Will you please turn to Psalm 95? Psalm 95, just two verses: verse 6 and part of verse 7.
Come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker:
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
The book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 42:
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Revelation chapter 7, verses 9 through 12:
After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;
And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God Who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
We have been considering together before the Lord this matter of worship. First of all, we find that the Lord said, “The hour is coming, and now is, when he that worships God worships in spirit and truth.”
Under the old dispensation, the Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, and the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. But the Lord says, “The time has come. A change has come. A new dispensation has come.” Under this new dispensation of grace, under the new covenant, it is no longer a matter of place and time, or division. It is a matter of worshiping the Father, and worshiping Him in spirit and truth.
Worship is no longer restricted to a certain place or a certain time. Worship is no longer something that belongs to the Jews or to the Samaritans. Worship is now the portion of all the redeemed of the Lord. We worship Him not only as our God, as our Maker; we worship Him as our Father.
Worship, therefore, is a relationship—a relationship of Father and children. It is on this basis that we become true worshipers.
Worship is a life. Our whole life before God is worship. Worship is our work. Our work is not just work; our work ought to be worship unto God. Worship is that spontaneous response of ourselves to God our Father.
Worship is no longer limited. It embraces our hobby. So, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that worship is life. Our whole life ought to be worship unto God, as a sweet-smelling savor to God.
Now, this morning we would like to continue with worship. We would like to see the difference between personal worship and corporate worship.
Worship is personal—very personal. Why? Because it is based on an intimate relationship. If we do not have that relationship with God our Father, we cannot worship, and nobody else can worship for us. It is our spiritual exercise, so it must be very personal.
As God is revealed to us in His Son by the Holy Spirit, we begin to worship. So worship is based upon our personal relationship and experience with God. It is a personal response of our total being to God. It is very personal.
In the Bible, you find Abraham worshiped, Jacob worshiped, Moses worshiped, Gideon worshiped, Hannah worshiped, Samuel worshiped. You find that it is very personal. Every one of us must have a personal relationship with God in such a way that it comes forth as worship.
We are worshipers, and a worshiper is to worship. So our whole life ought to be worship unto God, and it ought to be very personal.
In order to help us with our personal worship, I believe it is good if, at the beginning of our day, we can begin with worship.
You know, in Old Testament times, in the temple, early in the morning, they burned a burnt offering unto God. This burnt offering would be slowly consumed by the fire through the day. It was not burned up in an hour; it was slowly consumed through the day.
Toward the end of the day, toward the evening, that burnt offering was consumed. So they had to offer another burnt offering in order that the burnt offering might continue to burn through the night. The burnt offering on the altar was never absent. It was always there. It was a continual offering unto God.
We know that the burnt offering is a sign, a token, of worship. Our Lord Jesus offered Himself as a burnt offering unto the Father, to please and satisfy the heart of the Father. In union with our Lord Jesus, we offer ourselves in Christ as a burnt offering to God. It is our worship to Him.
This ought to continue day and night, night and day. It is a spirit—a spirit of worship. Again, I will emphasize that worship is not something we do only at a certain hour or only in a certain place. Worship is a spirit. Therefore, we must have that worshiping spirit throughout the day and throughout the night. It should always be with us.
So I believe it is a good thing, when we begin the day, to begin the day with worship.
Why is it that we emphasize that every believer should have a morning watch? Early in the morning, before you do anything, you should spend a little time with the Lord. Why do we find this so essential throughout Christian life? It is because we want to begin our day with the Lord. And how do we begin our day with the Lord? The best thing is to begin our day by worshiping Him.
I do not know, brothers and sisters, how you begin your day with the Lord. I do not know how you do your morning devotion. Do you just go to the Lord, and as you go to the Lord, start out with asking? You ask God for this; you ask God for that for the day.
How do you begin the day with the Lord? Do you just rush into the presence of the Lord and make your petitions known to Him? Or do you go to the Lord and, in quietness, learn to pour out your spirit to Him in love, worship, and adoration?
