And then slip on down to verse 6. And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne stood the Lamb and it describes Christ. And then down to verse 8. And when He’d taken the scroll, the four living creatures, those worship leaders and the 24 elders fall down before the Lamb, listen to this, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense. Which are the prayers, the offerings of us as priests, our worship to God collected, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song.

And that song is recorded in verses 9 and 10. Verse 10 says, you have made us kings and priests to our God. And that’s, offers of praise. And I looked in verse 11, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne. Now the hundreds of millions get involved, the living creatures, the four worship leaders, the elders representing us, and a number of them was hundreds of millions saying with a loud voice worthy is the Lamb who was slain. To receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, blessing, and every creature which is in Heaven, on Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the sea. And all that are in them I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him that sits on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever. And then the four living creatures said Amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. Wow.

That’s what’s going on now, at that moment? That involves the unfurling of judgment on this Earth but prior to that it involves our offered worship of our lives. I hope you’re sending something up. Let’s bow together.

Father in Heaven, challenge our hearts. Open our eyes. Open our lips. Open our wills. I pray that our devotion, our bodies, our words, our good deeds for others, the stewardship of our resources and money, and finances and treasures that we would be sending much upward to You this day and every day, until we get to join that scene in Heaven. Thank you that that’s what You created us to do. And it starts right now, challenge and draw, and move us to be giving into eternity what you wish to receive from us, this moment. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Please open to Mark’s gospel, chapter 12. And for the next 20 or so minutes, we’re going to look at what exactly is it that the Lord wants. If this is a scene, if He’s got these collectors up there collecting something, what does He want to collect? What does He want from us? Mark 12 and verse 33 begins telling us what we’re to do. God said in the Old Testament, He had a selective family of the Levitical family who were priests and they represented the nation. But in the New Covenant, we are given the privilege of all of us being priests, all of us coming before God. All of us being able to give gifts and sacrifices and worship to God.

As we saw last week, we, when we were saved, became a kingdom of priests. We became a holy nation like Israel was. We are today the offerors to God of acceptable worship. What is it He’s looking for? Listen to Christ’s words in Mark 12 and verse 33, and if you’re a Bible marker I’m going to give you seven different types of offerings of worship that God is looking for.

Here’s the first one, in Mark 12:33. He calls our devotion a burnt offering. This is what is recorded by Mark. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, more than all of the animal sacrifices. The devotion of our heart, listen… of our heart, our understanding, our emotions, our soul, our strength, loving others, this devotion is more than all the burn offerings. What does God want from us? I wrote in my Bible, He wants our devotion as a priest, as a burn offering. He wants us, as His priest, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength. And for that love to go beyond just us, to reach out to others, to love our neighbors as ourself. He said that devotion to Christ is like the smoke rising from a burning offering on an altar. God wants to receive from us, His priests, our devotion. I hope you’re giving Him your devotion. I hope that when you first wake up in the morning, as morning guilds the sky, my heart’s awakening cry is; may You be praised. And I offer my devotion; I offer my love. And that immediately rises up to Him, fills one of those bowls and then when those worship leaders direct, it gets poured out. And you and I can be a part of the worship of God this second, this moment, this day.

Keep turning to Romans chapter 12. Go to the right in your bibles, you’re in Mark. Luke, John, Acts, Romans 12. Because Paul talks in this sacrifice priestly way all the way through the scriptures. He uses this. Whenever worship is referred to, he uses the picture of the Old Testament sacrifices and that very graphic imagery becomes something for us to hang these thoughts on. And this is what he says in chapter 12 of Romans. He says, not only a priest’s devotion is a burn offering, but their very life and body becomes a sacrifice. And he calls the Romans to this. I beseech you therefore, brethren, saved people, redeemed, regenerated by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice. And think about all that the Jews went through. They thoughtfully picked a sacrifice. They picked an unblemished perfect one, that was their best. And that one they brought and led by hand and identified and brought that sacrifice into the temple area. You know what the Lord says? I want you to do the same thing. I want you to give me the best and greatest that you have, your body. And I want you alive, as a sacrifice. And here’s what I want from you. I want you to be holy and acceptable. I want you to give Me your true spiritual worship.

That’s what reasonable service means. It’s the word from the temple. It speaks of temple worship. I want you giving your body on a regular basis. I want you to be renewing that commitment. I want you to keep bringing yourself to Me saying, I… I am Your sacrifice today. What do You want to do with my life? I am Yours. I belong to You. I am a sacrifice.

