LECTURE 30
OF HOW THAT EVERY MAN OUGHT TO BE A WORSHIPPER IF HE WOULD DIE A HAPPY DEATH.
In eternity, what the saints will be doing is to join the 24 elders in shouting HOLY! HOLY! to the Lord God Almighty. We will be worshipping God throughout eternity. Because that is what we were designed to do.
It is commonly orated in current evangelical circles, that every man has his own special assignment allotted to him by God. And of course many fine Christians have even written books outlining practical steps to brethrens to aid them discover their purpose. Their works are a wonderful piece of devotion and I bless God for the lives of such noble men and women who have helped many to come into terms with ‘PURPOSE’.
But I must say that Inasmuch as we are all called unto ‘DIFFERENT PURPOSES’, it is for the ‘COMMON PURPOSE’ which is to Glorify and to Worship God. For The ‘COMMON PURPOSE’ of creation is to WORSHIP God. Everything is to converge at that summit, for that is where God derives joy from His Creation
Worship is the single most important reason for our existence. And once a man discovers this, all other discoveries ought to cease. He who comes to appreciate the fact that he is designed to WORSHIP has but identified ‘THE COMMON PURPOSE OF CREATION’ and the reason for his existence. This discovery, as deemed by The Heavens, is far more ingenious than the discovery of protons and electrons.
The chief end of man is a simple one: it is to praise and to delight in God. It is for that one ‘COMMON PURPOSE’; which is to worship God and to delight in Him. For thereby does He also delights in creating us. Our professions whatever it may be, is to finally converge at the summit of WORSHIP. But the majority of creation would hardly climb wherefore do they render life useless. For the things and people that are reckoned ‘useless’ are those ones that do not fulfill the ‘PURPOSE’ to which they were fashioned (by the Designer), and thus perform other uses, even though useful to other purposes.
So if a cabinet for instance ends up housing utensils and cookwares, which was primarily designed to hold books and stationaries, it becomes entirely useless to its ultimate purpose, though it is useful to other domestic use. In the same way, we render ourselves useless if we fail to fulfill ‘OUR FINAL PURPOSE’ which is to WORSHIP GOD and to DELIGHT IN HIM.
Until we have fulfilled our foremost purpose on earth which is to worship, we will meet up with a very uneasy death and judgement. For if there is any peace in death, surely, the man with a worshipping heart has it all. Because that is all God seeks from us. It is the reason He created us.
Where we shall spend eternity depends hugely on how we execute this one particular assignment. Because throughout Eternity, the saints will be WORSHIPPING The One True God in Heaven, and they who do not know how to WORSHIP have no place there. For there in Eternity, there are only two professions: either men are WORSHIPPING GOD in bliss, or BLASPHEMING HIM in anguish and eternal pain.
They who wish to join the 24 Elders in chanting HOLY! HOLY! To The Lord God Almighty ought to earn their slot by learning to chant His Praises here. For therewith can you secure a place in THE HEAVENLY CHORAL.
Proceeding, it is expedient that I answer this one question
– What is worship?
Well over the years, I have seen men and women give diverse interpretations to this particular subject of my heart. Some describe it as the theatrical combination of lyrics and melody and simply how one can get emotional in pondering over the lyrical contents of some song. Others also interpret it as the humming of solemn songs and hymns to God, in deep sincerity and passion. The accent, more often than not, is on sight and sound such as shedding tears, raising hands, bending knees and so on. But we may shed tears without shedding Praise. We may lift hands without lifting Him and we may as well bend knees without bowing hearts. Though these are all wonderful and solemn expressions, it does not necessarily portray the soul to be worshipping.
If this were the model worship God experts from us, then I would be so ashamed to say I am not a worshipper. And of course, father Abraham and most great saints of old would never have been called Worshippers.
If WORSHIP were to be all about music, I guess the gospel studios and theatres would have churned the sweetest of Praise. And I to my everlasting shame would only say, “Father forgive me for I know not how to worship.”
So what is worship then? My answer to this evangelical question has always been a simple one. I will share two of the discoveries I made in the scriptures with you.
The first is - WORSHIP is the complete submission of the body and spirit to the Triune God in loving obedience and humility. For Abraham in obeying the call of God to sacrifice Isaac did say to his servants “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship” (Gen. 22:5). With that he meant to say, he goes to humbly perfect what God has bidden. For the Hebrew word translated in that verse as worship is Shâchâh, and it means to do obeisance or reverence to God or to humbly fall or prostate before Him. And truly, Abraham in obeying, had his heart crouching and humbly prostrated before the Father of Mercies.
The second is – Worship is the complete imitation of Christ and the constant practice of The Presence of God. It is when we take and turn our trivial and secular activities into a holy sacrament. Though these activities may be designed for the benefit of another or for personal gain, when rendered as though it is to God and for God, it becomes a blessed sacrament and the soul that renders such is already in the mood of WORSHIP.
For it is said of Brother Lawrence, a layman in the monastery who worked as a cook and a cobbler, that he was an active carrier of the presence of God. He had a very tight schedule at the kitchen and some did wonder if he ever made time to pray and worship. But then He says of himself; “The time of business, does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.”
Even so, you and I could turn every bit of our secular activity into a sacrament and turn our businesses and homes into a sanctuary where WORSHIP is lifted unto God. So even at the table, we may gladly partake of our meals to fill the Heavens with praise instead of just filling stomachs and gratifying appetite.
If I am to simply put it, I will say 1 Corinthians 10:31 represents the whole substance of worship. For there St. Paul, the Apostle, tells the church at Corinth, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” This, I say, is the whole essence of worship.
Trust me dear ones, the soul which is in either of these estate is already in a worshipping mood, though there may be no music nor sound, no art nor act, and no tear nor voice. He is already glorifying Jesus there in the midst of the 24 elders and God habits such praise delightfully.
Death is the voice with which the Saints chant their final praise to God. It is the LOUDEST HALLELUJAH of the chuch millitant and God takes so much pleasure in THAT FINAL PRAISE OF HIS PEOPLE. “For Precious in the sight of The Lord”, says The Holy Book, “is the death of his saints”. The Lord, through death, promotes the saints unto a higher service – which is to join the HEAVENLY CHORAL IN CHANTING HOLY! HOLY! TO HIS NAME.
If Death will be so blissful and eternity so sweet and delightful, we here ought to learn how to chant HOLY! HOLY! To the Lord Almighty.
ALL THY WORKS, WITH ONE ACCORD
By James Montgomery
All Thy works, with one accord
Magnify Thee, mighty Lord!
While the heavens Thy glory show,
Earth extols Thy love below.
Day to day doth utter speech,
Night to night Thy knowledge teach:
Nature's universal frame
Answers--"Hallow'd be Thy name."
Life, through all its breathing forms,
Death, from darkness, dust, and worms,
In ten thousand wondrous ways,
Fearfully set forth Thy praise.
Here, the lips of Infancy
Sweet Hosannas sing to Thee;
Youth and Age, in louder lays,
Joyful Hallellujahs raise.
While adoring Seraphim
Thine eternal Godhead hymn,
Saints redeem'd, with glory crown'd,
Calvary's cross, won triumphs sound.
May Thy Church from age to age,
In her house of pilgrimage,
Train for Thee her convert-throngs,
And thy statutes be their songs.