I do believe it will be a real help if, in the early morning, before we even pray—that is, before we ask for anything—we are very quiet before Him and just open our hearts toward Him. Behold His beauty. Gaze upon Him in our spirit, and just pour forth our praise, our love, our adoration, and our thanks to Him.
A minute, two minutes—but I do believe this will help us to cultivate that spirit of worship, so that throughout the day we will be in a spirit of worship.
Of course, it is always good that throughout the day, whenever you have a little time, or sometimes when you are working or doing something, you can just pause for a few seconds. Lift up your eyes, lift up your heart to the Lord, and just say, “Lord, I worship You. I adore You. I love You.”
Brothers and sisters, in one sense, we say this is the practice of the presence of the Lord. I think you all remember that little book by Brother Lawrence called The Practice of the Presence of God, which is a classic.
How should we cultivate the holy habit of always being in the presence of the Lord, even among the noises of the kitchen? Brother Lawrence was a cook in a monastery, and while he was busy in the kitchen with all the noises going on, there in his spirit he lifted his spirit up and communed with God.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do believe it is a good practice that throughout the day, from time to time, just for a few seconds, lift up your heart and worship Him. Keep yourself in the spirit of worship.
If we are doing that, what will you find? Whenever there is something with which the Lord has blessed you, immediately you return to Him and give your thanks to Him. You will not forget to return and thank Him for what He has done for you.
Or sometimes when you have problems, when you are opposed, when you are persecuted, or when you find that the Lord has taken away something from you, instead of murmuring, you will turn to Him and say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord. It is He Who gives, and it is He Who takes away.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to have a spirit of worship within us. If we do not have the spirit of worship within us, when such a time comes, no doubt we will murmur. We are not ready to worship God because we do not see Him. If you do not see Him, you cannot worship Him.
So I do believe that it is a good thing. Knowing that worship is a spirit, we need to cultivate personally, individually—every one of us needs to cultivate the spirit of worship.
I do not think we need to dwell very much on personal worship, because this is something every one of us ought to do. We are called to be worshipers.
But then you find in Scripture another kind of worship, which is called corporate worship. Why? We are not alone. We are members of one body. We belong to one family. We are a holy nation. Therefore, our worship cannot be limited to the personal level; it has to be raised to the corporate level.
So far as the nature of worship is concerned, there is no difference between personal worship and corporate worship. That is to say, worship is worship. There is no difference in nature. But when you come to practice, you find that corporate worship is somewhat different from personal worship.
Before we go into that, remember that in Old Testament times the children of Israel were a nation before God. Because of that, in Exodus you find that God told them that three times a year all the males of the children of Israel must go to Jerusalem. There they were to offer sacrifices and worship God.
Just imagine: three times a year, Jews traveling from all parts of the world, from different cities. They brought their families, and they traveled toward Jerusalem from all directions. As they traveled toward Jerusalem, the crowd increased in number because they met each other on the way.
While they were traveling, we are told that they usually traveled together and sang psalms together until they came to Jerusalem. When they came to Jerusalem, not only would every family offer sacrifices and eat together as a family, but the whole nation would come together to the temple.
Sacrifices would be offered for the whole nation. They gathered together and prayed together. They lived in booths, kept the feast, listened to the Word of God, and had it explained to them together. Why? Because they were a people, a nation. Therefore, they worshiped God together as a nation.
When David brought the ark to the city of David, we are told that he gathered the people together because it was a corporate matter. It was not just David alone, but the whole nation was to be rightly related to the ark of God—that is, to God. They worshiped as one people.
When Solomon dedicated the temple, he did the same thing. He gathered the whole people together, and there they worshiped God as one people.
If you go to Kings and Chronicles, you will find that whenever there was a revival, a return to God in the nation, the king would bring all the people together to worship.
