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The Heart of Worship:Getting XTREME
by Alan Seeger (Alan's bio)
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Did you ever wonder what it's going to be like when we get to Heaven? Oh, I know about all the descriptions we've all heard about the streets of gold and gates of pearl. I'm not talking about what the appearance of the place will be like. I'm talking about the worship. (After all, that is what this column is supposed to be about.)
I was reading in Revelation Chapter 4 recently, and the Lord really opened my eyes to the true nature of heavenly worship. Let's look at part of that chapter. You know the main events; John, exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the Word of God, has a vision of Jesus one sunny Sunday afternoon as he's praying. After receiving seven messages from Jesus for seven churches in Asia Minor, he is called up into heaven, just like we will be called there when the day of the Rapture arrives:
After all these things had happened, I looked up and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet blast speaking with me, and it said "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." Immediately I was in the Spirit; and I saw a throne in heaven, and One who sat upon the throne. And the One who was sitting on the throne was like a jasper and a sardius stone in his appearance, and there was a shining rainbow around the throne, the color of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four [smaller] thrones, and on those thrones I saw twenty-four elders seated, clothed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. And from the throne came bolts of lightning, and claps of thunder, and voices. Seven flaming lamps burned before the throne, which were the seven Spirits of God. In front of the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal. And near the throne, surrounding it, were four living creatures covered with eyes both in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and were covered with 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 4:1-11)
Notice that it says "(the living creatures) do not rest day and night" worshipping the Lord, and that whenever they worship (which, as we just saw, is 24/7!), the twenty-four elders fall on their faces before the throne of God. At our church, we used to have a Saturday night contemporary worship service called XTREME. It was pretty much a rock and roll worship service. It was revved up praise for those who loved to worship the Lord with 120% of their being. But XTREME was nothing compared to what this passage describes — literally one continuous worship service, never ending.
For those of us who love praising and worshipping the King, this is an awesome thing. We're gonna get to praise Him for all eternity! No more waiting for Sunday or Wednesday to get together with your brothers and sisters to have a full-blown worship service; no more situations where your pastor cuts things short just as you know the awesome presence of God is about to explode in the house (you pastors would never do that, would you?), and no more longing for those sweet times of anointing to come as the hearts of the people blossom in love for the Lord.
Life in the manifested Kingdom of God is going to be like the very best praise and worship service you ever experienced in your life, pumped full of steroids, magnified a thousand times over, with every distraction stripped away, and every heart in complete, total, and utter unity… but beyond all those things, the thing that absolutely brings me to my knees and causes me to weep tears of incredible joy is knowing that no longer will we worship an invisible God, but that we will see His face (Revelation 22:4), and that the dwelling place of God will actually be with us, and that He will be with us and be our God. (Revelation 21:3) No more becoming so obsessed with "stuff" — cars, houses, and all of our so-called "toys" — that we fall prey to that tempt us to take our eyes off Jesus. No more putting our trust in things. No more worshipping the created and forgetting about the Creator.
Now, there is a down side to this, for some of you — in a manner of speaking, at least.
Don't think I haven't seen you — I have. You're one of the ones that habitually come into the service 35 minutes late, just as praise and worship is beginning to draw to a close. Sometimes you even come in during the offering. If you do make it in before the music is actually done, you sit there in your seat, three quarters of the way back, with this look on your face that resembles someone who took a gulp of the spoiled milk by mistake. Sometimes you even have your arms folded in a classic "closed" position. (Ask your kids' high school psychology teacher.) The overall effect is that of a gargoyle standing watch over the walls of a castle. It communicates You can't reach me. Just try to get through. I'll show YOU!
Oh, my. Aren't you going to be miserable when you get to heaven and that stuff is going on 24 hours a day? Man, talk about XTREME. Except that the Word says in Revelation 10:6 that "time shall be no more." So suffice it to say that there will be an eternal praise and worship service when we get there — forever and ever. Uh… Mr. Closed Position?
Better learn to like it now.
Copyright Alan Seeger. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
| About Alan Seeger: Alan Seeger is a worship leader and songwriter. At 16 he heard God's call to ministry through music and the Word -- and ran like a scared rabbit. At 21, Alan returned to God's service and now works full-time in the television and music ministries at Victory Family Worship Center in Springdale, Arkansas. Alan has composed a number of songs that are being used in churches across America, including "Pray (Until The Glory Of The Lord Comes Down)." Alan can be reached through Psalmist Creations Ministries at www.psalmist.net |
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