Like Jude the writer expresses, a shift from what he intended to write as depicted in JUDE 1:3 saying, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”. I too intended to write about what distinguishes you, however by the leading of the Holy Spirit this I write was priority and just like wind, we blow where the Spirit leads [JOHN 3:8].
What is Worship? This is service unto God with purity of heart and spirit [MATTHEW 5:8]. Who is a Worshipper? This is one who worships God in spirit and truth [JOHN 4:23-24]. How do people Worship? They worship according to the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [2 CORINTHIANS 4:6]. Why this Book title? It speaks to the basic things each worshipper should know. In JOHN 3:10 Jesus asked Nicodemus a foundational question saying, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” This implies that there are things God expects each person at a certain level to know, and to every worshipper below are some fundamentals. 1. Worship is a Revelation of Who God is. For one to worship, they must firstly know Who they worship. In JOHN 4:22 Jesus told a Samaritan woman, “you worship what you do not know; we know what we worship”. This means that you must carry the knowledge and understanding of What or Who you worship.
2. Worship is a Place. For one to worship, they must worship from a Place. PROVERBS 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding draws it out.” So when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at a well, He opened her mind to the distinct Place of Worship which is drinking and ministering from an Eternal Plane. 3. Worship is a Degree of God’s Presence. PROVERBS 6:27 asks a profound question saying, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” When one Worships God, it shall be evident that they carry the results of the God they worship. 4. Worship is the highest degree of response to spiritual promptings. The spirit world operates in spiritual timings (Kairos) therefore some things will only carry weight when done at a designated spiritual time. In JOHN 12:7 Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with an ointment of pure liquid nard, this she did because although she had kept it awaiting His burial, this was the only time she could be able to embalm Him because He would resurrect on the third day when embalming is usually done.
5. Worship is Joyous. PSALMS 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore”. The working of the Holy Spirit is so wonderful in that Joy moves Him. For instance ACTS 13:52 says, “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” You realize that Joy precedes the Holy Spirit, in other words there is a certain constant joy one finds in God which JUDE 1:24 calls “Joy Unspeakable”. 6. Freely you have received, Freely give [MATTHEW 10:8]. Right above is one the fundamental laws of preserving the anointing. The anointing of God makes you different, it separates and uniquely marks you. To everyone who truly knows the heart of God, they shall see God’s service as a privilege and not a transaction. Losing it is simple; putting a demand, price or pay in exchange for what God freely gave you. 7. Worship is a place of Reckoning oneself dead and alive to God in Christ Jesus our LORD [ROMANS 6:11]. No one can worship God except in and through Jesus Christ. This, GALATIANS 2:20 rightly puts saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me,
and gave Himself for me”. This implies that worship is a place of dead men and women offering their service to God. 8. A Worshipper must carry an understanding of God’s grace. ROMANS 5:8 says, “But God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This means that a worshipper will always extend grace to those around them bearing a perfect example of Jesus Christ. For instance, He welcomed the little children rather than chasing them away, He was able to nurture the disciples to better people from their weaknesses, He was hurt by the loss of Judas Iscariot, He was able to save the life of a woman caught in adultery, He knew many people’s secrets but chose to keep them to himself, He loved public sinners (harlots, prostitutes, tax collectors) at the point where many could not. 9. Humility is a Life of every Worshipper. EXODUS 33:20 says, “No man shall see God (His face) and live”. In other words humility is the one defining mark for everyone who has seen God’s face. MATTHEW 21:44 says this of those who encounter God, that they are broken to pieces, or crushed to powder. Jesus lays down a great pattern on humility right from His birth to His death, for instance, PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” 10. Every Worshipper carries the Mantle of Love. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:2 says, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have no love, I am nothing.” Love is the heart of God, and when HEBREWS 11:6 expresses saying, “for he that comes to God must believe that - “He is””. The statement “He is”, is a Place of LOVE (Agape). 11. Worshippers understand the power of sacrifice. God will always move you beyond your comfort zone; this every worshipper must know. In MATTHEW 26:40-45, Jesus thrice awoke Peter, James and John from sleep requesting them to watch and pray. They could have had a busy week, walked a long journey, or even stayed in the cold weather, which could be a justification for the heavy sleep, however just as Mama Kathryn Kuhlman says, “the Gospel will cost you everything”. In 2 CORINTHIANS 11:23-28 Apostle Paul gives an example of how much sacrifice he has paid for Christ’s sake saying, “Are they servants of
Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for the churches.” 12. Worship is a secret between you and God. ISAIAH 6:5 says, “For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” These are things you may never explain in human words even if you tried. It is Only God Who understands you, therefore when PSALMS 16:11 says, “At Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” It is not until someone is drawn to that place, this will only be a mere scriptural reference.
