Worship in spirit and in truth: Isaiah said that "The
Lord of hosts shall be exalted (lifted up) in judgment, and God
that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Isaiah 5:16.
Paul in First
Corinthians 2 draws the following analogy:
- The Holy
Spirit
- Is to God
- What our spirit
- Is to us.
- But WE have the MIND
of Christ.
In most respects the MIND,
HEART and SPIRIT are equated to one another. Click to see the message. See another example showing the mind spirit
parallelism. The
conclusion is that worship IN THE SPIRIT is worship IN THE MIND. It
is not, cannot be performed by the clergy which were Scribes,
Pharisees and Hypocrites. The Hypocrites were a Jewish SECT. They
were singers, players, speakers or actors. In the Greek world
rhetoricians, sOPHISts (serpents in Revelation), singers, musicians
and craftsmen performed as SORCERERS. The craftsmen are identified as
"stage managers and theater builders" or the Greek word techne.
Because none performed productive work they were all identified as
PARASITES. All such "worship" under the Greek word threskia
was invented by homosexual, musical and therefore charismatic "gods"
and their emasculated priests. Click to
see the universal meaning of Grace-Centered or
Charismatic
which includes any form
of mind lifting music to arouse the paying customers.
The carnal temple and grounds
were a type. The court where the music (raw sound) was made was where
the innocent animals were slaughtered and burned. In the court the
priest and the sacrifices were washed. The High Place was a type of
the body of church of Christ. The furniture was typical of the church
as a SYNAGOGUE. The Most Holy Place was the HEAD of the temple and
the place where the high priest met God. His Word was under the mercy
seat and guarded by cherubim. One had to accept the sacrifice of
Christ, be baptized and enter into the Holy Place for INSTRUCTION AND
PRAYER ONLY. Each individual as a baptized believer can come boldly
before the throne of Grace. There they worship ALONE in darkness and
silence. Jesus said that prayer was in the CLOSET or innermost room
of the house: quiet and dark.
Thererefore, a Christian DOES
NOT and CANNOT worship with prescribed rituals. Paul called those who
assembled or gathered the "synagogue" in various forms. At the
assembly they ate the Lord's Supper to show forth or PREACH the death
of Christ. The heard the Word of God READ. This was very important
because Jesus said MY words are Spirit and they are Life (John 6:63).
As the "son" Jesus the Word spoke only what He heard from the
"father" whom he said was WITHIN. The father was the thought and the
son was the spoken Word in most of the "trinity" formulations. The
spirit is the "breath" of the invisible God which conveys real
spiritual power. When you READ the Word you are acting as an ORACLE
of God. If and only if you do what Paul told the elders--"teach that
which has been taught"--and can say "thus saith the Lord" then you
are a "prophet" or forth teller. God intended that the message be
READ so that there would be no careless "proof texting." This is why
Paul commanded Timothy to "give attendance to the [public] reading of
the Word." Then he exhorted and endoctrinated THAT WHICH WAS READ.
Only then does one's actions BECOME worship.
In describing the worship in
Corinth which "did more harm than good" (1 Corinthians 11:17) and the
outrageous antics in chapter 14, Paul agreed with our view that to
attempt to "break through" to ascend to God or call Him into our
physical presence is madness. God is pure or Holy Spirit or Mind (1
Cor 2) and we must go into our mind or spirit to meet Him.
What is true worship in
spirit? Let us begin with a true story:
We thought that my dad was in a
coma and would never respond again. However, when my sister gave him
a "drop of cold water" he whispered, "Oh, boy! Oh, boy!" -- his last
words. Only by "standing still" could she hear the "whispered
silence" of his final words. I don't believe he ever sang a song in
his life, but he will never thirst again.
When the Samaritan woman met
Jesus at the well, He said:
"But whosoever
drinketh (take into the mind)
of the water (Word)
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him
a well of water springing (gushing) up into everlasting life. John
4:14
The woman saith
unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. John 4:15
The only true Shepherd feeds us
in quiet pastures and waters beside quiet streams at rest. He never
produced the "anxiety from religious rituals" which He came to bring
as He outlawed those who took (take) away the key to
knowledge.
