"The women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not authorized to speak, but should
take a secondary and subordinate place, just as the Law also says...for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church [for
her to usurp and exercise authority over men in the church]...If anyone thinks and claims that he is a prophet...or has any
other spiritual endowment, let him understand (recognize and acknowledge) that what I am writing to you is a command of the
Lord. But if anyone disregards or does not recognize [that it is a command of the Lord], he is disregarded and not recognized
[he is one whom God knows not]." I Corinthians 14: 34-38 Amplified Bible
The apostle Paul ended this chapter by testifying to the church that which God gave him to understand
of what His holy will was for the church, both then and now:
"...but all things should be done with regard to decency and propriety and in an orderly fashion."
I Corinthians 14: 40 Amplified Bible
We should understand from the scripture verses mentioned above that God is concerned
about details and how well we seek to follow His instructions. It is not enough in God's sight for us to serve
Him any way we chose to do so and we should not be so presumptuous as to think that He is pleased when we do things our
way instead of the way He has instructed us to do it. The Bible has this to say about being presumptuous when it
comes to the ministry or work of God:
"Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression." Psalms 19: 13 Amplified
Bible
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to
speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die." Deuteronomy 18: 20 Amplified Bible
The purpose of the tabernacle in the wilderness that God instructed Moses to build was for
God to have fellowship and relationship with His people. The word "tabernacle" is defined as a temporary shelter or
dwelling place, as in a tent; a place of worship.
It is also important to note that the priest could not do any service in the tabernacle until
they washed their hands and feet. The requirement of washing before doing the priestly service in the temple was
to help us understand the importance to God that we should also wash our hearts and minds of any impure thoughts or motives
before we can be used by God to do His work. We must do this by careful examination of our lives in comparison
to God's holy Word and by bringing our selves into submission to His holy will and purpose as it is revealed to us in
God's Word, the Bible.
"Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou
shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and
his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall
wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto
the Lord..." Exodus 30: 18-20 KJV
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10: 22 KJV
Now David wanted to build a house for God but, God would not allow David to do it because
of the blood that was on David's hands. Instead, God allowed David's son to build the house for Him.
"Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in My statutes, and execute
My judgments, and keep all My commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David
thy father: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel. So Solomon built
the house, and finished it." I Kings 6: 12-14 KJV
It took king Solomon 7 years to build the temple in Jerusalem, the city of David his father.
When it was finished God commanded Solomon saying,
"...And if thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and
in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep My statutes and My judgments: Then I will
establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following Me, ye or your children, and will not
keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will
I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for My name, will I cast out
of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: And at this house, which is high, every one that
passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to
this house?" I Kings 9: 4-8 KJV
So again, we see that God requires the obedience of those that seek to worship and have
fellowship with Him.
"Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have
rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king." I Samuel 15: 22, 23 Amplified
Bible
Now we will look at how the worship of God was illustrated through the life of Christ
Jesus, God's own Son.
From the beginning of Christ's 3 1/2 year ministry here on earth His whole desire and duty
was to fulfill the will and purpose of God the Father. Also, at the same time, God was establishing a new covenant
with mankind wherein the old form of temple worship would be done away with. There would be no more need of a building
made with man's hands for God to have a place to meet with and tabernacle with His people.
"IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN THOU HAST HAD NO PLEASURE. THEN SAID I, LO,
I COME (IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME,) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD...THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH
THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAITH THE LORD, I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR HEARTS, AND IN THEIR MINDS WILL I WRITE THEM; AND THEIR
SINS AND INIQUITIES WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE." Hebrews 10: 5-17 KJV
We see a change in the requirements of our Holy God as it relates to mankind's worship and
what it takes to please God. Whereas in the Old Testament and under the old covenant God's meeting with His people
and blessings upon His people depended on the religious observence of laws and rituals which the people were forced to obey
or be under a curse; we find in the New Testament and under the new covenant that God is seeking those who want to worship
Him by willingly keeping His teachings and commandments which also shows those who truly love Him. Also, it is important
to understand that there is no more curse upon those who put there trust and faith in Jesus Christ and follow His teachings.
We no longer need to follow a religious system of rules and laws to obtain righteousness and to be justified in God's sight.
We have been declared and made righteous and justification has been freely given to us by the grace (undeserved favor and
kindness) of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. This also means that we no longer have to work to receive the
blessings of God, but that we are already blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord.
"For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy] Spirit's [help], by faith anticipate
and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in
purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope." Galatians 5: 5 Amplified Bible
"So we [Jewish Christians] also, when we were minors, were kept like slaves under [the rules
of the Hebrew ritual and subject to] the elementary teachings of a system of external observations and regulations.
But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the
Law, to purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might
be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us[and be recognized as God's sons]." Galatians 4: 3-5
Amplified Bible
"And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed], then you are Abraham's offspring
and [spiritual] heirs according to promise." Galatians 3: 29 Amplified Bible
"So then, those who are people of faith are blessed and made happy and favored by God [as
partners in fellowship] with the believing and trusting Abraham." Galatians 3: 9 Amplified Bible
The understanding of this truth is of the utmost importance to the Christian believer today
because there are those who have crept into the church with a false and misleading doctrine that says in order to receive
financial blessings from God we must pay tithes and give offerings and that the more we give determines how
much God will bless and prosper us financially here on earth. God has already promised that He would meet our needs
and that we should be content with such things as the Lord gives us but, Christ also has shown us that we should
not be seeking the material blessings but that we should be more concerned with the spiritual blessings that come from God.
The apostle Paul devoted much of his writings to explain this difference between the old covenant and the new covenant relationship
between God and man.
"Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God
not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the
Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified
by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given
by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put
in right standing with God)." Galatians 2: 16 Amplfied Bible
Jesus said,
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings: and the Word which ye hear is not Mine,
but the Father's which sent Me...But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14: 23-26
KJV
The word "abode" means home or special dwelling place. We should remember that
this was the purpose of Mose's tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. God wanted
to have a place that He could meet and fellowship with His people. In the New Testament we find that God has chosen
a new and better place to meet and fellowship with His people:
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things..." Acts17: 24, 25 KJV
Paul, the apostle, clarified for the early church this point and told them exactly where God
wanted to meet with His people.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, Him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
I Corinthians 3: 16, 17 KJV
Christians today should understand that we are God's temple and the place that God has chosen
to meet with us is in the minds and hearts of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. We are told by God's Word
that God has made the believer in Christ a "holy priesthood" and as priests it has been granted unto the believer to offer
up spiritual sacrafices unto God.
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ...But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...For
even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps..."
I Peter 2: 5-21 KJV
We are to worship God through and by our lifestyle of obedience to His way and His will.
We do not go to church to worship; we go to church because we are worshippers of God everyday and by the way we live our lives
in sanctification and dedication to do His will. The Bible says,
"O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before and reverently fear Him, all
the earth." Psalms 96: 9 Amplified Bible
"Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy
for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection]. Rejoice
in the Lord, you [consistently] righteous (upright and in right standing with God), and give thanks at the remembrance of
His holiness." Psalm 97: 11-12 Amplified Bible
"Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue holiness without which no one will [ever]
see the Lord. Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from
and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor,
bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by
it" Hebrews 12: 14-15 Amplified Bible
"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions
of your heart." Psalm 37: 4 Amplified Bible
If our delight is truly in the Lord then His desires will become our desires also.
After the resurrection of God's holy people (saints) we will be ruling and reigning with Christ
Jesus in the city that He is preparing for us.
"But ye are come unto mount Si'-on, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Hebrews 12: 22-24 KJV
True worship of God will bring the believer into intimate and personal fellowship and
communion with God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our holiness and purity of heart and mind is of the utmost
importance to God.
"Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation [description]
of those who seek Him [who inquire of an for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob.
Selah [pause, and think of that]!" Psalms 24: 3-6 Amplified Bible
We are taught by the Word of God that our attitude (or frame of mind) is very important to
God. The believer's attitude in relation to God should be one of humility (lowliness, modesty) and meekness (patient
and submissive to those who are in authority over us).
"The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble [with reverential fear]! He sits [enthroned]
above the cherubim, let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let
them confess and praise Your great name, awesome and reverence inspiring! It is holy, and holy is He!...Extol the Lord
our God and worship at His footstool! Holy is He!" Psalms 99: 1-5 Amplified Bible
There are many who think that worship is all about attending church service on Sunday
morning (or Saturday), fastings, paying of tithes and giving offerings or other such external religious observances, however,
God Himself told us what he desires our worship to demonstrate and consist of.
"Yet they seek, inquire for, and require Me daily and delight [externally] to know My ways,
as [if they were in reality] a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of
Me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God [in visible ways]...[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen:
to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving]
yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house--when you see the naked,
that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?...Then you shall call, and
the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression
[wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh,
unjust, and wicked speaking, and if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the
need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday...If you
turn away your foot from [traveling unduly on] the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath
a [spiritual] delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor Him and it, not going your own way or seeking or finding
your own pleasure or speaking with your own [idle] words, Then will you delight yourself in the lord, and I will make you
to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage [promised for you] of Jacob your father; for
the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Isaiah 58: 2-14 Amplified Bible
The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated for us how to walk and live a life in total fellowship
with and worship of God the Father.
"Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He
who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life...And He Who sent Me is ever with Me;
My Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him...Whoever is of God listens to God. [Those who belong
to God hear the words of God.]...I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone observes My teaching [lives in accordance
with My message, keeps My word], he will by no means ever see and experience death." John 8:12-51 Amplified
Bible
The apostle Paul also believed in and demonstrated the same pattern of godly living taught
by the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
"I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to
and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:
20 Amplfied Bible
Paul also gave further instructions to the church that we too should follow Christ's example:
"Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus:
[Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing
the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped
or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave),
in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled
Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!" Philippians
2: 5-8 Amplifed Bible
The apostle Paul was greatly used by God to continue the work Christ started in building the
church and Paul made it clear to the early Christians what God truly desired of His people:
"I appeal to you therefore, brethern, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God,
to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted,
consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed
(changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves]
what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight
for you]." Romans 12: 1, 2 Amplified Bible
Paul the apostle summed up what it truly means to worship God in the spirit and in reality:
"...For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs),
in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One), And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having
any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness
and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith
in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from god by [saving] faith. [For my determined
purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving
and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way
come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings
as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] That if possible I may attain
to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]." Philippians
3: 8-11 Amplified Bible
This is what it means to truly worship God and this should be the attitude and desire of all
who seek to please God the Father, however, it get's deeper. The great apostle Paul makes an amazing statement concerning
his faith:
"I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing
I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgeting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those [of us]
who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions...Brethren, together follow my example
and observe those who live after the pattern we have set for you." Philippians 3: 13-17 Amplified Bible
The apostle Paul did not take the attitude that so many Christians today have taken.
He did not rest and allow himself to get comfortable with his salvation as though it were a done deal. He thought of
his Christian life and journey as a contest where he was competing for a prize, a heavenly prize. He strove to do his
utmost for God and made it his all consuming passion to imitate Christ likeness while here on earth.
It is abundantly clear to those that are seeking the truth of God's word that we are to worship
God by a new and living way, which is, living a life that is sanctified and set apart as holy unto God, a life of sacrificial
self denial as we strive to follow the teachings and example of Christ's life while He was here on earth and, also, the
example set by the apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May God give us all the grace to be more like
Christ Jesus or Lord. Amen.
