Veron Ashe - Prerequisites for God's presence

come on chanson our Father we honor you and we adore and bless your name for this is the chief end of man that we may glorify you and enjoy you all the days of our lives and so we join our voices with the unending hymn of praise that is sung by angels and archangels principalities powers Thrones dominions the many I cherubim in the six winged Seraphim all covering their faces and feet flying to one another singing and declaring that you are holy the heavens and the earth are filled with your glory and so we cry hosanna in the highest and so god we've come to give glory to your glory to exalt to extol to magnify and to bless your most holy name we've come to worship you and as a secondary consequence of our worship speak to us speak to those who are watching in to those who are gathered here speak to us not as though we were babes but as though we were mature enough to deal with the weight of thy word speak to us not from the outer court but from the Holy of Holies father you have commissioned us not tonight to preach milk but to preach meat we are hungry for thy word the entrance of thy word brings light now God most of all give me clarity of thought and precision of speech Kris made me with the same oil that you poured on your son Jesus so that the words that I speak will not be mine own but they will be yours for the edifying of this thy people we pray this in the name of your only begotten Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through your consubstantial spirit amen and amen the Lord bless you come on give God some praise one more time before you take you Steve the Lord is so worthy and then you may be seated it is such a blessing to be here we like TBN and of course pastor Gallagher and Paul and Jen for this invitation and we believe that everything works according to God's timing and God's season how men you enjoyed the ministry of music today huh powerful to see young people reaching out toward God the Bible says this is the generation that shall praise the Lord and God is raising up a generation that will acknowledge him and will glorify him and become filled with his presence which is a little bit what I wanted a little bit I want to share with you some things today about God's presence if you have your Bibles throw me to the book of first chronicles 15 something is in my spirit I want to share with you is the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me first chronicles of chapter 15 verse 3 the Bible says that David gathered all of Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Lord into his place which he had prepared for it David gathered all of Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Lord unto his place which he had prepared for it verse 12 it says and he said unto them ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites sanctify yourselves both ye and your brethren that ye may bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it verse 13 for because he did it not at the first the Lord our God made a breach upon us for that we sought him not after the due order so the priests and Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel glory be to the Lord of the prophets maez mercy be upon us forever listen to verse 13 again very important text very important for because you did it not at the first the Lord God made a breach upon us for we sought him not after the due order I want to minister to you tonight just for a little while about 40 minutes that's what they give me which is usually my introduction I get to my first conclusion by 40 minutes but I'll share with you a little bit tonight on the subject prerequisites for his presence prerequisites for his presence David has received the charge after becoming king over Israel he has the responsibility now to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem and to establish God's kingdom and so history or the text tells us earlier that the first time that they bring the Ark of the Covenant when they first bring it they don't bring it the way that God told them to bring it David goes back in history and when he goes back in history he goes back just to a certain period of time and he remembers when the Philistines had brought the Ark of the Covenant earlier or sent it back to his rule and they sent it in a cart and it was carried by oxen by animals and animals brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel and it stayed in the house of abinadab for a season for close to 20 years and after the 20 years then David said let's bring the Ark of the Covenant and he made an art he made a cart got the animals to carry the cart and put the Ark of the Covenant on it and the Bible says that as they were bringing the Ark of the Covenant that the Ark of the Covenant fell the ark Lois represents God's presence is the ark where the Shekinah the doxa the Habad in the Hebrew the presence of God is represented and there is always God's omnipresence when we think of God God is everywhere at the same time but only Israel got to enjoy his resident presence or his manifest presence so we know that God is with everybody but with his people he is specifically with them that there is a presence that belongs to his people that's not found everywhere everywhere that we look God is there is no place that God is not God is in all things and he is above all things and he is greater than all things but to his people his people have his resident presence his glory his Shekinah his abiding presence there is something about God's people when we gathered to worship that God becomes present in our midst that is so overwhelming it is so obvious that it is impossible to deny that God's people are distinguished not by their dress not by their clothing style not by the cars they drive not by the houses they live in not by their hairstyles not