Worship in Spirit III
Worship in Spirit: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Then Peter said thou hast the words of eternal life. If our worship depends upon the spirit of the speaker or that of the musical worship team to "sing idle songs and improvize upon the harp like David" then we are back under Law and there will never be any security. Rather, religionists will rebind the burdens upon the "Pack Animals" which Lord Jesus Christ died to remove.See more about worship in Spirit and in Truth
In Worship in Spirit Number Two, we noted that all worship takes one of two forms. The first form attempts to find the "lost god" by acting upon the human senses, especially hearing, to create feelings. This feeling is understood to be "spiritual" because what makes the performer feel good must make God feel good. It is clearly provable and testable that this "cold chill up the back" is the result of sound-created endorphins or morphine-like chemicals. When the "drug high" wears off, we feel just awful. Not to fear, we will come back often for another "fix." A shot of Nalaxone will drain all of the "spiritual high" out of you proving that you have been "lifted up" with drugs.
The other form of worship is spiritual and takes place in the spirit, mind or innermost being. Jesus said:
Ye fools (egotistical, mindless), did not he, that made that which is without, make that which is within also? Lu 11:40
Worship which is external and audible is, by definition, not spiritual worship and makes spiritual worship impossible. This is why Jesus advised the closet and not some superstitious belief that if we say "Lord, Lord" in a "plenary prayer meeting" it will force Jesus to hear us.
The temple conducted a national worship for the people who were spectators. A great crashing noise was created to force them to fall down or bow. It also drowned out the noise from the massive slaughter of animals, or even burning children at gehenna the place of eternal fires which had been Solomon's music grove. God protected the common congregation by excluding them when the musical noise sounded the beginning of sacrifice. They were prophetically "outside of the camp."
The worship out in the rural areas or in the synagogue did nothing to create anxiety through external means. The people spoke to God through prayer and God spoke to them through the Word. A hymn was speaking to God using His own revealed words. There was no praise service in the synagogue nor church.
Physical or outward forms of worship attempts to "move the worshipers into presence of God." People actually believe or advertize that with self-invented songs with enough vocal "horsepower" can actually call God into His Holy Temple!
Because the people bypassed the temple and prayed directly to God and God heard from heaven, even to the priest God was symbolically or prophetically present in the Most Holy Place. The musical noise makers would have been put to death if they went into this Most Holy Place. If they pretended, for a price, to move you into God's presence they might be spared the death penalty and just locked up for safe keepiing.
Paul quoted Moses who condemned such rituals at Mount Sinai:
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Rom 10:5
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:) Rom 10:6
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Rom 10:7
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; Rom 10:8
Modern legalist believe that music, dance and drama can be so professionalized that it will lead you into the presence of God. They can, in fact, ascend into heaven itself when Jesus said "I will be with you in Spirit" but not in an external kingdom.
Jesus said that worship was not "at your house" or "at my house." Instead of an outward place, worship is inward -- in spirit and in truth. The "house" is to keep us warm and dry but God lives in the heart.
What, then, does "in spirit" or in heart worship mean? Does it mean, as many assume, being enthusiastic or exhilarated? Does it mean "enspirited?" No. We noted that en-thuso-mania meant "filled with the pagan gods which excited you or drove you mad." That is, you became a "maniac."
Gnosis or Knowledge
While many hate their body, possibly even more hate their mind and try to dull it. Paul was a bit like that. His body wanted to do a lot of things but his spirit knew better. Only when his spirit or mind agreed with Christ's Mind could It control his external body. (See Romans 7 and 8)
Paul did not reject the Words of Christ as spirit and life. He rejected gnosis which was knowledge gained from personal experience. If we could find God through our human ability then Christ died in vain. The Gnostics were people who tried to speak to God (1 Cor 14:2) but they were really just speaking into the air (14:9). For instance, Paul speaks in parables and connected to ancient religious practices. Speaking into the air was worshiping various goddesses. Paul's warning against women in the non-sedentary and not silent roles in the public assembly was a warning against the pagan religions out of which many had just arrived. The Gnostics were very ancient but were clearly defined by later writings. For instance, on Origins, we discover the origin of the feminist gods ruling the male "gods" and imposing musical worship upon them as the ultimate "triumph over" male leadership. This is the origin of Eve as the mediatrix and "female instructing principle" under Sophia and Zoe. Another document called the Hypostasis of the Archons adds further information.
For instance,
"At Corinth there had been a movement of Gnostic pneumatics, and Paul had to resist their influence. This was the struggle for speculative wisdom (I Cor. 11:17ff)
The radically Christian principle which ruled was that which was to be avoided was because it could offend a weak conscience, not because it was intrinsically empowered to change behavior. (There is) a distinction
between the pagan concept of the empowerment of things and the
Christian concept of discernment among things, none of which are impure in themselves." (Zondervan Pictorial Dict., p. 317)
The Bible gives us no reason to believe that "Spirit" or Christ's presence in our heart, is something which controls our body from the outside in. Or, that certain acts performed upon us by someone else will create spiritual power or revival. Rather, power in every area of life comes from personal, individual discernment of the deep spiritual things of God's Mind.
All Old Testament failure was blamed on the shepherd's refusal to lead the sheep by still, quiet waters and green pastures. Therefore, both Israel and Judah were destroyed for lack of knowledge. Therefore, Scripture is not a "dead letter" but living Word speaking to our spirit. Therefore God promised:
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Jer 3:15
Contrary to this, men like David actually believed that dancing before the Ark of the Covenant was dancing before the Lord. However, the Ark was an outward symbol and God does not live in boxes or houses (Acts 7:48). Uzzah (meaning strong, bold, loud) had to die during the wild, noisy dancing before David consulted the Word hidden inside the box. When they matured, God promised:
And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. Jer 3:16
Paul understood the connection between God's Word and God's Mind or Spirit. He told Timothy to:
Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 2 Tim 2:7
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15
That was Timothy's commission. He clearly did not try to mold the church into the image of the secular culture to seek the lost.
Jesus Christ The Spirit
Jesus came as God the Word. That is He delivered the Spirit or the Mind of God (2 Cor 2) in a spoken form through prophets and apostles. Peter said:
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it (He NKJV) testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 1 Pet 1:11
They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about, for he told them to write down the events which, since then, have happened to Christ: his suffering, and his great glory afterwards. And they wondered when and to whom all this would happen. 1 Peter 1:11LIV
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor 3:17
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10
For instance, before Christ ascended back to the Glory He laid aside to take on a human form, "He breathed on" the apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
Because Christ was God in physical form, Luke, who "searched out all of these things" as an inspired historian, explained this to mean that:
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: Acts 1:2
It is popular to say that God cannot supply all that "pertains to life and Godliness" through words which transmit spirit power as Peter believed. He said:
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 2 Pet 1:3
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Pet 1:4
What is the Divine Nature Like?
If our goal is to partake of the divine nature, what are we looking for? Nature means "germination, expansion, a native disposition." If spirit means mental disposition then to have God's Spirit is to have God's mental disposition growing within us producing "fruit." John said that the spirit of prophecy was in the testimony of Jesus:
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10
Look at the two passages about the Spirit. First, note that the Spirit of Christ (or the same Spirit Who indwelled Jesus) breathed on the Prophets Just as He breathed on the apostles in the person of Jesus Christ. Next, the spirit of that prophecy was the same as the testimony of Jesus:
Therefore, if we want that Spirit to be our spirit then we will put more emphasis upon the story of Christ Whose "first chapter" begins in the Old Testament, Gen 1:1. Peter understood how one "grows" the nature or Spirit of Christ which makes us more Jesus-like. He wrote:We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2 Pet 1:19
Take heed is "figurative of worship." We don't honor words on paper but we honor the Words of Christ because He, as God Incarnate, spoke them and said that they communicated life. They are empowered to do what Christ prepared them to do.
What is the Atmosphere for Giving Heed?
While the temple as external worship had little to do with congregational worship, the Levites and parents out in the villages first confessed the Shema (Dt 6:4-5) to themselves and then taught their own children. The unaltered word would be theirs to admonish and comfort even as we speak to ourselves.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deut 6:6
And thou shalt teach them diligently (drill) unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deut 6:7
Band directors don't go out and act at performance time. They have taught the principles and drilled them into the band over and over. When performance time comes, the trumpet player doesn't stop to ask how to blow. What they do is "by nature" because it has changed the spirit of the performer.
In Hebrews 5, Paul speaks of the feeding of the flock with milk and says that it is teaching the oracles of God.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised (gumnazo) to discern both good and evil. Heb.5:14
In Hebrews 6:4, 5 Paul spoke of those properly exercised as "enlightened, had tasted the gift, been partakers (eating with) the Holy Spirit and had tasted the good word of God." In 6:7 he compares all of this to "drinking in the rain."
Remember that Paul determined to "know Christ and Him crucified" to the Corinthians because they were carnal and not the "perfected." Until one gains the "spirit or mental disposition of Christ" it is a waste to try to teach the "meat" of the Word.
How can Christ's Word Carry Spirit Power
The spirit prophesied about in the Old Testament was to be written on the heart. For instance,
Isaiah prophesied of Christ as having a seven-fold spirit which is all related to the knowing nature of the enlightened person:
AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:1
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isa 11:2
And shall make him of quick understanding (sensitive or spiritual) in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isa 11:3
Christ is closest to us when we honor what He taught and allow it to empower and free our lives from the external. When He speaks to us from His Mind through the Word He is with us in ways we do not comprehend. How can we impress Him by burning a cow for Him when "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills"? It is God Who feeds our hearts or mind with the Word as spirit and life.
Physical Worship
If we cannot overpower God with ten thousand rivers of oil, how could any external ritual attract His attention and force spiritual renewal?
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Micah 6:6
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah 6:7
Physical worship under the Law was primarily a function of the priesthood. The common people did not worship in the temple because when the musical noises began, they were put outside the gates or camp before animal sacrifices began. The people's assembly (not defined as worship) was always in the synagogues.
Spiritual Worship
There should be no problem finding out what God wants because:
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
Over and over, dozens of times, the Old Testament contrasts the outward worship rituals, with personal right living and treating others with justice. It was an insult to God for the pagans to believe that their bodies were so attractive that they could seduce Him into their presence.
God is Spirit but what is Spirit? Spirit is the rational (spiritual) nature of God which He put into all of us. We can allow it to be a holy spirit or an unholy spirit. As my spirit is really me, Spirit in Hebrew is:
Ruwach (h7307) roo'-akh, wind; by resemblance breath, figurative of life, anger, by resemblance spirit of a rational being including its expression and functions, mind
The Old Testament does not connect "spiritual" to the temple worship. And Paul often contrasts the spiritual with the outward person. He compares the Word of Christ to "spirit" which feeds the soul by "quiet" waters. <
AND I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual (regenerate), but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 1 Cor 3:1
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 1 Cor 3:2
Spiritual does not mean "soft." Spiritual is "the higher or renewed nature as opposed to the natural or what appeals to the senses."
Spiritual Revival
"Spirit" in both Hebrew and Greek speaks of the nature of the One God. To permit us a bit of understanding, God presents His Spirit as the Mind of Christ or the Attitude of Christ (1 Cor 2). Paul urges that we put off the outward and be renewed in the spirit or attitude of our minds:
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Eph 4:22
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind Eph 4:23KJV
to be made new in the attitude of your minds Eph 4:23 NIV
No other person can "renew" you or "revive" you however talented and powerful. If he could then Christ died in vain and the Apostles wrote and defended the record of His life for nothing.
Paul told the Colossians that this new inner self is renewed by the knowledge of the Creator of both body and spirit. This helps make our minds or spirits like Christ's and we grow into the image of the Creator.
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; Col 3:9
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Col 3:10
The Words of Christ are not "Spirit" in the sense of a person. Rather, His Words are His Spirit because Spirit here means the mental attitude or disposition of Christ Who is God:
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared Tit 3:4
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit Tit 3:5
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:26
God laid aside His glory to put on the garments of a human with flesh and blood and mind. However, Jesus said to the people who couldn't understand that His kingdom "was not of this world"--
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
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. Jn.6:68
"Words" are from the greek rheo which means to flow or run as water. In the next chapter, Jesus said that:
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow (rheo or words) rivers (banquet) of living (Zao or Zoe) water John 7:38
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:39
The Holy Spirit as a person separated from the One God does not flow out of the body of anyone! What does flow out are the Words of Christ which He clearly called spirit and life. This is confirmed many times:
Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Job 15:2
Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? Job 5:3
They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35
Isaiah warned of those who invent their own songs and sermons that they were made pregnant by a "threshing machine" and gave birth to "stubble" which would be burned up in a "baptism of fire"--
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath (Spirit), as fire, shall devour you. Isaiah 33:11
Through Isaiah, God showed that His Words have power which works only when they are recirculated.
HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isaiah 55:10
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
This is the water cycle:
The clouds give water as the vital ingredient to causinthe gift of God to come to the farmer as food.
The plant takes in the water and energizes the plant to grow and reproduce.
As the plants grow larger, they give more and more of the water back to the sky.
If a sneaky oxen from hell slips in and feeds the plant with water and just a little urine slipped in, the plant will not return the water to the sky creator.
The plant will die.
This is the Spirit cycle:
God came as Lord Jesus Christ to give His Word as Spirit, Water and Life (John 6:63)
If we eat and drink this Water "as it has been delivered to you" we will grow.
If we try to feed and drink what comes out of our own mind we will kill the plants.
And the Water of the Word will not be recycled back to God as the only suitable, Christian song or sermon.
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and is the Creator of all words and thoughts. There is no way to offer Him His own cattle or invent new words:
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him,
- not doing thine own ways,
- nor finding thine own pleasure,
- nor speaking thine own words: Is.58:13
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isaiah 58:14
Where Did Christ place Spirit Power
The Spirit of Christ through the prophets promised that, God would live within us, we would live in him and He would walk among us as His Body or Temple. A body without the spirit is dead.
After promising "another Comforter" in John 14:16, Jesus said that He would come again as the Spirit of Truth because Isaiah said that it would the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear, and quick understanding which rested upon Him. He said:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another (fuller, unlimited by external flesh) Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; John14:16
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:17
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. John 14:18
Not the spirit of Hop or Tango, Rap or Rock. The rulers heard the signs and would experience the fire, but the listeners heard the Words of Christ in their own language. Therefore,
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
- spoken by the Lord, and
- was confirmed unto us
- by them that heard him; Heb 2:3
- God also bearing them witness,
- both with signs and wonders,
- and with divers miracles,
- and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will? Heb 2:4
Worship which substitutes our own songs and sermons is an insult to God and denies the power of God and the commands of Lord Jesus Christ.
Worship in Spirit and Truth
Samaria on Mount Gerizim was the chosen worship center of the northern tribes or Israel. It was their "naval of the earth." It was always cluttered by exiles from many nations and systems of religion. It was the mixture of the true with the false. They used the first five books of the Old Testament and ignored God speaking in the rest.
It was here that Jereboam and Israel revived the worship which had caused Israel to fall at Mount Sinai. That is, they worshiped the bull which was the symbol of sexual power, force and domination.
On the other hand, Jerusalem was the chosen place of the two southern tribes or Judah. Jews still stuff paper notes into the cracks and many believe that God can be reached just beyond the walls and under the "Rock." However, Jerusalem was the Samaria or "Sodom of the north."
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually (figuratively) is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Rev 11:8
The Samaritan woman told Jesus that:
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
Mount Gerizim was where they broke down the walls to all forms of religious worship. However, Jesus said, "Don't go out." Jerusalem was the place where the Word had been replaced with pagan-like rituals which often led to murder. But Jesus said, "Don't go out."
Samaria was the worship center of fertility rituals of music, drama and dance. Albert Barnes speaks of them as "effete men reeking of perfume." However, Amos told Israel that they were dying from thirst for the Word.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols Amos 5:23
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:24
"who excel (applaud) in the sound of musical instruments; they have regarded them as abiding, not as fleeting pleasure." Amos 6:6 LXX (Jesus did know the Septuagint or LXX)
Samaria, lost beyond redemption, ignored God's Water in His Words and:
That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; Amos 6:5
You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. Amos 6:5NIV
Is it any less arrogant to improvize with our own "scripture?"
Amos then condemned anything -- your noise or my noise -- which took the place of teaching the Word:
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
Amos didn't allow them to take a tidbit of God's Word and then improvize a "meet your needs" or a "rivive you" a thing called a "sermon."
They just didn't know and just didn't care to know about God. Therefore, Jesus said:
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we (the Jews) worship; for salvation is of the Jews. John 4:22
The "joint meetings" in Samaria and the priestly worship in Jerusalem did not worship a whom but a what. The rituals in both places literally abraded the people with external melody which, in Greek, is from a word meaning "to grind to powder, to rub out kernels from the dry husks."
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true (truthful) worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23
Paul always contrast human flesh with human spirit:
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. Phillipians 3:3
This seems to prove that vain worship is what appeals to the flesh. We can see examples of this on Mount Gerezim and Mount Zion. It is in a certain place and doing certain external acts which by definition appeal to the flesh. If we put our confidence in the flesh then Jesus would say that our worship, however drug-rich in excitement, is just vain worship.
If we sing "exciting" songs while giving no one time to think about them then we are involved in legalistic -- even pagan -- "worship."
However, true worship is in the spirit or in the mind. Remember that John was in the spiriton the Lord's Day. In a sense, he was worshipping spiritually or figuratively. He was in the presence of Jesus Christ who, as full Deity, dwells in the same heavenly realm. If you charge the gate to my spiritual worship with singing, clapping, chanting or anything loud, you are standing, like the ancient Levitical Worship Team, between me and my God.
Remember that Jesus told the Jews not to go looking for the kingdom in grand assemblies at certain places where the performers will lead you into the presence of God:
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Luke 17:20
Neither shall they say, Lo here or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21
There were beings who stood between Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The Levites had to stand between the musical Levites and the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Christ came to tear the curtain or veil. In some sense, this most holy place, where God dwells within us is our mind or spirit. Until we can worship in His literal place in heaven itself, we must go into our minds and find Him living there ready to carry on a dialog. Don't expect to dance with Him with your steel-toed slippers in the mystical folds of your mind!
The Series [1][2][3][4][5] Kenneth Sublett
Piney Christian Research Home Page