- araratchurch
- May 9, 2024
- 3 min read
“Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; The rich among the people will seek your favor. The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King’s palace.”
Psalms 45:10-15 NKJV
Jesus was teaching as He was journeying towards Jerusalem. At one point, one of those He was teaching, asked Him if only a few would be saved. Jesus responded, not with a direct answer to his question, but rather with a command, and a warning.
“”Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.”
Luke 13:24-28 NKJV
Jesus wanted the man questioning Him to understand that worrying about the number who would be saved, is not helpful. What is helpful, is to make sure that he does whatever it takes to enter into the narrow Way to salvation.
Jesus made a point of warning that claiming Him as master, alone, was not going to garner entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
Luke 6:46 NKJV
Calling Jesus, “Lord,” is empty rhetoric, unless it is accompanied by obedient devotion.
The apostle Paul points out that living as one wholly belonging to God, is the only way to be a true worshiper.
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Romans 12:1 NLT
Indeed, we must recognize that we have no right to rule ourselves. We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and as such, we honor Him by obeying His commands.
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
In our opening scripture we see the psalmist speaking of the Lord as our King. Indeed, we worship Him, because He is our Lord. Amazingly, if we devote ourselves to Him, He will be our Husband!
Child of God, worship not accompanied by obedient devotion, worship from one who does not honor God’s rule in their life, is NOT true worship.
We’ll talk more tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 8, 2024
- 3 min read
“Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.”
Psalms 96:9-13 NKJV
A consideration of things going on in the world today renders myriad examples of unjust judgment. And—probably to some extent—we have all experienced the sting of being subject to an unjust judgment.
Make no mistake, God deals harshly with those who render unjust judgments, with those who pervert justice to fulfill their own agenda.
““Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?”
Isaiah 10:1-3 NKJV
Indeed, God‘s judgment is righteous, and He expects that His children also have righteous judgment.
When instructing the children of Israel as to how they were to conduct themselves as they inherited the Promised Land, the Lord gave them strict orders concerning the carrying out of righteous judgment.
““You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 16:18-20 NKJV
In answering the religious leaders who judged Him guilty of sin when He healed a person on the Sabbath, Jesus instructed them to judge with righteousness.
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
John 7:24 NKJV
It is good to know that those who are obedient to the Lord, can expect to be the beneficiaries of His righteous judgment.
Paul, in his letter to the believers at Thessalonica, encourages them, pointing out that they would benefit from the righteous judgment of God because of their patient endurance in adversity.
“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
II Thessalonians 1:3-8 NKJV
Yesterday we pointed out the fact that God speaks of His Holiness as being demonstrated in His righteous judgment.
In our opening scripture we see that the psalmist speaks of worshiping the Lord in terms of recognizing His righteous judgment. And with that, we worship Him knowing that the Day will come when He will judge the whole world righteously.
Child of God, worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth, true worship of the Lord, always recognizes that He is a righteous Judge; and that in the end, all injustices will be rectified. A true worshipper honors the righteous judgment of God and does not constantly second-guess Him.
Tomorrow we will go further concerning the nature of true worship.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 7, 2024
- 4 min read
“Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].”
Psalms 29:1-2 AMP
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah was called to be a prophet to Judah.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.”
Isaiah 6:1-4 NKJV
Seeing the Lord, and hearing the sounds of Heaven, caused Isaiah to be overwhelmed.
“So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.””
Isaiah 6:5 NKJV
Experiencing the splendor of the Lord’s Holiness caused Isaiah to become acutely aware of his own uncleanness. In fact, he thought he might perish because of being in the presence of One so Holy. But then, one of the seraphim took a coal from the altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth with it.
“And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.””
Isaiah 6:7 NKJV
In the Presence of God’s Holiness, Isaiah was cleansed from his iniquity.
God’s Holiness is what Heaven sings about.
“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.””
Revelation 4:8-11 NKJV
The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ tells us that God’s majestic Holiness is in the song sung by those who have overcome the Antichrist system.
“And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."”
Revelation 15:2-4 ESV
Indeed, God‘s Holiness is one of the main ways in which He makes Himself known!
“So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 38:23 ESV
Interestingly, the Lord speaks of His Holiness being shown in His judgment. Let us consider the above verse from Ezekiel, along with the two verses preceding it:
“I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man's sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 38:21-23 ESV
The fact is, every act of the Lord, every aspect of His nature, every dimension of His rule, every portion of His immeasurable being, is Holy.
In our opening scripture we see David speaking of worshiping the Lord in the majesty and splendor of His Holiness.
Make no mistake, true worship is only found in those who approach the Lord as One Who is Holy. Indeed, it is in the time of union with the Spirit of the Lord in worship, that we can—to some degree—truly appreciate, and be bathed, in His Holiness.
I will add one more thing here for your serious consideration: As we seek to fully encounter and become one with the Holiness of God in true worship, we must also remember that we are called to be holy in our way of being and doing.
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."”
1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV
We’ll talk more about true worship tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!