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| - Kenneth Greatorex - "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." Isaiah 6:1 As I sat down at my desk today [June 2002] I began to sing an old chorus called, "Take Your Throne Lord." It speaks of the cry of the heart for the reign of God within based upon the revelation of Christ. This cry in NOT based upon imposed demand, but a heart bowed in worship. Something our Father is seeking is TRUE WORSHIPERS. True worship is based upon revelation. True worship is of the Spirit, not the flesh, and individualism is laid aside as the corporate body worships Christ our Lord and King. Many of us have learned that "Our Home is God," and that we are the DWELLING PLACE. Some years ago I recall hearing a chorus that went, "Where do You dwell Lord, Where do You dwell? You dwell in Mount Zion, etc." Today we know that the true Mount Zion, is the church of the living God. Hebrews 12:22 -24 says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel." Recently I read in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Do you not know that you are a TEMPLE OF GOD and that the SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU?" Now the word temple" in this verse and the next, is from the Greek word NAUS, and means, SANCTUARY. This generally refers to the holy place where God was said to dwell in the Jewish temple. "If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for THE TEMPLE of GOD is HOLY, and that is what you are." Did you get it? YOU, the Temple of God, are HOLY! We now are corporately the dwelling place of God, a HOLY PLACE. My holiness background taught, "Ye shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy." Leviticus 19:2 KJV. Great efforts were made to produce holiness by a long lost of rules, more for the women than men. Let me tell you that it was a counterfeit holiness, a false legalistic thing that produced no joy, but rather judgement of those failing the standards, or spiritual pride. The result was weak Christians who never knew from one day to the next whether or not they were saved, and who often were in fear of missing the longed for/dreaded "rapture." The question was asked, "If you sinned just before crossing the street, and got killed by a car, would you go to heaven or hell? Thank God for deliverance from that condemnation! Peter quoted from Leviticus in Chapter 1:16, "Because it is written, You shall be holy for I am holy." HOW and WHY? Our lives are to be HOLY IN CHARACTER because, THE HOLY ONE DWELLS WITHIN, HOLINESS is His NATURE. Meditate on, Ephesians 1:4, 2:21, 5:27; 1 Corinthians 1:30, 6:19; Colossians 1:22, 3:12, Romans 11:16; and 1 Peter 2:5. These verses should settle the question of true holiness. Base upon this our lives can reflect the Holy One who dwells within each and all of us. When King Uzziah died, Isaiah finally began to see our Lord. What a change resulted! Yes, there was a sin problem and it was dealt with by God. As long as Isaiah was looking at the king rather than our Father, he was in trouble. Some of us need to get our eyes off of the "King Uzziah’s" in our lives. What are they? Anything and anyone, including some of our doctrines, that cause us to focus on man, fame, money, etc. A real problem is "religious methods of spiritual attainment," such as praying more, reading the Bible more, etc. All good things! Spiritual attainment comes from a relationship where our eyes behold The KING. Where the indwelling Christ LIVES and REIGNS within our hearts. Did you notice that I mentioned "some of our DOCTRINES?" What is wrong with them you may ask? Simply put, if they result in condemnation, "How can God ever forgive me as I’m such a terrible sinner?" Or, self exaltation, "Watch how well I can prophesy." [It is sickening to hear people clap after a word of prophesy as if it is worldly entertainment] Or, personal reward, "I will get money because I give so much. Also, the devil and demons being exalted, rather than our victorious Christ who IS NOW Lord of ALL, and has ALL AUTHORITY. To the list of troublesome doctrines let me add, Bible prophecy. Why? Because the center is usually, man, some beast, FEAR, a political state that is NOT the true Israel of God, and teaching that leaves one living for the future, as an old song went, "I’m getting ready to leave this world." Yet, fearful that is may come any second and one may not be ready, rather that seeing CHRIST, and the present reality of "CHRIST IN YOU the hope of your glorification." [Colossians 1:27 Williams NT] One of the things I learned as a child was to praise the Lord to "bring the glory down." That meant everyone would be filled with great joy with a lot of shouting. One morning, when I was about 12 or 13, I woke up following a dream/vision. Back in those days every chance possible people would travel to other towns for