Dedicate yourself to worship.

Today we want to look at the story of Solomon.  Solomon – King David’s son – is the wisest man to have ever walked in all the world.  In Chapter 5 of 2 Chronicles we see the ark of the covenant (God’s very presence) entering the temple built for Him.  In verse 13-14 we see what happens when God’s presence enters a place.

13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

“For He is good,

For His mercy endures forever,”that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not [e]continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14

This is a type of the new birth when we as new Christians have just accepted Christ into our hearts.  The glory of God comes into the place and fills where we are.  

Dedicate yourself completely

In the following chapter we see Solomon dedicate that place to God.  We also need to dedicate our whole self (spirit, soul, and body) to Christ.  

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1 King James Version (KJV)

The power of our salvation comes when we do this because without submitting our whole self unto God we live only free in our spirits and never free anywhere else.  But when we sacrifice our wants and desires and lay them at the altar as worship unto God, we see the next thing that will happen.

Fire = the Spirit

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

2 Chronicles 7 King James Version (KJV)

In the Bible fire often represents the spirit of God in operation.  This fire is the same thing we see in Acts when the disciples were praying in the upper room.  Fire came and sat on each one of them.  Here God is saying that when you lay down your desires at the altar and dedicate your life to God just as Solomon dedicated the temple for God.  Then you will see the power of God in operation in your life because the fire of God from heaven has come down to consume those fleshly desires.  

You will never operate in the power of salvation – the same power that raised Christ from the dead – until you dedicate your life and all your flesh to the Lord.

Truest Worship

This is the truest form of worship.  The Bible says in Romans 8:13 that… 

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:13

Those in true worship worship not with a place or in a specific time they worship in spirit and in truth.  They present their whole bodies as living sacrifices unto God.

3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.

2 Chronicles 7:3-4 

When others look at your life, it should point them to Jesus.  Here we see that the Israelites saw the glory of the Lord come down after Solomon had already dedicated the temple and after God had already consumed his burnt offerings.  Then here after all this happened then the Israelites bowed and worshipped God themselves.  

Worship Leadership Key = God is Visible in You

The key of effective worship leadership is housed in this verse.  It is not about the lights, the sound, the music or anything else.  It is about the fact that the people need to see God in you.  When you have been with God, you can take others there too, but if you never enter God’s presence on your own how can you take others to a place you’ve never been?

It takes a leader – Solomon, a pastor, a worship leader – to model the life that comes when someone lays down his/her life and sacrifices their desires.  From that place you become a witness without ever even having to open your mouth. 

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

2 Chronicles 7:14-16

After all this dedication and worship the Lord speaks to Solomon saying that when you do mess up – because we all will – if you repent and return to me and seek my face I will hear you.  

When our lives are dedicated to the Lord, we have lost the right to run and hide when we sin.  Instead we run to God and receive forgiveness because he has chosen us and set us forever with Him.  

God says that when we do this He not only forgives us but he hears us.  When you set yourself apart you open yourself up to a whole new realm of prayer answering power.  

Dedicate yourself because our Hearts are HIS

If you are a Christian God is saying here today that He has chosen this heart (your heart/my heart) to be his dwelling place not for a short time but for all of eternity.  Dedicate yourself to living a life of worship.  Worship isn’t an action we perform on a sunday.  It’s not a song or an offering. Worship is living life not serving 2 masters but instead sacrificing our desires and wants and turning to God.  

This is true worship and the worship that God says is a sweet smelling aroma. 

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