What Happens When You Worship?

Entering into worship, one may come boldly. (Hebrews 10:19-20)

One must certainly enter in personal holiness. (I Chronicles 16:29-30; Matthew 5:8)

As we worship in spirit, God's Spirit joins us One with God. (John 4:23-24; John 17:22-24)

Recognize that in the Spirit (and your spirit) you are seated presently in the heavenlies with Jesus, One with Him before the Father. (Ephesians 2:6)

At this point, what happens when we are either on our knees or prostrate before God in worship, is really up to God. Words cannot explain what God derives from worship. It is for God and God alone. It is for His glory. The "benefit", if you will, that you come away with, is the knowledge of His present service.

God will give you some truth and some service as you commune with Him. (John 4:23-24; Romans 11:36 - 12:2)

God will teach you some truth that no man can give you. (1 John 2:27)

That service is the knowledge of His present will. Take heed that you do not delay in doing it. Once God has commanded it, filled you with His Spirit for it, and enabled you through His spiritual gift(s), go and do the thing. If you don't, you will find yourself stuck in some kind of spiritual mire. Oswald Chambers often reminds us of this in his daily readings of "My Utmost for His Highest".

Rejoice in the total consumption of your living sacrifice. Make it also a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Leviticus 22:29) and praise (Jeremiah 33:11; Hebrews 13:15).

After the doing of His present will, go back and worship again, for He is worthy.

I say this to your encouragement and warning. I had two things to do that God willed for me. Rather than do them presently, I delayed for a week. It was painful. I am learning to move on, to instantly obey, to fear the LORD and love Him with my whole heart and keep Him in all my thoughts. Grace be unto you saints. Awake unto righteousness and sin not. Be ready at all times for His appearing.

Angels and Demons

For all my Christian life I shall remember my salvation. I shall remember (for purposes of this post discussion) the two men whom God used to deliver to me the gospel of Jesus Christ by which I was saved. Reggie Parker and Jeff Lovin were roommates just down the hall from me in our college dorm. The one thing I remember vividly about those two was their consistency. They were always bold in their witness and bold in speaking the name of Jesus. No matter what. Every action, every word, every circumstance always brought them back to the bold proclamation of the gospel and name of Jesus.

Over the years I have tried to look them up. Google. Facebook. Campus Crusade for Christ. Not a hit. They don't exist. I figure God wants it that way. No glory or praise or even thanks to the servants. Or perhaps they were angels and that's why I can't find them.

Many of my posts of late deal with worship. Here's what happened this morning as God has been prompting me to worship Him and be bold in my proclamation of the gospel and His name.

It started with resistance. No particular, discernable reason. I just did not want to bow down. That was enough for the Holy Spirit to convict me of ommission. No surprise that God was speaking about that very thing during an Adrian Rogers sermon on the radio that morning. "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak."

The Spirit cried out, "Worship me!" I went into my office, closed the door, and got down on my knees. "No!", He cried. "Prostrate."

"Oh what is the difference," I wondered. He would not give in. "Prostrate." I could feel the flesh resist but my mind desire to obey. Then it hit me - hard. Humble thyself. Humble thy SELF. I went flat. And God poured in His Holy Spirit and out He flowed in audible worship - "...every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Is there a difference? Yes, if God says so.

And just before I arose, having offered myself in reasonable service on His altar, He let me know His will for that moment. "Write this down and then create a prayer list of saints I lay on your heart. Pray for them according to I Corinthians 15:34 and Ephesians 5:25-27. Then also add those whom I desire to save according to my grace and gospel."

So there you have it.

Getting the Word Out

Consider this my friends who awake unto righteousness and sin not:

In Jesus' time and up to the time of John writing Revelation some 90 years later, only three ways existed for any Scripture to reach the ears of the world: 1) immediate recipients of the letters, 2) received copies of the letters, and/or 3) heard it through oral tradition. Now consider further that any one recipient possibly received that one and only one letter in his/her lifetime. Given the length of some of the letters (ie. Romans and Corinthians), it is further possible that any one recipient through the most common method of oral tradition probably received only some portion of that letter.