For instance, in 2 Chronicles 20, you find Jehoshaphat. The children of Israel were faced with a crisis. The armies of Moab and Ammon came to fight against them, and Jehoshaphat knew that he could not meet such a great army. So he gathered the people. They fasted together and waited upon the Lord.
When the Word of the Lord came to them that the battle belonged to the Lord, that they did not need to fight but should stand still and see the Lord fight for them, what did they do? Not only did the king bow himself with his face on the ground, but the whole people bowed down, worshiped, and sang praises unto God. They worshiped as one people.
In 2 Chronicles 29, in the case of Hezekiah, there was a great revival among the children of Israel. The temple of God was cleansed. So he gathered all the people together, and there they worshiped God. They had singers singing according to the commandment of David. They worshiped God as one people.
When the remnant returned from Babylonian captivity, if you read Ezra, you find that when they laid the foundation of the house, all the people were there. Some were weeping, and some were shouting. The priests were blowing the trumpets and beating the cymbals. Brothers and sisters, they worshiped as one man.
If you go to Nehemiah, you find the same thing. Nehemiah gathered the people together, and when Ezra the priest stood up and read the book, all the people stood up. They bowed down and worshiped God.
If this was true with the children of Israel, how much more ought it to be true with us today? Why? Because they were just a nation, but we are a family, a body. Our relationship is closer than the relationship among the children of Israel.
So, brothers and sisters, in the Bible we find that there is such a thing as corporate worship. As a matter of fact, our personal worship is the foundation of our corporate worship.
If during the day and during the week, in our personal life, we do not worship—if we are not worshipers—then when we come together, there is no way for us to worship. Corporate worship is based upon our personal worship. If our personal worship is strong, our corporate worship will be strong. If our personal worship is lacking, then our corporate worship will be very poor.
In the New Testament, you find that our Lord Jesus and His disciples were one family. That is why, when they had the last Passover together, the disciples did not go back to their different homes and have their Passovers. Instead, they had the Passover feast with our Lord Jesus. Why? They were one family.
During the Passover feast, every family would gather together and eat the Passover lamb. Here you find that our Lord Jesus gathered His own together as one family, and they kept the Passover feast.
During the Passover feast, our Lord Jesus broke the bread, passed the cup, and said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” During that time, He conversed with them and told them many things that were upon His heart. Finally, He went to the Father and prayed for them. At the very last, they sang a hymn and went to the garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord Jesus went into the presence of the Father in prayer. The whole atmosphere was an atmosphere of worship.
On the day of Pentecost, when Peter stood up, the eleven stood with him. Why? Because on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit had done something. When the Holy Spirit came down and they were all baptized in one Spirit, the one hundred twenty individuals became a body of one hundred twenty members. They were more than individual believers; they were now a body.
Even on that day, three thousand came to the Lord. In spite of the great number being added to them, you find in Acts 2:42 that they all persevered; they all continued. Three thousand one hundred twenty—they all continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer.
Why are the breaking of bread and prayer given special mention here? They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles. What is the teaching of the apostles? It is none other than the teaching of Christ. What is the fellowship of the apostles? It is the fellowship of Christ.
The teaching is on the truth side; the fellowship is on the experience side. You have objective truth and subjective experience—in other words, the whole Christian life. But it says, “in the breaking of bread and in prayer.” Why?
The breaking of bread and prayer are more than just remembrance and petition. It is true that the breaking of bread is remembrance, because the Lord Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” But the breaking of bread is more than remembrance. The breaking of bread is corporate worship.
Praying together is more than just asking and intercession. Prayer is worship. You remember how our Lord Jesus taught the disciples to pray. We often say this is the Lord’s Prayer, but actually it is the church’s prayer.
When He taught us how to pray, what did He say? He said, “Our Father.” It is corporate.
Our Father Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
What is that? It is worship. The church’s prayer begins with worship.
