Make Your Lips Blossom: The Praise That Builds God's Temple
Dr RJ Sing, 1 hr 27 min
Originally recorded as “God's Holy Temple”
Sermon outline
You are God's temple and His priest, and the sacrifice He now asks for is the fruit of your lips, so keep the altar burning every morning with thanksgiving and confession of His Word.
Main text
- Leviticus 6:8-13
- Leviticus 7:11-17
- Isaiah 57:19
- Hebrews 13:15
Opening
After the baby dedications he leads communion as a victory meal and the church makes confessions: 'I'm a victor, not a victim.' He teaches a song he remembered while driving, 'Come, Bless the Lord', changing 'servants' to 'sons' and 'stand by night' to 'shine by night' to put new creation language into old hymns. Then he announces his subject, 'building God's temple', and reads the law of the burnt offering.
The fire on the altar shall never go out
The priests had to keep the burnt offering burning all night until the morning and put wood on the fire every morning. Believers are kings and priests unto God, so the pattern continues in a new form: service your altar every morning with praise and supplication, without fail.
“I hope you are burning wood on your altars every morning.”
- Leviticus 6:8-13
- Revelation 1:6
The sacrifice of thanksgiving is public confession
In the peace offerings, the Hebrew word for thanksgiving (todah) means to acknowledge or confess: a public declaration of God's attributes and works, given aloud in word and song, often with instruments, in His house. Israel proclaimed 'Yahweh is my provider, Yahweh is my healer.' Praise is important, but confession is just as important.
“Praise is important, but confession is just as important.”
- Leviticus 7:11-17
- 2 Samuel 22:50
- Psalm 35:18
- Psalm 28:7
- Psalm 100:4
- Psalm 122:4
The vow: praise before the blessing arrives
The second peace offering, the vow (neder), was promised to God aloud, sometimes after a blessing and sometimes before it. Praising before the manifestation shows a spirit of expectancy, and it was accepted only from a heart that did not cherish iniquity.
“They gave him praise preceding the manifestation of the result.”
- Nahum 1:15
- Psalm 116:14-18
- Psalm 22:25
- Job 22:27
- Psalm 66:18
The freewill offering: thanks for no reason but love
The third offering expressed general thankfulness and love without any specific blessing in mind. Do not give or praise because a pastor forces you or only when God has just done something; praise because you love Him. Clap, sing and dance in His house and do not worry about who laughs.
Illustration: Ask such a worshipper what God has done for him and he says 'nothing': he just loves God.
“Must there be a reason for me to praise God?”
- 2 Samuel 6:16
Make your lips blossom and your life will blossom
In the Amplified Bible, Isaiah 57:19 ties God's healing to making a person's lips blossom anew with thankful praise. Healing and blessing are attached to speech that has been changed from murmuring and complaining to thankful praise. Do not curse yourself or the things around you; bless the Lord in the morning and make your own day right.
Illustration: People who hop from church to church every few months are looking for someone to make them happy, instead of making themselves happy in God's presence.
“If you want your life to blossom, cause your lips to blossom.”
- Isaiah 57:19
- Psalm 103:1
Give thanks always for all things
Being filled with the Spirit shows in songs and thanksgiving for all things, not only when you feel like it. Paul and Silas sang at midnight and every prisoner heard. Stop calling the car God gave you a dog and your spouse names; thank God for your car, house, church and family, and declare that what you are believing for is done.
Illustration: If you are selling a property, write down the price, the tithe and the offering you will give, and thank God every morning that it is sold before it has happened.
“God's given you a chariot, you're calling it a dog.”
- Ephesians 5:18-20
- Acts 16:25
You are the temple of God
In the Old Testament people carried their offerings to the temple; now believers are the temple and the Spirit of God dwells in them. The church building is a sanctuary, a gathering of priests and of eagles, with angels all around, and Jesus the High Priest receives the confessions they make.
“You are not just anybody, you are somebody. The priest of the most high God.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:16-18
- Hebrews 12:22
The sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips
Hebrews 13:15 calls us to offer the sacrifice of praise continually, the fruit of our lips, and Jesus is the High Priest of a better covenant. When you feel down, confess the Word anyway and the temple is energised and built up. Do not repeat the newspaper headlines; confess the Word over your strength, health, protection and finances, and grow your own miracle garden with the fruit of your lips.
Illustration: He walks around his office and bedroom confessing scripture, and pictures a person who wakes up feeling down going to work saying 'Isn't today a great day?' because the temple has been energised.
“You want your life blessed? Change your lips.”
- Hebrews 13:15
- Hebrews 8:1-6
- 1 John 4:4
- Romans 8:28
- Romans 8:37
- Joel 3:10
- Psalm 141:2
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Job 17:9
- Psalm 37:39
- Daniel 11:32
- Isaiah 53:5
- Psalm 34:7
- Psalm 91:10
- Proverbs 3:26
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3
- 3 John 2
Putting it into practice
- Keep the fire burning: praise God every morning before the day begins.
- Thank God out loud before the answer comes.
- Stop murmuring about your car, your spouse and your job; speak thankful words over them.
- Confess the Word, not the news, over your health, family and finances.
- Join in when the church reads and praises: priests participate.
Closing
He has the church pray in tongues and declare that the joy of the Lord is their strength, then prophesies over marriages, health, finances and businesses. From Proverbs 16:10 he says a divine sentence is in the lips of a king and 'sentences' the church to prosperity, victory and long life, speaks healing over named conditions, prays with those selling houses, cars and land, and leads the declaration 'My temple's on fire.'
Declarations he led
- God is good to me. His favor is on my life, on my home, on my family. I expect good things.
- I'm a victor, not a victim. I'll overcome by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of my testimony.
- I'm disease free. I'm sickness free. I'm poverty free.
- I'm a new creature in Christ. I'm born again.
- I am the temple. I'm the temple of God.
- My temple's on fire. My altar's on fire. I'm the priest of the Most High God.
- Thanks be to God who has given me the victory. Victory is mine.
In his words
- “It's a victory meal.”
- “If you want your life to blossom, cause your lips to blossom.”
- “God's given you a chariot, you're calling it a dog.”
- “So the sacrifice of thanksgiving is your confession.”
- “You keep your own temple charged up.”
Every scripture in this message
- 1 Corinthians 11:24-26
- Ephesians 2:6
- Romans 8:31
- Hebrews 12:2
- Revelation 12:11
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Psalm 134:1-2
- Leviticus 6:8-13
- Revelation 1:6
- Leviticus 7:11-17
- 2 Samuel 22:50
- Psalm 35:18
- Psalm 28:7
- Psalm 100:4
- Psalm 122:4
- Nahum 1:15
- Psalm 116:14-18
- Psalm 22:25
- Job 22:27
- Psalm 66:18
- 2 Samuel 6:16
- Isaiah 57:19
- Psalm 103:1
- Ephesians 5:18-20
- Acts 16:25
- 1 Corinthians 3:16-18
- Hebrews 12:22
- Hebrews 13:15
- 1 John 4:4
- Romans 8:28
- Romans 8:37
- Joel 3:10
- Hebrews 8:1-6
- John 17:16
- Psalm 141:2
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Job 17:9
- Psalm 37:39
- Daniel 11:32
- Isaiah 53:5
- Psalm 34:7
- Psalm 91:10
- Proverbs 3:26
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3
- 3 John 2
- Proverbs 16:10
- Psalm 91:16
- Matthew 18:18
- 1 Corinthians 15:57