Is your Worship merely noise?

sermonindex Sep 23, 2007

"Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (Rev 3:19-21)

Hi Guys
There are many Scriptures that are commonly misquoted and taken out of context. There is a saying amongst those who seriously study the word " a text without a context becomes a pretext." This Scripture quoted above is one such Scripture. How many of us have shared the Scripture above in regard to the unsaved? This Scripture, in actual fact, pictures the Lord seeking entrance into His own church for the purpose of renewed fellowship.

How sad and tragic that our Lord Jesus would have to stand outside of our lives, outside of His own peoples heart and church and knock continually and be ignored, be left standing outside the door. How many times in the world have we been going about our business in our own houses and suddenly realize that there is someone standing on our doorstep? If you have been in your own house and see someone standing at your door as you passed, you quickly open the door and apologize and ask the person how long they have been standing there. Would it not be tragic if there is the person of Jesus standing outside of the innermost parts of our hearts and His knocking goes unheard? How is it that we cannot hear Him? It clearly says that He is knocking. Perhaps the things of the world, the cares of the day have dulled our hearing?

It is interesting that in the very next chapter (how many know that there are no actual chapters in the Bible and that they were added to make it easier for the modern reader) actually two sentences later the letter continues and says "After these things I looked and behold a door standing open in Heaven." This is the same door brothers and sisters. This is the door that the Lord wants you to open, come with me and see what the Scripture says lies beyond the door that the Lord wants you to open today, right now. ...........

"Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and One sat on the Throne.
Oh brothers and sisters, we are in the very throne room of God, we have stepped into the innermost sanctuary of the mighty God of all creation. Can I suggest to you that in this place you will fall on your face? That the awe and the majesty and the trembling power of that place will completely take you over and you will cry "Holy holy holy . Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come."

When we, as "living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever," we will find ourselves "Casting down our crowns before the throne saying You are worthy Oh Lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created."

For too long we, as people of God, as the called out people have only entered into "His courts with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise." And while there is great emphasis in ancient Israel for worship of joyful abandon and gladness, this was not the only "mood," of worship. Even prior to Jesus manifesting Himself on the earth there was a worship of awe and of reverence where one could barely lift their heads. The power would fall, the shekinah glory of the living God would fall with such a "Holy heaviness," that one could barely lift their heads.

If we are to move to a different place in God, as individuals and as a called out people, we must answer the knock at the door of our hearts. In order to hear that knocking we must abandon the "cares of the world. Instead of seeking the gold of the world, we must turn our eyes to the treasures of heaven and its throne room. If we are to hear God, we must become silent before Him. We are moving into a time where it will be vital to be intimate with Him. There is a time for shouting and praising God, but if we are ignoring the knocking, then we must stop shouting. If our lives are not reflecting the Glory of God, if we are not becoming like His Son, daily, then all of our shouting and praising God will just be so much noise. How tragic for the church of the living God if, when He looks down, He does not see praise but just a group of people making a noise.

Dear Lord and Father, in the name of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus, we repent this day and ask that you forgive us. We have had a form of Godliness, we have had a reputation of being alive, but now we want nothing more than to reflect the glory of the throne room of heaven. We want to enter into this place, this place of most intimate worship that compels us, necessitates us to fall to the floor and cry Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy are you Lord in all the earth and we worship you. And when, for practical purposes, we get back to our feet, then let us be changed by the very presence of you in the most intimate parts of us. And from the very core of our being let that change radiate outwards, let us take that change, that power, that presence back out into the world of darkness and let that light so shine before men who dwell in darkness that they run to you. Fire in our hearts from the throne room of heaven. Living coals received into supernatural hearts, hearts prepared to receive such coals. No longer does the coals of fire burn our lips but it burns at the very center of our beings. Oh Lord I hear you knocking, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is knocking on my door? I can scarcely believe how honored I am, how privileged I am that you would knock on the door of one such as I.
"2Sa 9:8 And he bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?" Lord you restored everything to Mephibosheth, a lame man in hiding, and invited him to dine with you every day, I ask that you would restore us, your people, to the banqueting table of your presence and I thank you that your banner over us is love.