You say, what is that like? Turn over to chapter 15 because Paul talks about this in Romans 15. He says that when he goes out soul winning, when he goes out evangelizing, when he goes out preaching, what he’s trying to do is see people coming to Christ, getting saved and joining this ascent of smoke from the altars of their heart, as they offer their life every day back to Him. He says that is a great sacrifice I want to offer to God. Verse 16 of Romans 15, he says that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. He says, I’m running out to these pagans. I am ministering the Gospel of God. I’m going out as His servant dispensing this Gospel. So that, look at verse 16, the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What he said is, their lives energized by the Holy Spirit, when they’re redeemed their lives, as they give themselves back willingly, as they realize that Christ bought them, they’re bought with a price. Therefore, they belong to God as they acknowledge that and say, I’m yours. It’s like the smoke of a sacrificial offering rising before God.

You remember all the way through the scriptures, when Noah offered that sacrifice. In fact, before that, when Abel offered that sacrifice. And then when Noah followed up on it and all of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob’s sacrifices, all the myriad of the children of Israel. It says that God smelled that as a sweet smelling aroma. What He’s saying is, what they did on Earth rose up before His presence in Heaven and He was pleased by it. God says right now when you and I acknowledge we’re bought with a price by Jesus Christ who died in our place, and we acknowledge that ownership He has, that when we reaffirm that to Him and say, I’m Yours, that makes us like a flaming sacrifice and it rises before God and it pleases Him. That’s why you should often remind the Lord, I am thine oh Lord. I’ve heard Your voice. It’s spoken such love to me. I long to rise in the arms of love and be closer drawn to Thee. I want to be Yours. I want to more fully yield myself to You as Your servant. That pleases Him. That’s something you can do anytime, no matter what you’re doing during the day. Just say, God, as I sit here, as I drive here, as I do my job, as I… whatever I do to earn a living, I’m Yours. And that sacrifice rises before Him. So, number one, our devotion is a burnt offering. Our life is a sacrificial offering.

Turn to Philippians 2. It doesn’t stop there, Philippians. Keep going to the right. Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians… next book to the right. Chapter 2, and we’re going to look at verse 17. Because not only our devotion of our heart, our physical bodies, but also our service, our ministry that we do. The work, you could put it, for the Lord is something else we offer. Philippians 2:17. This is what Paul says. Yes, and if I’m being poured out as a drink offering, on the sacrifice and service, or ministry of your faith. He said there’s a lot that entails the service to the saints. And he says, I’m doing that. He says, I am serving, I’m like a ministering servant to the saints. You and I can be too. There’s so many things that go on around here. People constantly are working. There are some that come and set up, and move around and prepare, and I see them. I see servants standing at the copy machine, making little papers for the Sunday schools. I see others making prayer lists for the Sunday schools. And I see others who are preparing the refreshments and others who are making sure that everything’s ready. And all those little acts of service are like drink offerings.

You know what a drink offering is? It’s like taking a glass of water and pouring it on sand. You pour it out, boom, you can’t get it back. It’s just absorbed and gone. And the Lord says, when you give your strength and your energy and your time and your devotion in working, in some service for My church, it’s like you poured out that part of your life. You can’t get it back, but that drink offering rises before me as an act of worship. Think about that when nobody notices what you do. You got extra credit; you didn’t lose any of it. When we do secretly for the Lord our work, it becomes a complete offering. That’s why anybody that’s in any public ministry singing or ministering or speaking or anything, they have to be careful. Because they can lose some of the reward if they accept credit for it, if they take the glory from themselves. It doesn’t all rise and ascend. It gets stunted and stilted. But if you do secret acts of devotion or if in humility you offer your service to the Lord. This is what He says in Philippians 2:17. I’m glad and rejoice with you all because I’m being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice. Do you hear the words of the altar? He says, I’m pouring out my life on the altar and I can’t recover it, and I’m giving it to the Lord. So, as priests this morning, any service/ ministry we do in the name of Christ, we pour out to Him. Paul, at the end of his life says, I’m already poured out as a drink offering. His whole life he looked at as pouring out to the Lord.

Here’s another one. If you want to look at Philippians 4:18. It’s just on the other side of the page in my Bible. Here’s another aspect. Number one, our devotion is a burn offering in Mark 12. Number two, our life can be continuously a sacrifice as Romans 12 and 15 said. Our ministry or service is a drink offering as Philippians 2 says. But number four, our gifts, our money that we give. Remember last week I talked about the actual giving of financial gifts. Look what Paul says about it. In Philippians 4:18. I indeed have all and abound. I am full. I have received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you. Now you can read in the Book of Acts and you can follow along in Paul’s missionary journeys, and you find that Paul was supported by this wonderful church in Philippi that was so far away. And they were financially ministering to him. So, this is a very dollars and cents money kind of thing, an offering first. But look what he says. He says, that gift of money was a sweet smelling aroma, and acceptable sacrifice that pleased God. When those Philippians who had to work very hard, many of them were slaves, they found something that was their possession and they gave that possession up and put it into the hands of the leaders of the church to send off to Paul… at that instant, 2,000 years ago, that offering rose as it says in verse 18, as a sweet smelling aroma and acceptable sacrifice that pleased God.