The woman wanted to debate
"houses" but Jesus said "not in your house and not in mine. Worship
is in spirit (mind) and devoted to truth." Later, the loud, mocking
Jews drove Jesus "to the brink" trying to change or triumph over Him
(Psalm 41:11). Then He saw his mother for the last time and said, "I
thirst."
Why did Jesus and my father die
thirsty? The answer must be found in the choice of loud ritual over
God's Word as water (Ephesians 5:26), Spirit and Life (John 6:63). We
can only look at a few of many examples:
Water From The
Rock
When God rescued Israel from
Egypt, they experienced hunger
and thirst
in the wilderness. God told Moses to strike
the Rock, symbolic of Jesus, and living water would flow. Moses obeyed,
And he called the
name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding
(noisy
assembly) of the
children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is
the Lord among us (in
our midst), or not? Exodus 17:7
As people lost confidence in God and needed
visible proof, great
assemblies were called to "lead them into the presence of the lost
god." The Israelites lost confidence because they couldn't feel or
hear God already in their midst. Later, God told Moses to
speak
words to the "Rock."
Moses struck the Rock and for his sin could not go into the promised
land. When we strike
(triumph over) the Rock and His "lambs" rather than speak softly we are in mortal and immanent danger.
At Mount Sinai
After Moses spoke The Book of
the Covenant at Mount Sinai and Israel had accepted it verbally, He
went back to get the 70 elements of the Covenant in writing. However,
the people grew impatient and decided to call their old "god" into
their midst from "across the seas" with a great noise.
And they rose up
early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and
rose up to
play. Exodus
32:6
Joshua thought he heard the
noise of war: victory
or defeat.
Moses knew that it was the noise of them that sing. This singing was "looking down or browbeating." It
was to alter people's
mind by affliction or striking to feel the god's presence.
The shouting which Joshua heard
was an attempt to call another
god to their rescue. God then refused
to live in their midst and gave the two silver trumpets to produce
panic in war or to signal marches. This
was to produce an Alarm
which is:
Ruwa
(h7321) roo-ah'; mar (espec. by breaking); figurative: to
split the ears with
sound) i. e. shout for
alarm or joy - blow an
alarm, cry aloud, destroy, make a joyful noise, triumph over
When the team including Judas
tried this on Jesus they were trying to triumph over Him. If that
didn't work they would just murder Him
In the Book of the
Law, God outlawed this
for the congregation assembled for instruction:
But when the
congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall
not sound an
alarm. Numbers 10:7
(See R. L. Dabney, Presbyterian, on
music)
The people never valued God and
His Word already theirs for the asking, free of charge (Isaiah
55:1f). Their loud musical rejoicing was the ancient pagan
(Babylonian, Egyptian, Canaanite and then Israelite) effort to
resurrect the dead god figure and cause him to sing, dance, smell the
incense and play the flute with the women singing lament songs (See
Ezekiel 8). However, Moses spoke for God and warned (And Paul
repeated it in 1 Corinthians 10 and Romans 10):
For this
commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. Deuteronomy 30:11
It is not in
heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear
it, and do it? Deuteronomy 30:12
But the
righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in
thine heart, Who shall ascend
into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Romans 10:6
Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go
over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and
do it? Deuteronomy 30:13
Or, Who shall
descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the
dead.) Romans10:7
But the word is very nigh
unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Deuteronomy 30:14
But what saith it?
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of
faith, which we preach;
Romans10:8
It is the spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
The Effect of the
Law
We make a fatal mistake when we
believe that worship under the Law was God's "first" plan which
failed. The Law of Moses regulated a people who rejected God's Word
and insisted upon worshipping "like the nations." However, Jesus came
as "Prince of Peace" to lead His lambs beside still waters. You know,
lambs cannot feed beside noisy, rushing streams.
