THE INGREDIENTS OF WORSHIP

 

SPICES OF WORSHIP

The book of Leviticus introduces us into heaven’s cuisine like no other book in Scripture does. Direct revelation is the substance of this pivotal book. It encapsulates worship like no other book in the Bible does.

The recurrent phrase in Leviticus is; “And the LORD spake unto Moses saying…” Leviticus is the book of direct revelation. It presents worship as the underlying current of the Word of God. Everything we read in the Bible pertaining to worship is as a result of direct communication between God and the recipients of His Words. Worship is reported speech and revealed act.

Clearly, the ingredients of worship from our main text are, “fine flour,” “oil” and “frankincense.” The purpose of preparing any dish is for it to be palatable. Thus, in order to achieve your purpose, you must strictly apply the exact ingredients and hope for the best savory delicacy from your culinary efforts.

I'll try explaining this from an African perspective.

A LESSON FROM AFRICAN CUISINE
African cuisine boasts “a thousand and one” soups with their varied ingredients and spices. To miss one item on the list of ingredients is to miss the entire flavor one intends to create. There is a special dish prepared by our people in West Africa called banga soup, because it is derived from the ripe palm-kernel fruit that is naturally dyed with the matching red and black colors of the magical African sunset.

The shinning crimson palm oil is extracted by crushing and squeezing the palm kernel fruit and pouring it into a special clay pot created exclusively for this purpose. It is then mixed with assorted seafood including several “time-honored” spices, and cooked on raw firewood (you cannot microwave your way through to banga soup), which gives it that unique banga taste.

To prepare this kind of soup some other way would undermine the banga spices that are believed to be created by God for this West African delicacy. Worship is prepared the same way. The right ingredients – “fine flour,” “oil” and “frankincense” – give it its proper taste, which makes it toothsome to God. I'll talk about these ingredients in subsequent blogs.

THE SPICES OF WORSHIP

 

 

WORSHIP IS GOD'S FOOD!
GOD THRIVES ON IT!

It was revealed to me earlier on in my worship career that worship is the shaping of the worth of God. I have remained faithful to this definition in all my works and do stand by it in this blog as well. I believe that the shaping of the worth of God is done for God and God alone. It is for His exclusive delight as the symbolic ingredients of worship shows in Leviticus 2:1.

The revelation of worship as God’s food is perhaps one of the greatest significance of the worship scheme given to Israel by God for the benefit of the New Testament Church of God in Christ. There is a unique theme of human supply of divine enjoyment scattered throughout Scripture.

THE INGREDIENTS OF WORSHIP
Without the fulfillment found in the New Testament, of all the Old Testament types of sacrificial offerings, one would have thought that Levitical worship was one big dinner party and God is the only One invited to dine. One could conceive of worship as God’s food, indeed His nourishment, and it is! Someone once said; ‘God loves the smell of roasted flesh.’ Well, let truth be told; God enjoys the flavor of the worship of His people when the right recipes are used. That’s why He relished all those hot offerings which were cooked to perfection in Calvary’s pot.

BROKENNESS, THE GREATEST INGREDIENT IN WORSHIP
Worship is the concoction of all that pleases God and meets the divine requirements for the shaping of His worth. “And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon.”(Leviticus 2:1).

If worship is God’s food, then it must be palatable to God. Just as every meal or cuisine is made up of vital ingredients, so worship consists of essential ingredients. What is an ingredient? It is a component part of any combination or mixture.

READ ON ... in other blogs... See especially INGREDIENTS OF WORSHIP... 

God Hates Yeast And Honey Part 2

 

Continued from last blog:

The Bible clearly says; 

“For he knew not what to say; for they were sore afraid.” (Mark 9:5-6). 

This is Peter running his mouth here in the middle of a mighty divine visitation. It is possible that through running our mouths we can lose God's might moves amongst His people. Recently, I have watched video snippets of a preacher who has been mightily blessed of God in the last few years in his ministry. But, there is too much HONEY in his mouth. He is all over the place saying things that are very controversial, speaking death to government officials and his enemies. I say his anointing has been contaminated by the sin of honey. The pride that's pouring out of his mouth is unprecedented. You can tell this man is losing God. 