This may seem staggering to some folks today in this world of internet, Tweet, blogging, and the former mass media of printed material. We may tend to think that the Word of God is instantly available to anyone in the world. Sadly, this is not true for many reasons. But just as in Jesus' time, so it is today in many parts of the world. Ancient, slow, limited communication.

Suppose you were around in Jesus' time or even now in some remote place where there are no Bibles, no computers, no cell phones. Imagine right now you are stranded there for some interminable amount of time. What of God's Word will you have with you? How did it get there? Why?

Why so little?

What kind of relationship do you really have with God? Are you One with Him as Jesus prayed for you? Suppose you have just that one fragment of God's Word. Maybe you got it from a tract that contained a few verses. And that's it for the rest of your life. Would you starve to death spiritually?

Or would you thrive because you have a living, loving, passionate, free, and holy relationship with God? Could you love Him just as much without a Bible? I have a missionary friend in China who knows many people there who love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind without a shred of Scripture to lay personal claim to. How is this possible?

God says in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." That gospel is clearly spelled out in I Corinthians 15:1-4, "1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

That is the power of God. It saves men from sin. It brings the rightful glory and worship back to God and God alone.

Can you love Him and worship Him passionately with never another bit of the Bible passing your way? The gospel of Jesus Christ has thrived for two-thousand years despite the devil's best efforts to destroy the Word of God. He may be able to destroy the books but He cannot destroy our Lord Jesus because He claimed once for all men, for all sin, for all time, "It is finished." Death has no more power over Him or His adopted brothers and sisters. Sin has no more dominion over us. We are an holy kingdom of priests, saved from sin to worship and serve our living and true God in the beauty of holiness, spirit, and truth.

That truth is the Word of God. And whatever bit of it you have, hide it in your heart so that you sin not against Him. That Word is not just a book. It is the living Lord Jesus Himself, living in you, because He loved you and gave Himself for you. Jesus alone must be sufficient for you to be witnesses unto Him by any means possible.

Opinions Don't Matter

The internet and 24/7 news seem to be more opinion than factual, well-researched, newsworthy portals. That is my conviction. To many Christians, TV was (and still is) the enemy of the mind and spirit. I would add the former two items. Christian blogs and forums abound here. With them comes the abundance of opinion about any topic of interest including the very Word of God. My conviction further holds that opinion does not matter in the case of the Word of God. If anyone has anything to say about the Word of God therefore let him do the following:

1. First, search the Scriptures to see whether the things heard and read and believed are really so. Acts 17:10-12 - "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few." The power of the Word of God will always bear fruit.

2. Form your thoughts and convictions in heaven. Romans 11:36 - "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." The Word of God will always glorify the LORD.

3. Study. II Timothy 2:15-16 - "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." The Word of God will always boldness. Opinion is ungodly.

Any further time I spend on Christian forums, blogs, or other writings will be initiated in this way. This is not a criticism of those things or people, though some should be admonished for I see opinion far more often then is good. For instance:

1. The work has more of a person's word than the Word of God. Such knowledge is puffed up. Paul uses this term in I Corithians 4:6, "And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." As in this verse, so I usually see it on the web. "I think God means such and such because so and so person says in his book...." What matters is what God says, not what others say about Him.

This is a subtle but important point that I shall dwell on for a moment. God says in II Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." He goes on to warn us of false teachers. I see "Christian" writers labeled as false teachers all the time. While sometimes this is true, I want you to see that truly God's Word has but one and only one interpretation. Yet at the same time "... the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) Furthermore, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) When you are One with God and Jesus, you have the personal relationship whereby you hear God speak His Word to you intimately.

This is a mystery spoken of in Ephesians 1:9, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:" and Romans 16:25-26, "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:" These are the words that we are called to boldly proclaim as truth according to I Thessalonians 2:13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

This mystery must remain untouched, this glory that we behold in One (John 17:24).

Sent to the Children

As God sent Ezekiel to the house of Israel to say, “Thus saith the Lord GOD,” so He sends me to the children of God, the Bride of Jesus Christ. The reaction will be the same from both: “And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.” (Ezekiel 2:5-8)

Likewise, He sends me to a people who are not of a strange speech and of an hard language (3:5), but to the Bride of Christ, His elect. But they will not hear me nor God, for like Israel, they are impudent and hard-hearted. God prepares me with a strong face, an adamant forehead, without fear. He speaks His Word to me that I place in my heart and hear with my ears. Thus shall I go to the Bride in captivity, unto those of the Body, and speak unto them, and tell them, “Thus saith the Lord GOD.”