by any of those things but they are distinguished by his glory by his presence it is the one thing that we have sacrificed in our churches we have built cathedrals we place great emphasis now on how beautiful our churches look because we're prosperous now and we place great emphasis on our sound systems and our music and everything but yet at the same point what should distinguish us whether you're in a shack or you're in a Cathedral should not be the grandeur of your building but it should be the grandeur of your God the presence of God must become a my hora T in the lives of people so the Bible says that these tennies to bring the Ark of the Covenant in order to bring the Ark of the Covenant the Bible says that he he researches he goes back in history but he doesn't go far enough back see our problem is is that we want God's presence our way we want to bring God into his house but we want to bring him into his house based on what makes us comfortable what we enjoy what we like and what ministers to us and so we have designed most of our services we have designed most of our churches to accommodate people but not accommodate God God has become a secondary consequence it's become he's no longer the priority and our ministries are in our church or even in our lives as young people God is no longer the priority most of us the the priority is to fit in and what is what what what what's stylish and and what makes me acceptable and what what is necessary for me to feel better about myself and so we now have built churches what we call seeker-sensitive ministries we have designed our ministries to get people there and not to get God there what you have to understand is that you can have a fine church and it can be packed with thousands of people but if God is not there it is a mausoleum it is nothing that brings healing and deliverance what distinguishes our churches from from auditoriums and from buildings that entertain us is that God is there you are not the reason that we come here he is the reason that we come here and he comes because we make a vested interest in getting him here see I have a vested interest in getting God in the service because if you don't come back next week it doesn't matter so you've never healed anyone you've never saved there anyone you've never delivered anyone so if you don't come back it's not gonna change anything but the one person that we need to show up every time we call him every time there is an epiclesis offered every time we invoke the power of the Holy Spirit if he doesn't show up then we are in trouble so the church must make an investment Christian communities must make an investment in getting God there so David sends for the Ark of the Covenant when he sends for the Ark of the Covenant oh says that as they're bringing it into the places they're carrying the Ark of God the Bible says that it falls first of all he inquires of God for the Bible says in the days of Saul they did not inquire of God which is a may be very revelatory based on our existence now because we live in a generation that does not inquire of God we live in a generation that inquires of one another that acquires with what works do we want to know what you think about me what what what they think about us what what society says but we don't want to know what God says we we don't inquire of the Lord and there has to be the passion to inquire of the Lord again we have to ask why why does miss Clio and all of these psychics what is the basis of their success why people want to know they they're inquiring of the wrong people they're not inquiring of God Saul inquired it just wasn't of God he was inquiring of false prophets and so we have a generation today that wants to not hear what God has to say they want their emotions touch they want their they they want they want their their intellect stimulated but they don't want God's presence they they want they want to feel better we come to church for a quick fix we don't come because because we have a vested interest in getting God here we do not see ourselves there's a great writer or Russian theologian called Alexander Schmemann and Alexander's Roman says that we were created to be doxological beings we were created to be worshipers see when we do not worship all of creation suffers everything is out of place because we do not worship correctly everything suffers because the ultimate aspect of mankind the reason we were created was to worship and so when we do not do what we were created to do then everything suffers when we who is that of the crown of God's glory when mankind chooses to rebel against God and chooses Romans 1 says to worship the creature more than the Creator when we choose to make ourselves the center of our life and not God then everything in the world suffers you want to know why why what's going on in the Middle East is going on you want to know why all of the different agendas and El Nino and crazy weather and there are earthquakes and typhoons all of that is the result of cuts people not waking up to their purpose and mankind not worshipping until mankind recognizes that he was created to worship and as long as he does not worship then everything suffers as a result when you read in Romans 1 it gives a list of sins one after another after another work of flesh work of life's work of us and all of those sins are the direct result of wrong worship so then the issue is worship it's the central issue of the Bible there is no more important thing that split can be preached than worship in terms of the human vocation there's nothing more not faith not not nothing else because all of those things come from worship because when we worship a right our faith is right when we worship a right our heart is right when we worship a right our life gets right when you worship God changes your life when you worship your prayer