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Worship in Spirit and in Truth

Worship in Spirit and in truth relates to the Lord Himself, and is pleasing and wholly acceptable unto Him.  And, in the same manner, Worship in the flesh relates to the earthly, and is pleasing and wholly acceptable to the flesh.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit

The apostle John is testifying that that which is born in the flesh, that which is birthed of the flesh, or has its origin in the flesh – is flesh, and it remains as flesh and in the flesh.  No matter how we pray or worship, or regardless of what we confess, profess, or how badly we want it to become Spirit and wholly acceptable unto the Lord, it can not be so and will never be so.

For three decades, we have had a movement that has steadfastly said that they can convert flesh into Spirit, and that by confessing and professing what you will, that you can convert your flesh into Spirit. – For the most part two great sins have occurred.

First, the shepherds, in direct disobedience to the commandment of Christ, have not risen up to defend these grievous wolves from without, and the greivieous wolves from within regardless of cost.  These have not cried out of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and thus they all have the blood of all of these that shall indeed perish upon their hands.

The second, being those who have been beguiled by the serpent and have been drawn away from being servants of the Living God, but instead have been drawn unto the service of their own carnal fleshly desires under the guise of a Gospel of selfishness and greed and covetousness.  The blood of these is equally upon the hands of their brethren that have seen through these very things and not cried out, neither have they exhorted their brethren day and night that some might be pulled out from the fire.

The subject we will attempt to address here is worship. Specifically, the corrupt, perverse and lowly worship of what has been passed off as Worship in Spirit and truth.

We know from the Word of God that in heaven, there is a worshipping of God in Spirit and truth.  And we know that this worship fills all of the heavens to overflowing, and that this worship flows upwardly like unto a river to the very throne of God.

Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims -- and one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.

Revelation 7:10-12 And (an Angel) cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels (that) stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 22:1-2 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
While we see here clearly that this river of the water of life issues forth from the throne, – clearly also in the word of God, these rivers of living water that Christ has imparted into the hearts of those who have it of His hand; flows upwardly in worship that piercing the heavens and comes to rest at the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Hidden in the Greek we find this entering into the heavenlies in the Worship of Spirit and Truth spoken of.

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew (Greek Kata-ggellete) the Lord's death till he come.

In my Greek Lexicon the word Kata-ggellete is translated as: To magnify, To exult, and To celebrate (However this is not a translation of this word, but an interpretation.) A few other things that are important to know about this word is that the tense of this word is continuous.  So, using their interpretation, this word would then mean: To exult and exult and exult.  The word is also active which means that the subject who partakes of this “worship” and “exaltation” is not being acted upon by some outward force or someone else’s will, nor are they acting in some shy or tepid manner.  In further examining the word Kata-ggellete, we see “Kata” normally denotes a descending, or a downward motion, but when there is an equal motion of a second party, “Kata” denotes a connection, or a union with that second party. (Here, that second party is the angels which we will shortly demonstrate).  The second word is “Aggellete” or “Aggello”.  “Aggello” is actually “Aggelos,” Messenger or Angel. – So Kata-ggellete actually means to join with the Angels –As they worship and exult God

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do join in with the Angels (In the heavenlies as they worship and glorify) the Lord's death till he come.

This thought of this entering and flowing with the angels in the Heavenlies as they worship is also implied in:
1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak in the tongues of Men and of Angels - -

Partaking of flowing with and worshipping with the angels in heaven spoken by Paul is in part accomplished in exulting and worshipping in the tongues of men and of angels.

However, we see in 1 Corinthians 13:1, that while Paul is speaking of the exalted state of prophetic ecstasy (Greek Ek-Stasis) of the Holy Spirit crying out through us – Paul is also at the same time declaring that this worship in the tongues of men and of angels can be a “human exercise,” and thus, fall utterly short of its intended goal by not being wholly acceptable as a pleasing offering and sacrifice of praise by the Lord.