The nature of the Tabernacle
was changed and the Levites were deprived of an inheritance in Canaan
and, often as warriors, stood between the people and the symbol of
God's presence:
Neither must the
children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear
sin, and die. Numbers 18:22
Rejecting God with Noise in
Canaan
If Joshua (Jesus in Heb 4:8KJV)
could have given Israel "rest" God would not have had to come
personally as Jesus (Jehovah-Saves) or His "own right Arm." Noisy,
loud "worship" (meaning works) at the Canaanite High Places stood
between the Israelites and rest. Therefore, when they rejected God's
direct rule, He sent the sign of a "prophesying" band or "team" from
the Philistine "worship center." Loud enthusiasm was thought to be spiritual:
"This is the first
mention in the OT of a band of prophets. These were men who went
about in companies and were able
by means of
music and
dancing to work
themselves up into a convulsive and ecstatic frenzy
(2 Ki. 3:1-10).
"Their abnormality was believed to be caused by the invasive influence of the spirit of
god. The word
prophesied here does not mean either foretelling the future or
preaching after the manner of the later prophets, but engaging in the
ritual dance of the prophetic guild (19:18-24). Their behavior was
commonly regarded as a form of madness
(2 Ki. 9:11; Jer. 29:26)" (The Int. Bible Ency., I Sam. p. 932).
This was the Greek form of
"uncovered prophesying" which Paul outlawed in Corinth (11:5) even
outside of the assembly. When the assembly came together the women
were to remain quiet and sedentary along with the non-inspired
males.
When Saul, the choice to
replace God, was "turned
into another man" he changed from a humble lad into a
"like the
nations" king. "Spirit"
is the influence of God -- good or bad. It does not mean that Saul
became a spiritual person. It meant that his warrior nature would
rule over his shepherd's feeding instincts because by God's
permissive will the acquired the spirit of the "sons of the
prophets":
And the Spirit of
the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned
into another
man. 1 Samuel 10:6
The word "prophesy" and "to
make music" to bring on a form of madness is the same in many
languages.
The normal word for
"another" means an associate, brother or
companion. However, Saul turned strange. As another, he would hinder
Israel's spiritual life just as God warned. Another is from the
Hebrew:
Achar
(h309) aw-khar'; from: to loiter, be behind; by implication: to
procrastinate, defer, delay, hinder,
be slack
Saul's friends composed a
little "ditty" to make fun of him because "to prophesy" meant that
Saul's worst traits would dominate. "Turned"
means:
Haphak
(h2015) haw-fak'; turn about or over; by implication: to
pervert... It is often used as "to overthrow,
perverse, retire, tumble, turn aside, to the contrary " (Note: many of the "motels" of
that day were houses of prostitution. To turn aside meant literal and
spiritual prostitution)
Hophek
(2017) from 2015 upset, perversity, turn things upside down.
David fulfilled this when he
and the captains of the army organized musical, prophesying bands.
These musical guilds, named after pagan teams, did not serve in "congregational worship" but
forced the people into hard labor and to fall to the ground during
animal sacrifices. These dedication or purification animal sacrifices
with the Levites did not involve true music; it was always called
"noise" to warn and control the people. The common people usually
worshipped "outside the gates" without noise.
Saul, like most kings, was
tall, dark and handsome and he could sing "under the influence."
However, his troups "despised, scorned, and thought that he was a
vile person" because he "prophesied." (1 Samuel 10:27). Because they
did not believe Saul could lead, God sent His Spirit or influence
into him to stir him up for war:
And the Spirit of
God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his
anger (snorting nostrils) was kindled (a blazing fire) greatly. 1 Samuel 11:6
In this anger, Saul took two
oxen, slashed them into pieces and sent them to the tribes as a
warning that he would kill them if they didn't come and fight. A
mortal fear fell upon them as Saul turned violent. He even errected a
memorial in his own honor.
David's Rule Over the
People
When Saul ignored the Word and
was lost without hope of redemption, God sent David to bring on an
evil spirit to force him into the loud prophesying to discredit him.
