27th Mar 26 | 16:08
Studies by Book
01 Acts 13 01-03 THE COMMISSIONING OF BARNABAS AND PAUL 05 Acts 13 02 Ministry to people follows worship of God
📖 Acts 13:01-03
05 – Wed, 19 Feb 2025 – *Ministry to people follows worship of God* - _Acts 13:01-03_ – THE COMMISSIONING OF BARNABAS AND PAUL – _Isaiah 06:03-08_
_Acts 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."_
As we minister to the Lord, we can fulfil the ministry that God entrusts to us for various target groups. Paul saw his ministry to the Gentiles flowing from his ministry to the Lord. _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._
As we worship and adore Him, we understand His burden and concern for different people, who need to be reconciled with Him.
The church in Antioch was worshipping and serving the Lord with fasting. It was then that the call for ministry came upon all of them and the Lord called them to separate to Him Barnabas and Paul for the ministry.
We have already seen that repentance and forgiveness from the Lord precede worship and serving the Lord. It is as we serve the Lord, that He places His concerns upon our hearts.
_Isaiah 6:3-8 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" (4) And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." (6) Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. (7) And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." (8) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."_
Isaiah was in the presence of the Lord, worshipping Him but he first needed cleansing. Isaiah repented and sought forgiveness from the Lord, not only for Himself but also for the sins of the people.
This is another aspect that we overlook when we worship God. We must repent and seek His forgiveness for our rebellion against Him. We also repent on behalf of the sins of our people. We have to own the sins of the people and repent before God. I do not see this taking place in our worship.
As Isaiah worshipped in this manner, the Lord called him. _I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?"_ This is the cry of the heart of God. He longs for people to be reconciled with Him. We can understand and be one with Him in His pain when we worship Him in spirit and truth, for He seeks such worshippers. _John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."_
Isaiah’s response to minister to people came from him serving the Lord. _Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."_
Serving the Lord also implies that we offer ourselves to Him for His service. *We bow before Him to worship Him for who He is, and we also bow before Him to offer ourselves to Him*. _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._
We offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, which is a misnomer – a sacrifice has to die. The peculiarity of the Christian life is that we are living, but we are a sacrifice placed on the altar before God.
We can now see how the church in Antioch was preparing and offering herself into God’s hand, for Him to send them out to the ministry. Friends, if only we follow this process how wonderful it would be! We would be aligned and deeply coupled with the heart of God for Him to send us out into the mission field.
It is in our worship and serving God that our call to the mission of God emerges. _James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world._
Some have turned this around and have immersed themselves in social action, claiming that this is their worship and devotion to God. We must be careful. Ministry flows from the heart of God. We serve Him. We worship Him. It is God who places His burden for people in our hearts and we follow through in executing what it is in the heart of God for us to do.
God sees our hearts. ```Let us therefore come before God to serve Him with true worship. Ministry will follow.``` _Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water._