God's Power in Worship

A.W. Tower stated, "For myself, if I couldn't have the divine power of God, I would quit the whole business.  I would walk out and quit the whole business. The church that wants God's power will have something to offer besides social clubs, knitting societies, the Boy Scout troops and all of the other side issues."

We only have to go to God's Word to find the hunger and thirst of God's friends for God Himself.  Unfortunately there is a great difference between us and Abraham, David, Paul and others as they sought Him and found Him and seeking Him still, continually found Him and sought Him.  We tend to accept Him - and no longer seek Him and that is the difference.

We need to be able to turn off our iPods, tablets, radios, and televisions and get alone with God and His Word every day letting our souls delight in the fellowship and mercies of God.  This kind of personal worship desire, hunger, and thirst is cultivated as a gift of our Sovereign God realizing the purpose for which it is given and the purpose for which we were created. 

I remember as a teenager playing and singing Dick Baker's "Longing for Jesus" and praying that God would give me a yearning and desire to know Him.  Even as a minister after all these years, it is amazing how many distractions, even good things, that get in the way of our yearning desire to know Him and worship Him.  Do we truly yearn for Him personally and do we have a deep desire to see it in the Lord's church today?  mjm

Outside the Holy of Holies?

There are too many believers who are still outside the "Holy of Holies" in worship.  True Christian worship involves a genuine encounter with the Lord and a knowledge and sense of His presence.  It is a tragedy that many grow up in the church from very young with nothing more than a synthetic god made up of theology and logic, but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to love.  In coming to God in worship we should put ourselves in His presence with full confidence that He is the one pursuing, not we.  He is waiting to manifest Himself to us as soon as the noise and activity of our lives slow enough for Him to make Himself heard and experienced by us.  The prophet Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord, high and lifted up . . . "  How the church today needs a restoration of the vision of a Most High God!

What do we see illustrated in the Old Testament Tabernacle?  We see the inner journey of the soul from the life of sin into the enjoyed presence of God.  The returning sinner first enters the outer court where he offers a blood sacrifice on the brazen altar and washes himself in the laver near by.  Then he passes through a veil into the holy place where no natural light shows, but the golden candlestick which speaks of Jesus, the Light of the World, throws its soft glow over all.  There is also the shewbread to tell of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and the altar of incense illustrating unceasing prayer.

Though the worshipper has enjoyed much at this point, still he has not entered into the presence of God.  Another veil separates him from the Holy of Holies where above the mercy seat dwells God Himself in glorious manifestation.  While the tabernacle stood, only the high priest could enter there,  only once a year.  He entered with blood which he offered for his sins and the sins of the people.  It was this last veil which was torn when our Lord Jesus Christ gave His last breath on Calvary.  The Word of the Lord explains that this rending of the veil opened the way for every worshipper in the world to come, through Jesus, the new and living way, straight into the divine Presence of the Most High God.  A simple question.  Do you experience encounters with the Most High God and His manifest presence or are you still standing outside the Holy of Holies?  mjm 

Worship Inward

If we are to be a worshipping church when we gather we must be worshipping individuals first. Coming away from the world in a private spot, whether it be a bedroom, study or a utility room, on a daily basis is important for our inner life.  We need to find that secret place where the surrounding noises of life fade out of our hearts and a sense of God's presence completely envelopes us.  In that place we need to learn to pray inwardly every moment.  We need to be candid, childlike, honest and humble before the Lord; being able to breathe a prayer at any moment.

On this Ash Wednesday the beginning of Lent is a good time to begin working on our spiritual concentration.  We need to meditate on God's Word quietly, reverently and prayerfully during this important time of remembering what God has done through His Son.  Our attitude in meditation should be, "Father, here I am.  Please teach me!"  Full concentration is really not so difficult for the person who has met God.  God desires to fellowship with His child and God's child desires nothing more than the opportunity to pour our his or her love at the Savior's feet.

In our world today we tend to allow meaningless activity to crowd out inward worship.  Even "religious activities" can crowd out time for cultivation of solitude and silence before God.  We must desire to know God even as Paul expressed his deep desire.  It is costly to spend this kind of time with God and find and explore the wonders of the Triune God.  Meditating on the person of God is necessary.