life becomes censored when you worship and you get a vision of God when you get a proper vision of God and you see God the way God chooses to be seen when you begin to magnify him when you begin to get put things in perspective based on God everything you people who worship don't suffer from low self-esteem people who worship don't need Prozac and Ritalin they don't spend thousands of dollars on therapy because when you get in cops presents you can't tell God who he is and cannot tell you who you are the highest suicide rate is among our young people because we entertain them but we don't teach them to be worshipers it's not enough to just make you feel good young people when you walk out of here you gotta walk out of here seeing God in a light that you've never seen them before you gotta recognize that your voice is important and as great as the music is up here it's not anything compared to you and you lift your voice you may not be able to like these entertainers you may not know your key you may not be able to beat a drum and play a guitar but you and your lifts or voice and tell god I love you he longs to hear your voice he longs to hear your worship and without it something is missing it is absolutely vital to us absolutely vital we are created to be worshiping means and so the Bible says that he was bringing up the Ark of the Covenant and it he inquired of the Lord he wanted to know God what do you want in the Ark of the Covenant fell because he didn't go far enough back in history see when we want to worship correctly we have to worship the way God wants us to worship first of all let me say something about worship worship is God centered it's not people Center we don't care what you want to hear we only care what he wants to hear worship is not designed to get you here it's designed to get him here and if it is proper worship it is Christ centered and not man-centered so it doesn't include you and so we have to distinguish worship from just music and ministry because they're both necessary but they're not both part of worship everything that we do in the church is not worship some ministers to us and it meets our needs and it's designed to do that and that's necessary but there's a but there's also a sound that is designed to get God there and when God listens he's listening for his people to acknowledge him he's listening for people to recognize him and when he hears that sound he steps out of heaven the Bible says but thou art holy o thou that inhabits the praises of Israel so you want to know his address it's P o box praise when you worship and you praise that's when pop lives he lives in Britain Romans 1 says because man is not Eucharistic or doxological because he is not giving God thanks and because he is not giving God glory see when we do not give God thanks and we do not give God glory everything suffers as a secondary consequence so there are some prerequisite things for his presence if you want to get God in your life if you want to get in your church if you want to get God in your youth group if you want to get God in your you you have to inquire of him you don't sit and find out what are the statistics and what what what works you know that that worship never ever involves the popular opinion of that error sometimes praise things antiquated because it has not always meet us where we are because it always challenges us to meet God where he is we want God to always come down to us but God challenges us to come up to where he is and so when we worship when we begin to see God we must understand that worship is God centered it's not our way it's his way it's what do you want to hear God what do you mean what are you seeking for what are you longing for what will bring you into our presence what brings you into the service what is it that's necessary to get got here so the Bible says of the Ark of the Covenant was brought in when they brought the Ark of the Covenant it fell it fell B and when it fell o self stretched forth his hand to touch it to save it to take a risk to do what was necessary to help the presence of God not fall down let me say this who'sa touched it because he was the son of AB in adop and the Ark of the Covenant had been in a bin Adams house for 20 years listen to me very important because the Ark of the Covenant had been there for 20 years who'sa was raised around it so he got coming with the presence of God I am very afraid today that this generation that that we've gotten coming with the presence of God I don't feel that we reverence God the way that we should anymore that sometime it just it's just it's just something that happens have has earlie and that we expected to just happen automatically and yet i believe that praise is essential to God's presence and if God shows up he shows up not by accident but because we have done something specific to get God there the Bible says in the fifteenth chapter that they did not seek God according to the do order they did not seek God according to what he wanted they sought God according to what they thought he wanted and so we want God's presence it only comes when we make the investment to say God what do you want to hear what is it that you are accustomed to what is befitting the dignity of your name what has been fitting the dignity of your glory what is necessary and conduce into your presence what is conducive to the presence of God there are prerequisites to God's presence God doesn't show up by accident God shows up because people are hungry and passionately longing for him whenever we are passionately longing for him people will be a secondary consequence of God's presence people should never be the reason that a pastor opens a church people should never be the reason that somebody is called to ministry people should never and somebody says what about what about the people people are