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
That is worship. And in that worshiping spirit, it comes down to:
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
What is that? That is worship. In the church’s prayer that the Lord has taught us, it begins with worship and ends with worship.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, from the early church up to the present time, the church is a worshiping church.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2:5 that, as we come to the Lord, we are as living stones, being built up together into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In Old Testament times, the children of Israel went to the temple in Jerusalem to offer burnt offerings, peace offerings, and so forth. But today, where is the temple? We are the temple. As living stones, we are built up together as a spiritual house. We are the temple of God.
What is a temple for? The temple is a place of worship. So when God’s people come together, we are God’s temple, and we are together for one reason: to worship God.
How do we worship? We worship as a holy priesthood—not just individual priests, every one doing what he or she wants to do, but we worship God as a priesthood. In other words, we worship God as one unit, under the direction of the High Priest, of course. Every one has his part, but it is a holy priesthood.
We offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ—not with sheep, not with cattle, but with spiritual sacrifices. What are these spiritual sacrifices? They are the Christ Who has been revealed to us and given to each one of us through the week.
We bring back to God the Christ that He has given us. That is our spiritual sacrifice. It can come forth in praises, in prayers, in songs, or in words, but it is Christ being offered back to God. How that satisfies God’s heart!
Brothers and sisters, we not only worship individually, but we worship together. There are times when the church should gather together and worship Him together as a family, as a body. This is corporate worship.
There is no difference in nature between personal worship and corporate worship. The difference is only in practice. Corporate worship requires more spiritual understanding and more self-control and discipline than personal worship.
Why? Because in corporate worship, there is another dimension added to it. In our personal worship, it is vertical: you and God, you and Christ. It is a vertical relationship. You go into your closet, and there you pour out your heart in love toward God, as God gave Himself to you without measure.
The more revelation of Him you receive, the richer and deeper will be your worship to Him. That is personal worship.
But when you come to corporate worship, you find that there is a horizontal relationship. Not only is there the relationship between you and the Lord, but you have your brothers and sisters with you together. Because of this added dimension, it requires more understanding and more discipline.
You remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:13. He says, “Whether we are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you.”
In other words, when he is alone with God, he can be beside himself. You know what that means. It seems that he can do anything he wants to do—of course, in the right way. In the presence of God, Paul says, “I can be beside myself.” Why? Because God understands.
You can roll before Him. You can weep before Him. You can crawl before Him. You can cry before Him. You can do anything because it is before Him. Oh, how He understands!
Dear brothers and sisters, when you come into the presence of God, you do not need to pretend. You do not need to try very hard. Just be yourself. Paul said, “Before God, I can be beside myself.”
But he said, “Toward you, I am sober.” In other words, he exercised self-control when he was with the brothers and sisters. Why? Because the brothers and sisters may not always understand. On the contrary, they can very easily misunderstand, or they may even be offended. For their sake, you have to exercise restraint.
I remember an interesting case in the Old Testament. When David brought the ark to the city of David, you know what he did? He danced before the ark. Oh, he was beside himself.
When he felt all the mercy and grace of God that had come upon him, that had taken him out of the sheepfold and made him king over God’s people—when he thought of what God had done for him, his love for the Lord was so great that, seeing the ark, he forgot himself. He just danced before the Lord.
He did not dance very mildly. I think he danced very wildly. Why? Because he uncovered himself. His wife Michal, looking out from the window and seeing the king doing that, despised him in her heart.
When David came to bless the family, she said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself before the handmaids of his servants! How shameful it is!”
But David said, “No. I played before the Lord. I played before the Lord, and I will be yet more vile in mine own sight.” David’s spirit was right. His heart was right. He played before the Lord. He found himself before the Lord to be humble—not as a king, but very humble. He wanted to humble himself even more before the Lord.
David’s spirit was right, and God blessed him. Michal’s spirit was wrong, and God shut her womb. Now, that is true. But, dear brothers and sisters, I want to use this in another way.
David played before God, and there was nothing wrong. But in the presence of people, Michal was stumbled. Brothers and sisters, play before the Lord, but do not stumble your brothers and sisters.