Tozer says, "When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written . . . 'that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth.'  The sweet language of experience is 'Thou, God, hast seen me' (Gen. 16:13).  When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth."

Whoever is willing to listen will hear the speaking of heaven.  To a people caught in the torrent and tempest of the last great conflict, God says, "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).  Inward worship will fire our corporate worship when we gather as the family of the God we have spent time with, listening intently to what He has to say to us through His Word, meditation and prayer.  mjm

Acceptable Worship

"I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." (Rom 12:1)  "I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also." (I Cor. 14:15b) "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart." (Ephesians 5:18-19)

The terrible tragic fact is that the efforts of many people to worship are unacceptable to God.  Without the infusion of the Holy Spirit, coupled with all my spirit (all that I am - passion) there can be no true worship. There are millions of cultured, religious people who carry on church traditions and religious customs that are never really worshipping God.  Can true worship be engineered and manipulated?  As a worship leader I have known for many years that true worship as we gather depends on the hearts of the people, and how much personal worship we have done during the previous week . . . how much worship leaders, choirs, worship teams and congregations have prayed for the gathering for worship.  If worship doesn't start outside the walls of the church during the week, it will never make it inside the walls on Sunday.

As I mentioned earlier, both "spirits" have to be a part of our worship, according to Scripture.  My "spirit" (small "s") represents all that I am - mind, soul, body, personality, personal history, etc.  All of that coming together in worship is the passion of my heart.  Then there is "Holy Spirit", big "s" which empowers our worship, originating with God coming back to us and is reflected from us, as a mirror.  God accepts that kind of worship.  No worship is wholly pleasing to God until there is nothing in me displeasing to God.  mjm

Mystery in Worship

"...the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:26-27)   I think many times we as believers are a little afraid of mystery in our walk and worship of God.  But, mystery many times baffles our understanding and we come before God in humility, speechless in the presence of inexpressible mystery.  We need to leave room for mystery in our Christian walk and worship.  Mystery runs through God's kingdom and all of nature.  The most honest and wise scientist will tell you he "knows" almost nothing.  And the believer who has met God and seen God on His throne with the eyes of his heart doesn't try to "know it all".  

God dwells in the heart of humility and mystery where praise is.  We need to adore and admire our God to the point of white hot passion charged with mystery.  That's worship.  The world has made huge mistakes in admiring everything, admiring nothing or admiring the wrong things.  But God has given us Himself and says to us, "Here, admire and adore me, I AM GOD!"  mjm

Worship - Key to Revival

Unfortunately many of God's people today do not know what you mean when you mention a spirit of worship or God's known presence in the church today.  And, many also do not know what you mean when you say the church needs revival.  Too many times the truth of God's Word has been modified and watered down to the point where we practice little of it.  

Do we remember the words in Revelation?  "If you do this, I will withdraw from you the spirit of worship.  I will remove your candlestick."  Is today's church in danger of such?  

We need knowledge, wonder, and love in our worship.  We can not worship without knowledge of the One who seeks our worship and the One we seek to worship.  We need to have that same deep hunger to "know God" as Paul described.  Only in truly knowing Him can we worship in spirit and truth.  Also, the platform of true worship is wonder and awe.  There should be a "transcendent wonder" in our worship as is found throughout the Bible.  Abraham fell on his face in holy wonder and God spoke to him.  Moses hid his face before the presence of God in the burning bush.  Paul could hardly tell whether he was in or out of the body, when he was allowed to see the unspeakable glories of the third heaven.  Does that happen every time we worship?  Of course not.  But, should we be expecting God's manifest presence in all of our worship?  Should there be an anticipation of that?  Most assuredly.  Of course the very essence of spiritual worship is to love supremely, to trust completely, to pray without ceasing and to seek to be Christlike and holy.  If the fire has not gone out on the altar of our heart then we will respond in submission, obedience, and trust.  Those things grow out of our worship.