Did you know when you were giving to the Lord in the offering? Did you know that every gift that was prayerfully prepared with a heart of devotion and saying, God, I’m giving that, into Your hands, that as that entered that baggage, just a puff of smoke, you couldn’t see it, but it rose up like a fragrant offering burnt to the Lord. And it ascended up and was poured out before the throne of God. To think all that for a little check? That is eternally offered to God in worship, that rises before Him. Unbelievable how Paul looked at life, how he taught those Philippians. And how through the New Testament comes to us, we can be giving our gifts as a fragrant free will offering.

Keep going to the right, to the book of Hebrews. You’ll go by Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews. Look at chapter 13. There are more of these. How we as priests on Earth can offer our worship to God, that he will receive in Heaven; our devotion, our life, our service, our gifts. Here’s another one, our mouths can be used, and I hope you’re using yours this morning. Look what it says in Hebrews 13. Therefore, by Him, verse 15 of Hebrews 13, let us continually… So, this was one that means don’t wait, do it as much as you can offer the sacrifice. Here’s that priestly offering scenario or motif he’s using. Our sacrifice of praise to God. Now, what is that? What are you talking about? That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

Every time I read this verse; I have a picture in my mind. I just can’t escape it. I was a young 30-year-old pastor, just started out. First time senior pastor. Left grace Community and came to this congregation in New England. And I remember one of the first times I preached there, I was very dignified and I could only wear a white shirt. You could only wear white shirts in New England when you preached. All these rules. And I was just careful to be dressed like I was supposed to. And I came to the pulpit and just then the back door opened and this man walked in. He looked like Paul Bunyan. And he had a knife this long hanging from his belt, and he took one of the folding chairs and popped it like that, and it cracked open. He set it down right in the middle of the center aisle, looking up at me, sat down, pulled out the knife. I thought, wow, what are we going to do here? And I’m still preaching and watching all this, and he started cleaning his fingernails and watching me. He’s checking me out. He became a dear friend. He moved from the back row cleaning his fingernails to the front row the next week. He still cleaned them up there with that great big hunting knife. Man, he must had a lot of dirt to have a knife that big.

But I remember the thing that stuck out about Mike, my friend, he was a professional lumberjack or something. Huge muscles. He used to love to carry these 400 pound logs cherry, solid cherry out of the forest. It was Mr. He Man. He couldn’t sing at all, had no voice, but he’d sit right in front of me. And whenever we had chorus time, he would bellow the words. He’d say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. He couldn’t sing at all. People around him were going…, because he ruined the singing. They got off tune with him. But you know what? Look back at verse 15, what he saying? He said, I want to anytime it’s possible, continuously be offering the sacrifice of praise to God. I want my lips to bear fruit, and I want to give thanks to His name. You know what? This verse tells us, as priests, we can use our mouths to offer a praise offering. Now, leave your knife home, clean your fingernails at home, but bring a clean heart and open your mouth. Are you offering the fruit of your lips to God? Do you realize that you can engage in giving something to God that lasts forever, that will be received by those 24 elders put into that bowl, and when the worship leaders, those seraphs say it’s time, they pour it out to God. And he says there’s another load from your servants, every time that load is offered wouldn’t you like something from you to be in there? I do for me. I sing all the time. For I try and use my mouth more for things that will last eternity than for nothingness, and that’s what he’s teaching them, their worship is a praise offering.

Look at the next verse. It doesn’t stop there. Some of us can’t sing all the time, but we have other options. Verse 16 gives us the sixth type of worship. We can offer to God, as priests, we can offer to Him our deeds as spiritual sacrifices. It says, don’t forget to do good. Verse 16. And to share. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. Did you know when we live out the kindness of Christ and the love of Jesus Christ… Remember, Jesus went about doing good. He did good to people that hated Him. He did good to People that didn’t receive Him. He did good to people that didn’t even acknowledge it. Remember the lepers that went their way and could care less? Only one was willing to come back and say thank you. But Jesus went around doing good.

And you know what it says here, when you and I don’t forget how much God has done for us and so we want to do for others and we do good and we share. Those are sacrifices that rise up to God. It’s not just the Boy Scouts that should be doing their little good deeds all the time. God’s people should be known like they were in the 1st century. Those Romans had trouble killing the Christians. They did it because they were supposed to, but they had trouble because they were the best citizens. They were the best workers. They were the best neighbors. They were the best friends. They were honest. They were not greedy. They were sharing. They were just transparently open, their lives. If you wanted something, if you compelled them to go mile, they went two. If they, if you asked for their coat, you can have my shirt too. And that’s how they were. And boy, we are not that way anymore. We’re so protective. We don’t share; we keep. We hold. We tug. We want. They gave, and that showed the love of Christ. God so loved that He what? Gave. And so, what does He say here He is looking from us as priests? Our deeds, as spiritual sacrifices. That we share. That we do good.

