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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : Is your Worship merely noise?

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 Is your Worship merely noise?

"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.

 2007/9/23 0:35
Onesimus4God
Member



Joined: 2006/1/16
Posts: 398
Cyber Space

 Re: Is your Worship merely noise?

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"


_________________
Lahry Sibley

 2007/9/23 9:42Profile
BrokenOne
Member



Joined: 2007/6/7
Posts: 429
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 Re: Is your Worship merely noise?

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.


_________________
Danielle

 2007/9/23 10:01Profile









 Re:

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

 2007/9/23 16:00
BrokenOne
Member



Joined: 2007/6/7
Posts: 429
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 Re:

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


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Danielle

 2007/9/23 16:08Profile









 Re:

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??

 2007/9/23 17:22
Tears_of_joy
Member



Joined: 2003/10/30
Posts: 1554


 Re:

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]

 2007/9/23 18:40Profile
BrokenOne
Member



Joined: 2007/6/7
Posts: 429
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 Re:

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.


_________________
Danielle

 2007/9/23 19:20Profile









 Re:

Quote:
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.

 2007/9/23 23:37









 Re:

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)

 2007/9/24 8:42





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