Yet, he was still a threat to David. (Note, a spirit is not a person
but a mental disposition)
In David's escape from Saul, he
sought safety behind the walls of the enemy. When he scrabbled or
drummed (LXX) upon the door and pretended
insanity, the king accused him of
playing the mad
man or "prophesying"
and he despised him (1 Samuel 21:15).
After he became king, David
took a census and could never return to Gibeon "to inquire of the
Lord." Therefore, he brought the ark to Jerusalem under the primary
control of the loud Levite "teams." As David brought the Ark to
Jerusalem, he joined with the slave girls in the noisy play identical
to that at Mount Sinai. David's "seeking the lost God" praise was:
Halal
(h1984) haw-lal'; to be clear (originally of sound, but usually of
color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; be clamorously
foolish; to rave; to celebrate; feign self mad against (often against
God), give in marriage, sing, be worthy of praise, rage, renowned,
shine.
This word can be used in a good
sense often in a sense of promise to those who triumph over their
enemies. In the New Testament, there is no hint of this kind of
boasting
praise in the Greek
words. In fact, Corinth is a negative imae of those still trying to
praise God with their own body and own
words.
The "might" with which he danced is defined as "bold,
loud and impudent."
In the Divided
Kingdom
As the poor were crying, "I
thirst," the leaders held meetings devoted to noise and clang. Their
"melody" literally meant "to prune the vine" or "to take ones
inheritance" as they took the food and drink
from the poor. However, God said of the loud festivals:
And I will turn
your feasts (religious
festivals) into
mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up
sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning
of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Amos 8:10
Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: Amos 8:11
Throughout the Old Testament,
the decision was for noisy, exciting "worship" but the lambs would
scatter as lambs always do. This is why Jesus had to suffer amid the
triumphal shouts of the Jewish leaders who refused to hear His quiet
words, "I thirst!"
Daring to Dance With Baal
Another critical decision was
the contest between Jezebel's loud, even violent, worship and the
"whispered silence" of God's voice through Elijah.
The prophets of Baal performed
a noisy form of "prophesying" but they could not "bring their gods
into their presence." This "prophesying" was not pretty; it involved
singing, music, naked dancing and even wounding themselves. The
emotional "high"
proved, to their mad
mind, that the god was in them.
However, when Elijah spoke his
quiet
prayer without any loud
shouts, the fire fell and the sacrifice was consumed. This was his
greatest moment of triumph. However, Jezebel (the effeminate
principle is in many males) threatened him and he fled to the mountains of Sinai. While he was living in a
cave, the Word of
the Lord came to him without any ritual and asked: "What are you
doing here, Elijah?" Elijah made the excuse that he was the only
person left who refused
to dance with Baal.
However,
"We know that
Canaanite prophets were organized in guilds centered on the larger
sanctuaries, as, for example, 'the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the
Asherah four hundred,' with whom Elijah had
memorable dealings on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). Similarly,
Israelite
cultic prophets were to be found in and around
the sanctuaries, roving
about in rowdy
troops, working
themselves up into frenzies by dancing
and music,
and uttering semi-coherent oracles
(speaking in tongues or sermons?) which the credulous accepted as divinely inspired." (Heaton, E. W.,
Everyday Life in the Old Testament, p. 221, Scribners)
However, on the mountain of
Revelation, God had shown earlier that He was present in the peaceful
Covenant and not in the loud drama or dance of Baal. He performed a
sign to show the difference between shouting at the gods and
listening to the God:
And he said, Go
forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the
Lord passed by, and a great (loud
and insolent) and
- strong wind
(spirit) rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord;
- but the Lord was not
in the wind:
-
- and after the wind an
earthquake;
- but the Lord was not
in the earthquake: 1 Kings 19:11
-
- And after the earthquake a
fire;
- but the Lord was not
in the fire:
and after the fire a still
(quiet) small voice (whisper). 1 Kings 19:12
At Mount Sinai, God had long
ago defeated Apis the Egyptian bull and perhaps Hathor the desert,
cow-eared woman. This same god or goddess had different names in
different countries. The loud "arousers" of Jezebel were particularly
devoted to Melkart, the god of Tyre. The king of Tyre and most other
kings like the nations often served in this arousal role.