What we have thus far described is at the crux of the entire sphere of man-made, empty, fleshly worship that has taken the “church” by storm over the last twenty or so years.  For those who have an ear to hear – the Lord has been crying out against this work of the flesh for quite some time, and He shall breathe upon it and it shall be torn down and destroyed.

Matthew 15:8-10 This people (wrongly suppose that they) draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and (they wrongly suppose that they can) honoureth me with their lips; (Believing that in so doing, the Lord will be blinded and unable to see that) but their heart is far from me. (Far from being blinded, God declares that this worship is) But in vain they do worship me, For (this worship has its founding and origin in the) teaching for (and) doctrines (of men and are done as obedience to) the commandments of men.  And He (Jesus) called the multitude,(of those that called themselves His followers in that day, as He is now calling out to the multitude that call themselves by His name today) and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

At the time, Christ was speaking directly to the system of worship that the Talmudic Pharisees had installed in their system of synagogues throughout Israel and the known world.  At the time of Christ, the synagogues did not have real altars, nor did they offer sacrifices.  Instead, they had representational carved wooden altars, and a lectern from which the worship and teachings were done.  This synagogue service is where Protestant Church services were patterned after.  As I have attended synagogue, they have a worship service where they have a Cantor that leads them in “Canticles” that are sung in Hebrew. (Reportedly these stem back to the captivity.)  This man-organized, man-taught practice, designed to be pleasing to the ear of men, is exactly the practice Christ called out, and cried out against as being wholly unacceptable unto the Lord.  This Talmudic worship service is exactly what is mimicked in all non-Spirit filled and all Spirit filled Bible believing congregations today.

Know that which is of man’s making, which has its origin in the flesh, is still flesh and always will be flesh no matter how it is dressed, and no matter how it is wrapped with scripture.  This is still so, even if we sing in tongues and prophesy in the middle of it.

We remind our hearers again of the words of Paul; that there is a deficiency in our speaking, even in our worship in tongues.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak in the tongues of Men and of Angels . . .

Isaiah 29:13-14 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

We first note here that it was to Isaiah that this was revealed, which will prove to be quite significant later in this writing.  Second, we note that it shall come to pass that these movements, with their cutting edge worship and praise, shall further develop in their doctrine and worship a false fear of God.  Thirdly, Isaiah is prophesying of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, where the schools of the Pharisees and much of their Talmudic wisdom and teachings perished and were hid by the fire and destruction.  He is also prophesying of the final destruction of Talmudic doctrine in its various forms in the world today, in Judaism, in the Church and in Islam, all Talmudic perversion and corruption shall finally perish in the day of fire at Christ’s second coming.

The stated goal of this message of praise and worship as is with all the teachings and traditions held in all denominations, churches, and ministries today, is to gain and hold as much of an audience for as long as possible.  This “as long as possible,” is not to bring you to glory, but rather, to keep you drugged-up on their sugar-water gospel, laced with the latest caffeinated, spiritual promises to try to prevent you from being deceived into drinking someone else’s sugar-water gospel, laced with some new flavor that they were unable to see, thus ending their days as a has-been, while someone else is pulling in the masses and making all the big bucks.

This sin and corruption is not new under the heavens.  For so sought corrupt and evil men to enter into the heavens and seize it by force at the building of the tower of Babel.  In that day, God responded with what was a scattering of tongues and a dividing.  Now, evil and pernicious men have sought to use the divided tongues of flesh and Spirit to plunder heaven, and to seek to corrupt and to even bring to an open shame, all that is Holy, even the Lord Himself.

And as prophesied in scripture:

Isaiah 45:16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together (With those) that are (the) makers of (the) idols (men so vigorously worship and disciple themselves to).

Jeremiah 7:19  Do they (dare) provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: Do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

Daniel 9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, (The self appointed popes and leaders of churches ministries and denominations) to our princes, (The pastors and teachers discipled to these kings) and to our fathers, (these are the heads of households that allowed themselves to be snared and therefore, as Adam, these brought confusion and death unto their entire households) because we have sinned against thee.

