Before we begin, I must hasten to say that real worship is not about our nice pipe organs in the church, despite the fact that great pipe organs fit well in the church and represent the quality of worship we would like to have. Real worship is not about our fancy hats we wear and, bless your hearts, some hats are pretty-looking and looking pretty going to church and the fashion that is displayed with those hats is worthy of great admiration and commendable as reflecting a fountain of youth and beauty, nevertheless, real worship is not about that at all. Men, real worship is not about curly hair, broad shoulders and curled lips or else a great majority of men would have been worshipped instead of worshipping the Lord; and, ladies, do not worship a man even if you are in love with him. Now, lest I be misunderstood, let me hasten to admit that it is a good things for men and women to be clean and look clean going to the place of worship and by that I mean, even if its a jean you are wearing, make every attempt to have it cleaned up and present yourself with the best that you have before the Lord. Nevertheless, cleanness is not a sign of real or true worship as Jesus Himself spoke about the pharisees as whitewashed tombs or whited sepulchres, cleaning the outer cup while having only dead bones inside. Real worship is not about our fancy cars we drive, the Benz, the Bentley, the BMW, the Bugadi or the Corniche convertible we roll around the church in. Real worship is not about any of these that we parade ourselves in or we hide ourselves behind. In fact, real worship has nothing to do with us impressing God at all. Real worship is defined qualitatively in the Bible as one that must be done "in spirit and in truth." Therefore, we hasten to conclude that real worship is not a focus on us but, it is about our focus on God. It is not our impression on God, instead, it is God's spiritual impression on us. We do not come to influence Him, we come to be Divinely influenced by Him. So, let us begin by changing our paradigm and the way we do things in worship. True and real worship must give us a lift from the secular to the Divine, from the wordly to the Godly, from our shame to His glory. True and real worship will always make us humble like David who cried out "What is man that you are mindful of him" Like the prophets who exclaimed "woe is me, for I am undone" and the disciple who said "depart from me, I am a man with unclean lips." Real worship makes us realize who we really are in the light of God's presence despite our oratory skills, our ethos and pathos in the pulpit, our exegesis, our homily and well-constructed sermons. True worship will turn us from sinners into saints for, despite our failures in life, in true worship, we come to understand that a saint is but a sinner who falls down but begs God for mercy to get up. On the other hand, a sinner wallows in the fall as a way of life till it forms a habit, a character and a destiny by his own choice from a hardened heart.
So, to the poor sinner who comes to worship the Lord today, I say, there is no other place you would rather be than at the feet of Jesus. Worship God as a sinner who wants a new life in Jesus Christ, worship Him as one who is begging for mercy for a change that only God can bring to pass. And, when He heals you, do not think of yourself any higher or holier than others. No, you are not different from anyone else except that you are touched by His Divine Hands and you are no longer in the same shame of your past. So, worship Him accordingly for you depend on Him, you are attached to Him. "He is the Vine and we are the branches, apart from Him, we can do nothing." He lives in us and He makes the difference. And now, it is He (Jesus) "who works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure."
Here lies the foundation of real worship that is acceptable to God. Here is how we must approach Him to be lifted by Him. Here is the template for great worship when we are approaching the throne of God. Remember to approach His throne with confidence for He is your Father and He loves you. The story is told about Kennedy Junior who barged into the oval office while his dad was having an important meeting with other statesmen. He went in with confidence and no one dared question the legitimacy of his presence because the man who sits behind the desk is his father. Oh! saints of God, let me remind you here today that you too must approach His throne with Confidence, for the One behind the desk is called "Our Father which art in heaven" If He is our father, then, the author of the book of Hebrews is right to remind us in Hebrews 4:16 "let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace" When you are worshipping Him, picture a host of angels clearing the way for your entrance before His throne. In other words, we must enter His court with thanksgiving, praise, gratitude, jubilation, for we do not come to ask Him for a way out for us, which will never happen. God does not look for a way out for His children. We come to worship Him for He is the way out for us. He is the self-sufficient God and above Him there is no other. Around Him there is no advisor. behind Him there are no counsellors, beneath Him there is no board that makes decisions. He is the way out of your addiction, He is the way out of your financial chaos, He is the way out of our social madness, He is the way out of our physical and terminal disease. He is the way out for you and me. Hear Him say "I am the way, I am the truth and, I am life." Come to Him and know that He is the answer to all your questions, the response to all your challenges, and the solution to all of your problems. Ask yourself this question, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" and hear Him say, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell in it" This is how big He is and we must focus on Him in our worship accordingly, not on ourselves or our adversities. We must shift our focus back on the God to be adored, the Lord of glory, our Savior and redeemer. Our worship must be Christocentric (Christ-centered), meaning Christ must be the center piece of our worship. We are the ones in trouble, God comes to the rescue. We must shift our focus, we are the ones with problems, God is the solution, we have questions, He is the answer. Who are you looking at? In the book of Revelation 14:7, the exiled apostle gives us the true focus of our worship "Worship Him that made the heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters." Who are you looking at?
Here are twelve points of influence (POI) or what I term "worship protocols" around God's throne that can transform us from the inside out and heal us like the leaves of the tree of life when we come to worship Him in spirit and in truth. These are radiating beams of hope around the emerald throne the prophet Ezekiel saw in vision:
1) GOODNESS: His goodness is repealing to the sinner and appealing to the saints
2) TENDERNESS: His tenderness estranges the sinner but pities the saints
3) GENTLENESS: His gentleness spooks the sinner but touches the saints
4) LOVINGKINDNESS: His lovingkindness resists the sinner but sustains the saints
5) KINDNESS: His kindness hardens the sinner but empowers the saints
6) FORGIVENESS: His forgiveness sickens the sinner but heals the saints
7) FAITHFULNESS: His faithfulness weakens the sinners but upholds the saints
8) AWESOMENESS: His awesomeness empties the sinners but fills the saints
9) HOLINESS: His holiness consumes the sinner but purifies the saints
10) BRIGHTNESS: His brightness blinds the sinner but enlightens the saints
11) GREATNESS: His greatness stings the sinner but inspires the saints
12) RIGHTEOUSNESS: His righteousness distracts the sinner but leads the saints
And, who is a saint again? a saint is a sinner who falls down and gets up by the grace of God, that includes you and me.
So, come now, let us worship the Lord, our Maker.
By: Sony Roy,
Bible Commentator, Author, Inspirational Speaker
Evangelist.
(240) 786-8637