Biblical enthusiasm means inner
fire or devotion. On the other hand, Philo invented the word
enthusiasm or en-theos-mania which was the violent ecstasy produced
by these prophesiers who depended totally upon noise and giddiness.
However, God said that He was
not in any of the often-brutal forces of nature detected only by the
purely human senses such as sight, sound or smell:
Unlike the pagan
deities, Yahweh was not in any of the forces of nature but in a real
apart. He is experienced in the scarcely perceptible timbre of a tiny
breeze in the paradox of
a voiced silence."
(Armstrong, Karen, A History of God, p. 27) (I love that.)
The earthquake was symbolic of
what happened when Jezebel's prophets called their assembly:
Raash
(h7494) rah'-ash; vibration, bounding, commotion, confused noise, earthquake, fierceness, quaking, rattling, rushing,
shaking. (Greek: a gale, to twist from side to side).
God Sings To
Israel
God sang a taunt song to the people in Isaiah 5. He had planted them like
a vineyard on the fruitful hills. He cleared His "vineyard" of stones
and briers, planted the choicest vines, built walls around it and a watchtower in the middle to guard against pagan influences.
This is where Israel's watchmen slept
as the enemy approached and the people celebrated with God-ignoring
music.
Because Israel ignored God's
plan for His vineyard, it went dry while they held loud religious
rituals. As a sign that the end had come, God broke down the walls so
the vineyard could be trodden down by wild beasts or loud, pagan
influences.
He made
the vineyard for judgment and righteousness but the leaders supplied oppression and a cry.
(Isaiah 5:7)
See how Rubel Shelly misses the MUSIC and SPIRITUAL
STARVATION connection in Isaiah 5, Amos 5, 6, 8 etc.
Jesus (Jehovah-Saves) would be our visible
God and it was prophesied that He would not oppress or cry out:
Ca'aq
(h6817) tsaw-ak'; to shriek; to proclaim an assembly: call together,
cry out, gather selves together.
These assemblies produced "deep
depression" and ruled over the people with worship which seemed, for
the moment, like entertainment but were burdensome oppression from
deliberately caused
anxiety over which
modern Change Agents rejoice!
God's "vineyard" would just
"go dry" as they tried to get the tiny drops of
"new wine" to
ferment. The more
meetings they held the more spiritual they felt but the emptier they
became. They had wonderful, even daily, festivals seeking the Lord's
presence:
But they
regard not the work of
the Lord, neither
consider the operation of his hands." Isaiah 5:12b
Therefore my people
are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their
multitude dried up with
thirst. Isaiah
5:13
The joy which brought
depression because it silenced God's Word, is defined as, "to jump
for joy, rejoice, triumph over." Isaiah continued:
Therefore Sheol
hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and
their glory,
and their multitude, and their pomp,
and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:14
Pomp is an ostentatious show, musical pageant by exaggerated self-important men waving their girlish pompons. (In
the case of the King of Tyre, it was trying to say, "I am, too,
really a male." Of the king of Babylon, and Israel Isaiah wrote:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the
noise of thy
viols: the worm (the maggots whose offspring still live and die not) is spread
under thee, and the worms cover thee. Isaiah 14:11
Take thou away from me the
noise (much like alarm
or rejoicing forbidden
in Numbers 10:7) of thy
songs (musical
performance); for I
will not hear the melody (from pruning your vine to take your
inheritance) of thy viols.
Amos 5:23
Pomp in Hebrew means, "an uproar, horrible
noise, rushing about." This great sound created with shouting and the
alarm of the trumpets would accompany the destruction of Moab by fire
(Amos 2:2).
And the mean man
(hypocrite or actor)
shall be brought down (humiliated), and the mighty man shall be
humbled, and the eyes of the lofty
shall be humbled: Isaiah 5:15
Mighty or lofty means,
"powerful, arrogant, to mount up, be proud, haughty or elevated." You
cannot "lift up the name
of the Lord" with noise
trying to lift up the audience undergoing emotional change. How then
can God be lifted
up?
But the
Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God
that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Isaiah 5:16
Then shall the
lambs feed (be pastored) after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones
shall strangers eat. Isaiah 5:17
How are lambs fed and
watered after their manner?
Lambs don't eat raw meat still
bloody from the pagan worshiper's sacrifice or symbolically dancing
over the performance stage on Sunday morning. God is a
"rural" Shepherd and not an "urban" Rapper
or Rocker because:
He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the
still waters.
Psalm 23:2
Still means, "peaceful, take
ease, quiet, rest, repose and consoled." It also means, "a settled
spot or a place like home where we rest." This is the rest Jesus
brought from "the burden of spiritual anxiety from religious
ceremony."
A common thirst, then and now,
caused them to try to "bring the worshipers into the presence of
God." However, His presence will be felt in giving a cup or drop of
cold water to those dying thirsty.
God pronounced woes upon
those using musical pomp as chief change agent which is
Ceremonial Legalism:
That say, Let him
make speed, and hasten
his work, that we
may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy
One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know (feel) it. Isaiah 5:19
To "hasten" means "to be eager
with excitement or enjoyment." This may be what causes anxiety which is so destructive to confident
believers. The superiority of their worship was based upon the
exhilaration felt by those seeking the lost God they could not
hear or feel. However, as the prophets of Asherah "earned" their way
to death with worship:
Has not the LORD
Almighty determined that the people's labor
(to earn) is only fuel
for the fire,
that the nations exhaust
themselves for
nothing? Habakkuk 2:13
For the
earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea. Habakkuk 2:14
God then warned against a
worship which broke down
the walls to paganism.
They could never sense Him already in their presence because of the
noise. But, He was always saying on behalf of His people, "I thirst!"
Woe unto him that
saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach
(point or aim the finger at) Behold, it is laid over with gold and
silver, and there is no breath (spirit) at all in the midst of it.
Habakkuk 2:19
But the Lord
is in his holy temple (me): let all the
earth
keep silence (hush,
hold your
tongue) before him.
Habakkuk 2:20
Jesus revealed the PLACE for
Spiritual worship of a Spirit God.
Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the
place where men ought to worship. John 4:20
Jesus saith unto
her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. John 4:
21
Ye worship ye know
not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. John
4: 22
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth:
for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. John 4: 23
God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit
and in truth. John 4: 24
The woman did not under Messiah
to be a charismatic "David" but He would come as a TEACHER. Teaching
happens in the human spirit which is cleansed at Baptism so that God
can dwell there by FAITH. The WORD of the living word lives there to
the extent that we GIVE HEED to His word which IS SPIRIT and LIFE
(John 6:63)
The woman saith unto him, I
know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come,
he will tell us all
things. John 4: 25
Jesus saith unto
her, I that speak unto thee am he. John 4: 26
Many of the people went out
seeking entertainment but Jesus recommended sitting and listening. If
you have sexual urges satisfied by sitting in the presence of those
singing love songs with a beautiful voice and skillfully playing
musical instruments then go to the temple in Jerusalem. However,
Jesus said that if your authority to move comes from hearing His
Words then:
He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11:15
However, the people just
couldn't sit down and listen:
This
people draweth nigh unto
me with their
mouth, and honoreth me with their
lips; but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:8
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. Matthew 15:9
The events in the life of Jesus
would fulfill all that was written about Him in the Law and Prophets.
The Jews singing, dancing and piping to Him fulfilled exactly what
Ezekiel prophesied.
Modern Change Agents write
books claiming superiority over the Word of God. They even speak
against Christ by saying, along with Hans Kung, that we are living in a "now but not yet kingdom" of God. In this new wineskin model,
the Words of Christ which Paul limited as the "agents" of singing to
the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians cannot be understood unless they
are enabled by pseudo-prophets and pseudo-apostles. Standing under the shadow of Asherah poles will help fill the Arena. They feel
God-called to break down
the walls to every
pseudo-religion in specific fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah to
Israel. God warned
against men who refused to "stand on the walls" and warn
with the trumpet against the rejoicing enemy gathered just outside that wall ready to eat the
lambs you refused to warn.
The watchmen
of Israel, like the children who taunted Jesus with music and dance,
were gathered
around the soon-to-be
broken down walls. They were incompetent watchmen because they
treated God and Ezekiel like musical prostitutes even as they were often "called into their presence"
by the musical performance of dance and drama:
Also, thou son of
man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and
speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying,
Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word
that cometh forth from the Lord. Ezekiel 33:30
- And they come unto thee
as the people
cometh,
- and they sit before thee
as my people,
- and they hear thy words,
- but they will not do them:
- for with their
mouth they shew much love,
- but their heart goeth after
their covetousness. Ezekiel 33:31
- And, lo, thou art unto
them
- as a very lovely song of one that hath a
pleasant
voice,
- and can play well on an
instrument:
- for they hear thy words,
but they do them not. Ezekiel 33:32
The One God of the universe
said that singing lovely (amorous) songs by talented women or
effeminate men and playing skillfully with musical instruments is
defacto
proof that people are
looking for sexually-ambivalent, entertaining performers as a sign of
lostness-beyond-redemption because they don't really care what God
has said. Remember that they tried to engage Jesus in the effeminate
dance of the Dionysus women and hoped that John was soft.
The old rituals devoted to the
external senses were hard to resist because
"feel good" seemed so "spiritual." However, Paul said:
Wherefore
if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments (principles) of the world, why, as though living in the
world, are ye subject to ordinances, Colossians 2:20
(Touch not; taste not; handle
not; Colossians 2:21
Which
all are to
perish with the using;)
after the commandments and doctrines of men? Colossians 2:22
Which things have indeed a
shew of
wisdom in
will
worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of
the flesh. Colossians 2:23
Paul told the Romans the same
things. He told the Romans that they had to reckon themselves dead
(Rom 6) after their Baptism. Peter promised them A holy spirit or A
clear conscience or consiousness. This word means a
co-perception.
I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Rom
12:1
And be not
conformed to this world:
but ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will
of God. Rom 12:2
We presented out bodies to
be sacrificed alongside of Jesus Christ. Therefore, conformity to the
world is self-righteousness which is the almost UNIVERSAL meaning of
denominational "worship."
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing
of regeneration,
and renewing of the
(A) Holy Spirit; Tit.3:5
Paul knew that people were
"falling
for" the
Huper or super-apostles who claimed
superiority over the revealed Words of Christ delivered through Paul
who, they lied, "took no salary because
his sermons were not
worthy of pay like
ours." Like modern entertainers, they were lovely and lovable by both
men and women because they were confused. As a result, when the lover
sings or plays the people just naturally listen even if it is
outrageous and harmful.
However, worship of Christ is
"in spirit and in truth" and no created being or invented method can
be used to worship the Spirit
Deity. If our citizenship is in Nashville then by all means worship
at the foot of the old
rugged Asherah poles.
However, if our citizenship has been transferred into the heavenly or
Spirit realm then:
IF ye then be
risen with
Christ, seek (worship)
those things which are
above, where Christ
sitteth (the work is
finished) on the right
hand of God. Colossians 3:1
Set your affection
on things above, not on
things on the earth. Colossians 3:2
For ye are dead,
and your life is hid (sealed and concealed) with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:3
Most preaching, singing,
playing and dancing is labor-intensive. It is the work of man's hands
or other body parts -- God doesn't need it and cannot use it.
Melody, in the Greek, denotes work or labor
added to simple singing of the Words of Christ.
Indeed, worship must be "in
spirit" and in truth and not in
body and self-composed songs and sermons.
The Series
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Kenneth
Sublett
Hohenwald Christian
Research Home Page
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