Anyway, you find that there is a difference between personal worship and corporate worship. In corporate worship, it requires more understanding and more discipline.
In 1 Corinthians 14, the apostle Paul is trying to instruct the church in Corinth concerning how they should meet together. The type of meeting in 1 Corinthians 14 we would call a fellowship meeting, because it is a time when different spiritual gifts are exercised.
It is a kind of fellowship meeting. During the time when all the brothers and sisters are gathered together, when the whole church is gathered together, every one offers whatever gift the Lord may give for the building up of the body of Christ.
Here the apostle Paul gives them certain directions. I believe these principles are applicable to the time when we come together to worship, because spiritual principles apply to all kinds of public meetings. Even though this is especially directed to a fellowship meeting, I believe it will help us to know how to worship together.
There are three things we would like to mention. The first is in 1 Corinthians 14:20:
Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men.
Here, brothers and sisters, the Bible teaches that we should be like little children. The Lord said that unless you are converted and become like little children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Those who are like little children.
Why? Because the will of God is hidden from the wise and prudent, but is revealed unto babes. We ought to be childlike. When you come to the matter of faith, we must be childlike. The more childlike you are in faith, the better. Oftentimes, we do not have faith because we are too wise and too prudent.
Be childlike in faith, but in mind be grown up. You see the difference? In faith, be childlike; but in mind, be grown up.
What is the mind of a grown-up? The mind of a grown-up ought not to think only of himself, but to think of other people. That is the mind of a grown-up.
The mind of a child thinks only of himself. I think some parents have begun to experience this. Babies think only of themselves. If they are hungry, they cry, no matter whether it is midnight or not. They do not care what you think; they only know what they want. The mind of a child is self-centered.
But the mind of a grown-up should always think in terms of other people. If a person is always self-centered and thinks only of himself, he may be sixty years old, he may be sixty-five, like I am, but he has never grown up. The mind of a grown-up thinks of the well-being of other people.
Now, this is important in corporate worship. We should not be so conscious of our brothers and sisters that we are always wondering whether they approve or disapprove. If you are so conscious of that, you cannot worship.
No, do not be conscious of your brothers and sisters in that way. Forget yourself and concentrate on Him. That is right. We need to forget ourselves.
What do you mean by forgetting ourselves? It means do not be so conscious of whether your brothers and sisters will approve or disapprove. Concentrate on Him. Concentrate on the Lord. That is right.
But at the same time, we should consider our brothers and sisters. That is a great difference. To be conscious of them in terms of approval and disapproval is paralyzing, but to consider your brothers and sisters is the mind of the grown-up.
Will what I am doing build up the body, or will it just be for myself? We do not come just to enjoy ourselves. We come to enjoy the Lord and enjoy one another.
Paul spent twenty-five verses in 1 Corinthians 14 on this point. From verse 1 to verse 25, it centers upon this matter: in mind, be grown up. Why? Because you discover that in the church in Corinth their minds were still childish.
When they came together, they were so anxious to enjoy themselves that they forgot to build up the body. Paul used two gifts to illustrate this: one is the gift of tongues, and the other is the gift of prophecy.
He says that in the meeting, when God’s people are together, prophecy is far superior to tongues. Why? Because tongues edify yourself, but prophecy edifies others. Now, that is the mind of the grown-up.
Where tongues are interpreted, you are being edified yourself. Thank God for that. But in the meeting, you do not edify other people. Therefore, prophecy is superior to tongues in the meeting.
Secondly, Paul says that if you speak in tongues and there is no interpretation, nobody can say “Amen” with you because they do not understand. They do not know what you are saying.
So in the corporate meeting, how important it is that the other brothers and sisters can join in with you. If you are praising the Lord, let the other brothers and sisters be able to join in with you to praise the Lord.
If you are praising the Lord alone and the brothers and sisters do not understand, they cannot say “Amen.” They cannot join in. It becomes personal worship; it is no longer corporate worship. That is why prophecy is better than tongues in a meeting.
