Worship the Lord in the Spirit of Holiness
The Word of God is the “book” written to guide, warn and grow the Christian in grace through faith. The Book was written primarily for the people of God at present, the church. The church for the most part has not learned proper discipline. The church has become “rich and increased with goods.” What God does not supply the church can buy with money. The church has not learned to discipline itself to obey its founder Jesus the Christ. It has learned to be competitive. But, the church is not responsible for winning from before creation; the final outcome was never in doubt. For that we have our God Himself.
God does not require success from His people; He requires obedience. The promise of God is that “He shall supply all your needs by His riches in glory through Christ Jesus!” after you “seek… first the kingdom of God.” By simple definition truth does not change. Truth is the same in every generation.
Malachi was sent with a message for Israel in the time of it’s apostasy.
“I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.”
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? says the LORD … O priests, that despise my name. … you say, Wherein have we despised your name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? … if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? … if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? … I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us…”
“Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do you kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.”
“…from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, says the LORD of hosts. But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and you have snuffed at it, says the LORD of hosts; and you brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? asks the LORD. But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen“ (excerpts from chapter 1; Malachi the prophet).
The priests and those who came to the Temple to worship had been making light of God’s laws concerning the offerings. Everything in the Temple at Jerusalem and the offerings required in it had symbolic meanings of the love, grace, mercy, glory of God and for His Messiah (Jesuah Ha’amishia; He who will save His people). Each step of each offering was designed by God, and given to Moses as an expression of prophecy. To show contempt for anything in the Temple or Temple worship was an insult to the One God that chose Israel for his people, delivered them out of slavery, and in this instance brought them back out of captivity. But, the people of God had fallen into an attitude “How long O Lord must we suffer” or “where is the sign of His coming for since the days of our fathers all things are as they were.” Why keep this up, where is it leading? In short they were getting weary of worship and were getting lax in their zeal and dedication to the Almighty God. They had begun to find new, more engaging ways to “worship” and had even found a way to gain from the sacrifices.
The only instance of anger Jesus displays is in the temple, when he comes across this same behavior in the temple of Herod. The same sins that caused God to send Malachai, the same sins that caused God to destroy Israel, and eventually Judea. With Jesus’ death came a new covenant, and under the new covenant the place of worship changed; Jesus revealed this in the conversation with the woman at the well (John 4: 21). Jesus knew the Temple was about to be destroyed and the Jews would be scattered over the face of the earth.
There are those that attempt to make the case that Christianity was a new and novel religion totally different from Judaism; on the contrary. The truth is that Christianity proclaims that the Messiah has come, and the Temple worship has ceased. This is not different from Judaism, it is the inevitable fulfillment of Judaism come to pass.
The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The place of worship for the time of the New Testament changed. Corporate worship in the Temple was no longer possible.
Where ever Christians gravitated, groups sprang up. These people were persecuted across the face of the whole earth. In spite of persecution by Jew and Gentile alike the church grew and prospered. Many liken our modern times to just another one of these times of persecution. In response, the church organizations have begun to modify themselves to fit the new challenges. Stances on doctrine are being modified to fit “new sensibilities.” The practices of the church are being changed to make both the message and the practices more “relevant” to modern times.
The truth is that the Church [ekklesia] is in a time of winnowing, it is being sifted as wheat for the final days. In the judgment the Son of God shall come and His holy angels will gather the wheat into His barns and burn the chaff with fire. Those who are wheat are being “shaken” out of the rest of the church organizations and are finding out that God is not held inside a building, or by one particular denomination.
Following the judgment and the final war against Satan there will be a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. Temple worship will again be observed in that city and The Lord God and His Son will be the Temple there.
Worship is a time to meet with others of like mind and allow God to refresh the spirit. At a worship service spiritual food in abundance should be spread abroad as the Lord blessed the bread and fishes to fed the hungry. When the object is to draw a larger crowd or add spice to the meeting it is an insult to the Lord. The Christian that sets his heart to receive the Spirit of God in preparation for worship He, the Spirit, will add all the spice that is needed. He will use worship to encourage the downtrodden, mend broken hearts, and give hope to the lost and dying.
The person who is not lifted up in worship has come to the right place for the wrong reasons; has come with an improper attitude, or the worship service was not planned under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. In any event a large number of people need to have an attitude adjustment to get the heart right. When the Word is read, explained or expounded upon it always blesses. It is the Spirit who draws and the Son who saves.
A concerted effort should be made to be clean in body, mind and spirit when the worshipper brings his “temple” to the worship place.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century the place where the people who make up the church met was called the “church house;” it is now called “the church.” It is a place to bring people to get them saved; that has replaced the command to “go” and put forth the gospel.
The Christian who worships a God with human characteristics is simply not familiar with the true one. The Almighty God is a supernatural being; come in humility expecting Him to do supernatural things. Prepare your heart to receive the Lord, His Son and His Spirit and out of you will flow rivers of living water to refresh a dry and thirsty ground. That ground called the church is a dessert in the center of the most fertile ground of God’s entire creation.
- Revelations 3: 17
- Deuteronomy 32: 40; Isaiah 49: 22; Hebrews 6: 13
- Philippians 4: 19
- Matthew 6:33
- Genesis 25: 33; Esau despised his birthright see complete story verses 31-36: Hebrews 12: 16-17
- Revelations 21: 22; And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. See the entire chapter for details of the world to come.
- It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).
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