You know what that means? It means when someone is stuck somewhere and you’re in a hurry, if you stop and if you’re good to them and let them go, you’ve done something good. And right there, rising up to God… if you did it in the power of the Spirit of God… is an offering to the Lord. When someone’s in a hurry and you let them get in front of you in line, you know how much you appreciate that if you’re… the lines are all along, someone says, hey, you only have one thing. Why don’t you come up here? And you go, wow. Thanks. That there, is a kindness in the name of Christ we can offer. And those good deeds are spiritual sacrifices.

Look at a couple books over. It goes. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, look at chapter 2. 1 Peter 2:5. Peter reminds us of how we are God’s priest. And it says you also, 1 Peter 2:5, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house… here it is… a holy priesthood. And what are we as believers supposed to be doing? To offer up spiritual sacrifices. What our spiritual sacrifices? The spiritual sacrifices of our deeds, of our worship, of our financial gifts, of our service, of our life, of our devotion; that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. That’s why He saved us. To offer up spiritual sacrifices, look at this at the end of verse 5, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What’s that all about? Because of the sacrifice of Christ. Those offerings we make immediately go into the presence of God. And as He sits there upon the throne, because of the redemption of Jesus Christ and of His salvation to us when those kindnesses, those words, those gifts that devotion, those worship filled offerings of praise to God are collected, they’re acceptable to God as they poured out. Even though we’re frail. Even though we fail, even though we’re sinners because the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us, and because we are accepted and beloved, our offerings go straight through and God receives them.

Here’s the last one. Look at Revelation chapter 8. End of the Bible. You know that we’re near the end when we get to the end, right? So, Revelation 8, look at verses 3 and 4. And I was sharing, by the way, this chapter. What day did we read that on Thursday? We’re reading through the Bible as a family and we were in Revelation 8 on Thursday. And I emphasize to them, my little congregation of three, five, and seven and nine year olds and then I emphasize to you who are a little older than that, what it says in chapter 8. And if you just read the Bible real quick, you might miss this. Look what it says in verse 3. Another angel having a golden sensor… The temple tabernacle, Old Testament motif. By the way, from chapter 4 on in Revelation, it is so Old Testament, it’s not funny. If you don’t understand Israel and the sacrificial system and the tabernacle and temple, you’re just lost if you don’t understand. The whole routine of what’s going on, you just, it just becomes a blur and it’s like a comic book. But if you see this, you see it’s the tabernacle He’s talking about and this golden sensor.

And he stood at the altar and was given much incense that he should offer it up with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar. What altar is that? You could speculate all you want, but God has one golden altar. And it was in the tabernacle and it was in the temple, and it’s very clearly not the brazen altar. It’s the golden altar. There were two of those things. One was outside the tent, one was inside the tent, and the one inside the tent was right in front of the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant. And that closest object to God as it were, was the golden altar, and they burned incense on it. Woo. What was all that about in the Old Testament? Look at this with much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar. Which was before the throne and the smoke, verse 4, of the incense with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God. You want to know what’s right in front of God’s nose as it were? Do you know what’s right in front of Him? We got all these flashes, and lightnings, and thunder, and glass sea, and towers of flames, and four thinged angels whatever they are flying around, and 24 thrones. You know what’s right in front of Him? You know what gets to be right on His lap, as it were. That alter that is of gold with incense on it, which is a picture of the prayers of God’s children coming right up to Him. You want to get real close to God? Stop, tune in and talk to Him. Pray it comes right in front of Him and it gets poured in that altar and it rises up into the very face of the God of the universe.

I said, kids… on Thursday at lunch. I said, do you see that? Do you see, that right now when you pray it just goes right before God? Just bang, comes right in front of Him and it rises up. What is that for us? Our prayers are an incense offering to God. God collects them. God treasures them. God wants them. God seeks them. God chooses and desires to respond to them. In fact, how God operates in our world is in response to the prayers of His people. He wants you to worship Him. He wants you to call upon Him to do great and mighty things. And He wants to respond to those prayers and be glorified through you and me as we pray. Everything we do, everything we say, everything we pray, everything we give can rise as an offering to the Lord.