always a secondary consequence of worship I never forget I was at a conference a couple of months ago and the pastor said before he I got up to speak he says now it's time for the most important part of the service the preaching and I told him I had I said I have to disagree with you preaching is not the most important part of the service praise is the most important part of the surface because preaching is the secondary consequence of sin I must preach today because men have sinned yesterday so that the through the foolishness of preaching we can be converted but had men not sinned he still would have had to worship and so worship is more important than anything because you can have church without preaching but you can't have per church without praise you can you can do a lot of stuff without preaching but you can't do anything without praise praise is what is requisite it is the thing that is necessary is what differentiates and distinguishes mankind from beasts it is what distinguishes us from the and angels and it is why we were created because angels have no option but to praise they were created their vocal cords were designed only to say holy if they were thirsty and wanted to ask for a glass of water it would come out holy if they wanted to tell you I was tired it would come out holy that's all they know they ain't got but a few words to speak but those of us who have a will that's what distinguishes us from all things that when God made mankind he made us in His image and in his likeness and in order to truly give us His image and likeness he had to give us a free will he had to give us the ability to choose him above everything else now the danger in giving us a free will is that we would sometimes choose not to worship we would sometimes choose not to love him but when our worship is offered it is all for naught because he forces us but because of all things created we as a result of our intellect and conscience because we are not dumb animals we are thinking creatures we are people who understand the mysteries of God and as a result of our intellect when we think of what God has done when we understand what he has done then we begin to offer him worship we begin to ascribe praise and glory to his name and he shows up he comes not because we just throw a few songs together but it comes because more than anything we want him more than anything we want him see that's what it's about it's not even about being healthy it's not even about being well it's about getting him there it's a it's about God if you're here everything else will work out if you show up in my life then everything else will be made all right this is the dedication I come from the Eastern Orthodox Church from this from actually a branch of what's called the Oriental Orthodox Church and most of you couldn't hang out in my church most you think you praise you don't know nothing about praise you think all these robes and stuff you're not used to it but but in our church we don't even have pews we don't let people sit in our church because when you come into our church sitting during worship it's not befitting the dignity of the one that we worship see the king that's coming to his house and when the King comes in everybody stands I don't have your Muslim or a Buddhist you stand to because this is the king if you don't stand now your bow later but eventually you're gonna worship him see if the president came in I don't care if you're Russian or Chinese he may not be your president but if he walks in a building you stand up to respect him and so in our church we don't give people the option we tell our people when you invite somebody you teach them before they come into the church when I stand baby you stand when I bow you bow when I lift my hands you lift my head your hands you fake it till you make it because you're in the presence of the king when I go to your house I do what you want me to do and when we walked into his house we do what he wants us to do it's not an option more than anything we need his presence and some of you say what do I do you have to be that strict is it necessary it is absolutely necessary do we believe that the king of kings and the Lord of lords chooses to live in inhabit in the praises of his people absolutely and there's coming a generation of young people young people God is awakening you to a new level he's awakened you to a place where more than anything the only thing that matters is him there's coming a spirit an outpouring of God upon you and it's not gonna be so much just for the things that we thought it was before there's a cry in the hearts of God's people more than anything David said one thing have I desired of the Lord and that when I seek after can I tell you something that if you are praying if your prayer list has more on it than one thing you are praying to many things your prayer list need your prayer list needs to be reduced to find one thing and longed for that one thing and when that one thing becomes God everything else will be added to you you don't have to name and claim a car you don't have to believe for anything else when you seek God he knows what you need he'll bring your provision he'll bring the healing he'll bring the deliverance he'll bring the outpouring when you seek His blessings the rest shows up we need a generation that sees his presence more than anything a people of God who are consumed with a passion for the things of God are people who are saying more than anything I want you is longing for God is what we are crying out to God for the Bible says that David desires to bring the Ark of the Covenant the heart falls who'sa touches it any ties he dies because he got coming he dies because the presence of God had become so common that he thought he could help it can i minister to you today then he presence of God does not come on the backs of