O

Onesimus4God Sep 23, 2007

Very nice. Thank you. Yes, this scripture speaks reams to me as well. The really tragic part of it is that the people inside don't even realize He is missing from their fellowship. They are so embalmed with themselves, personal achievment and self worship, they miss the "icabod" over the door. The glory of the Lord has departed.
The Bible says that "in His presence, there is fullness of joy". To me, what this means is that when we get real close to God, He begins to leak out some of His glory into our hearts and lives. This glory is a manifestation of His presence. In His presence, there is fullness of joy. What is Joy? Worship.
See, in the manifest presence of God, there is always worship. We find ourselves falling forward, not backward. We fall on our faces and cry out "Oh" because what we feel in our heart goes beyond description. Oh God. To me, that is worship. For in His presence, every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is worship. It is a response of man that cannot be controlled by man, be he lost or saved. Worship.
I love to minister music. I often tell people this: "God inhabits the praises of His people. In His presence there is fullness of joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength." Alleluia.
God wants to reveal more of Himself to us, if only we take our eyes off of "us", and put them on Him. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. Worship. Glory. Joy. Worship. Glory to God.

Thanks for sharing and God bless you real good,

"O"

B

BrokenOne Sep 23, 2007

From a devotional:

John 4:22 “You worship what you do not know.”

Have you ever looked around your church on a Sunday morning during the worship service? If you have, you have probably noticed two distinct groups of people. There are those who seem to be so caught up in the presence of God, so focused on Him that they are oblivious to the things around them. And then there are those who are standing with their hands in their pockets, or arms folded across their chest or looking at their watch. What is the difference between these 2 groups? I believe the difference is in the extent to which the knowledge of who God is has gripped our hearts.

Too often we have allowed the holy things of God to become familiar and common. Or we have not really experienced a personal revelation of His greatness. God is to us some being living in a distant place who we sing songs to once a week. Maybe He hears, maybe He doesn’t. In any case, there seems to be no need to really “engage” in worship. But yet we leave church saying that we have worshipped God. How can you worship One that you do not know? How can you adore or praise One whose praiseworthiness you are unaware of? This at best is mere flattery of God, not worship; an attempt to perform some religious duty that we feel God requires. We may say the right words, but we remain unconvinced. Is God honored in this?

Let us fall to our knees before Him and confess that we have not known Him and have been unable to truly worship Him. Knowing that the Lord is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth, let us seek to be among that group.

PRAYER: Father, too often my worship of you has been mere attendance at a service in order to soothe my conscience that I have performed my duty toward you. But I know that you desire worship that comes from a heart that has experienced a revelation of Your glory. So I ask that You destroy every false idea of You that I have held onto in an attempt to make a god that was appealing to me, and teach me who You are in truth.

sermonindex Sep 23, 2007

Some good points made in this reply. On any given Sunday there will be people who enter in or do not. I was just taking it one step further, so to speak." I believe that the vast majority of what is going on in worship is "courtyard worship." Some of the congregation are entering into His courts(which of course is better than not) but not "behind the veil," for lack of a better phrase because of course the veil was ripped in two when Jesus was victorious on the cross.

There is a general corporate blessing in worship, then there is a specific, intimate corporate blessing. The kind of blessing that if you are not in a good place with the Lord you will not want to be there or you will want to fall on your face and get it dealt with.

Americans are very good, by nature and temperment, at joyous celebration and "jumping up and down," but very quiet intimate worship seems to be more of a struggle, I believe, because of the vulnerability involved and the neccecity and realization that we are utterly dependent upon God. This is a harder struggle for a people who celebrate "Independence," and who admire "self made men." ............appolus

B

BrokenOne Sep 23, 2007

I have noticed during worship services a tendency to fill up every moment with sound. There is almost a fear of quiet. If we get quiet, then we might hear what the Lord has been saying. And something very precious is lost. Something along the lines of ‘Be still and know that I am God’.

Danielle

sermonindex Sep 23, 2007

I completely agree Danielle. There is something very powerful about silence in a worship service. There is expectancy in silence. In a dialogue, one speaks and the other listens, then the other speaks while the other listens. Why would it be any different with our Lord??

T

Tears_of_joy Sep 23, 2007

Hi everyone,

This thread reminded me of one old similar thread:

~~[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=939&forum=40]~~Night and day on my knees[/url]

B

BrokenOne Sep 23, 2007

Brother Kire, thank you for that link. I hope everyone takes the time to read through it.

