WORSHIP IN THESE DAYS
These are my notes from a recent ministry opportunity. You’ll need to read them as speaking notes, please.
I’ve been busy speaking and teaching, and therefore a little behind in getting things posted here, particularly for you out-of-towners that are not in my neck of the woods.
God has an end-times plan that heavily involves worship – it is obvious throughout scripture. And because of that obviousness, several things come into play:
1. We are invited and called to dig into understanding worship and participation in worship. It is big on God’s heart.
- Like anything Kingdom-related, we are accountable to learn what the Word tells us about worship.
- We are wise to understand that there are JEOPARDIES as well as BENEFITS directly associated w worship.
- We have an enemy who fears and despises worship – and will do all he can to try to undermine it.
- We win, in good part, because of our participation in worship.
FIRST – WORSHIP is NOT only music and song, although both of those elements are KEY COMPONENTS to worship. The BIBLICAL MODEL points us to Worship w SONG and MUSIC, but also points us to a LIFESTYLE appropriate for worshippers of God. Worship ain’t no gig.
Our LIFESTYLE needs to be consciously dedicated to worshipping God.
My prayer is that this message will bless you and enlighten you and challenge you, but I think it will raise questions in our minds and hearts as to how we can do this successfully. We have to find our way in this – but because I believe this is clearly of God, we can rest in the fact that HE will be leading us by His Spirit as we turn to Him, in understanding and in lifestyle.
My prayer, BEYOND INFORMATION, is for an IMPARTATION OF REVELATION OF YOUR CALLING INTO WORSHIP. There is WAY MORE on this topic than I can cover in one message, so if you yourself have received revelation re WORSHIP and I don’t go there, it is only because this is where we are going this AM. Any revelation you might have, biblically based, and from the Lord, is for you to ponder, chew on, and heed. GOD LOVES talking to us individually!
SUFFICE TO SAY – TRUE SUCCESS AND EFFECTIVENESS in worship ONLY comes from the place of intimacy, and often comes over time, and typically comes w a huge dose of brokenness. Several anointed friends, a well-known worship team, were at an intimate worship-leaders-only gathering a while back. Early in the meeting, someone came up to them and said there was something different about them, something from the Lord. Towards the end of the gathering that same person came up and said the Lord had revealed to him the reason for their profound anointing and effectiveness: brokenness.
To that point: The world won’t use anything broken, and God won’t use anything that isn’t. In large part, we have to present ourselves to God for the breaking-of-self-will, and also the breaking of anything else that would interfere w His presence infilling us. You cannot fill a full vessel. We want to be emptied of SELF.
When someone tells you “You are full of it” – you want them to be right. Full of the Presence of the Lord. When you are, you can anticipate changes in the atmosphere when YOU are in the room, because He is IN YOU. That changes everything. It is SUPPOSED to be that way. That is the result of worship-lifestyle.
Smith Wigglesworth said: “we have to come to our end before God can truly begin”.
Part of our ‘Your will be done” daily prayer is our willingness to be trained, corrected and, yes, broken by God, so that we might walk in the humility and intimacy required of us. I am still learning, as are we all.
Here is the PRIORITY OF WORSHIP – set forth by GOD, clearly expressed:
(To the Samaritan woman)
John 4:23-24
23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
This runs right into John’s revelation of end times:
Rev 15:1, 3-4
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.”
AND BEFORE THAT (EARLIER in the eschatological time-clock) – IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO HIS RETURN AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS – the evangelism outreach being intended to draw people to the Lord:
Rev 14:6-8
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth– to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–
7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
So we see the saints IN THOSE DAYS are called into a place of WORSHIP. I believe part of it is the worship-warfare revealed in Isaiah 30.
But before we get to Isa 30 – remember Rev 14:8 again: a MARKER-EVENT re: the end-times victory: BABYLON is fallen
AND WHAT IS REVEALED TO US, thousands of years earlier, by Isaiah, looking forward into the plans of heaven?
Isa 30:27-33
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel.
I think v27 sets the stage and 29 points to our PROPHETIC PARTICIPATION – not unlike what occurred at Jericho – when the worshippers went first – prior to the walls coming down:
GOING FURTHER:
30 The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the LORD lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps; and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.
33 For Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.
There is something reserved for response to WORSHIP – a particularly effective weapon of the Lord. Tambourines and Harps (representative of musical worship) accomplishes something critical, and unique.
Paul tells us in Corinthians we do not wrestle against FLESH AND BLOOD – but against principalities and powers in heavenly realms. WE ARE DEFINITELY WRESTLING – against them. Our battle HAS to begin as an AIRSTRIKE. It involves SPIRITUAL WARFARE, and that involves WORSHIP – by God’s design and intent.
WORSHIP plays a KEY ROLE in the overturning of the nations.
WORSHIP fills the Rev 5 bowls that will then be poured out on earth, initiating God’s righteous end-times activity.
This is the TRIGGER EVENT of the book of Revelation Scenario:
Rev 5:8-10
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
THIS IS OUR PARTICIPATION, OUR CALLING, AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY. HARP AND BOWL.
