A TIME TO WORSHIP AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
IAN JOHNSON
Feb 27, 2006
Worship is a huge subject and one which could fill volumes, So what I hope to achieve in this message is not an understanding of worship, but more an understanding of the one to whom all worship is due.
The obvious place for most messages on worship to start is of course John 4, Jesus was making it clear that worship wasn’t about being in a place, it wasn’t about what race you come from, or your format for worship, it is about being in the Spirit and about knowing the truth about the one to whom all worship is due.
JOHN 4:19-26 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim,* where our ancestors worshiped?” 21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know so little ab out the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah will come—t he one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”*[1]
Revelation 1:10 . 10 It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.* Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. [2]
So what is this being “ in the Spirit” ?
The obvious first response is that it is opposite “Being in the Flesh” its much deeper than this but before we can move deeper we first must deal with the flesh/Sin issue.
Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 to make the place of worship (The Temple) fit for indwelling by the one to whom all worship is due.
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 14 Do n’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil*? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.*17 Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.* 18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.*” 7 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cl eanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God.
As we enter into this place of Worship we must first deal with the flesh! Clean the Temple, come to a place of repentance. This is not a once a year event at Easter camp but a moment by moment obedience to the call of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Put it this way, if the Queen of England announced that she was coming to your home for a visit. Would your response be
1) She can take me how she finds me!
2) I am so embarrassed about the state of my home I couldn’t possibly entertain her
3) Quick lets clean this place up and make it fit for a King! (Queen)
If you answered no 3 then you are on the way to worshipping in the Spirit. It all starts with the fear of God, knowing that our Sin separates us from God we want to deal with it in a Spirit of repentance Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9.
If you answered No 1 then you have a serious attitude problem called pride.
If you answered no 2 The Devil is playing games with you and lying to you about the truth of the Gospel. God does not condemn you, Romans 8 says your sin does that, so if we deal with the Sin issue then we remove the obstacles and nothing can separate us from His manifest presence. So right now let’s take a moment to allow the Holy Spirit to pinpoint any obstacles. [3]
Proverbs say: “ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom” so The first step to “Being in the Spirit” is a healthy fear of God.
2) Discipline and Being in the Spirit.
Among Christians there are many noble statements, but there is a disc ipleship that begins the day with “Lord what would you have me do”? This is being in the Spirit! This is worship!
Its all about ownership of our lives! And all that we have. It takes a disciplined life to yield to the ownership issue of the Kingdom of God.
It seems to me that yielding is a lifetime act of worship! Recently I saw a TV program about King David and his music. In it, it described how tradition says he would place the harp against his heart and his face and play quietly before the Lord, this would sometimes go on all day, it was at the end of these sessions that the Psalms were writte n, that,s discipline and that’s being in the spirit! True worship.
Psalm 131 A Song of Ascents. Of David. 1 Lord, my heart is not 1haughty, Nor my eyes 2lofty. aNeither do I 3concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too 4profound for me.2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, bLike a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.3 cO Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever.[4]
David was very human in his actions, but He knew about ownership, he knew about coming simply before the Lord and recognizing the Lords Kingship
Queen Victoria of England was another modern example of a yielded heart before the King of Kings! One who also understood the concept of Kingship and ownership.
In the book “Defender of the faith” her coronation is described thus:
The cries of Vivat Victoria Regina! Echoed as the Archbishop of Canterbury affirmed that Victoria was the undoubted Queen of the realm. Next she made her oath as Queen and defender of the Faith. Following her oath she departed from tra dition and knelt as the choir sang “Holy Ghost our souls inspire” and prayed “Oh God, provide me with the Guidance I will need during every moment of my reign” From this time she lived her life in submission to the King of Kings, and it was said during her reign that the Sun never sets on the British empire!
As her death approached she wrote. “I die in peace with all fully aware of my faults, relying with confidence on the love, mercy and goodness of my heavenly father, and His Son Jesus, earnestly trusting to be reunited with my Husband in the true Kingdom of the living God”
We may not be Kings or even have a responsible job, but the fact remains that if we will come and bow down at the beginning, the middle and the end of the day, ; yield all our nights to the one who is worthy of praise and worship, this will bring us into the Spirit.
Earth is but a shadow of the heavenly, Jesus as he taught the disciples to pray said,
“As it is in heaven; so shall it be on Earth”
WORSHIP IN TRUTH
In order to worship in truth we need to follow the pattern of worship in heaven.