Words said anyway without knowing what to say anyhow, are utterly useless for conveying no sense of reason at all. That’s what most of us do in God’s presence. We are so full of words, yet we barely know what to say. That’s the “honey” that God hates.

Honey is clearly symbolic of words spoken without reason, words spoken in haste, religious words spoken to fill up unusual silences caused by our carnality. They are words that try to usurp God’s authority because they replace what He would have said to us had we not interfered. They are boastful words spoken unknowingly in pride, giving away the impression that we can do something for God in our own strength. “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things…” (James 3:5).

So there goes your “yeast” and “honey,” which are not meant to be included in God’s food-stuff. God wants no artificial flavors added to His dinner. BOGUS AND OUTLANDISH WORSHIP filled with the yeast of hypocrisy and the honey of rash words, must be eradicated from our churches today if we must satisfy God’s greatest desire for palatable worship.

God is sovereign. Let's treat Him like the King He is. Let's be extravagant with our worship. Let's fill the table of our devotion assorted delicacies of worship that will bless His heart. LET US OFFER PALATABLE WORSHIP. Let's give Him the sumptuous meal of holy sacrificial worship. Let us prepare our worship wholeheartedly and offer Him the king-size worship that He deserves.

Even my mama knew better that the way to my father's heart was his stomach. O my God, did my mama cook for my papa and he spoiled her in return. I mean, he went to town and did stuff for that woman of blessed memory. Trust mama, she CAPITALIZED ON IT. But then, she was genuinely in love with papa and her way of showing it was to give him the best of meals there was. Everyday at our house smelled good, it was always Christmas and thanksgiving all rolled together all because of a woman's love for her darling husband.

HOW MUCH MORE GOD!

Now, we do not worship because of what we hope to get from God, but the truth is, WE CANNOT HELP BEING BLESSED IF WE WORSHIP GOD...Worship is God's food. Let's cook it properly on the stove of His Word and grill the meat of our affection for His enjoyment! WE ARE GOD'S CHEFS! We are the preparers of His satisfaction and the providers of His delicacies. But let's make sure we DO NOT SERVE HIM honey or yeast in our worship. Let our worship be pure without any such additives. 

Read more in Book Two of "Shaping the Worth of God: Open Worship." 

God Hates Yeast And Honey Part 1

 

 

“DO NOT USE YEAST IN ANY OF THE GRAIN OFFERINGS you present to the LORD, because NO YEAST OR HONEY may be burned as an offering to the Lord by fire.” (Leviticus 2:11; New Living Translation)

The passing verse makes it absolutely clear that God hates yeast and honey, because of what they symbolize in Scripture. In several Bible passages, ‘yeast’ or ‘leaven’ is used to symbolize evil or uncleanness. Consider the following passages;

“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he wasn‘t speaking about yeast or bread but about the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6,12; NLT).

“Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them to, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees- beware of their hypocrisy.” (Luke 12:1; NLT).

“…Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? Remove this wicked person from among you so that you can stay pure. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not by eating the old bread of wickedness and evil, but by eating the new bread of purity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5: 6-8; NLT).

No one ever explained yeast or leaven like Jesus did. In the first two verses above, He warned His disciples to not only be aware of the false teachings of the religious leaders of the day, but also to be wary of their false practices. Of course, practice is a reflection of teaching or theory. Jesus summed it all up in one word – hypocrisy – feigning to be what one is not. Against this background therefore, we need to understand the import of yeast.