Certainly, if everybody is speaking in tongues and an unbeliever comes in, because he does not understand, he will say that you are mad. But if all prophesy, then when an unbeliever comes in, he will be convicted. He will bow down and say, “God is indeed in your midst.” You see the difference?
So, brothers and sisters, first of all, in corporate worship we need to develop the mind of the grown-up. Do not come together just to enjoy yourself. We come together to let the Lord enjoy us and to let our brothers and sisters enjoy together. In mind, be grown up.
The second thing is 1 Corinthians 14:26:
What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
When God’s people come together as a corporate body to worship, remember that you do not come empty-handed.
Remember the children of Israel. Whenever they appeared before God, when they came to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem, they all brought their baskets with them. They all brought their cattle with them. No one came to worship God empty-handed.
They did not need to come empty-handed. Why? Because they were in the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. They were in a land blessed by God. God opened the heavens and gave them rain and dew, so they had plenty in the land.
Unless, number one, they were unfaithful to God; or, number two, they were lazy. If they were unfaithful, God shut up the heavens. If they were lazy and did not work in the field, of course they would be poor.
But being a people of God under God’s open heaven, if they did their duty, every one of them could come with full baskets to worship God. No one came empty-handed.
Dear brothers and sisters, applying this to us today, when we come together, the Bible says, “Each has.” Each has. In other words, before you come, you have something to bring with you. You do not come empty-handed.
Isn’t that terrible if we come together, say, on the Lord’s Day to worship the Lord, and nobody prepares? Nobody brings anything beforehand. We do not go to the Lord and ask Him to bless us with something that we can bring back to Him as our worship.
Suppose no one prepares, no one works, no one has anything, and we just come together and sit there, hoping that God will have mercy on us.
A time of worship is not the time to ask God to give. It is the time that we give to Him. If we do not bring anything, what do we have to give Him? We have nothing to give.
Brothers and sisters, that is important. During the week, this is the time that we live under an open heaven. This is the time that we commune with God. This is the time that we are faithful to Him. This is the time that we diligently till our ground. We diligently seek Him.
If we live such a life during the week, when we come together, we all have our hands full. One may have a hymn; another may have a teaching; another may have a tongue; another may have an interpretation; another may have a revelation. In other words, what we have is varied and different, but we all have something.
Every one—each has. All brothers and sisters, each has. We come with our hands full. How rich will be our time together, and how much God’s heart will be satisfied!
The problem is that either we are lazy during the week or we are unfaithful, so the heavens are like brass over us. When we come, we come empty. We want to be filled; we want to be refilled.
So, brothers and sisters, it is important. It is the responsibility of every brother—not just a few brothers or sisters who bear the whole burden before the Lord and, as it were, try to drag and pull. Every brother and sister must come with something prepared.
Bring something. Ask the Lord, “What is it that You want me to bring as an expression of worship to You?”
It is true that we will all bring something, and probably it will all be different—some in psalms, very poetic; others in teaching, or tongues, or interpretations, or revelations. But every one must have something to bring. That is the second thing.
In corporate worship, every one needs to do something. Brothers and sisters, that is important.
Number three: the last verse, 1 Corinthians 14:40:
But let all things be done decently and in order.
Suppose we all bring something. Suppose all our hands are full. No doubt, what we bring with us is varied and different, because our God is so rich. When we put all that we bring together, will there be ugliness and disorder? I believe there will be, unless we are led by the Spirit.
Suppose you come to the worship time, and during the week the Lord has shown you His love toward you. He has shown you how He loves you. So you bring the love of God back and want to present that love to Him.
Suppose another brother, during the week, has passed through great troubles. He begins to sympathize with Christ in His sufferings, and he feels all the sufferings of Christ. So he comes with that suffering spirit and wants to offer that to God.