We see here, the downward spiral of nations, of corruption and confusion that were once made Disciples of Christ.  We see the downward spiral of denominations, many of which began in the Spirit by God striving with men, by God with His own arm (in the absence of any that were righteous or holy to be able to assist in the task) bringing salvation to those who were in darkness.  And then, that which began in the Spirit with its origin having been in God, men have taken it and fashioned it instead as an idol in their own image and likeness and compelled others to bow down before it and worship it.  We have seen this same downward spiral of corruption and going down into confusion in local churches and ministries, and we have even seen this down to the household level -- so virile has been this leavening of sin and confusion and darkness through the whole loaf.

If it is man-organized, if it is man-manufactured, if it is man-learned, it is a work of the flesh –that is empty and hollow before God and thus powerless, except in men’s eyes, who by their earthly faith and subservience to these beasts, thus empower them with the life and energy of their own souls.

Colossians 2:16-18 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body (The “fullness” of these things to come) is of (Or still hid in) Christ. (And yet to be revealed) Let no man beguile (Greek Defraud) you of your reward (Greek prize) in a voluntary (Greek Thelon –Doing His will in) humility (Greek Tapeino-Phro-Sune -- Tapeino --Things we have suffered and in this there is an aspect of submission and allowing ourselves to suffer things [As Christ did and also learned by]. Phro –Phren -- an understanding of the mind, To set the mind upon, [which is used a second time in Colossians and is spoken as well of Christ] Sune – Together with, with the assistance of,) and worshipping of (Greek:Ton “In the manner of”) angels.

We see now this passage on the Worship of Angels aligns with the two previous passages cited from Paul.  We now see that this “worship” is being spoken of as a part of this prize these believers were able to partake of and enter into.  This is a statement along with the rest, that unlike the Talmudic organized and taught worship of the synagogue, these were able to enter into a living breathing worship, born of God, born of the Spirit.  A worship unlike what we see in churches and revival centers that were able to pierce and enter into the heavenlies and join in harmony and union with the angels worshipping before God.  Sadly, this was lost among many other things when the early church fell.

Having said this Paul then addresses those who would beguile or seek to defraud believers of these things

Intruding into those things (Elsewhere Paul speaks of these Talmudized wolves as being from “without” as having come to spy out our liberty.  These disciples of Rabbi Johanan and others came to seek to find a way to subvert and overthrow the Ek-klesia. This was an ongoing effort as recorded in the Talmud that in the early years under the watchful eye of Peter and Paul had very limited success.  It appears that they, like Balak, eventually found their Balaam some time between the death of Peter and Paul and the release from the prison on Patmos of John.

Here Paul speaks of these defrauders seeking to intrude upon, to steal, or overthrow, by taking command over those who would walk in Humility of Christ, and those partake of the heavenlies.) Which he (these Nico-Laitanes Greek: People conquerors) who would seek rule over the heritage of God) hath not seen, (This is the polar opposite of the “That which our eyes have seen and our ears have heard that speak we unto you” Gospel. These know nothing of hearing of God and being taught of the Lord.  Instead these are a class of false preachers and false teachers that teach from commentaries, the notes of others, generally from dead men. And, from their degree of earthly and sensual CHARISMA, and earthly and natural skills these are) vainly puffed up (lifting themselves up as God’s gift to their hearers these are in fact Anti-Christs Greek Anti – in place of, and what they preach and teach is) by his (their own) fleshly mind, (As God can not, and will not speak to such, but in scripture, evil spirits and lying spirits will.)

Further on this issue of the worship of angels, this type of event is not recorded in the Gospels or in Scripture, but the worship, and men viewing and even partaking of the worship of choruses of angels is recorded in both the Old and New Testament.

The following event is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke.  As we have stated before, Paul the apostle, commissioned this Gospel.  Paul in his Epistles quotes from this Gospel alone – and he seems, at the very least, in the book of Colossians, to be calling this event to his hearer’s remembrance.