Yeast is what makes bread rise or swell. It doesn’t take a whole lot of it to accomplish that; it takes just a little to affect a whole bunch of dough. Jesus clearly used the analogy of yeast to present the example of how a small amount of evil can affect a group of people. Ditto for the Corinthian church, where the sin of fornication was rampant, hence the apostle called their attention to the fact that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” 

The New Living Translation makes Paul’s intention so clear, when he advised them to put away “this wicked person” (obviously, the fornicator); otherwise just like yeast makes bread rise, so the sin of fornication would spread in that local assembly. As believers and especially worshippers, we must not play with the yeast of sin. It causss the flesh to rise above the flesh and makes the spirit subject to the influence of carnality. No worship can rise up from a life puffed up by the pride of sin. 

Honey does not enjoy as much coverage in the Bible as yeast. However, it carries the same weight for it being rejected by God for inclusion in the grain offering,  symbolic of our worship. Honey, like yeast needs just a little for whatever purpose it is used for. Apart from the fact that it is too sweet, lots of it upset the stomach. I have a honey-tale to share with you. The year in question I believe was 1981 over 33 years ago. We were invited to perform at the Lagos City Hall. My group's name was Gladd Tidings. It was the launching of Dr. Tunde Joda's Christ Chapel International Church (CICC). Cut a long story short, somebody told us honey was good for the voice and I especially went to town downing bottles of honey into my rather fragile stomach. My entrails were so upset that I caught dysentery right away. I was shuttling between our waiting section and the toilets. It wass awful. I don't even know how I mangaged to minister with my group that unforgettable day. I did but I displayed all kinds of dance moves that were spurred on more by honey than the Holy Ghost. You get the gist. That's why to this day I hate honey! 

Honey is sweet but theorin lies the danger. Sin is "sweet" but it is destructive. Proverbs 25:16 says "If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you'll get sick from it and vomit." The New Living Trabsaltion says: "Do you like honey? Don't eat too much, or it will make you sick." The similarities with sin are very striking. Sin is "sweet" to the flesh but it is destructive to the spirit. Sin is the cause of many spiritual illnesses--prayerlessness, lack of passion for the word, lack of desire for spiritual hugs generally etc. 

Honey is symbolic of the sweetness of the words of our mouth without any lack of commitment. We say whatever it is we want to say without meaning it, especially during times of worship. We are warned to approach God with very few words, as a result. Our sugarcoated words are nothing but sacrifices of fools.

“Keep thy foot when thou goest go the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few.”(Ecclesiastes 5:1-2). 

We are commanded to be few of words in God’s presence. We are to listen more than we speak. The reason why we are full of words is made very clear in this passage. We are of a hasty heart, impatient to wait upon God to overwhelm us with His great presence. Peter, like many of us, was guilty of this folly. Up on top of the mountain of transfiguration with the Lord Jesus Christ with Moses and Elijah in attendance, the “iron and steel” disciple “ran” his mouth by promising to build three tabernacles, suggesting that it was good for them to be transfixed by that experience. 

Yeast and honey are far from God's idea of the divine ingredients of worship. We must hate what God hates with every fiber of our being. Worship is about pleasing God. If you are going to worship acceptably you must remove yeast and honey form your worship. 

"... NO YEAST OR HONEY may be burned as an offering to the Lord by fire.” (Leviticus 2:11).

See next blog for conclusion. 

TRUE WORSHIP IS CAST IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

 

By Bishop Tony Osuobeni 

WORSHIP IS THE OUTWARD DEMONSTRATION BY MAN OF AN INNER REVELATION OF GOD. 

NO revelation, NO demonstration. NO demonstration NO worship, IN THAT ORDER!

The truth about worship is the revelation of who God is. Thank God for the spirit of tautology. WE SERVE A GOD OF ENCORES. GOD SAYS WHAT HE MEANS AND MEANS WHAT HE SAYS, OVER & OVER & OVER & OVER AGAIN, UNTIL WE GET IT! 

THERE'S NO WORSHIP WITHOUT A REVELATION OF GOD. Many books in worship are defective for spending pages upon pages talking about how to worship God without talking about God. At the core of worship is the very God we worship. 

The people that do know their God shall be strong and DO EXPLOITS in the altars of worship (Daniel 11:32).