We’re looking at giving, finances. But I couldn’t miss why we do it. Just one of those seven offerings is the giving of our finances. When you do that, or your secret deeds of service, or those words of praise, or those prayers or your devotion, whatever, those things come before God. They’re collected. Those elders, 24 of them, representing the redeemed. When those four angel worship leaders say it’s time and all the hundreds of millions of angels fall in their faces, and the 24 get off their thrones and fall in their faces; at that moment and instant, your worship and mine is poured out before God. Is your life a life of offering worship to God? That’s what He wants from us.

While I’m praying, I hope that you’ll pour out some incense for His altar and pray with me. Father in Heaven. We are your priest. Everyone here who is born again is Your holy priest. And we wish by the power of Your Spirit through the devotion of our hearts, through the service that we can offer, through the words of praise, through our financial gifts, through the re consecration of our lives, every one of these facets we’ve looked at, we want to be offering offerings to You. And we want You to receive those this morning. And we want to live as those who are the circumcision in Christ Jesus who worship God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh. Oh Lord, I pray that we would be worshiping you as a lifestyle offering ourselves to You. And may it be a fragrant aroma before Your throne this moment. And Lord, I pray for any who came in, maybe attracted by the life of someone that invited them, maybe because of a deep yearning or a hopeless feeling just looking for something. I pray that they would join the worshipers. For You came to seek and to save the lost so that they might offer acceptable worship to You. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. May they call out to You this morning. And may they receive that gift for the asking of salvation and join the worshipers.

While we are here seated with songs of Heaven on our lips – something is happening in the place we have pointed our hearts. What we do, say, think, pray, and give rises above and enters into God’s presence. Do you realize how much what you do today and each day matters to the Lord?

So as we sing, give, and worship — what is happening right now, at this very moment in Heaven? Often we think of Heaven in the past (when Christ left for earth and the angels came) or in the future (when Jesus comes as King of Kings) but forget that at this very moment the epicenter of the Universe, the Throne Room of God is very active. So what is going on right now?

God’s Word can take us by angel wings to see the very center of the Universe, to the Throne of God in Heaven. A few moments there will get us in touch with what God is doing right now and how we can TODAY be in tune with Heaven.

Watch with me as God pulls back the veil. Through John’s eyes in Revelation we see Heaven as he seems to rise on the wings of angels to get his guided tour of Heaven. His inspired words portray for us a scene of angels—hundreds of millions of angels—“ten thousand times ten thousand”—all clustered about the smooth crystal sea that reflects awesome images from its mirror like surface. Our senses are besieged by so many different sensations. The colors of the materials surrounding God’s Throne are beyond description.

A cool, emerald-green hue dominates the multi-colored rainbow surrounding God’s throne; the city that surrounds us has thick walls of sparkling diamonds. To get the sensation hold up your diamond ring to a light and look through the stone and see dazzling flashes of light. Multiply that by diamonds large enough to built walls out of and then an entire city that is over 1500 miles high…looking down beneath your feet you see gold that is transparent so the overpowering radiance of God’s glory can refract and glisten through the entire city; everything is made of gems of such beautiful colors that they send forth the light of God’s glory.

These are the colors of Heaven, the colors God has chosen to surround Himself with – His Glory reflected in all these hues: sky-blue stones with translucent, colored stripes; parallel layers of red and white; orange-red to brownish-red to blood-red; a transparent, yellowish gold; light blue aquamarine; yellowish-green; apple-green gold-tinted green; deep blue; shining violet; and intense purple.

The sight is hard for us to take in, so much beauty, color, and brilliance overwhelms our eyes. One by one our eyes are riveted on the celestial scene before us.

• First, ANGELS capture our attention. These countless white robed angels standing like living walls of pure white robes rising in circular rings reflecting the light of God. They rise and fall to the sounds of the four creatures crisscrossing the expanse on the four corners of the Throne. They move as one – falling down on their faces as they speak the wonders of God’s Glory.
• Next, the FLOOR if it can be called that, is an ocean of completely clear and reflective glass. In this crystal sea we can see all the colors, lights and objects are reflected and amplified.
• Then the THRONE. Central to Heaven is the Throne of God. Completely encircled by the emerald green rainbow that is over, around and beneath the Throne – we are overwhelmed by the massive rumble of power, as endless peals of thunder and flashes of lightning seem to radiate outward from within. Listening carefully we hear with John the loud voices like roaring waterfalls rolling past the seven blazing pillars of flame that burn in a circle around God’s Throne.
• Then the BURNING ONES, that is what seraphim means, capture our focus. As our eyes turn to follow the four glistening living beings each with four distinct faces – lion, calf, man, eagle – and completely covered with eyes as they move like flashes of light with fire passing between them, gliding through the expanse around the Ancient of Days in theocentric orbit always facing the Almighty One.
• Now 24 ELDERS rise and fall, under the awesome expanse of space over the Throne that sparkles like pure on the crystal blue pavement as it is called in Exodus we see a circle just beyond the burning pillars of fire, and the four living creatures that surrounds God’s Throne made up of 24 small thrones seated with white robed celestial men. Each man holds a harp, wears a crown, and holds a golden bowl. These golden bowls contain the worship offered by God’s saints on Earth. And repeatedly we see those twenty-four elders fall on their faces pouring out to the Lord, the collected worship of the saints as the hosts of Heaven loudly chant the Glory of God. With the mighty sound of seraph wings we hear the voices, thunders, and sounds of all the Universe blending into one crystal clear affirmation:

Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
(Revelation 4:8)

o    Finally, at a special moment every angel and every elder and every saint fall prostrate before him—those four great angels, those twenty-four elders, the hundreds of millions around the sea—and most of all, us! And we all join together to sing with them:
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise! (5:12)

Let us read Revelation 4-5.

Today you and I are God’s priest’s on earth, offering to Him our worship that He receives in Heaven.

• Their devotion – a burnt offering: Mark 12:33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Have we offered our devotion up to Him irretrievably, completely, and lovingly?
• Their life is – a sacrifice: Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 15:16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Have we recently renewed that offering of all we are to Him?
• Their service – a drink offering: Philippians 2:17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. Are we pouring out what we cannot keep – to Him so we cannot lose?
• Their gifts – a fragrant freewill offering: Philippians 4:18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. What is the aroma ascending from our living before Christ’s eyes today?
• Their worship- a praise offering: Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. When is the last time we stopped and launched a wave of praise filled worship toward His Throne?
• Their deeds-spiritual sacrifices: Hebrews 13:16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What acts of kindness have we premeditated and carried out this week?
• Their prayers-an incense offering: Revelation 8:3-4 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. What do we have in the bowl of our collected prayers? If God loves our prayers so much that He collects them all (like notes from my wife & kids) why don’t we send more?

Everything we do, everything we say, everything we pray, and everything we give – rises as offerings to the Lord. This morning we are concluding the giving part. How do we offer gifyts that rise to His Throne, and get poured out before Him? The best answer would be giving like the Christians living as the New Testament was written, were taught to give!