Luke 2:8-16 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the (Shekina) glory of the Lord shone round about them: (Which had not been seen in all of Israel since the destruction of the first temple at the Babylonian captivity—this same manifestation of the Shekina was also manifested in Pentecost  -- but in this case, it did not enter into its witnesses.) and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (In this event these men were unable to partake of this worship with the angels.) And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

No one, to my knowledge, has preached the coming of the Shekina here with the coming of the Shekina in Pentecost and the difference between these peoples and the results of what they received.

Likewise in Isaiah we find
Isaiah 6:1-5 
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims -- and one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him (the Angels) that cried (out with their entire beings in worship), and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, (Here, we see also, that Isaiah, like the shepherds at the birth of Christ, was also unable to partake of this heavenly chorus.  But in Isaiah, we see something different than the shepherds.  Isaiah was of a different spirit.  First he had desire to partake of this Chorus of Angels, and unlike the shepherds, in this appearance of the Shekina shown all around Isaiah and this Chorus of Angels Isaiah had a discerning, or a revelation of his own emptiness and corruption before God.

Many in this hour have desire – but this is a selfish and self-seeking desire, which God shall never honor.  Few want or seek true repentance for fear of what they would have to give up to do so.

This is startling stuff as Isaiah had a proven ministry in which he prophesied and spoke the word of God [This directly correlates to how it is possible that the church of this hour, a church that moves in some level of prophesy and has some level of gifts and operations in the Spirit, can remain utterly corrupt and empty before the Lord.] Here, before the Angels of the Lord, as demonstrated in numerous passages, Isaiah discovers a vast spiritual void in himself, he discovers deep sin and corruption that he, in all his years of ministry and service unto the Lord was not able to see or discern before. Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: -- for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (In the Law it says, No one shall see me and Live. –Isaiah was in agony, as he was being consumed by the Shekina of the very presence of God.  From deep within Isaiah there arose a cry; A cry for his cleansing, and a cry for the cleansing of his people.  There was a cry for his and his peoples entering into this worship in the heavenlies, and for he and his people to be able to stand and view God as He truly is in the heavenlies,) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: (Isaiah here is cured of his sin and corruption.  Isaiah, in this moment, was redeemed and given a heart of flesh.  Isaiah was then able to enter into the chorus with the Angels before the throne of God and was able to sing a song that only the redeemed in Christ would later be able to sing.  Though we note that Isaiah, in all of this, could not sing the song of the redeemed of the Lamb.)

As we noted earlier, it was only after Isaiah had his experience with the Heavenly Chorus and had partaken of the worship of the angels before the Lord that he was able to clearly say:

Isaiah 29:13-14 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Having seen and tasted himself of the Lord, the trained worship of men, no matter how talented and how glorious, would have sounded like a “clanging gong and tinkling cymbal.”

What we see today in the church concerning praise and worship, is because of a series of revivals that stem back over the last 40-110 years.  Revivals in which men have, at times, caught glimpses of this Worship in Spirit and in truth.  They have caught glimpses of Choruses of Angels, and some have even worshipped with Angels, visually seeing them and audibly hearing their entwined worship.

I could name a number of names, dates and places, but I will only speak at this time of the Cain Ridge Revival, where in 1801, God called unto Himself thousands of people, the majority of which were unsaved.  He called them from hundreds of miles around.  They came on foot, they came on horseback, and they came in wagons to a lonely wooded area.  There God appeared in His Shekinah.  He came to strive with these men and women and children of sin, righteousness and the judgment.

All this occurred without any preachers around at the start.  All this occurred without preaching, and without song services and, without tithes and offerings being taken.  After hearing of this, preachers from one and two states away then began to creep in like spiders.  Some tried to take control, only to be overcome by God.  Others tried and were completely ignored by the crowds, rapt as God moved and worked in their midst.

The meetings were called by the Spirit, and what was performed, was directed by the Spirit.  These poor, ignorant souls even saw and heard choruses of angels and had music play from within their chests that all could hear.

In the great revivals, these things hold a commonality.  And these things bear no semblance to the man-structured meetings and brackish worship that is pawned off as being Worship in Spirit and Truth in this hour.