Do you see WHY our enemy, about whom the scriptures reveal as AT ONE TIME, PRIOR TO HIS REBELLION AND FALL, was likely the WORSHIP LEADER OF HEAVEN – do you see why he hates and fears anointed worship?
These verses are spoken about in reference to the ancient city of Tyre, but its revelation goes deeper – back to the days of CREATION. It hints at satanic influence in the CITY of TYRE – and POINTS to some of the creation blueprint in the heavenly realms:
Ezek 28:13-15
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
Can you imagine SATAN’S DREAD about an ARMY of CONSECRATED WORSHIP-WARRIORS who are participating in the culminating events of this AGE???
It is within this context that we need to understand and embrace and steward worship.
In that place of prophetic worship we will usher in the manifold presence of God.
OUR REFERENCE – the temple dedication:
2 Chr 5:11-14
11 And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions),
12 and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets–
13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,
14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory (CHABAD) of the LORD filled the house of God.
God (WHO KNOWS WHAT TIME IT IS) is purposely bringing us into a season of PROPHETIC WORSHIP – and by that I mean worship where SANCTIFIED, GOD-FEARING SAINTS PRAY THE PROMISES AND WORD OF GOD INTO ACTION – declaring INTO THE ATMOSPHERE that which the Lord has already told, and will continue to reveal to us.
Do you see the POTENTIAL? I hope so.
Do you see the JEOPARDY of screwing this up? I hope so.
The stakes are rising in these times, and we need to understand what we are coming into.
I believe Woodstock – sloppy and wild and messy and timely was the active womb our Lord utilized to birth last days worship – the dead womb of the church at that time not being the place for life to be brought about. Our Lord hates sin, but has never been intimated by it. The city in which the Woodstock Festival took place was NOT Woodstock NY as originally planned. The Lord had other plans. The small town of the Woodstock Festival was Bethel, NY. Beth-el. House of God.
My wife and I have enjoyed decades of relationship w, and involvement in, the lives of some of the great worship leaders – us – w little/no musical capability, or agenda….
So what is God doing NOW?
I contend He is sovereignly going about restoring the tabernacle of David – which was a place of intense and ongoing worship – providing an atmosphere for the manifest presence of God:
Here is the REVELATORY VERSE – which speaks to end times in that it points to the restoration of the people of Israel.
Amos 9:9-15
9 “For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
11 “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the LORD who does this thing.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
VERSE 15 THIS COORDINATES W EZEK – which is CLEARLY about END-OF-AGE drama, so we would do well to associate the Tabernacle of David prophecy within that time period context.
Ezek 36:7-11
7 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame.
8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.
9 “For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
10 “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
11 “I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. (this is the end-of-age revelation to the Jews)
BACK TO THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID – moving into the NT to see the call to the Gentiles INTO this worship tabernacle, PRIOR to the return of the Lord, and FOR the salvation of souls
Acts 15:14-17
14 “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15 “And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 ‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’
This is the CRITICAL NATURE and PROPHETIC CALLING TO THE SAINTS IN OUR TIME.
We have to respond to this. It is part of our victory.
SO HOW DO WE RESPOND????
IN HOLINESS. This is not about a concert to God. The worshippers have to be holy.
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Worship is not about “getting into worship-mode”, it is about dying to self and making a lifestyle commitment to dwell in a spirit of worship. We have a long way to go. I’m w ya, pressing in..
Here’s the warning about unsanctified worship – the Christian “gig” – just like the Jewish gig:
Amos 5:21-24
21 “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
DOING IT HIS WAY – Never in FAMILIARITY – Backstory – the ark was taken by the Philistines, then returned to Israel and it stayed in Abinadab’s HOUSE for 20 years.
The ark of the covenant represented the glory of God.
1 Sam 7:1
1 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.
And that RESTING PLACE in a man’s home, may have bred familiarity.
Then they determined to bring the ark into Jerusalem. They desired the PRESENCE OF GOD, but wanted to bring it in by their own good intent:
2 Sam 6:3
3 So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
2 Sam 6:5-7 – worthless worship .
5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah (a son of Abinadab) put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
7 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.
WORSHIP, out of the order of God, even w good intent, will fail.
THEN THEY GOT IT RIGHT:
1 Chr 15:13-16 and 25-28 (after some biblical research, David tells them)
13 “For because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.
15 And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.
16 Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.
25 So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom with joy.
27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.
We are ACCOUNTABLE TO KNOW what has gone on before us, so that we can avoid the same pitfalls and failures. WE NEED TO BE WORSHIPPING ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLANS AND METHODS.
Fortunately, for us, we are under great Grace – but that Grace is to allow us ACCESS to a holy God, it is was never intended to LOWER the BAR on HOLINESS, nor on doing things right:
1 Cor 10:11
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
WHEN the Presence of God comes into a place, the ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX elevates.
Ask Ananias and Sapphira. The early church was marked by the presence of God. The ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX was high. I am confident that ACCOUNTABILITY INDEX is rising again – as the Lord prepares His people.