dumb animals it does not come on the backs of programs it comes when men understand the responsibility and feel the weight of this presence when they realize that if God is gonna be here it is because we have made a vested interest we have desired to bring him here and he sits in heaven and he waits for people to begin to acknowledge him every Sunday when I celebrate the liturgy in my church there is a prayer that that we pray when I stand before the presence of God and it says oh god you have exalted me among the ranks of the cherubim and Seraphim you have brought me into the Holy of Holies when you understand that God brings us human mankind from the ranks of mere mortal men and elevates us to the place that even the Angels try to understand how could this person be seen better than me he can't even sink and he's somewhere between a please on a Z sharp and yet God wants to hear our worship he wants to hear our praise because it is unique because it is something that is calculated and whenever we were neglected worship is not something we do worship is something that we are we are worshipers we do not just worship we become worship so that everything that we do and everything that we say is filled with that level of praise is filled with that level of glory and so Romans 1 says because whenever we worship the creature more than the Creator everything suffers you read Romans 1:1 sin after another sin after another sin after and it's all because we don't understand because we worship ourselves and we worship stuff and we worship things more than God and God calls this generation I need you to worship me see there's a generation that's coming now that is going to be so God's center that nothing else matters nothing else matters but the presence of God nothing else matters but God that they are longing for his presence it is a cry like in the early church in the first and second centuries of men who so passionately longed for God that they would go out into the desert they were called the Desert Fathers and they would just live by themselves in the desert 24 hours seven days a week just praising and singing songs to God in the middle of the desert just saying God you are all that all that I desire I know it doesn't make sense to us because most of all now we want to gain people and we think that the great way to evangelize people and we've got to win people because people are going to hell and that's absolutely true people do need to be one we need to minister to the generations but their longing for something more than just a good sermon there's something in the net says if I'm just coming to church to change my life then we could become Muslim because Muslims live a better life than Christians in terms of holiness codes they've got us beat but the reality is that we have something that no other religion has we are the only religion that has taught in the flesh when we couldn't be like him when he loved us so much and he says I want you to be like me but you can't be like me as God so I'll become like you so you can still be like me Iren ASM the Odinson that the son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men can become the sons of God what happens when men worship God reignites the flame within us the Bible says that when God put a deep sleep on Adam opened up his side took a rib out and made a perfect bride the Bible says that God put a deep sleep on him now you go read it at home the Bible never says God woke him up never why because after that act man sinned after that act men sinned but there was a part of man that was never defiled there was a part of man that the enemy regardless of what he does to you there is a part of you he can never have there's a part of you that God says will never be defiled that part that's asleep that's why the Bible says later on awaken now who slumbers and sings and when you worship you reignite the flame that has been dying that small ember that has been within you even from the time of Adam that's been waiting for you to begin to worship and as you begin to worship in spirit in nuuma in the breath the breath of God that slight press of the Holy Spirit reignites the flame that's within you and all of a sudden the passion of God consumes you one of the greatest Fathers of the desert that I was telling you about earlier one of a man came to him says I pray I fast I do everything that you tell us every I've done everything right what more can I do and this great desert father lifted his hand and then his head supernaturally turned into a flame almost any sense become a flame after all that we do after everything we do everything correct live right pray fast faithful give pay pads stay consistent come to the church participate in the faith in the life of the church after all of that we must become consumed with God we must become consumed with him so that there's nothing left except God nothing left this is what's gonna differentiate us from everyone else is there's gonna be a longing and a passion for the things of God the lack of which has never been seen before see we have the great responsibility this generation has the great responsibility to show to the world more than any other time that there is a God who will consume us and there is a God who is worthy of this sacrifice of life so what does it mean we want God's presence the Bible says that they did not see God according to the do order if you want God's presence that's not enough to want him you must want him the way he wants to be brought see the problem is is that most of us want to sing songs that we like songs that are appealing to us songs that are upbeat and faster or songs that are slow whatever is a few but we have to ask God what do you want to hear this morning see God's taste are not ours what is appealing to us is not always appealing to God and the issue again is