I also thought this from Apostolic Foundations by Art Katz was appropriate here:

… and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Lev 9 v 24b)

This is the effect of the appearing of the glory of God on men, despite their resistance, self-will and shallowness. Your face is what you are. Everything came down before God when they saw that. And that alone is true blessedness. There was none of that ‘Amen’ and ‘Hallelujah’ stuff that punctuates our charismatic services, but a prostration that is so profound and so utter that when you rise from that, you never rise in the same way in which you went down. All of your seeing, your whole perspective, all of your reckoning, valuing and plans are affected by that going down. You cannot again go on as before. That is what happens when you fall before the demonstration of the glory of God. The God of Moses and Aaron is God still, and if He will have a priestly people on the earth as consecrated as were Aaron and his sons, then that glory will again fall.

The priests were to teach the people the difference between the profane and the sacred. How then as the Body of Christ can we manifest this distinction to the world? How can we perform priestly ministry with such discernment when a priestly reality is absent from our own lives? Perhaps we have neglected to ascend the holy mount, or have lost all desire for transfiguration glory. We have not recognized that there is a holy place where one stands alone in the presence of God, ministering first to Him. We have grown content to remain outside the tent of meeting where our religious activity has become a kind of entertainment, technically correct, but devoid of glory, devoid of the fragrance of heaven and devoid of priestly ministry.

There has been a failure of the priestly ministry to be expressed in our midst that we have lost even the desire to experience the glory of God. We have grown content with so little, content with merely ‘good’ meetings and expecting no more. An expectation must first be rekindled in us, an expectation that the glory of God can actually fall from heaven like fire—men brought down on their faces, awe, gasps, hands clasped over mouths and deep breakings.

sermonindex Sep 24, 2007

There has been a failure of the priestly ministry to be expressed in our midst that we have lost even the desire to experience the glory of God. We have grown content with so little, content with merely ‘good’ meetings and expecting no more. An expectation must first be rekindled in us, an expectation that the glory of God can actually fall from heaven like fire—men brought down on their faces, awe, gasps, hands clasped over mouths and deep breakings.

I love this quote. This captures a lot of what I was trying to convey. It must be a puzzle to that great cloud of witnesses that Gods people here on earth would resist entering such a glorious place of transformation.

sermonindex Sep 24, 2007

Excellent link to "Night and days on my Knees." Perhaps the Lord will hear His remnant from Heaven and honor them with a final revival before the great falling away occurs(unless we are already in the middle of the great falling away)

B

BrokenOne Sep 24, 2007

I found in my own life recently that I have the tendency to be what I call a “worship snob”. I love the worship service at my church. I have in the past enjoyed music like Hillsongs and things similar. It is loud and powerful, the music is moving – it engages the senses. But I remember the first time I heard the music that is here on SI by Christ Our Life. I spent the whole entire day weeping in the Presence of God as I listened to that music. The power of that music is not in the talent of the musicians or the artful arrangement of the music (although it lacks neither), but in the purity of it. That’s the word that comes to mind when I listen to it – Pure.

When I went to hear Paul Washer speak at a little reformed Baptist church, they sang out of a hymnal and I had never even heard any of the songs, I had no clue how to sing them. So I just read the words telling of His kingly majesty and cried like a baby.

I am learning that just because it’s not what I’m used to doesn’t mean that God isn’t in it. How foolish that seems now. I remember hearing John Bevere say “worship isn’t a slow song.”

Maybe it is a life poured out, a heart lifted up. Sometimes it is a deep longing that has no words. I guess I can’t really define it. I just pray that I am learning to do it – to live it.

Danielle

C

Compton Sep 25, 2007

I remember the first time I heard the music that is here on SI by Christ Our Life. I spent the whole entire day weeping in the Presence of God as I listened to that music. The power of that music is not in the talent of the musicians or the artful arrangement of the music (although it lacks neither), but in the purity of it. That’s the word that comes to mind when I listen to it – Pure.

You express my heart towards these guys and their music as well. So many spontaneous tears when I started listening to these brethren... 'Living Sacrifice' is truly a prayer captured in song.

My only complaint is that they've ruined most other contemporary styled worship music for me. ;-)

Blessings,

MC

B

BrokenOne Sep 25, 2007

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot over the past few days. Pondering on the tendency to offer God something less than true worship. I have noticed a parallel (somewhat) to something I have been experiencing in my life.