fellowship rallies. The setting of the dream was at one of those rallies which was held in a rented hall. The people were really working at "praising the Lord" for they wanted the "glory down." As I watched I saw Jesus descending from a side staircase. He went and stood at the front of the meeting. NO ONE SAW HIM! Not the preachers on the platform, or the congregation. After some time I went forward to where Jesus was and said, "Why don’t they see you Lord?" His reply was, "They are too busy praising me to see Me?" Then I awoke, never to be the same again. HOW MUCH OF OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP TODAY IS LIKE THAT WHICH I GREW UP WITH? We have great performances that are planned for the "glory of God." Planning and practicing have their place, BUT when they supersede the direction of the Holy Spirit they become as "clanging brass and a sounding cymbal." It reminds me of a well meaning brother who joined a congregation I was a part of in Arizona [1959/60]. He joined the musicians with his drum. When we got finished singing choruses and began to enter into "singing in the Spirit," he kept beating his drum as if he were in a parade. Need I say more? Yet, there are musicians today, just as well meaning, and just as spiritually out of place with their constant loud beat. We must remember, when the emphasis is based on worldly "quality" rather than spiritual, it is EMPTY NOISE! Yet, in the midst of it all our Father sees a heart here and there that longs for something more, that longs for spiritual worship. When reading the Book of Revelation, we need get our eyes off of the symbolic language written to THE PEOPLE OF THAT DAY who understood it. Rather see, a victorious Christ. Bow in worship, for worship is THE THEME that runs through the book. When the church of today begins to WORSHIP BASED UPON NEW TESTAMENT PATTERNS, something will happen to the people of God. It is worth noticing that in Revelation WORSHIP is always directed TO the Lord, not just ABOUT Him, and worship is also CORPORATE. It is "WE" and "US," not I, ME, or MY." In 1984 I wrote the following, "When we have a revelation of the One we are called to worship, then like the Prophet Isaiah (Chapter Six), our eyes are opened, our heart is melted, we see ourselves as we in our flesh are. And most of all we see HIM for who HE IS. Worship denotes that the rebellion has ended in me. That the self-seeking, self-promoting is ended. Worship is understood as we enter into a revelation of the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ. We see Him for more than what He has and can do, we see Him as He is!” About twenty years ago (early 1960's) we sang a chorus that went like this: (Composer unknown) True worshipers of the King, His worthy praises we now sing, In earthen vessels, here to dwell, And we ask nothing for ourselves." Just what is, "worshiping in Spirit and truth?" To worship "in Spirit" means that the worship flows from the regenerated human spirit, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit; not from the body or soul which may become involved in due course. "In truth" means that the "reality" of what is said or sung, is the truth as revealed by the Lord. The truth, or words sung, are birthed by the Spirit of God, and based upon the Word of God. This is not a call for a revival of Scripture choruses as we have known them rather it is a statement of principle. This teacher/writer has come to believe that the next great move of the Spirit will be one in which there will be a rebirth of the music of this time in the church's history. Tears will flow as hearts melt before the Lord, and God's people sing songs and hymns of worship given by the revelation of the Spirit, with music of the Heavenly realm. Musical performances and the blasting of noise will end when broken hearts weep as the glory of the risen ascended Christ is revealed. May our prayer be: "Lord, cause our hearts to be prepared!" "Lord, hasten the day!" Remember: Worship is more an attitude than an action. TRUE WORSHIP IS BASED UPON REVELATION!" End of quotation. It is true that we do have daily struggles and our humanity, our old Adamic nature, wants to rule on the Throne of God within our hearts. The issue is, Is Christ LORD or is He not?" As Lord He has the right to rule. Not King Self! Let the words of the following be your prayer so that your eyes will remain focused on the KING OF GLORY. Take Your throne Lord, take Your throne, Take Your throne Lord, take Your throne, For Our eyes have seen the King in all His glory, Cleanse our hearts and make them all Your own. For our eyes have seen the King in all His beauty, Woe are we, for were undone dear Lord! Touch our lips with coals from off the altar, Cleans our hearts so You can take Your throne. |
Other Writings in This Series:
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