God what do you want see when God is the center of your life when he is all that you desire nothing else matters and so we have to align ourselves with God's purpose and God's plan for us so the Bible says that David went up the Ark of the Covenant fell he called the place for us who'sa David was afraid put the ha put the ark in the house of obed-edom and in the fifteenth chapter the Bible says he wants to bring it up he goes back in history he goes further back in history again see the problem with the churches we will go a hundred years will go for hundred years but we got to go back to the book of Acts if you want to know how to worship you got to go back to the point where these people passionately lived for the things of God to be a witness when the Bible says to be a witness is the same word that means to be martyred to be a martyr is to be a witness to come to the place that your life doesn't mean anything to you want to be a witness written saying god never called us the witness and so here we are we're gonna go on a street corner and witness that's not what God called us to be a witness when our life exudes a quality worth reproach when our life exudes a quality worth martyrdom when our life exudes a quality where's persecution not because we're being persecuted because we got a Jesus sticker in our car and we got a fish on our car or on our desk but when your very life causes men to persecute you because it is so radically different than theirs can you imagine that is early and most of us know know this but as early as a hundred years ago there were over several million Armenians killed for the Gospels sake by Turks several many Armenians a quarter of a million Syrian Christians martyred by Muslims but we never hear about that martyred because they were Christian and because they loved God see there's always been a generation that is paid for the gospel with its blood the problem with the American churches that were spoiled we live good we forgot the price for his presence we've gotten common with God and God wants to challenge this generation don't get common oh the fire you have today don't lose that don't ever get sold and so comfortable and so you know everything that the presence of God is something that you that you don't no longer value always recognize that God comes because you have a vested interest always know that that's the reason you come to church early and you don't leave till they are for the last amen it astounds me today how people come when they want to come and leave when they want to leave come late leave early and walk and talk and do all kind of things because the presence of God is not a priority when the presence of God is a priority you sit there because you understand God's not there because the preachers there God is not there because the bishop is there or the elder is there the press butter is there God is not there because the praise teen is that God is there because all of us are part of the choir I think our choirs have messed us up because now we expect them to bring the Prince as a God our praise seems that messes up because we expect them to bring the presence of God but all of us are part of the praise team we all have a responsibility to get God in the place worship changes things worship causes men to rethink stuff when you worship the enemy will leave your life the abundance of demonic activity in the life of a believer the abundance of what we call spiritual warfare interior combat when you have to deal with the constant lust of the flesh and the constant thoughts that you war with all of those things are the result of you not settling the issue of worship when the issue of worship is settled when the issue of worship is finalized in your life everything leaves everything is finished the Bible says in the book of Galatians that the flesh lusteth against the spirit and it goes on to say that the spirit lusts against the flesh there is an equal longing for the things of God like there is a longing for the things of the flesh epithelia and the Greek means to lust too long it does not have a negative connotation in the Greek mind in the Greek mind it does not necessarily mean that it is negative in as much it is as it is a longing a lust and what you do with it makes it wrong or right the same way that we have lusted for the things of the flesh we need to lust for the things of the Spirit we need to long for the things of the Spirit we need to desire the things of the Spirit whenever we have lusted for the things of the flesh they consume our life you know those of you that fell in love as a teenager which some of you won't you still are and you know you fell in love and your teenager and you you're right you're sitting in school and you you see a young girl you're singing young guys that you like and you're sitting then you write his name and you're letting and his last name with your name just to see how it looks you 14 15 years old ain't got a job but you're trying to put circles and got a little cross little little hearts and writing it on your notebook and scratching into your cousin all night you're on the telephone you calling them they're calling you you ain't talking you're just sitting there at five o'clock two o'clock in the morning you still there uh-huh you still there uh you hang up now you hang up now you hang up no you hang up all right we gonna count to three and then we both hang up at the same time one two three you still there uh-huh you still there and that same longing that's same longing for God that same longing that you have for people that same longing they have reserved the reality is you are willing to be on the phone quiet hear me quiet just to know they're on the other line falling asleep you put the phone dial go Fried Chicken come back you're still there we're willing to pay that price because we so