Hope to Inform Your Worship
Dear Pastor,
I want to invite you to remember old Simeon “waiting for the Consolation of Israel.”
Call to mind Anna in the temple fasting and praying night and day. These saints knew the Messiah was going to come to His people. Their worship and service to God were shaped by this expectation. Their prayers were informed by this hope. “He will surely come!” And they were rewarded with seeing the Messiah come into His temple.
Friend, what expectation shapes your worship and praise of God? What hope is informing your prayers? I want to offer you a sure hope that is just as sure as Simeon and Anna’s hope. This hope will inspire your service to new fervor. It will take your worship to incredible heights. It will fuel your labors like nothing else. It is this:
The nations will one day stream to God’s presence in the worship of Jesus!
Forgetting this hope, the service of many has become half-hearted. Their worship has grown weak. They read the warnings in Scripture of wickedness being multiplied, false prophets abounding, and love growing cold. Then they watch the evening news and they confirm that this must be the day. Indeed the work of Satan is evident all about us.
But the warnings in Scripture are not to be read apart from the promises of God, promises such as this:
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations shall flow to it.
Isaiah 2:2
This promise of global worship is just as sure as the warning of rampant evil. Never forget that though the enemy is working his schemes, the Lord is working all things according to His purposes in Christ! He is bringing all things into conformity with His glorious plan. His Kingdom is ever advancing and His government is ever increasing. This is the hope and vision of the saints of God! You may not see it now, but it is the sure end of all things.
Is this hope informing your worship as much as the warnings of multiplied evil? Is your expectation of God’s plans prevailing as evident in your prayers as your expectation of evil spreading? The warnings of our enemy's schemes are never to overshadow the promises of Christ’s redemption of the nations!
Pastor, every time you open the Scriptures, every time you call the saints to worship, every time you break the bread and pour out the wine, every time you share the Gospel story… let it be with a heart that beats with this sure hope. Let it be with hands that tremble and eyes that shine with this wild expectation: Zion, the Kingdom of God, will be exalted and the nations will stream toward Him in joyful worship. Amen!
Re-inspire your walk with Jesus.
This collection of short, profound insights from the pen of Charles Spurgeon will help you conquer discouragement and reclaim the joy of walking with Jesus each day. Through 100 Christo-centric ruminations, you will be reminded of what an abiding life in God entails.