God is never satisfied with anything less than all: "...all thy heart . . . all thy soul . . . all thy might."  I am afraid in many meetings we are more concerned with cordiality, humor, affability, and yes, even zeal; but many times do not find the church's gatherings marked by the overshadowing presence of our holy God.  We manage to get correct doctrine, fast tunes, pleasing personalities and religious amusement in, but miss the glory of His presence.  Lord, help us.  mjm

Worship - Purpose and Priority

The chief purpose of God in creating man was to make moral beings spiritually and intellectually capable of worshipping Him.  It is clearly taught in scripture and has been accepted by theologians and Bible expositors throughout centuries.  Our sole purpose is the worship of our Lord.

We are saved to make the worship of our Lord priority in our lives.  All that Christ has done and all that He is doing presently in our lives leads us to the occupation of worshipping Him.  When we are worshipping - whether in church with the gathered body, at the office, at home, at school or in the market place - as Tozer says, "If the love of God is in us and the Spirit of God is breathing praise within us,  all the musical instruments in heaven are suddenly playing in full support."  Basically, this should remind us that we can offer no worship wholly pleasing to God if we are holding on to pieces of our lives that are displeasing to God.  We can't truly joyfully worship with a glad song on Sunday and then knowingly displease Him in our dealings on Monday and Tuesday.  

Contrary to what some may think, worship does not cultivate passivity.  It actually prepares and enables us to focus on the things that God would have us do.  Look at scripture:  great deeds in the church were done by people who were on fire with radiant worship of their Lord.  A look at church history illustrates to us that it was the yearning worshippers who also became the great workers for the glory of God.  

Yes, worship of the loving God is man's complete reason for existing.  That is why we were born and born again.  That is why we were created and recreated.  That's why there is a church.  The church exists to worship God first of all.  New programs and cleverness will not build up evangelism and discipleship.  Only worship will beget great movements of evangelism and discipleship in the church.  We will never be effective in carrying out the Great Commission until we first carry out the Great Commandment - "to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and yes, our neighbor as ourself."  

Tozer says, "God wants you to worship Him and then out of your fiery worship He wants you to work for Him.  But He doesn't want you to jump up and start any amateurish toil . . .  If worship bores you, you are not ready for heaven . . . Worship is the normal employment of moral beings. Every glimpse of heaven shows the creatures there worshipping . . . " mjm

The Heresy of Entertainment in Worship

We live in a day where the church sometimes seems to think it is in the entertainment business.  In the 1950s and 60s, A. W. Tozer believed this to be true in the church back then.  In his book, Worship and Entertainment,  he stated, "Church members want to be entertained while they are edified."

David Platt, who wrote Radical and is now the President of our International Mission Board more recently asked, "What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs?  What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated?  What if the air conditioners are off and the comforts are removed.  Would His Word still be enough for His people to come together?"  

Just like Tozer we should grieve that so many people in our churches want to be entertained while they worship.  It is very disconcerting that we no longer recognize the difference between entertainment and worship.  The very concern with "my style" of music being a part of worship is really saying, "entertain me."  Is our worship characterized more by props and performances in a pep rally atmosphere than by a sense of the glory of God in holiness and hallowedness -- giving way to shallowness?

The real questions of our worship should be:  1).  Who or what is the spotlight on?  2).  What is the message we are communicating?  3).  Are lives being changed and God glorified?   And, of course there are those today who say, "But our methods are bringing, attracting and winning people."

Tozer addressed that some 50 years ago:  "Winning them to what?  To true discipleship?  To cross-carrying? To self-denial?  To separation from the world?  To crucifixion of the flesh?  To holy living? To nobility of character?  To a despising of the world's treasures?  To hard discipline?  To love for God?  To total commitment to Christ?"  Those words from Tozer sound . . . radical.  

People are not interested in our "religious toys and trifles" as Tozer refers to them.  People are starving for a diet of substance, not candy.  They are wanting someone to be more concerned with the glory of God by going deeper into His Word and in intimate relationship with Him.  Both Tozer and Platt, old and new theologians, are reminding us that entertainment has no place in worship. We don't need bells and whistles, special lighting or smoke machines.  We need to know that God is in the house...and then to seek Him with all that we are so that we might experience Him in all His glory!  mjm