Or suppose another one, during the week, has been kept by the Lord through temptations and trials. He sees the faithfulness of the Lord and wants to bring back to God His faithfulness. Somebody else has experienced a victory of Christ; somebody else has experienced the discipline of the cross in his life.
We all come with different things, and when we come to worship Him, one moment you go to a house of mourning and another moment you go to a wedding party. You find it is all chaotic and confused.
They all come from the Lord, but let all things be done decently. “Decently” means beautifully, with beauty. Let all things be done harmoniously. Let all things be done as in an orchestra.
In an orchestra, there are all these instruments. Some are like a violin; some are like a harp; some are like a clarinet. All kinds of instruments give different sounds, yet they harmonize. They synchronize together.
How can that be? How can it be with order? It means there is no confusion, no jarring notes, no disturbance, and no distraction. Everything builds up and builds up until it comes to a climax.
Thank God, we have a Conductor, and the Conductor is the Holy Spirit.
Oh, brothers and sisters, when we come together with our hands full and ready to offer, you find that we are like musicians sitting in their places with their various instruments. Their eyes are on the conductor. You do not just come in and start to play.
Every eye is on the conductor. As the baton of the conductor begins to move, you find that the instruments play according to how they are conducted. There is a time for you to come in, and there is a time for you to be quiet.
Brothers and sisters, this is the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit is present. We believe He is conducting us, guiding us, and leading us in worship and praise. When He is leading, there is no confusion.
There cannot be just pulling here and pulling there. You will find that everything comes at the right time, and it builds up and builds up until we come to the point where we break the bread and drink the cup. Everything is done beautifully and with order.
The order is not prearranged; that would be a program. The order is divinely arranged—divinely arranged.
It is for this reason that we need understanding and self-control.
Brothers and sisters, in a meeting, there is the spirit of the meeting. When the Holy Spirit is moving in a meeting, there is the spirit of the meeting.
The Spirit is like a wind. When the wind blows, there is a direction. So when the Spirit is leading us, there will be a direction. It is not confusion.
This is where we need understanding. We need to understand and discern the direction of the Holy Spirit. Where does the wind blow? How is the Spirit leading? As the Spirit leads, we follow. We cooperate.
Suppose the spirit of the meeting is full of joy, and you are coming with a groan. There is no understanding there. Can you attend a wedding party and groan and groan? You spoil the whole atmosphere.
We need understanding, and this is the time that we need self-control. Why? The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet.
You say, “I have prophecy.” All right, you have prophecy. But does it mean that because you have prophecy, you have to prophesy? Some people say, “I cannot help it. The spirit of prophecy is upon me. I have to prophesy, whether it is midnight or not. Whether it is the right time or not, I have to prophesy.”
No. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. Two or three are enough; if there are too many, keep quiet. There is nothing wrong with the prophecy. God has given you that prophecy, but it may not be the right time.
Think of an orchestra. It may be a very quiet time, and perhaps a flute is playing. Then suddenly a loud instrument bursts in. It is ugly.
Oh, thank God, when God’s people come together, there is much for us to learn. Sometimes we think we are geniuses. We can just come together, meet, serve the Lord, worship the Lord, and we know how to do it. No, there is much we need to learn, especially concerning the time of worship.
Brothers and sisters, I repeat again: how we need to know the mind of the grown-up. How we need to exercise self-control.
This is the real issue. Sometimes, when we are talking about these things, people say, “Well, if it is that difficult, the cleverest thing is to keep your mouth shut. Do not participate. Just be passive. Then you can never be wrong.”
Yes, you can never be wrong, but you are wrong. You are wrong because this is the time that we all should bring to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus said, “Where are the nine? Did I not heal ten? Where are the nine?” Only one stranger came back, returned, and gave thanks to God.
Oh, brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Oh, heavenly Father, we acknowledge that there is much that we need to learn.
Lord, we just open our hearts before You and pray that we may be a worshiping church, that really can worship in spirit and truth and will bring great joy to Your heart. We ask in Your precious name. Amen.