You cannot worship a God you do not know. Wow, know God? Sounds almost impracticable. How can finite mortal man know or describe a God who is infinite, eternal, immortal,  omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent? God is “beautiful beyond description, too marvellous for words, too wonderful for comprehension like nothing ever seen or heard.l However, because He came down to our level to take us up to His level, we can, indeed know Him. Yes, mortal man can know and describe God via the instrumentality of His inspired Word! The Bible has the knowledge and the revelation of God scattered all lover it. It’s a travesty of gargantuan proportions to go into the Word of God to look for something else but God! 

We were created to know God and born again to know God. Salvation’s greatest purpose is the knowledge of God. The ancient Latin maxim is key; 

“Habere Deum Est Colerie Deum” which means, “TO KNOW GOD IS TO WORSHIP GOD." And we become like the God we worship, Hallelujah! 

It's time we put the Person and knowledge of God back into our worship. As a worship leader or worshipper period, you must know God. You cannot take people where you have not been. It's impossible to introduce people to someone you don't know or you've never met. The Knowledge of God is the greatest qualification for anyone who qualifies and thrives as a worshiper or a choir member, or a worship leader.

It shows when worship leaders attempt to lead their people into worship whether they know Him or not. You can just tell that that person up there leading us is drawing and bringing us into an experience he or she is very well acquainted.

TRUE WORSHIP IS CAST IN THE IMAGE OF THE ONE WE WORSHIP, NOT IN THE IMAGE OF THOSE WHO WORSHIP NOR IN THE GROOVE OF YOUR MUSIC. Worship is contaminated when the worshippers become the center of attraction and not the One being worshipped. Nothing is as other-centered as worship. It is something you do not for yourself but for the One you are worshipping. The spirit of pride is the greatest enemy of worship. Once pride is present in your worship, you are no longer worshipping. You have detoured into a mean cul-de-sac of idolatry. 

I repeat TRUE WORSHIP IS CAST IN THE IMAGE  OF THE ONE WE WORSHIP, IT IS CAST IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Hence God said LET US MAKE MAN IN OUT OWN IMAGE (Genesis 1:26). It was for worship sake that God desired this creature that would worship Him in spirit according to the truth (John 4:24). 

True worship calls for the highest levels of consecration and devotion to God and the things of God, especially in the context of the local church. It calls for those involved in leading the church's worship to know God and he found to be present in all the churches weekly activities especially prayer and Bible Study. 

WORSHIP IS OF GOD, FOR GOD, FROM GOD & TO GOD!

BEHOLD THE GOD WE WORSHIP

 

WHO IS GOD? 

This is the most important question in worship! 

This is the quintessential core of worship. Who God is and how we may know Him. Our worship is shaped by this knowledge! My focus in this post is to attempt a definition of God. Can we know God? Yes we can? God wrote His word with that possibility in mind. God's word reveals all we may know about Him and nothing more. 

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

(Deuteronomy 29:29) 

God reveals the things we need to know about Him for our consumption insofar as the shaping of His worth is concerned. The rest belong exclusively to Him and may be further revealed to those who go deeper in their relationship with God.

"The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." (Psalm 25:14)

The Bible is full of descriptions of God’s spiritual form and “bodily parts”: Some of them are as follows:

1. He has a personal spirit body – Daniel 7:9-14; 10:5-19
2. Shape – John 5:37
3. Form – Phil. 2:5-7
4. Image and likeness of a man – Gen. 1:26; 9:6; Ezekiel 1:26-28; James 3:9 5. Back parts – Exodus 33:23
6. Heart – Genesis 6:6; 8:21
7. Hands and fingers – Psalm 8:3-6; Hebrews 1:10; Revelation 5:1-7
8. Mouth – Numbers 12:8
9. Lips and tongue – Isaiah 30:27
10. Feet – Ezekiel 1:27; Exodus 24:10
11. Ears – Psalm 18:6
12. Hair, face, head and arms – Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-19; Rev. 5:1-7; 22:4-6
13. Loins – Ezekiel 1:26-28; 8:1-4.
14. God has a voice – Psalm 29’ Rev. 10:3-4
15. God has a breath (He is Breath Himself) – Genesis 2:7
16. God has a countenance – Psalm 11:7
17. God eats – Genesis 18:1-8; Exodus 24:11
18. God sits on a throne – Isaiah 6; Dan7:9-11; Rev, 4:1-5; 22:3-4
19. God walks – Genesis 3:8; 18:1-8; 22, 33.
20. God rests – Genesis 2:1-4; Hebrews 4:4