As a former anorexic (healed by Jesus last year) I have been gaining weight over the last several months and look like a normal person now. Those who saw me when I was deathly thin apparently feel some obligation to make sure I feel good about my appearance, flooding me with compliments. At first, I received it as sincere, but when I kept hearing the same thing over and over and over, just the very repetitiousness of it made me suspicious of its sincerity. My perception is that they think I need to hear those things and so they say them because they feel like they should.

And don’t I sometimes do the same thing with God?? I bring to Him these very lofty spiritual phrases about how wonderful He is, etc, etc. But if I was to be honest, sometimes I am giving Him empty words and not the outpouring of a heart in love. I am doing what I think I should do. I guess He probably doesn’t like it any more than I do.

I have times in worship when I get so real with God, and I just release all that’s in my heart with sincerity, not trying to make it sound pretty and it is the most wonderful thing. But there are other times when I stop short of this and end up offering him something less, so much less.

If we are to hear God, we must become silent before Him.
If our lives are not reflecting the Glory of God, if we are not becoming like His Son, daily, then all of our shouting and praising God will just be so much noise. How tragic for the church of the living God if, when He looks down, He does not see praise but just a group of people making a noise.

Brother appolus, thank you for starting this thread. It has been good for me to meditate on these things.

Danielle

sermonindex Sep 25, 2007

Hi Danielle.....First of all, praise God that you were healed in the name of Jesus. May your healing bring Him glory and honor. He is still in the miracle working business and I praise Him for it.

Secondly, you make an excellent point in your post. Its potentially tragic that "Pentecostals,' for lack of a better phrase, could be going through the motions of raising hands and even dancing and so on and it has become merely form and function. The Lord does not care about what we say or how we worship on the outside, He is only interested in why we do and say things. Its the attitude of the heart that counts. If it is genuine, you will be changed. If you can stand in a church for twenty years waving your hands and jumping up and down but you never become more like Jesus, then I would have to seriously question the purpose and the motive and the genuiness of your worship. It is impossible to spend time in the throne room and not be changed.

One groan in the Spirit is worth more than a thousand words from Shakespere........Frank

B

BrokenOne Sep 25, 2007

It is impossible to spend time in the throne room and not be changed.

Amen brother! I have become convinced that this is my greatest need - to spend time in His Presence and to really know Him.

I have listened to Paul Washer's story of the time that he spent seeking God, throwing rocks at the sky and screaming for God's Presence. And then to hear his voice trembling and breaking as he says, "and He came....He came".

And the story of Andrew Murray as an older man, walking down the street he collapsed. A police officer came over to help him and find out the cause of his collapse in case he needed medical attention. Murray's response - "for a moment I lost the sense of God's Presence".

It stirs up such a longing for God, such an ache. I have gotten so weary of just talking about it and reading about it....I want to experience it. Last night I was crying to God about this very thing - "God, I am no Paul Washer or Andrew Murray. But oh God, would you do that for me too?"

sermonindex Sep 26, 2007

Dear Danille...............He will be found by those who seek Him. I wrote this recenly Danielle

"O my God, my soul is cast down within me." (Psalm 42)

Are you downcast today? Has the troubles of life, the trials of circumstances mounted up and overwhelmed you? Are you wandering in a spiritual wilderness? Perhaps you even feel abandoned by God?

Psalm 42 was written by the "Sons of Korah," a musical family descended from the priest who had led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron(Num 16). The family of Korah had been the premier worship leaders for hundreds of years after this incident. It is comforting to know that even after such a rebellion against the will of God that there was restoration for this family and they were used mightily by God. When this psalm was written, the psalmist was in exile far from the Temple in Jerusalem. The temple of course has been the center of worship and where the shekinah glory of the living God was experienced by the multitudes of worshippers. Now the psalmist was deeply longing for this experience, to worship in the presence of God. Do you deeply long for it today?Has the multitude of your troubles somehow separated you from the presence of the living God?Is the only water you are experiencing right now the tears that fall in the shadows of the night, the darkness of your situation? The psalmist uses an unusually expressive term "As the deep pants for the waterbrooks so my soul longeth after you, oh my God." God bless you today if your "soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

My youngest son is named Daniel, as most of you know he has Down Syndrome. He also had other troubles which required more than one major surgery. One night as I drove home from the hospital, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the magnitude of the situation. It all just came crashing down on me and I wept, uncontrollably. And in the midst of my wracked sobs, the presence of the Lord filled the car and His hand lifted my chin up and He said to me "Frank, why is your soul so downcast, put your trust in me."