13. Worship is a heart to heart communication with God. 1 CORINTHIANS 2:11 says, “For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit.” A heart to heart communication with Him is a place of vulnerability, connectedness and oneness with Him. This is why Verse 16 says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.” 14. Worship is a place of Brokenness before God. These are places where people let go and loose themselves for the sake of finding God. DEUTERONOMY 4:29 says, “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” David in PSALMS 139:23-24 expresses his brokenness before God saying, “Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” 15. It is a place where God’s will leads. JOHN 3:30 says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” There is a way God can consume someone, for instance in EXODUS 3:2, Moses saw the
bush burned with fire, and it was not consumed, but the reason he turned in Verse 3 was to see why the bush is not burnt. GENESIS 5:24 says, “And Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God; and he was not, for God took him.” This kind of walk carries speed, and time summed up in the statement - “willingness”. 16. A Worshipper interests in building intimacy with God. PSALMS 27:4 has this to say, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple”. This is the earnest desire of every worshipper; to know God more and more deeply. 17. A worshipper lives above offence. Always captivated by the story of William J. Seymour (told by my spiritual father Apostle Grace Lubega) who narrated how due to the Jim Crow laws William had to seat in the cold outside during the Charles F. Parham meetings. This, William did often for the sake of hearing the Gospel, and soon after he led one of the Greatest Revivals called Azusa Street Revival. In ACTS 9:25 Apostle Paul was let down through the wall in a large basket, in JEREMIAH 38:12 Jeremiah accepted Ebed-Melech’s words of
putting the old clothes and rags under his armpits, under the rope so as to lift him out of the dungeon. Offence is one of the signs of immaturity in God; the feeling of selfimportance. My spiritual father always says for instance, “1. Proximity is not access, 2. If you are not recognized seek God more until a time where you cannot be ignored”. In a one story from him that struck my mind, he explains saying that in the earlier days of his ministry, he was invited to preach in an overnight as one of the preachers, when time came to introduce preachers and give them the time to preach, he was neither mentioned nor given opportunity to preach. He says he was heartbroken until God comforted him saying, “Keep your course, for a time will come when you will not be ignored”. From this I learnt a life lesson that you will never be insecure when you know who you are; directly implying that you will always be fine with or without recognition, you will always be fine sitting wherever whether at the back or in the middle because none of these things define you. 18. A Worshipper understands the God in secret through their service toward Him. MATTHEW 6:3-4 says, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable
deed may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” It is amazing that JOHN 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” This implies that Jesus’ impact in the individual lives of people was too great that when a person came out to recount, it was evident that it would be impossible to record it all. As we grow in God we get to appreciate the satisfaction which comes along with secret service. 19. A Worshipper Worships God in spirit and truth [JOHN 4:23]. JOHN 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” This statement is a higher truth. How does one get the spirit? It is through birth by the Spirit. Jesus in JOHN 3:5-6 Jesus explains to Nicodemus what being born again means saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This of essence means that one has to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and confess Him to be so, with their tongues as they have believed in their heart. This is the new birth (being born from above). What is Truth? Jesus Christ is the Truth [JOHN 14:6].