Then I understood what happened to me next. I had not reached the end. I was at a midpoint, familiar yet unfamiliar. I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. (3:14)

That was it exactly. I was bitter. I spoke and nothing seemed to happen. Even though God said it would be so, I was angry. Yet every day God’s lovingkindness and mercy that endures forever strongly persuaded me to do the one and only thing that I could do of any noticeable consequence. I worshipped God.

Upon the first set of calamities to strike Job, he “arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

It is almost easy to pray, confess sin, go to church, and any other manner of Christian activity. But to humble myself, get on my knees or prostrate myself before God and worship Him is all but impossible but for the grace of God constantly calling out His heart, “Worship me!” That is His great desire. It is the one thing He wants above all else from His people. It is the one thing most lacking today. It is given to others, willingly, and with terrible consequence to come.

“And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish .” (Deuteronomy 8:19)

God, I pray again to show me your Bride, the elect, and the remnant of Israel, who are asleep, that I may speak to them, and by thy Word, by the power of thy Holy Spirit, you will awaken them unto righteousness that they sin not. Cause them in their stirring to ready themselves for your coming, that they may be found “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that (they) should be holy and without blemish.” Set them apart to worship you in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness that you have bestowed. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to the glory of God, Amen.

God's Permanent Things

As my oldest son nears college age, people ask him, "What do you want to major in?" He has no idea. Like him, a friend's daughter went down the technical path in high school taking all honors classes, acing each one with little difficulty or study. Then she surprised her parents by desiring to be a music major in college. My wry son replied, "I want to be a circus clown."

We talk sometimes about what God's will is for his life. I think when a Christian hears that question they believe that God's will is a one-time, lifetime thing. I used to think so. But the Bible does not teach that. A few things started to bring that truth to me.

First, Romans 11:36 - 12:2 (a passage I teach often) was written in the present tense. God says, "...so that you may know what is that...will of God." Second, God is the God of the present. His very name, "I AM" proclaims this reality throughout Scripture. And thirdly, by experience, I know that what God wills for me today may not be what He wills tomorrow. God's will is so much more than what He wants me to do. It is how He wants me to do it that is so unique and personal and real and dynamic.

I am still a prophet, still called to be a prophet, still crying out to the Church through the written word. But that can all change. Someday God may want to gift me in a different way. One of the things my wife are considering right now is opening up our home to host small group fellowships. To make that successful we need to ensure that we do it in accordance with God's will.

Prophets are not the most welcoming people. Folks tend not to be comfortable around us. We do and say strange things. At least that's the way it seems to folks who are far from God and His truth. When the world seems normal to Christians instead of the things of God, then God and His Word seem strange. I'm just the messenger. So to open my home to folks who may be near or far requires someone with a more delicate touch initially. That would be my wife. She is gifted to do these things.

Our church is praying for God to raise up a senior pastor. I told our youth pastor the other day that we need to pray for God to raise up the other gifted members of the body as well. That is how God makes a whole body. A single pastor does not complete the body of Christ.

Likewise, we need that body in the home small group.

There are only a few permanent things about God in this context. Salvation is one of them. We never lose it. And in this life we never lose the presence of sin. We must always overcome it. Everything else is pretty much dynamic. That is why we must remain rooted and grounded in the permanent things of God in the midst of the dynamics of daily life.

I find myself counting on His lovingkindness, His mercy that endures forever, and his longsuffering. I count on Him calling out to me, listening to me, and welcoming me into His throneroom by the blood of Jesus. I love to spend time with Him as David did.

Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple."

I love to worship in the beauty of holiness. His holiness. As I think on the things of Philippians 4:8, they all lead me back to Jesus. Nothing of this world fits them. Only Jesus. These are the permanent things of God.

I received some interesting feedback to this on Facebook.
What do you think?
I get nothing when I go to church but I give everything when I am the church.