There is a term amongst shepherds called "casting." It refers to a sheep on its back. If a sheep falls onto its back, it does not have the ability to get upright again. The blood will begin to drain from the sheep's legs, and the weight of its body will press down upon its lungs and it will begin to suffocate. It will slowly die. Perhaps you feel like your on your back today? You do not have the ability to get up again. The situation and circumstances are outwith your control. You do not feel the presence of God, you feel alone and isolated, the joy is gone and you have lost you "song in the night." Let me tell you what the shepherd does when He comes upon a "downcast ," sheep. First of all He begins to rub their legs to bring some of the blood back,get the circulation going a bit. Then He takes one hand and grabs the two back legs, then the other hand and grabs the two front legs and hoists the sheep up and over His head and around His neck. He then carries the sheep until it has recovered and only then does He put it back down on the ground.

This is a perfect illustration of what the Lord will do for those who cry out to Him. The sheep that are "downcast," on their backs are found not because they are silent, but because they cry out with all the strength left in them so that the shepherd might hear them. If you are downcast today brothers and sisters, cry out to the Lord with all the strength that you have left in you. Remember the days when you "used to go with the multitude:I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise." I pray that today is the day that your joy returns, that you will have your song in the night. Even in the midst of darkness, may your joy be complete in Him. The good shepherd of our souls who would take your chin this day, very gently and say "why so downcast," my child, "put your trust in me," see now I will lift you from this place and put you on my back awhile for when you walk with me for "my yoke is easy and my burden it is light and you will find rest for your souls.".......................Frank

B

BrokenOne Sep 26, 2007

Excerpt from “God Seeking Worshippers” by Horatius Bonar

It is spiritual worship, and spiritual worshippers that he is seeking: "The Father seeketh such to worship him." The outward man is nothing, it is the inner man he is in quest of. The worship must come, not from the walls of the temple, but from the innermost shrine. It must be something pervading the man's whole being, and coming up from the depths of the soul; otherwise, it is but as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Forms,sounds, gestures, dresses, ornaments, are not worship.

Instead of constituting worship, these outward things are often but excuses for refusing the inward service. Man pleases himself with a sensuous and theatrical externalism, because he hates the spiritual and the true. God says, "Give me thine heart." Man says, "No; but I will give you my voice." God says, "Give me thy soul." Man says, "No; but I will give thee my knee and my bended body." But it will not do. "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

B

BrokenOne Sep 26, 2007

This is a perfect illustration of what the Lord will do for those who cry out to Him. The sheep that are "downcast," on their backs are found not because they are silent, but because they cry out with all the strength left in them so that the shepherd might hear them.

Brother appolus

I love this picture! I find that more and more I am aware that this is my position – needing Him, dependent and unable to help myself and just needing to cry out to Him. Not only in times of discouragement, but every moment of my life.

I was so blessed by the opening of a prayer that brother hmmhmm posted in ~~[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=18509&forum=45]~~Valley of Vision[/url]

O God of the open ear

This encourages me so greatly as I seek Him. He hears….when I cry out to Him, I am not just sending my words up into the sky hoping they will find Him. But I am speaking directly into the open ear of the Shepherd of my soul.

Danielle

sermonindex Sep 27, 2007

Wow......excellent quote

B

BrokenOne Sep 27, 2007

Excerpt from: Reality – The Hope of Glory by Art Katz

"The Fatherhood of God is not just a credo of a pious-sounding doctrine. We cannot know it by merely living a well-meaning, moderate, religious Christian life, in which mindless, habitual rituals usurp the place of true worship. If you have never known Him intimately as your Father, you may wonder why profuse streams of tears sometimes roll down the faces of believers as they worship God. There is no facile human method that can bring us to this knowledge, which comes only by the presence of the Holy One of Israel. It is only His presence, His reality, that can break your heart and bring you, in tears, on your face before Him. I relish every such time that God has brought me so low. We desperately need to know Him in this way, walking with Him, having come out from the darkness of this world and become separate."

Please God, let us break free of the comfortable “worship” of you that is empty, vain and useless and that requires nothing of us. Let us not just sing the songs and clap the hands, but let us rend our hearts, pour out our deepest longings for you, with tears, in brokenness and desperation. Let all our pride die in Your Presence and let us take our proper place – face down before You.