It will be that way in as we get closer to the return of the Lord. God is training us NOW so that we will be ready and prepared for the PROMISED OUTPOURING.
THIS IS NEW TESTAMENT ADMONITION – the bar has been raised, along w the intimacy-index:
Heb 12:25-26
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
We are talking OUR DAYS.
If the foundation of the nation of Israel has ANYTHING to do w the end-times clock ticking, WE are in the generation of that season.
God’s end-time plan clearly involves Israel. CNN and FOXNEWS testifies to that.
Jesus is returning to Jerusalem. He is dealing heavily w the Jewish people. Even in their current state of national blindness, what is going on IN and AROUND Israel is proclaiming the news of the soon and coming King. The eyes of the world are rightly on the Middle East.
We HAVE to be people to understand what God is doing, what He is calling us into, and what He expects of us.
We would do well to not miss out on the fullness of what God is doing.
But if we get sidetracked or hung-up and worse, I humbly contend we can even be destroyed by His presence.
As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I are not very musical, but we have been called into the place of worship, TO WORSHIP OURSELVES, to be speaking into the lives of worship folks, covering them, challenging them.
By His grace, to some degree, we “get” worship. So I am speaking re this subject as an INVOLVED OBSERVER and non-singer/non-musician PARTICIPANT, and as one who has some experience in a few outpourings, revivals, gatherings where the Presence of God showed up powerfully, AND ALSO we’ve seen other situations where people were goofy, or controlling, or immature and simply did not know how to STEWARD the PRESENCE of God, and folks missed the DEEPER COMMUNION OF WORSHIP FELLOWSHIP.
We need to understand what God is doing. We need to LEARN TO STEWARD THE PRESENCE OF GOD. We want the SUSTAINED PRESENCE OF GOD.
THAT IS EMMANUEL – God with us.
PSALM 24 presents the Lord w His warrior title – LORD OF HOSTS – King of the Universe – Commander of the Armies of Heaven – this is huge in the end-times plan of worship:
Ps 24:6-10
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah
Worship, by its nature, is a place of intimacy. Intimacy involves exposure.
If you are not ready to be naked before God, you will not enter that place.
Ps 26:2-8
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence; so I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.
If there is something hidden inside us, it will HINDER us, DESTROY us, or at very lease CHASE WAY the presence of the Holy God.
AMOS, AGAIN:
Amos 5:23
21 “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
One thing I have seen, too often, is the spirit of CONTROL OF MAN over worship.
It is always disastrous. Be warned. New Levels, New Devils.
We are ALL called into the place of worship; but some are particularly called into the place of singers and musicians, and I want to speak into that.
BE CAREFUL of your motives.
BE CAREFUL of your own agenda.
BE CAREFUL of your ego.
BE CAREFUL of the intimacy and all that that entails – some have fallen because of THAT.
(Solomon was anointed and wired for intimacy – but in the flesh it caused his downfall. 1000 women). Stay holy in all things.
BE TEACHABLE by the Spirit – we need to mature in our understanding of what God is doing.
BE CAREFUL.
Cry out for a greater understanding of what God is doing, and what God wants, BY THE MINUTE.
As a teacher, I can say that my well-prepared notes, and my gifting to teach, can sometimes become my two greatest enemies.
For my teaching to be effective, I MUST remain submitted BEFORE DURING and AFTER ministry. Anything else will rob ME and rob my audience, and rob GOD of that which is rightfully His.
BE CAREFUL when it comes to how you direct or lead others. Fear God.
Allow people to move as God would have them move, and learn to be FLEXIBLE, so that God’s DIVING INTERRUPTIONS are not hindered by our SPIRITUAL CONSTIPATION.
Our plans have to remain on the altar.
When we read the word of God and see things intensifying, THAT is a GOOD THING.
The church that is on earth prior to His return will be walking in a ELIYAHU HANAVI anointing:
ELIJAH who is to come.
And that anointing is the JOHN THE BAPTIST anointing – preparing the way of the Lord.
That anointing HAS TO BE MARKED by our DECREASE.
The JEOPARDY of anointing can be our pride and ownership, and that will destroy it all. (Ahithophel 2 Sam 15-17 – the anointed seer who sold out, preferring his calling and his mantle over God’s will and righteousness, being the poster0child for failure)
The POTENTIAL of anointing is our participation in the greatest event to ever come upon the earth – the return of the righteous King to rule and reign over the nations.
Let’s prepare the way of the Lord.
Let me end w this great psalm – Ps 63.
I want to say that ALL OF US are called into worship – not simply the musicians and singers.
That is a deception to believe that – it is a dumb-down of the call of God on the life of every saint.
And let me say that RESPONDING TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD during worship is a GOOD THING – but there’s something better than RESPONSE.
It is called INVITATION BY US, to God.
Ps 63 reveals that model:
Ps 63:1-5
1 O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
Can we worship? Will you lift up your hands? Bow your knees? Open your mouth in praise, NOT because you might ALREADY feel His presence, but because HE IS WORTHY – and in that place of your surrendered mind, body and spirit, He delights?
all scripture NKJV
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Yes, Yes, and Amen.