1. COMMANDED: Giving is commanded, and is not an option.  Paul instructed the Corinthian church, saying Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders . . . so you must do also (1 Corinthians 16:1).  Also, in 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul directed the command to give in this way: Let each one of you lay something aside.  Who was supposed to give?  Each one.  Paul wanted all to give.  Giving should be individual. Every Christian should be a giver, because God is a giver (John 3:16).  Each one of you is all–inclusive. No Christian  is excepted or excused. We are stewards of whatever the Lord has given us, no matter how little it may be in economic terms. As Jesus observed different people putting their offerings in the Temple treasury, He did not discourage the widow from putting in her “two small copper coins, which amount to a cent,” nor did He chide Temple officials for accepting money from someone so destitute. His reaction was to use her generosity as a model of spiritual giving. “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41–44).
2. PLANNED: Giving is to be regular.  Regarding the collection in Corinth, Paul said that it should be done every week: On the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:2).  Paul wanted their giving to be systematic, not haphazard.  When they came together for worship and the word, they were commanded to receive an offering.  The first principle  is that the most appropriate period for giving is weekly, on the first day of every week. This not only convinces us that the church met on Sunday, but that its worship included regular giving of money. God’s primary leading in giving, as in everything else, is through Scripture, and Scripture here mentions giving every week. Sunday giving appears as a mandated element of worship, part of the duty of a New Covenant priest offering up “spiritual sacrifices” to God (1 Pet. 2:5). Our giving should not be based on periodic emotional appeals or feelings, or on bonus income, but on regular, willing, and grateful commitment of our possessions to the Lord, to His people, and to His work. That forces every believer each week to consider the stewardship and sacrifice of giving. Weekly giving raises sensitivity to money, so that giving is seen as an ongoing, regular spiritual responsibility.
3. PREPARED: Giving is to be planned.  Paul wrote, Lay something aside, storing up (1 Corinthians 16:2).  This has the idea of coming to church with your gift already prepared.  This means that you should seek God about your gift at home, and prepare it at home.  This causes us to seek the Lord more in our giving, and helps us resist any manipulation to give. A more literal translation of each one of you put aside and save would be “each one of you by himself lay up, or store up.” The noun form of theµsaurizoµ (from which we get thesaurus, a collection, or treasury, of words), rendered here as put aside and save, represents a treasury where valuables are stored.  If we do not give properly we cannot worship properly. Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?” (Luke 16:10–11).
4. PROPORTIONED: Giving is to be proportional.  Paul wrote that each one should give As he may prosper (1 Corinthians 16:2).  This means that believers who have more should give more.  We should give proportionately. In other words, if you give $10 a week when you make $100 a week, you should give more when you make $200 a week. Jesus  said that if we are not generous when we have little to give, we will not be generous when we have much. The dollar amount of our giving may increase, but our generosity will not. “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10).
5. REASONED: Giving should never be Humanly Prompted.  Paul told the Corinthians: That there be no collections when I come (1 Corinthians 16:2).  This means Paul didn’t want to manipulate anyone!  He wanted giving to be from the heart, as the heart heard from God, not in response to a high-pressure fund-raiser. This is a very important principle. The Apostle Paul tells us that we should make a decision and have a definite objective in view.
6. ENCOURAGED: True examples of giving are found in giving according to their ability, beyond their ability, and giving in a freely willing manner (2 Corinthians 8:3). Speaking  of the churches of Macedonia, Paul wrote, “In a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (2 Cor. 8:2). The reason for their generosity was that “they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God” (v. 5). They gave out of love for God and for His servants. Generosity is impossible apart from our love of God and of His people. But with such love, generosity not only is possible but inevitable.
7. DEDICATED: True giving comes as we first give ourselves to the Lord, then we will give our financial resources to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5).  In giving, the real issue isn¹t giving money.  It is giving our selves to the Lord.  If we have really given ourselves to the Lord, then the right kind of giving will naturally follow.
8. COMPLETED: Giving must be actually completed.  Paul told the Corinthians regarding their giving, that they must Complete this grace (2 Corinthians 8:6).  The Corinthian Christians may have intended to give.  They may have thought about giving.  They may have been favorable to the idea of giving.  Yet all of this was useless unless they did in fact complete this grace.  Often, intentions, vows, and resolutions are useless without action. The basic  principle for voluntary giving in the Old Testament is reflected in Proverbs: “Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (3:9–10). The idea was to give to the Lord generously and to give to the Lord first. Again we are told, “There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want” (Prov. 11:24). In other words, if you want to increase your money, share it generously; if you want to lose your money, hoard it. To raise money to build the Tabernacle, the Lord told Moses, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution” (Ex. 25:1–2; cf. 35:5, 21). The standard was heart–directed generosity, based on thankfulness to the Lord for what He had done and given. Based on that principle the gifts for the building of the Tabernacle were so great that Moses had to tell the people to stop giving (36:6)! Required giving was taxation; freewill giving was to be from the heart, with the amount left up to the worshiper. David had the key idea when he said that he would not give God that which cost him nothing (2 Sam. 24:24).
9. GRACED: I speak not by commandment (2 Corinthians 8:8) shows that no individual Christian can be commanded to give at any particular moment, even by the apostle Paul.  This is because commanded giving is not Biblical giving at all.  Paul knew that giving from commandment isn¹t giving at all; that kind of giving under the illegal use of one’s official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage is called extortion. No amount or percentage  is ever required in the New Testament. Rather, each believer is to give from his heart. “Give,” Jesus said, “and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Luke 6:38). Paul expressed the same principle as, “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). The benefits of our willing, cheerful giving to the Lord will produce both spiritual and material blessing. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (v. 8).
10. PROVED: Our giving is a valid test of the sincerity of our love for God and others.  Paul told the Corinthians, I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others (2 Corinthians 8:8).  Paul makes two important points here.  First, giving can measure the sincerity of your love.  Second, Paul openly compared the giving of the Corinthian Christians to the giving of the Macedonian Christians (testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others).
11. REFLECTED: God expects us to give out of what we have.  Paul told the Corinthians to give out of what you have (2 Corinthians 8:11).  We can’t give what we don’t have.  God judges our giving against what resources we have been given.  But the issue of what and how we spend is relevant to what you have.  True giving is measured by obedience, proportion and need, never by amount.   When the issue of giving is brought up, many ask “How much am I supposed to give?”  Paul’s principles throughout this letter, and other letters, remind us that there is no one answer to that question for every believer.  In giving, many go back to the Old Testament law of the tithe, the giving of ten percent unto the Lord.  This is a good principle for giving, and perhaps a broad benchmark, yet no where is tithing specifically commanded in the New Testament.  But it certainly does speak of it in a positive light, if it is done with a right heart (Luke 11:42).   Since giving is to be proportional, we should be giving some percentage – and ten percent is a good benchmark – a starting place!  For some to give ten percent is nowhere near enough; for others, at their present time or level of spiritual maturity, one percent may be a massive step of faith.  But if our question is, How little can I give and still be pleasing to God? our heart isn¹t in the right place at all.  We should have the attitude of some early Christians, who essentially said: We¹re not under the tithe – we can give more!  Giving and financial management are spiritual issues, not only financial issues (Luke 16:11).   Some have the idea that God wants ten percent and you can do what you like with the rest, you can indulge yourself to the full. That, of course, is entirely contrary to the principle the New Testament is teaching. No, if God has richly blessed you, then increase the percentage of your giving so that it is ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty percent.
12. ENJOYED: The goal of giving is not to afflict or hurt the giver.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened (2 Corinthians 8:13).  The Corinthian Christians were not giving so that the Jerusalem Christians would get rich and lazy at their expense.  Paul was taking the collection so the Jerusalem Christians could merely survive.  The goal was not to burden the Corinthian Christians, nor was it to make it all easy for the Jerusalem Christians. Giving should be Not grudging or of necessity (2 Corinthians 9:7).  God does not want our giving to be grudging (reluctantly, regretfully given with plenty of complaining) or of necessity (given because someone has made us or manipulated us into giving).  This is more the spirit behind taxation, not Biblical giving!  Instead, God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Instead of giving in a grudging way or out of necessity, God wants us to give cheerfully.  The Greek word for cheerful (hilaros, used only here in the New Testament) is the root for our English word hilarious.  God wants us to give happily, because that is how God Himself gives!
13. INVESTED: Giving can be viewed as investing money, not as spending money.  Paul compared giving to sowing seeds: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly (2 Corinthians 9:6).  A farmer sowing seed may feel he is losing seed as it falls from his hand to the ground, and we may feel we are losing when we are giving.  But just as the sower gives the seed it in anticipation of a future harvest, we should give with the same heart. If a farmer were to sow few seeds because he wanted to “hold on” to as much seed as he could, he would have more seed in his barn after sowing time.  But at the harvest, the one who sowed more seed would have much more grain in his barn.  This means that no one should fear giving generously.  Proverbs 11:24 is a great commentary on this idea: There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.  No one thinks a farmer is “wasting” grain when he scatters it as seed; the more he plants, the more he will harvest. The promise is also that the giver Will also reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6).  Spiritually, we can trust that God will reward the giving heart both now and in eternity.  Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 19:29: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
14. PURPOSED: Giving should come from a right heart.  Paul wrote, So let each one give as he purposes in his own heart (2 Corinthians 9:7).  Giving should be motivated by the purposes of our own heart.  It should never come through manipulation, intimidation, or domination.  We should give because we want to give, because God has put it in our own heart to give. The way we spend our money shows the purposes of our own heart more accurately than our words do.  Jesus said it simply: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
15. FOCUSED: Giving must always include giving to the ministries that directly feed us spiritually.  Paul established that he, as one who fed the Corinthians spiritually, had the right to be supported by them materially (1 Corinthians 9:7-13).  His idea is expressed in 1 Corinthians 9:11: If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? In this passage, Paul also drew on the principle of Deuteronomy 25:4, where God commanded You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.  God is establishing the principle that a minister has the right to be supported by the people he is ministering to.  This principle is also clearly expressed in 1 Timothy 5:17-18. Elders who govern and feed the church are to be given the double honor of office and suitable salary comparable to other positions commensurate with their experience, maturity, and life. Those who preach and teach should be honored above those who serve in administration.
16. MINISTERED: Giving has many aspects.  Sometimes Paul calls giving a gift (1 Corinthians 16:3).  In this, Paul literally calls giving a grace, a gift freely given.  Our giving should be like God’s grace.