Carnal and corrupt men over the last 20-25 years have created an imitation [One that is highly successful and pleasing in the eyes of men].  It is a worship with paid Levites trained in the earthly craft as professional minstrels and musicians.  Their most notable are sought out and paid highly the world over to lead and induce those in the church to enter into a “soulical” and “sensual” worship, – and these also they are paid to laud and proclaim that, that which is of man’s craft and man’s mechanical manufacture is indeed the Worship of Spirit and in Truth that occurs in the heavenlies.  Thus we are told that this artificial earthly worship of men, melds with that of the angels in heaven, and that it is wholly accepted as a pleasing sacrifice by the Lord.

The truth is, that which is manufactured of the human flesh, and even human religious flesh, is still flesh, irregardless of how “Good” the intentions of some might be in this area of so-called “Music Ministry.”

The Church of this hour is filled with talk of those having “talent,” and the seeking out of those that have “talent” in one or more areas, so that these “talents” can be used for “The Glory of God.”

This is nothing but a non-Pentecostal, non-Charismatic doctrine wagging the dog.  This is an anti-Pentecostal, anti-charismatic doctrine declaring that without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, without being disciples of Christ alone, without coming to true repentance and cleansing, and without any need of God’s leading and guiding, that these modern Pharisees with their Talmudic beliefs can make disciples of the world for their multiple Talmudic schools. – It now has been “Praise the Lord!” Pentecostalized or Charismaticized to sound more palatable to this parasitic doctrines new host.  So it’s now all good! Halleluiah!

And to do so we need to pull this all off is: many wise men and teachers, we need many mighty men who are mighty in deeds, we need many men of renown and nobility that people naturally want to follow, we need many men of great Charisma, we need many men of great talent, and we need lots and lots of money to run these campaigns for “Christ,” after all, the cost of this kind of Gospel machine is not free.  In God we trust, all others have to pay cash, as we have to pay for all this highly talented professional help.

Consider that after almost three decades of this “talent search,” the world has not been won for Christ, not a single nation has become a disciple of Christ, not a single state in the US has become a disciple of Christ, not a single city.  On the other hand, in the past three decades Islam has made disciples of more nations than I have fingers and toes, and during this same time, the number of provinces and cities they now rule over can not be counted.

What has happened over the last three decades is completely the opposite of what these professionals promised to deliver in the name of the Lord.  Divorce in the Church went from being virtually unheard of to around 70%.  Despite the “crafty” rulership and “rock solid” teachings of the supposed smartest men and women alive in the Church, the actual growth of the Church, as compared to the growth of world population, has been and still is in free fall.

The amount of Christians in the US Senate and the US House and in US State Governments is at an all time low.  Christians in education are also at an all time low.  If these things be so that these great men and ministries preach, then where are the verifiable thousands that are coming to the Lord daily that we are told of?  Why are these hidden in the corner?  Where are all the verifiable signs and wonders we are told of?  Why are these hidden in the corner?

Where are the droves of all the rock and rollers coming to the Lord following their saved idols? Where are the droves of sports fans coming to the Lord following their saved idols?  I was in Jesus 75 and Jesus 76 where the plans of all these things were laid out to a crowd of 30,000 screaming believers.  We were told that if every person there would lead just seven people to Christ and that those would each lead seven people to Christ (Amway preaching) that according to their calculations, everybody in the world would be won to Christ within seven years.  Well, it seems to me that what was preached by all the biggest names of the day three decades ago is a bit late in getting here.  It seems that with the untold billions that have been poured into the gaping maw of this money-hungry collective for the last thirty years, the amount of money that they would have received would have been more than enough to bribe (oh, that’s a bad word) every man, woman, and child in every third world country to say they are Christians and vote “Christian” in every election in their nations, and by this we might have gotten at least a dozen or so pretend Christian nations.

Instead, what we have gotten is a bunch of multi-millionaire celebrity gospel preachers with their mega-million dollar temples and mall churches.

I Corinthians 1:26-28 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things (those that are looked down upon as the no talents) of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, (those of with no Charisma)  hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things (those who are deemed as charismatic nobles and leaders) that are:

When I was in Bible school, Wade Taylor often said: “The way up is down.”  And certainly, there is a great truth in the Bible concerning that.  But, there is one other great factor involved in whether one seeks the favor and approbation of God in ministry or in praise and worship, that is, that God rises or not.

