Dearly Beloved,
We all know that heaven is always filled with twenty-four hours praise and worship (if time is measured as such, although in heaven there is no measurement of time). From visions of Moses of the presence of God where trumpets sound and glory reside to the visions of Isaiah where the seraphim say, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts” (Exodus 19:16-20; Isaiah 6:1-3). From the visions of Daniel of the worship at the Throne of the Ancient of Days to the visions of the four living creatures where John the apostle observed the worship that continuously take place at the Throne room in various forms and by various entities including the 24 elders and the 144,000 with special songs which no one can sing, worship has always been the heartbeat and the life of heaven flowing forth to all God’s creation (Daniel 7:9-10; Revelation 4:6-8; 5:8-14; 7:9-12; 11:15-19; 14:1-4). Heaven is always filled with all manner of worship and different and various types of worship take place as the glory and victory of God marches forward in earth’s time sphere.
One of the prime goals of our Lord Jesus’s redemption is to bring about a time when men will worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). The whole Old Testament revolves around two places of worship: the Tabernacle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon. And prior to these two, around the burnt altar from Noah to Abraham. Worship is the lifeblood of all relationships with God and the highest expression of what we can give to God. We cannot really give God anything for everything was created by Him and He owns them. Even our tithes is not truly giving to Him for He owns everything and we can only bring them to where He tells us to do so. Technically, we bring our tithes and not give our tithes. Whether we bring it or not constitutes robbery to God. God claims ownership of tithes whether we bring it to Him or not. Those who have a heart to acknowledge that are prospered by God like Jacob who covenant to bring tithes to God at Bethel (Genesis 28:22). But the greatest gift we can give God is our love and our worship. For God cannot force anyone free-will creature to love Him or worship Him. Thus, when we truly love and worship God with all our heart, it is the greatest gift that we can give to God.
The Bible has also shown us that when the worship of God is practice, the worshippers received tremendous and overwhelming blessings from God. We see this in King Jehoshaphat’s deliverance from the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites, and in Daniel’s deliverance from the lions (2 Chronicles 20:20-23; Daniel 6:10-28). A life of true worship is a life truly blessed by God. Many people will only worship when things go wrong and they need God but blessed is the man who truly worships God at all times, in season and out of season. I believe that the New Testament believers must excel the Old Testament in true worship and in longer worship. Both in quality and in quantity, we must excel in worship for our Lord Jesus has opened the door into the second veil where we have true access to our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, with the establishment of twenty-four-hour worship by King David, Israel reached its highest point and true greatness with God. During the time of the kings, whenever the temple worship was neglected or forgotten, Israel began to lose its favour and come under domination by godless people. The church of our Lord Jesus Christ will reach its true fullness when we establish twenty-four-hour worship in our lives and in the corporate life of the church. Indeed, Jesus arose as firstborn from the dead that He might sing praises to God our Father through us (Hebrews 2:12).
As we await the resources of God and growth in numbers to establish twenty-four-hour worship, we must learn to practice twenty-four-hour worship in our personal lives first. The first place to start is to have a heart of worship. A heart of worship acknowledges that all life was created to worship God. As long as we have life, we will worship our God. David was a worshipper of God and he knew that God won’t let him die (until his life is complete) for he sang that the dead cannot worship God (Psalm 88:10; 115:17). As one who is after God’s heart, he wanted to continue living, no matter what threats of death or defeat challenged him, for he knew that God loves worship and praises and God wants him to continue living so he can worship God. No matter what circumstances he faced, God will not let him die. It is like God has enough preachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, kings, business people, professionals and farmers but God is always short of true worshippers, so God will see to it to prolong their lives to fullness as He does not want the earth to be lacking in worshippers. Before we fulfil our destiny to be whatever God wants us to be, we must first be a worshipper of God. The call to be a true worshipper of God to me is the highest calling on the earth. It is a calling that is birth from free-will love and desire to be with God whereas callings are predestined before we are born. Jesus has paid the price for all to become true worshippers in spirit and in truth but He cannot force us to become one. We must choose freely of our own accord to be a lover and worshipper of God.
I believe that one of the reasons why the baptism in the Spirit results in tongues is that it is a gift that enables us to worship God in the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14-15). Consider this fact: The evidence in the book of Acts in five incidents of baptism in the Spirit in Acts seem to point to an increased ability to worship God through tongues: Acts chapter 2 (120 disciples), Acts chapter 8 (disciples in Samaria – although tongues not mentioned but there seemed to be outward visible evidence discernible), Acts chapter 9 (Apostle Paul receiving the baptism in the Spirit through Ananias – though tongues not mentioned, we know that Paul spoke in tongues in Corinthians), Acts chapter 10 (Cornelius and his household) and Acts 19 (the disciples at Ephesus). Three incidences resulted in tongues and prophesy and magnification of God (Acts 2: 4, 11; 10:44-46; 19:6). In Acts 9, Paul received the baptism in the Spirit without tongues being mentioned but Paul acknowledged that he spoke in tongues more than the Corinthians and said that speaking in tongues speak the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 14:2, 18). Paul himself says that he could sing in the spirit and sing with the understanding through tongues (1 Corinthians 14:14-15). In Acts 8, Simeon the former magician saw or heard something visible enough for him to acknowledged that the baptism in the Spirit was transacted (Acts 8:17-18). As three of the reception of the baptism in the Spirit in the book of Acts shows evidence of tongues, and the fourth of Paul in Acts 9, shows forth that he did speak in tongues, it is likely that in Acts 8, the out evidence was also tongues. Moreover, the measurement for the reception of the baptism in the Spirit is in Acts 2, which is speaking in tongues. And in case some think that it should also include wind and fire, which were special manifestations, the case of Acts 10 in Cornelius and his household only had them speak in tongues (without fire or wind) which Peter acknowledged to have ‘received the Holy Spirit just as we have’ (Acts 10:47). Biblical evidence thus points to the receiving of the baptism of the Spirit is with speaking in tongues.
Why should the baptism of the Holy Spirit be with speaking in tongues, which magnify God and His mysteries? I believe it is given in order to take the church, the bride of Christ into a higher and deeper dimension of worship that the people of God in the Old Testament did not receive or achieve. It is the beginning of what Jesus predicted that the hour will come when men shall worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Apostle Paul considers worship and singing in the spirit as singing in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:14-15). On top of this, when the Bible advocates being filled with the Spirit, the outward evidence of this is psalm, hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our heart (Ephesians 5:18-10). Only those who have sung in the spirit in tongues will truly know what spiritual songs are truly like. Being filled with the Word of Christ also results in the same thing: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). Everything leads to and ends with the worship of God in spirit and in truth.
For those who have not been baptized in the Spirit, be baptized according to the standard of the Bible and worship God in spirit and in truth. For those who already received the baptism in the Spirit, practice what you have received and worship God in spirit and in truth. For those who need guidance, join with others who do worship in spirit and in truth. It is the most glorious experience you could enter into. We teach people to pray in the spirit, now we must go further and teach people to worship in the spirit. Test this out, worship in the spirit for an hour and see what happens in your life. There will be a sweetness of heaven always abiding twenty-four-hours in you. Let the same Spirit of worship from the very Throne of God fill you until your life is a life of complete worship unto God. In Jesus Name, Amen.