love we so long we so lust for that person this either person that we just to know they're there and yet God we make no time for him sometimes we just need to say we need to shut the door close and say I'm just I don't god I don't know what to say but are you still there yeah you hang up I ain't hanging up I'll fall asleep before I hang up see God wants that same passion for the things of God that same desire that same longing that same thing that God this is what God is requiring in this generation this is what the world is crying out for this is what the church is crying out for this is what God has called us to this is what it's going to bring unity in the church when we begin to worship God and God becomes the center of our church Paul said that I'm determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified this has to become the center the only thing I want to know about you is do you know him we may worship differently Paul says judge no man in your worship we may worship differently there are different I've always been different styles if you go into the earliest branches of the church the dancing is nothing new drums is nothing new in the church we think that just happened on a on azuz and we think that's just something new but if you go to Ethiopia the tower is Oh church they've been dancing and prophesying and playing drums for 2,000 years in the presence of God in Ethiopia far removed under Muslim regime and yet they continue to worship God that way it's nothing new nothing new Under the Sun and the Russians had their own way of worship and the Greeks and and the Antiochian Zinn the Syrians and and those that each one had their own different styles and then the American church is born and it has its own style their different styles but they're brought together see how it's not always the issue in as much as who is the issue my hell is negotiable if my who is right see the hour is coming when the true worship worshiper will worship Him in spirit and in truth we must worship Him and he will lead us into all truth he will lead us into the place if I worship is alright he will bring us into the place where we need to be but if our worship is messed up if our foundation is no good if his presence is not there then he can't bring us anywhere so more than anything we need to make a vest an investment in getting God's presence let me say quickly turn with me to Matthew 4 I want to read you one passage of Scripture as I'm about to cook conclude I'm not first conclusion on the Regis a passage of Scripture that's so important about worship God creates within all of us the longing for the things of God so that in Matthew 4 the devil is tempting Jesus see there are prerequisites for his presence he's tempting Christ over and over and over he wrestles and argues the point is this what you want is this what you're called to do if thou be the Son of God if thou be the Son of God if thou be the Son of God see the enemy will always attack you with your identity understand this he always deals with us as if you are if you're really a Christian if you are really a Christian if you were really if you really were a believer you wouldn't be and and we always have to be able to overcome the lie of the enemy that causes us to question who we are in Christ it was the lie he told the woman in the garden in the day that you eat it you'll be like God see if she knew that she was already made in the image of God she would have never eaten she ate because she forgot who she was see as long as we don't know who we are the enemy has a legal right to attack us but when we know who we are then then the unsought of the enemy is silence watching our Jesus so he he deals with the issue of temptation on food turned this bread or turn these rocks in the bread Jesus denies him that jump off a mountain it was written thou shalt not tempt the LORD thy God and now it comes down to the real issue and then still Satan's to him takes him to high mountain shows him all of the kingdoms of the world verse 9 says and set him to them all these things will I give you if you will fall down and worship me watch it see this is ultimately what he wants this is ultimately what the devil wants and this is ultimately what God wants the war has always been over worship who gets acknowledged this is what true spiritual warfare is it the devil doesn't want a city Tom there's a prince demon ruling Nashville the devil don't want Nashville there's a there's a spirit out of art school he doesn't want your school he wants your worship he wants your acknowledgment he wants your praise so ultimately says bow down and worship Me and Jesus refuses to worship listen to what Jesus says get the hints for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him alone shall now serve verse 11 then the devil left him I like that verse when Jesus settled the issue of worship that never left if the devil is not leaving it is because the issue of worship is not settled the abundance of demonic activity is a sign that you have not let the devil know that you can do what you want the one thing you don't get here is praise you can fight me you can take my car you can take my family you can take my house but the one thing you will never ever get from this mouth is the acknowledgment of glory or worship it belongs to God and God alone will receive my words that's what the three Hebrew boys said when they were thrown in the fire and then they came out a polemical when Nebuchadnezzar said bow down to worship they said worship doesn't belong to you worship only belongs to God no one else gets it but God and so there's nothing else we can do we refuse to acknowledge anybody and anything other than the glory of God when this generation rises up and tells the world and tells the government and tells the enemy you can do what you want you are not getting