Devotional For Community Churches Night Of Worship

“When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.  And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads!  I am innocent.  From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’  And he left there and went t the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.  His house was next door to the synagogue.  Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household.  And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”  Acts 18:5-8

There are many men throughout the scriptures who were given special designations.  Enoch walked with God, Moses spoke with God, Noah was the single light of righteousness in his generation, David was a man after God’s own heart.  And in this text we see another designation given to a man about whom most of us, if not all of us, have never heard of.  His name was Titius Justus.  And the designation that he was given was that of being called – a worshiper of God.  We should admit that that is no small designation.  And although he is not the only one who has been given this title, he is part of a remnant to whom this title is given.  He is part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that they may proclaim the excellencies of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).  I must be honest, if at my death God could scribe upon my tombstone one designation I would hope that it would be this one.  For if ones life can be described as having been a worshiper of God then it would seem that all other titles given among faithful men would be applicable to that man’s life as well.

 

But how is such worship produced in a man’s life?  Surely it is no accident.  It cannot be that some are simply more gifted at worship than others.  This text actually sheds some light upon this topic.  When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia they found Paul occupied with the word.  Think of all of the things that can occupy a persons time and attention.  And despite all of the activities and pursuits of Paul these men quickly saw that his preoccupation was the word of God.  But it even gets more specific than that when it says, “testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”  Today, we see so many men and ministries who claim to teach the word but Christ is hardly mentioned.  Some ministries focus on marriage, others focus on leadership, some are primarily focused upon families, or social justice, or emotional health.  All of these have their place perhaps but as such they do not cultivate men and women like TItius Justus.  Only the preaching of Christ can produce men and women who are worshipers of God.

 

The preaching of the word and the proclamation about Christ does not automatically and unanimously make men and women who worship. The very next verse says that the Jews he spoke to that day opposed and reviled him.  Fortunately, Paul never stopped preaching or concluded that his message must change to be more palatable to all who would hear.  If he had done this then many may have responded differently but  it too would have failed to have produce men like Titius Justus.   And on that day when these men reviled Paul he shook out his garments and and proclaimed that he was innocent of their blood and left the synagogue saying that he would now give all his attention to the Gentiles.

 

It was also on this day that we are introduced to Titius Justus because it was to his house that Paul went when he left the synagogue.  This being the case, consider that now Paul, Timothy, Silas, Titius and Crispus who also left the synagogue now had no building.  They had only a house in which to fellowship and gather.  And yet it was in this very situation that the scriptures record Titius as having been a worshiper of God.  This should reinforce the  idea that biblical worship is much more than a building or a segment of a church service.  One does not know how to sing to be a worshiper.  One does not have to be musically inclined to be a worshiper.  A man or woman who is a worshiper is chosen by God to be so and is given the grace to worship as a fruit of Christ having been preached (1 Peter 2:9; Acts 18: 10-11).  Some of you here tonight, like me, cannot sing and clap at the same time but you are none the less a worshiper.  I am grateful for the strong ministry of the word in this church because it produces in me and others the ability to worship as we see Christ better.  This is because worship is of its very nature focused upon God and not on anything temporal.

 

In closing I would like to refer to  Micah 4:6-7.  It is here we read, “In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.”

 

What was a promise for Micah’s generation is now being fulfilled in the generations since Christ.  And as we read, the Lord is now assembling a people.  He is leading them with cords of kindness and with bands of love (Hosea 11:4).  In a very true since, when men and women gather to worship they have always been brought by God to do so and this was not of their own choosing. But also notice who he is assembling.  He is gathering the lame, those who have been driven away, those whom he has afflicted and those who were cast off.   And it is this unlikely band of people who will give worship to God.

 

First notice that the lame and afflicted will be gathered to worship.  If we take a moment tonight to consider from where we have come we too would admit that we worship God because he has healed us to do so.  There was a time when we were blind but now we see.  There was a time when our hearts were made of stone but now they are made of flesh and respond to God.  Our ears were deaf but now they have heard the proclamation of the gospel and we have been forever changed.   There was a time when our arms were, in a spiritual sense, deformed and unable to be extended towards heaven but now they are outstretched towards our Lord.

 

Then notice that at one time all of us had been driven away and cast off from the presence of God because of our sin.  But now we have gathered here by his invitation and by his provision.  He has brought us here because we were unable to return on our own strength.  Like the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18) we too were unable to get to the mercies of God without help.  But when the grace and kindness of God was revealed he saved us.  Not by righteous works that we had done but by his mercy and grace (Eph. 2).

 

Lastly notice that the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.  Those who gather to worship the King are experiencing the reign of God over their lives.  There is not one area of their lives of which his sovereign reign does not extend.  There is not one area of their lives to which he does not exert his authority and sovereign will.  And it is by that will that we have been drawn to Mount Zion.  But is this reign only to be realized in heaven?  No, for the text declares that it is from this time forth and forevermore.  A worshipers life reflects best the fact that their God is reigning over them.  And there will never be a day in the future in which his sovereign reign will cease to exist for the text says that his reign is forevermore.