Encountering God – Part 5 – “Heavenly Worship”
Review:
I have been preaching about worship for the past few weeks. Last week, If you weren’t here, you missed an opportunity to connect with God in a powerful way.
There are many reasons people come to church, (see friends, hear music, hear a sermon, make business contacts, etc).
Worship, however, needs to be the primary reason we gather…to meet, to encounter God.
This is what worship is all about. Meeting God. Connecting with Him. Encountering Him. He is the supreme Object of our worship.
It is my hope and desire that every one of us connect with God in a deep, personal and passionate manner.
The key word I like in that statement is “passionate.”
Passionate worship is where you are looking forward to meeting and encountering and worshipping God on Sunday, where you long to express your love and adoration for Him.
I had someone last week say that there was some anxiety that I might be encouraging emotionalism.
Folks, emotionalism is about your emotions controlling you.
That is not worship.
Worship is the meeting of God’s heart with your heart, resulting in the control of the Holy Spirit.
Worship is often emotional, as some of us who dried tears from our eyes last Sunday could attest to.
But worship is not driven by emotions.
It is driven by the Spirit of God who wants your mind, your body, your heart, your will, your strength, and your emotions to worship and love Him!
If someone is uncomfortable with the worship we have here, I would be shocked.
We are tame when it comes to worship!
If I have to pry an “amen” out of you when I preach, I would say that we are hardly wild and out of control!
We can all do with a bit more emotion and passion in our worship of God, Amen?
Let me balance this with a caution for those of you who are looking forward to an encounter with God each week.
if you don’t feel the presence of God some Sunday, don’t go away sad.
You aren’t here to worship a feeling of God’s presence.
You are here to meet with Him, to expose your heart to His heart and to incline your attention heavenward.
We gather for a divine encounter with the Supernatural, Transcendent God of the Universe, who has declared His love for us and sent His Son for us.
The outward manifestations of that encounter are not to be sought or treasured more than the One we encounter, otherwise they become idols.
I know folks that go from worship center to worship center, trying to catch the “feeling,” or to experience some sort of manifestation of the presence of God. .
Their sights are set upon the manifestation of the encounter instead of the encounter itself.
Don’t settle for a cheap imitation.
Only an encounter with God will satisfy you!
True worship is an act of God.
It cannot be coerced, controlled, manipulated or forced.
I cannot cause you to worship God. It is a response to the move of God’s heart toward us that worship arises in.
And since worship is an act of God, it is limitless in its potential as God Himself is.
That means that you cannot exhaust the incredible experience of worship, not in this lifetime and certainly not in eternity!
God is often doing far more in the worship service than any of us can see or sense or know.
When Debbie or I say something like, “Let’s take a little more time to soak in the presence of God” or “I don’t know what God is doing right now, but I sense God is at work in some folks’ hearts” please understand we want to give God the room to work and to avoid trying to over control our services or our worship.
I confess, I have been guilty of control.
I have been guilty of trying to schedule worship, to make worship “happen” according to my timetable.
I confess that as your pastor. And I don’t want to do that any more.
I really want to have a fresh encounter with God each week, and I want you to have that as well.
Today, we are going to take a glimpse into heaven and see what worship looks like in heaven.
It is in so doing that we should get a vision for what worship on earth should look like.
This is because The acts of worship of God on earth should be a mirror of acts worship of God in heaven.
(I encourage you to read Hebrews 9:11-28 which I cannot cover at this time – we could spend weeks just looking in detail at what worship looks like in heaven)
Something we will do today is to to see what worship looks like in heaven and compare it to the worship that takes place on Sunday mornings. I think you might be surprised by what we find.
Isaiah 6:1-4 1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
In this short passage where Isaiah has a vision of God, he sees God on His throne in heaven, inside the temple (of heaven) with the train of His regal robe (that is His glory) filling the temple.
This passage says that God has a spiritual temple in heaven.
We are told in Hebrews 8:4-5 that the temple/tabernacle on earth was built with the heavenly one as a pattern.
Later in Revelation 11:19 we are told that ."And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple”
The Hebrew words for “train of His robe” indicate that they are the garments of splendor, that we would associate with glory and that they literally FILL the temple.
We know from many other passages that God’s glory fills whatever He occupies.
God’s glory filled the tabernacle in the desert (Ex. 40:34)
God’s glory filled Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:11)
God’s glory will fill the heavenly temple (Rev. 15:8)
The Bible states that one day God’s glory will fill the entire earth! (Nu 14:21)
God’s glory is the indescribable physical manifestation of the utter holiness and otherness of God’s presence.
By this time, Isaiah would be overwhelmed, but he continues to observe this heavenly scene.
Isaiah sees angelic beings called seraphim.
This word means fiery ones.
Seraphim are in Jewish theology are described as one of the three highest orders of attendants to God, and are superior to the messenger angels.
Their job is to celebrate the praises of God’s holiness and power and to cover His glory.
These angelic beings, each with 6 wings, are standing or hovering above the throne, flying, covering their eyes, covering their feet, and calling out to one another “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
The voices of these angelic beings is so terrifyingly powerful that the foundations of the thresholds (building) trembled and the temple filled with smoke.
About this time, Isaiah is overcome with dread and fear, recognizing his unworthiness to catch a glimpse of God Himself.
Folks, our goal in worship is to catch a vision of God.
You and I will one day be able to not only glimpse God in worship, but behold Him in ALL of His glory, and worship and adore Him.
But these terrifying angelic beings, with six wings, whose job is to cover and protect God’s throne cannot look upon the face of God but instead must cover their faces and their feet.
Debbie talked a little bit about the awe Moses and Noah felt.
It is the same awe we ought to feel when we catch a glimpse of heaven, a glimpse of God’s presence in our midst.
She shared with me that last week that she was almost undone, unable to even speak with just the unseen, but felt presence of God covering us during our worship time.
Then she said something you and I ought to hear.
She told me that she was seeking the glory of God…and if she was undone by His felt and revealed presence, what would His glory have done to her?
I think those seraphim knew. They had never sinned.
They have always been at God’s side, yet they were not allowed to sneak a peak at God’s face, for their job is to conceal Him from view of any who would dare look (and die).
You and I have sinned. We have fallen short of being able to look up on the Glory of God. Yet, God will one day let us see Him, because He sent Jesus to take the sin, and the punishment, and the pain we deserved so we could one day see Him in all of His glory!
To know that kind of love is so powerfully transforming, it causes us to desire to worship Him!
If you have never personally invited Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to take over your life, now would be a good time to do so. He actions on the Cross mark the supreme motivation for our worship.
More Worship In Heaven: (three passages from Revelation – which I will be teaching from on Sunday nights beginning tonight at 6pm).
Rev 11:16-17 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.”
Rev. 7:11-12-And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
What are some of the central elements of heavenly worship?:
The centrality of Jesus the Christ, the Lamb of God to worship.
Rev. 5:8-14 8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
What He has done rings praises from all creation and all the redeemed and all of the angels. He purchased for God with His “blood people from every tribe and tongue and made them to be come a kingdom and priests to our God.”
All of Rev. 5:8-14 is about worship being given to the Lamb of God, Jesus the Christ, who was sacrificed to redeem us.
Just the statement “Worthy is the Lamb” causes all heaven to worship!
Unfortunately, though we on earth, in churches all across America say that Jesus is the center of our worship, it turns out that the clock really is.
The clock rules. The clock dictates when we say, “I’ve had enough worship, lets get on with the sermon.” The clock tells us the kids are getting antsy. The clock tells us that it is time for lunch. Who is Lord?
The word AMEN.
Do you think it is a bit strange that folks same “amen” during sermons? It means “so be it.”
It is a significant part of heavenly worship. In Rev. 5:14 it says that “the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
How often do we say, “AMEN” to what God is doing? It should be one of the easiest spontaneous expressions of worship we make. Women, men, you have permission to say amen anytime, in our services!
Words of thanks & praise. (Rev. 11:17) "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.”
I think we are learning how to do this, don’t you? (amen?)
The simplest act of applauding God after a testimony is an act of praise.
The attitude of awe.
Awe is something we have lost in our age of technology. The most amazing man-made objects like the I-Phone, the International Space Station, and man-made wonders of the world lose their novelty. But God never loses His ‘AWESOMENESS.’ We need a heavenly vision of God to regain our sense of Awe. If our eyes are filled with stuff that passes away, we will miss the awe and splendor of what awaits us!
We can do much better focusing upon God which will increase our sense of awe.
The acknowledgement of God’s utter holiness and worthiness..
Over and over again the worshippers say “worthy is the lamb” or “holy, holy, holy.”
It is the acknowledgement of the obvious. I think when confronted by the awesomeness of God that we will have no words to describe what we see except “worthy” or “holy.”
I believe that when we have interludes after a worship song, that its okay to say to the Lord, out loud, “Holy are You Lord” or “Worthy are You Lord.”
There is always room for spontaneous expressions of worship – I don’t think God is telling the angels to shut up and sit down when they cry out holy in heaven! He is honored by our words of adoration!
The humbling of the worshippers - “fell down and worshipped.” (Rev 5:14) “fell on their faces and worshipped.” (Rev. 7:11)
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God;. . . (Psalm 95:6, 7(a))
The inhabitants of Heaven are bowing to worship the One who sits on the throne.
We have plenty of human examples: King Jehoshaphat bowed low when he heard from God;.
Ezra blessed the Lord the people lifted up their hands and then bowed low in worship;
Solomon was kneeling when he prayed in dedication of the newly-finished house of the Lord.
Perhaps it’s going to take a level of desperation for some of us to bow low in worship to God. If we are content to stand and be laxidasial in our worship, then we aren’t desperate or even hungry for God.
Lying prostrate before God is probably one of the most humble bodily positions we can take.
But please remember that it doesn’t matter how low we bow if our hearts are not bowed first.
Maybe the reason we don’t bow or fall on our faces before God is that we stand proud or indifferent to who He is?
Let me share a few words about worship Leadership.
When it comes right down to it, Debbie and I, neither of us is truly your worship leaders.
The Holy Spirit is the true Worship Leader.
He inspires worship in the hearts of each person.
He births worship in our hearts when we relinquish control of our lives and surrender to our Lord.
It is my job and Debbie’s job to be watching what God is doing and hearing what we believe God is saying and to help point you to that as well.
Did you know that the garments worn by the priests in the tabernacle were linen?
That was so that they would not perspire.
Perspiration is the result of work, effort, and we are to rest and let God lead us in worship and not try to drum it up ourselves.
It is easy to become enamored with an instrument or a tool for worship and lose sight of why we are gathered together.
Last week I liked the drums.
But I am not here to worship the drums or the drummer.
They are only tools that help us focus on Jesus.
As soon as I pay attention to what tools are or aren’t here, I have lost my focus and my worship will be shallow.
When Micah was here playing the guitar and leading our singing, I recall thinking to myself, “Ah, we’ve arrived! At last, we have the pieces in place to worship.” I had set up an idol without knowing it. My attention was on the tools and not the Lord.
When our attention is on the MODE of worship instead of the OBJECT of worship, we have committed idolatry.
It is like saying, “If only we can get this or that into our church, our worship will be much better.” WRONG~!
Worship is not about the tools, it is about the heart!
Where is your heart this morning? Will you turn it to Jesus? Let’s pray.
What has changed in worship?
We have made worship assemblies primarily about education and sermons instead of primarily about praising God.
The core of our worship focuses on the sermon, a human accomplishment, rather than the Lord’s Supper, a divine accomplishment.
If you are typical, you are more likely to react to your opinion of the sermon than your opinion of what God did in Jesus Christ.
Your faith is more likely to be affected by what is said in a sermon than what God did in the death of Jesus.
Heaven’s Worship Leader:
It wasn’t always this way. There was once trouble in paradise. Perfection had a mar.
Ezekiel 28:12-17 `Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. on the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. and I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.”
Lucifer was a "covering" cherub, or angel. Likely one of those great beings who covered the throne with his wings, not unlike the picture of the Ark where their wings meet.
One great angel stands on the left side of God’s throne and another on the right (Psalm 99:1).
Lucifer was one of those highly exalted angel leaders.
Lucifer’s beauty was flawless and breathtaking. His wisdom was perfect. His brightness was awe-inspiring. Ezekiel 28:13 seems to indicate that his throat was specially prepared to make him an outstanding musician.
Some think he led the angelic choir.
On top of the Ark, the presence of Almighty God is encircled by special angels called “cherubim” whose purpose it was to worship God and to lead the heavenly host in worship as they magnified God. (Rev.4: 6-11)
One of these cherubim ‘worship leaders’ was Lucifer who, as we know from the Bible (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek 28:12-19), had tried to usurp God’s glory and become the worshiped instead of the worshiper.
Matt Redman tells the story of the donkey who remarked to his wife coming home from work one day “I had a wonderful day, dear! I went to Jerusalem and they absolutely loved me there, laying down their mantels and palm branches to soothe my hot hooves and crying “Hosanna!” It seems that the donkey overlooked the man on his back
Angels are beautifully described in different biblical passages and it seems they are glorious to behold. Angels are so full of glory that they’re called “morning stars”
Isaiah 14:12- 14 "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning (Lucifer), son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! 13 "But you said in your heart, `I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 `I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
Being so close to God’s glory night and day, Lucifer made a fateful decision when pride rose in his heart and he chose to disobey God. Lucifer wanted to be worshiped and he was able to deceive at least one-third of the other angels (Rev.12:4) who also chose to rebel. Therefore, the other two-thirds of all created angels, led by Michael the archangel, threw Lucifer and his followers out of heaven (Rev.12:9).
Suddenly there were thousands upon thousands of fallen angels now committed to worship Lucifer (or ‘Satan’ because his angelic name was stripped of him) roaming the earth.
This is why, as worship leaders, it should come as no surprise what forces are truly at work, whether seen or unseen, when we aim to lead others to worship. It is imperative that we, of all people, realize how powerful it is when we make the choice to worship God. It defeats the enemy’s forces in our lives. Praising God is the act that silences the powers of darkness around us, causing them to bow as we proclaim the truth that Jesus is Lord!
Worshiping God will always be a battle until our foe is finally silenced and Jesus returns to rule and reign on earth, as He does in heaven
Satan, the worshipper of old, has an enmity against the worship leaders of this hour. Part of his privileged position is now occupied by worship leaders, singers, and musicians on the earth.
Worship leaders, singers, and musicians are the “point of the arrow” that God has chosen for the assault against the kingdom of darkness. With this understanding, our seemingly insignificant or small worship gatherings take on much more of a purpose and meaning, and to be a musician or singer at the end of the age carries weight unlike anything we have known. If you’re a worship leader, singer, or musician, the Lord is calling you for this hour for more than a few good songs on a Sunday morning or for a nice CD that goes platinum.
Worship is at the center of this great spiritual war.
It has always been over worship, fought with worship and will be won through worship.
God is calling us to be worship warriors!
For many Christians, this is a new concept.
Worship is a tool of spiritual warfare, because it is core to the power of Satan.
What you love most is what you worship.
Self, job, spouse, kids, car, house, whatever. If it isn’t God then its Satan, the god of this world. It might not be spelled S.a.t.a.n. but it comes out the same.
Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ " 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Lucifer decided to attempt to unseat God and then demand that all worship him.
Why is worship such a big thing? Worship is the key factor in the ongoing warfare between God and Satan. People were created to be happy and fulfilled only when they worship God solely.
In these last days, God is calling upon all people to worship Him (Revelation 14:6,7). This so infuriates Satan that he will try to force people to worship him or else be killed (Revelation 13:15).
We worship God. It defeats the enemy’s forces in our lives. Praising God is the act that silences the powers of darkness around us, causing them to bow as we proclaim the truth that Jesus is Lord!
Worshiping God will always be a battle until our foe is finally silenced