The truth of heaven and of the Lord of Heaven cannot be fathomed with earthly minds, and it is in the revelation of this that worship in truth raises in our spirits. Anything else is mere vanity, a false pride of life in our own perceptions of the true and living God. The fact that the living creatures who look upon the throne day and night continually fall down and cry out Holy, Holy, Holy, tells us that there is so much of God to know and worship, if every time they look at him they see something new to inspire fresh worship, then we have so much more to see and hear about worship in truth!
Matt 6:21
21 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.[5]
The true and living God our father, The Lamb and the Spirit are to become our treasure.
The 24 Elders and the living creatures cry Holy Holy Holy because they see this One God in His Triune greatness and the expression comes out in a triune way, Holy Holy Holy.
Rev 4:8 continues: The one who was (Father) (There is no tense in Greek so it means Abiding one who has always been) The one who is (Jesus) Its His kingdom we are living in. and the one who is to come (Holy Spirit)
Each is equal, each has always been and each will alway s be.
Verse 9 And the living beings give Glory (Father) Honour (Son) and Thanks (Holy Spirit)
Glory to the Father because He sustains all and is the everlasting God in whom is no beginning and no ending.
Honour to the Son because he has paid the price and redeemed mankind. It should be noted here that only humans can sing the songs of redemption because only man can be redeemed.
Thanks to the Holy Spirit because he draws us and convicts us of sin and brings us to that place of repentance and ever leads us on into the deeper realms of seeing the fullness of the Son who reflects the Glory of the Father.
Revealtion 4:11 continues: You are worthy to receive Glory (Father) Honour (Son) and Power (Holy Spirit)
Glory: we need to reflect on an earlier part of Revelation 4 from verse 2. we see words like Brilliant, Glow, like a rainbow, flashes of lightning’s, rumble of thunder, burning flames, shiny sea of glass, sparkling crystal. All these things reflect the Glory of God and inspire worship in truth. If we only sing s ongs or speak words of worship and listen to their sound and yet miss the glory of heaven, who is the everlasting God, we miss the whole point of worship, we don’t see the one who is to be always worshiped we only see the vehicle of our worship and we miss the truth of his glory!
Honour: When the beasts and the Elders see into the throne and they see the Son reflecting the Fathers Glory, and they marvel at His sacrifice, their response is to fall on their faces. They lay down their crowns, In other words they lay down anything that would be considered an Honour to them (Their crowns speak of an Honour a God given authority, but to them it would seem an insult to have the crowns remain on their heads, instead they prefer to give all Honour to the one who sits on the throne.
Here is another truth of worship. To lay aside everything we hold dear in our lives. Our ministries, our Church or whatever is a reflection of what is going on in heaven. Casting our crowns at His feet every time we catch a glimpse of Him, laying aside our God given authority and yielding all authority to Him, this is worship in truth.
Power: The power of God when viewed through mortal eyes inspires the fear of God to encompass us. This is another truth that has been missing in much worship. “The fear of God” it is this fear of Gods awesome power that spawns repentance, which in turn spawns revival of the heart. The role the Holy Spirit has taken is to demonstrate the glory of the Father as reflected in the Son.
When this sort of worship is released it brings Glory to the place where the worship is coming from. To get a feel for this wo rship we need to reflect on Revelation Chapter 5.
John was weeping because he could only see the problem (no one was worthy to open the scrolls) but when his eyes were directed by one of the twenty four Elders to the Throne and the Lamb and the sevenfold Spirit of God, look what happens.
The Elders fall down again and worship with all the prayers of generation past in Golden bowls of incense and instruments like harps which play themselves. And they sang a new song, they eco the s ong of redemption found in the golden bowls,
Verse 11 this worship then inspires Thousands of millions of Angels to to begin to sing in unity, but wait for it, Verse 13 says then every creature begins to worship in heaven and on earth.
Have you ever wondered what inspired a particular worship event to great height s? Someone worshiped in Spirit and in truth and triggered heaven into action, which spilled the bowls of incense back to earth and cause worship in Spirit and in truth.
Now together lets all fall down like the beasts and the elders and worship!
Job 26:5-
5 “The dead tremble in their place beneath the waters. 6 The underworld* is naked in God’s presence. There is no cover for the place of destruction. 7 God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. 8 He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight. 9 He shrouds his throne with his clouds. 10 He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundaries for day and night. 11 The foundations of heaven tremble at his rebuke. 12 By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.* 13 His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent.14 “These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who can understand the thunder of his power?”
JOB 40
Then the Lord said to Job, 2 “Do you still want to argue with the
Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”
Job Responds to the Lord
3 Then Job replied to the Lord, 4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. 5 I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”[6]
This is worship in Spirit and in Truth!