In other words a true worshipper is one (living in the resurrected life in Christ Jesus) who worships God in the revelation of Christ Jesus as revealed through the Word. 20. Worship has Dimensions [multifaceted]. EPHESIANS 5:19-20 says, “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here we see worship in form of; 1. Psalms, 2. Hymns, and 3. Spiritual songs. PSALMS 150:3-4 speaks of praising God with; 4. The sound of the trumpet, 5. The lute and harp, 6. Timbrel and dance, and 7. Stringed instruments and flutes. 1 TIMOTHY 2:8 speaks of 8. Lifting up holy hands. HEBREWS 13:15 speaks of offering the sacrifice of praise to God that is; 9. The fruit of our lips, and 10. Giving thanks to His name. 1 CORINTHIANS 14:2 says, “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands; but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries.” Here one worships God in 11. Spiritual tongues. NOTE: Worship is not all about the music and melodies but about the heart poured out to God in the revelation of Who He is.
21. A Worshipper knows how to minister to all people. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:24 says, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God”. In other words, you as the salt of the earth will always flavor any circumstance, and minister to any person in whatever situation just like salt is able to flavor any kind of sauce or food. It is wonderful to know that Jesus Christ was (and is) a friend to children, He had (has) a message for them too [MATTHEW 19:14]. 22. Worshippers know how to find God. ACTS 17:27 says, “so that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us.” Knowing how to find God takes carrying the understanding of what He does the way He does (His ways). In ROMANS 10:20 God says, “I have been found by those who did not seek Me; I have revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me”. This is fundamental in that there is no formula to knowing how to find God but this you can only understand by His Spirit. 23. Worshippers know how to move God. Much as in GENESIS 3:8 the sound of the Lord God walked in the garden (during the Adam and Eve Eden experience), in EXODUS 13:21 the Lord went before the Israelites by the day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. Now we only move His heart.
For instance, in ACTS 7:55-56 during Stephen’s stoning the Bible says, “But he, full of the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory (the splendour and majesty) of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand; And he said, Look! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at God’s right hand!” Here God’s heart was moved by the Sermon Stephen preached as a testimony about the Word of Life Whom he heard, saw, gazed upon, and touched with his own hands [1 JOHN 1:1]. Among the many things that move His heart is helping the poor as PROVERBS 19:17 says, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD – and He will repay you.” 24. Worshippers know how to position themselves. In JOHN 4:20 a Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “Our forefathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary and proper to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither merely in this mountain nor merely in Jerusalem.” This implied that there would be (and now is) another kind of positioning which is spiritual and this is through Jesus Christ.
25. Every Worshipper should know that the Voice of God is Expensive. This statement my spiritual father often speaks relating to how, many people are unable to hear the Voice of God. You can listen to the sermons below about the Voice of God preached by my spiritual father Apostle Grace Lubega. 1. Phaneroo 422_Hearing The Voice Of God In The Hardest Times. 2. Sunday 257_Hearing The Voice Of God. 3. Phaneroo 371_Discerning The Voice Of God. 4. Phaneroo 176_The Three Distinctions Of The Voice Of God. He often says, “Loose anything but not God, or that place which hears the Voice of God.” 26. Every Worshipper is defined by Obedience to God. ACTS 5:29 speaks of Peter and the apostles who said, “We must obey God rather than men.” It takes the seeing Jesus Christ for one to walk in obedience. HEBREWS 11:24-26 says, “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”
HEBREWS 11:8 says, “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went but, not knowing where he went.” Always remember this, that Obedience is better than sacrifice [1 SAMUEL 15:22]. SELAH… The Salvation Prayer – If you have not yet given your life to Jesus Christ, then this is the perfect opportunity to do so. Simply repeat these words: “Lord Jesus, I thank You because You died for my sins and You were raised for my glory. Today, I receive You as my personal Lord and Saviour; I am born again. Amen.”
Worship is an important aspect to God that is why He sent Moses to Pharaoh saying, “Let My people go, that they may worship Me” [EXODUS 8:1]. NOW we understand how free we are because of the blood of Jesus Christ which purchased us from the bondage of the law and sin [GALATIANS 3:13]. We therefore stand in awe offering blissful worship crying out, Abba Father. I extend my appreciation to my spiritual father Apostle Grace Lubega thanking him for preaching the Word of God in purity of heart and spirit. Thanks Papa.
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