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He pondereth all his goings. (The Lord ponders the beginning with the promise but He considers also what the end of the recipient of the promise shall be as well.)

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. (The Lord hears not only our prayers, but sees deep down into our soul and spirit down into our secret intents and secret purposes that many times we would not even admit to ourselves.)

A week or so ago the Lord spoke the most amazing and profound thing to me:
In salvation one’s will, one’s wishes, and one’s desires stop at the door before entering. -- When one is filled with their own ambitions, their own will, their own desires, and their own expectations -- they are not saved. And neither can they be saved, for their heart is not the Lord’s.

In salvation, the bride is to lay aside her desires, and the desires of her husband are to become her desires.  In salvation, the bride is to lay aside her will, and the will of her husband is to become her will.  In salvation, the bride is to lay aside her ambitions and her expectations, and her husband’s ambitions and her husband expectations are to become her own.

Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

This is the yearning and cry of the true bride of Christ. And this is the yearning also of a wife who’s heart is truly given unto her husband.

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Psalm 119:15 I will meditate on thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

Psalm 119:145 I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.

Hebrews 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first (Our will and desires), that He may establish the second (His will and desires in us).

The sickness that is in the Church that can not be healed is that the heart of the Church never was the given over to the Lord. Such believers are conflicted and continually at odds with themselves and the Lord.  And invariably such believers as they stumble down this crooked and conflicted path of double-mindedness  with their lips they say they love the Lord with their whole heart, but in reality, their heart can never solely be the Lord’s for they first love themselves, and they also have many other lovers, and cares that choke – that conflict their love for God.

The sickness in the Christian household is that the heart of the wife has never been given over to the husband -- this household is double minded as the wife has never given up her personal desires, her personal will, her personal ambitions, and her personal expectations. And she is also conflicted and she stumbles also down a crooked path, and causes also her household to stumble and walk in her crooked and perverse ways.  For generations this had caused horribly rocky marriages – and has casued their children to be conflicted as well. But in the 1980’s, a new more virile and perverse feminism arose. No longer satisfied with vying for rule over the household, in the new feminism the woman now wear combat boots, and proceed to grind her husband’s desires into the dirt, as well as their husband’s will, ambitions.  And self-willed, self-centered, and utterly selfish behavior has brought about a level divorce and destruction to the house of the Lord as has never been seen before.

Lord needs open our eyes! – For if we do not Love who we have seen in our own households as commanded by the Lord, how can we pray and worship and tell He who we have not seen that we Love Him?

This self-willed sickness in the church is in the preaching.

This self-willed sickness in the church is in the praise and worship

This self-willed sickness in the church is in the tithes and offerings

This self-willed sickness in the church is in the fellowship of believers one to another

This self-willed sickness in the church is in the outreach to the lost

The question ever on people’s lips is what is in this for me?  What do I get out of this?  If something of worth can be scrounged or found, people will beat a path to a given function if not the function will be left barren.

Note here that the Lord does not guide or teach or order the steps of the proud, the selfish, the self-willed, nor those filled with their own ambitions, or expectations.  The Lord said that one could not serve two masters.  Lord said one could not be his disciple and the disciple of another.  You have cried out to hear and to see what ails you, in your church, in your worship, and in your marriage.  -- Here is the answer from the Lord.  Take it, and repent with it, and cry out with some determination for God to clean up you and your household.

You should know also:

Psalm 25:9 The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way.

Psalm 25:12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose.

Psalm 37:23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in His way.

The meek before the Lord are those who have emptied themselves of their own will, and their own desires, and their own ambitions.  These have not stopped there, but they have gone to seek out the Lord’s will and desires and ambitions, regardless of the cost or how long it takes.  These then take on the Lord’s will and desires and ambitions as their own. -- and in so doing, have found a delight in doing them.  – And in the process, these have learned something toward the secret of Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth.