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Worship Warfare:  Invading hell and Exciting Heaven
by Matthew Champ

1 Chronicles 16:28-29

“Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name.  Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”

 

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word worship?  Probably the same thing that hits me: music.  When we think of worshipping the Lord our minds jump to known worship leaders or local worship bands and even the odd solo artist who can comfortably enter you into a time of praise to the Lord. 

There is so many types of worship music, so many varieties; it seems almost hard to choose from:

 

-      Jason Upton with his free-flowing, heart pumping, freedom call;

-      Salvador with their soulful Latin music that alone is just as powerful, if not more, than their sincere heartfelt lyrics of love;

-      Toby Mac with his hip hop rhymes that make almost anyone want to ‘break’ dance before the Lord, (probably in secret ;)

-      P.O.D. (Payable on Death) with their hardcore grunge to shout praises before YHWH as they prepare to lead the chosen generation to the hills of Zion.

-      Being a Soldier I almost feel obligated to also mention the Brass Bands and Songster whose melodious sounds can carry any receptive listener nearer to the heart of God.

 

Those are just to name a few. With so many varieties and styles of worship music it is obvious that we as humans were made to worship.  The question that now arises is: What does worship mean? Worship is the reverent love and devotion accorded to God.  It is to regard God with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion.  Worship is a feeling of profound love or adoration appointed to God.  Worship is holding in awe the beauty of God.  It’s a ‘doing thing’ as you totally give yourself over to God.

 

So, with all of this worship that surrounds us I realized something.  We, as Christians, are SO quick to judge each other’s worship styles.  I’ve sat through worship team meetings where people have said certain worship songs could not be sung because the older folks in the church didn’t like songs that weren’t in the song book and vice versa where band masters have changed Sunday morning selections because certain people don’t appreciate the brass/songster selection.

 

People: WORSHIP IS WORSHIP!

 

Do you think that God is picky on how we praise Him?  Do you think He cares if we play Daystar or Jesus Loves Me on a Sunday morning when it’s worship?  Worship invades Hell and excited Heaven, why would we censor our worship because of one of two people’s tastes?  We would be censoring what would invade Hell and what would make Heaven rejoice.

 

The Psalms talk a lot about how God feels about worship.

 

Psalm 81:1-4 says:

“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.”

 

It doesn’t matter what we sing, how we sing, what we play or how we play as long as we are doing it with sincere hearts before the Lord!

 

Psalm 105:1-3 says:

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.”

 

We are to sing worship to Him.

We are to play worship before Him.

We are to shout worship to Him.

 

Psalm 100:1-2:

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”

 

It God doesn’t care how we worship why do we care how everyone else worships?  Why do some folks I know have a problem that I can fall face down before the Lord and worship him to ‘screamo’ or ‘punk-rock’ or ‘grunge’?

Why do some people have a problem worshipping to different styles of music?

 

Let me tell you something. The reason that worship is always related to music is because that’s the easiest way to worship.  Naturally, when we worship, we sing, even when we try not to.  I was at a prayer meeting in May where we were going to spend time in prayer worshipping the Lord without music – yet we didn’t know how to.  After 45 minutes the guitar was brought out because that’s what we knew.

 

If you can’t worship without music you are missing out on a beautiful intimacy with Christ.  Matt Redman wrote a beautiful song: Heart of Worship. They lyrics go as follows:

 

When the music fades

and all has slipped away

and I simply come.

Longing just to be

something that’s of worth

that will bless Your heart.

 

I'll bring You more than a song,

for a song in itself

is not what You have required.

You search much deeper within,

through the way things appear,

You’re looking into my heart.

 

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

and it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

when it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

 

King of endless worth,

no one could express

how much You deserve.

Though I'm weak and poor,

all I have is Yours,

every single breath!

 

How true is it?  We need the heart of worship to be about how much we love Jesus, not about what style of music we can worship to.  Worship is not about us or how good it makes us feel. Worship is not about the music or how it sounds. Worship is not about raising our hands because we feel obligated to or because everyone else is doing it. Worship is not about singing words because they are on a screen in front of us or we have them memorized.  Worship is ALL about Jesus and ONLY about Jesus.

 

Have we made worship selfish?  Maybe we should ask ourselves a few questions on where we are at with our own personal worship.

 

How is your worship life when you pray?

How is your worship life when you read God’s word?

How is your worship life when you study God’s word?

How is your worship life as you live your life?

 

Our lives should be a consecrated act of worship at all times, with no compromise.  I beseech thee brethren, present yourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

 

It’s time to get down to the full heart of worship – we need to mean the words we speak, the tunes we sing, the prayers we pray and the things that we do.  So, throw down your contempt for certain styles of worship – they may not all suit you – but they all suit God.

 

Enough of judging the bandos, enough of judging the screamos, enough of judging the soft rockers…it all sounds the same to God when it’s being sung from the heart.  More importantly, enough with this whole mind frame that music is just enough in worship.

 

Worship is sacrificial.  Look at Abel, Noah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Abraham. 

-      Abel sacrificed his best to the Lord in worship and in turn his very own brother killed him out of jealousy.

-      Noah sacrificed his reputation, his family for the many years that it took him to build the ark and his friends as he obeyed the Lord in his act of worship.

-      Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all sacrificed their lives as they worshipped the Living God who reigned throughout the Earth and in turn were saved and converted a nation.

-      Abraham.  We all know that Abraham was ready to sacrifice his one and only (legitimate) son to the Lord Most High as an act of worship, but was stopped when the Lord saw that his worship was pure.

 

In the same way we must worship with a sacrificial heart where it’s not about us, it’s about Jesus.  God inhabits our worship, so when we are sacrificial within our worship we shall be blessed beyond the grave.  What does sacrificial worship look like today? Dare I say tithing?  Generosity? Giving with a good heart?

 

How else can we worship?  We already know through music and through sacrificing, through prayer and through our lives, but there must be more.

 

We can worship through feasting.  Acts 2: 43-47 talks about how we can worship the Lord together through feasting, fellowship and living in community.  It says: “A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-- all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.”

 

We worship simply through knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior, acknowledging Him with our rising and our sleeping.  Anna, in Luke 2:36-38, worshipped the Lord night and day and was rewarded with a blessing from the Lord that was one of the greatest honors for anyone, she got to see the Christ child before her death. “There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

 

We worship the Lord through our testimony of Jesus and the words of our mouth.  Revelation 19:9-10 says: “Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God."  At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."”

 

We worship the Lord through our service.  Read through all of Isaiah 58 and you’ll understand that one!

 

We worship the Lord through our unity, friendship and our discipline.  The call to worship together in orderly unity comes from 1 Corinthians 14:26: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”

 

As you can see there are SO many ways to worship and none of them are wrong.  The Lord receives each of them with great joy and why wouldn’t He? We would be fulfilling our calling as humans: we were made to worship.  These types of worship, through our songs, dances, testimonies, offerings, disciplines, and services all invade Hell.  They snatch away people that are ensnared in the palm of the Devil and they excite Heaven because truly worship delivers lost souls into the hands of angels.

 

I love the lyrics to the following song…make the words your prayer as you throw down your selfish worship and pick up a worship that can only be described as true warfare.

 

This is my desire: to honor You.

Lord with all my heart I worship You.

All I have within me, I give You praise.

All that I adore is in You.

 

Lord I give You my heart,

I give You my soul, I live for You alone.

Every breath that I take,

Every moment I'm awake,

Lord have Your way in me.

 

 

 

 

   

 

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