 

• Our giving should be like God¹s giving of grace to us: giving freely, generously, because we want to give.  When God gives to us out of grace, the motive for His giving is in Him, not based in the one receiving.  That is how we should give; because the motive of the love and generosity of God is so big in our heart that we simply must give.
• Sometimes Paul called giving a koinonia, which means “fellowship, sharing” (2 Corinthians 8:4, 9:13, and Romans 15:6).  Our giving is a tangible demonstration of fellowship and participation with the body of Christ.
• Sometimes Paul called giving a diakonia, which means “a practical service or ministry” (2 Corinthians 8:4, 9:1, 9:12-13).

2 Corinthians 8:4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift   (charis) and the fellowship  (koinonia) of the ministering (diakonia) to the saints. Praying  1189  5740 us  2257 with  3326 much  4183 intreaty  3874 that we  2248 would receive  1209  5664 the gift,  5485 and  2532 take upon us the  2842 fellowship  2842 of the ministering  1248 to  1519 the saints. 40

4meta; pollh`” paraklhvsew” deovmenoi hJmw`n th;n cavrin kai; th;n koinwnivan th`” diakoniva” th`” eij” tou;” aJgivou”

With all that in our hearts and minds, is it  fair to ask,
 

Lord do You really expect less of me?
Your Holy Spirit lives within me guiding me as I live in the wealthiest society in human history.
Do you expect less than You demanded of the poorest Israelite?