Perhaps, the best exercise a worship team would ever have is to take a season and study these descriptions of God. I cannot overemphasize the need for focus on His Person and Personality as our greatest pursuit. It is possible that we are 'worshipping' without having a vision of whom we are worshipping. It is essential that we have God on our minds and in our hearts as we worship Him. That's what makes worship a very powerful event! It is demonstrably rewarding when we know that the One we are worshipping is cast in the image of our own bodily likeness! (Genesis 1:26-28). We were made by God for God! 

If we focus on this "God Season" in our worship, then we can hope to successfully take others into His presence.  The best chapter in any book on worship ought to be the GOD CHAPTER! Have you read any book on worship lately that talks about God? How come we talk so much about worship but we never talk about the One THIS THING is meant for? The answers are not farfetched - worship is far removed from the Who and What we worship to the How we worship. We worship for many other reasons but God. And so our worship is godless, listless and powerless. This is sad! Our eyes are closed to the One we are supposed to be worshipping because our eyes are open to flesh and all that satisfies self. We are worshippers of worship but not of God! 

So who is God? 

He is the ETERNAL SPIRIT, THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, THE ONE WHO DWELLS IN A LIGHT NO MAN CAN APPROACH. God is the Supreme Being and principal object of our faith. He is the incorporeal God who controls time, space and matter! He is the God without gender yet He is known to us as an all-sufficient Mother in El-Shaddai and an everlasting Father in Elohim, the Father of the fatherless! 

God is not a man but He is shaped as a man! God is not flesh and blood yet He made flesh and blood to worship Him! He uses who He made us, who we are for His glory! Indeed, in Him we live and move and have or being. (Acts 17:28). We exist for His glory. This makes worship our DNA. It is our "Divine Nature Attitude.

God is unseen yet He is the most real Spirit and Person in our universe. This makes worship REAL! God HE is THE UNCREATED CREATOR - THE SELF EXISTING ONE WHO INHABITS ETERNITY. He is the One who has no beginning and no ending. HE IS! GOD IS! Think about it, GOD IS! So true worship IS. Worship is present in our present and eternal in our absence from time. Worship IS because God IS! 

The lesson to learn about the God we worship is that He created us to be like Him; He gave us our body parts, eyes ears, nose, mouth, face, lungs, heart, to mention a few, for the shaping of His worth! Never look at your body the same again: you are godlike! No other creature looks like you in this universe and you look like God. 

YOU ARE A GOD TYPE FOR WORSHIP SAKE!!! 

Now that's how real worship begins. You think God. You set your heart, spirit and soul on God; then watch out...your body will receive the message--- what we call WORSHIP breaks out! It's just a seamless powerful flow of life from LIFE Himself! That's where demonstration matches revelation. This is the kind of God-filled worship we need in our lives and churches today. Not the music or songs-driven worship. But the type driven by Hod Himself! 

No worship can happen without God being conceived of in our Spirit-mind. WE HAVE TO SEE IN ORDER THAT WE MAY WORSHIP HIM!

We are living in a day and time when our worship will be so filled with God that it will be so anointed: the dead shall be raised, blind eyes shall open, deaf shall pop, lame legs shall receive life just from this kind of God-filled worship. There shall be no preaching, no laying on of hands. And it will not be organized. It will be spontaneous! A God-filled spirit-led worship will get the job done. In that day, God Himself shall get all the glory! 

We need a revival of this kind of worship in our day and time.