praise because our praise and our worship and our glory belongs to God it doesn't matter what the devil says what the enemy says what the world says our and worship our eucharistia our Thanksgiving belongs to God and God alone tell somebody it belongs to God alone this generation is gonna rise up to begin to worship God like never before they're going to begin to worship not because they're gonna recognize that they were created to be creatures of worship why did God make mankind in the first place why make him if you know he's gonna fall why make man if you knew he was gonna sin because there was a vacancy in heaven have you ever wondered why God made man have you ever said why make us if you knew we were gonna do what we were gonna do because there was a vacancy because the fall of Lucifer was before the creation of man before God made man Lucifer had fell and it was Lucifer's responsibility to worship God and when Lucifer because of pride because he became self-centered rather than God sinner because he wanted to receive glory and honor when he wanted to be famous when he wanted to be wonderful we've gotta guard ourselves in this era of great success in ministry and great success in all times of self that pride never feeds us and all times we must never get so consumed with preaching and production and the business and the commerce that's connected to it that we forget the real reason we were called what the real thing is behind is that it is ultimately only about the things of God and it is only made manifest when we demonstrate above all things that we are worshipers first and everything is secondary I am NOT a great preacher I'm a great worshiper there's no such thing as great preachers there's only great worshipers there's only great people who love God there's no such thing as great singers then only needs to be great worshipers Lucifer fell why did he fall he fall because he fell because he was proud because he was arrogant because he wanted the glory because he wanted the acknowledgment because he wanted to hand out his business cards because he wanted the doors open because he wanted to build his own conference because he wanted to be famous because he wanted all of the acknowledgment and he fell and there was a vacancy in heaven and God looks and God says I'm gonna create someone else to worship me someone to fill this vacancy and I'm gonna set it up that they if they do fall I'm gonna make sure that there's a provision for them before they fall so before I make man I've got to enter into covenant with my son they will he go down and pay prat pay will he go down and offer a perfect sacrifice of worship because this is the mother the the Semitic mind or the Eastern mind when it comes to the cross is not so much that Jesus paid the ransom because I would seem cruel to pay a ransom means that we were a prisoner we were not prisoners of God we were prisoners of the enemy so the ransom was not paid to God it was a perfect his sacrifice on Calvary was a perfect offering of praise and worship so the vacancy in heaven is there Lucifer has a vacancy and now God gives us the responsibility he creates man and makes provision for his Redemption so that if he falls he has access back to God so that there will never be a time again that God will not receive worship that belongs to him from people who choose to worship because they were created to worship so he starts with Redemption he begins with Redemption so that when we are born into the world and even if we do sin that is through repentance and through baptism we come into the kingdom of God and we're able to then we have a provision to come back and offer worship again do you know why it's so important that we worship do you know why the devil hates you when you worship because every time you worship you remind him Boger this used to be you you used to do this and you can't do it anymore and I replaced you and I'm not even as good as you were but God would refer to hear my song than yours he would prefer to hear my worship than yours because this is what I was created to do I was created to acknowledge and exalt the name of God and this is what u.s. young people were created to do you are created to worship and more than when we got a generation that's old and fighting and arguing killing one another when we got a generation today that calls themselves Christians and they're bickering and destroying one another and they're consumed with arguing over different things we need a generation that's gonna stand up this is what we were created to do and when you worship like this when you worship when you become a worshiper standing on your feet everyone standing on you when you created to worship when you more than anything understand the purpose that God made you there are prerequisites for his presence the first is God how do you want to show up in my life let's get delivered from the mind that says I want to worship in my way one of the beautiful things that I learned when I became Orthodox is how to find out what do you want from me not what a what a not how do I want to worship you but God how do you how do you want me to worship you because it's all about him it's all about God's presence and when he comes the sicker healed the bounder delivered the sinner is saved when he comes the confused are delivered right now people are watching we're gonna pray quickly father in the name of Jesus make everyone that's listening a true worshipper help them to worship in spirit and in truth in Jesus name

Channel: polbelarus

Views: 125,827

Rating: 4.8009949 out of 5

Keywords: veron ashe, veron ashe 2014, mar enoch, prerequisites for god's presence, god's presence, worship, sermon, preaching, bishop, youth, conference, jesus christ

Id: bYiEumFCIBc

Length: 46min 51sec (2811 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 23 2014