When believers assemble together in the house of God, what should be their attitude? They should realize that they are the church and that they are coming together for a function in which the praise and the giving of thanks are very essential.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians gives you this pattern to follow when you come to church: You are to be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Ephesians 5:19–20. Paul gave a similar instruction to the Colossian church: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16–17.
As the day of the Lord approaches, the hearts of people will be failing them for fear as they look upon the things that are coming to pass. Problems will increase, and many will have reasons to sing the blues. Nevertheless, we are told to look up, to lift up our heads (Luke 21:28). When we focus too much on the seriousness of situations, it tends to lower our focus from the Lord. Then we miss the emphasis that God wants from His people. The purpose of our coming together in services is not just to minister to one another’s burdens, but to be a people of praise and a glory to His name. The Lord is gathering together the people who will give Him thanks and worship Him.
Worship is the activity that God blesses above everything else. In the coming days, our worship to Him and the Word that He speaks to us will be of the utmost importance. Worship will reach a higher level than we have ever known. We need to recondition and retrain our hearts so that we learn to come to church without heavy burdens and heaviness in our hearts.
In the days ahead of us, everything in the Old Testament will have greater significance for us as God begins to bring the spiritual application of it to our hearts. We will be amazed at the depth of wisdom coming out of truths that we have thought of as being harsh Law. The Old Testament will live for us again as we are lifted up to a new realm of understanding. The New Testament must be envisioned very clearly, because its guidelines will become the law, and the Old Testament will become the symbolic illustration for the Kingdom. In I Corinthians 10:11, Paul reminds us that the experiences recorded in the Old Testament were written for our admonition and as an example for us, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
In Old Testament times, the regulations concerning the seventh day of the week were very strict. On the Sabbath the people were to worship the Lord and they were not to do any work. Numbers 15:32–36 relates an incident that occurred while the Israelites were in the wilderness. A man who was found gathering sticks for a fire was stoned to death. God had given the command that no work should be done on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10). However, when the Law had its fulfillment in Christ, we find that He and His disciples often worked on the Sabbath—teaching, gathering grain, and healing people. This made the Pharisees furious, because they were still trying to keep the letter of the Law; they had not captured the Spirit of it. In this day, we will look back to the letter of the Law and realize how rigid it was according to the realm of the Spirit; yet it was only a type of things to come. The actual fulfillment on the human materialistic level was not what God wanted at all.
The book of Jeremiah includes some instructions concerning the Sabbath: how it was to be kept and how the Lord would deal with His people if they did not keep the Sabbath properly. They were not to carry any load on their shoulders when they came into Jerusalem. They were to come into the presence of the Lord with worship. Often the feasts began and ended on the Sabbath. On those days they were not to carry any loads when they assembled together. That law has deep symbolical meaning for God’s people in this day.
Prepare your heart before you come to church. Do not come “carrying a load”; do not bring with you all of your problems or a bad disposition. Get rid of those at home. A service ends at the level where it should really begin if people come to church to get rid of problems they should be able to get rid of at home. If they set their hearts to do it, they can cast off their problems at home. Then they can come into the house of the Lord with a great release, with the Word dwelling in them richly, and they can speak the Word in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
If the Sabbath was to be holy unto the Lord in Old Testament times, what should be our attitude toward the Sabbath in this day? The keeping of the Sabbath, one day a week, is a foretaste of the great Sabbath Kingdom—the seventh thousand-year period of human history which is opening up now. Spirit-led believers who keep the Sabbath in this day are not observing it according to the Old Testament tradition and Law. They are reaching in with faith to the Kingdom Sabbath. The Sabbath service should be one of the greatest services of the entire week. It should especially be a service filled with praise and thanksgiving, a time when any doubts or rebellion are left at home.
You must learn how to come to the house of God. Prepare your heart for the service. Remember that you are coming to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord. Do not come only looking for help, and do not come in filled with rebellion. That will bring down the spiritual level of the church. Declare war on any satanic pressures and harassment that you feel as you come to the house of God. Leave Satan outside, along with your loads. Do not battle as if you are trying to obtain the victory; you already have the victory in Christ. It is very much up to you to decide what you bring into the house of God with you. Determine to bring in victory and the spiritual songs of Zion, so that anyone who steps inside the church will think that God’s people are the most joyful people on the face of the earth. This is the way it should be, for Isaiah prophesied that as the ransomed of the Lord return to Zion, everlasting joy will be upon their heads (Isaiah 35:10).
The following passage from Jeremiah 17 will show you the true, spiritual heart of the Sabbath. Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who come in through these gates: Thus says the Lord, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.” ’ ” Verses 19–21. They were to leave all their burdens and problems outside the gates. Likewise, we are to leave our spiritual battles and depressions outside as we come together before the Lord.
The gates of Jerusalem, through which the kings of Judah went in and out, have significance for us. They are a type, portraying that as we are made holy, the kings and princes can come into the presence of the Lord. This pertains to the judgments in the earth and to our coming into sonship to be the kings and priests of the Lord, the holy priesthood.
When Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Melita, he first had to flip the viper into the fire before the people of the island could be healed and delivered. Before you can come into the presence of the Lord, first you must dump all oppression. In the gospel commission recorded in Mark 16, Jesus spoke of the signs that would follow those who believe. He said that first of all they would cast out demons. On every new level of faith, the first thing you must do is shake off the enemy. Do not bring spiritual warfare into the church; take authority over the enemy and cast him out of the worship service. Satan has been cast out of the heavens, and there is to be no place found for him (Revelation 12:8–9). Do not give him a place in the services. If you are tired of the enemy going to church with you, leave him on the outside, along with your loads and your burdens. You can do this through just a simple scriptural exercise of faith. Then you can worship the Lord and enter into the level where the Word dwells in you richly, where there are psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Christ can send His Word that heals, and every need can be met, if we learn to magnify the Lord rather than the need.
Jeremiah’s prophecy of God’s instructions concerning the Sabbath continues: “And you shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction. But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, then there will come through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited forever.” Verses 22–25.
This does not refer to the natural Jerusalem, but to the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). We will come into the place of authority when we have learned to seek first the Kingdom and to dump the loads and battles. Let us refuse to allow our personal involvement to get in the way of our principal task, which is to glorify God, to praise Him and magnify Him above everything else, and to love Him with all of our hearts.
Verse 26: “They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense” (symbolizing worship), “and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.” We are built up as a priesthood to offer up sacrifice and praise to God. In effect, God was saying to the people, “I am tired of seeing you carry your loads on the Sabbath. It is to be a day when your hearts are filled with praise and worship and thanksgiving. Do not bring Me your loads; bring Me your praise and thanksgiving.”
Verse 27: “But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I shall kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.” The judgment was severe. Can you understand now why the Israelites killed the man who gathered wood on the Sabbath? He had violated a type. Beware of thinking that the work God was speaking of is on a human plane; He was speaking about the labor of spirit.
The fourth chapter of Hebrews sheds light on the Sabbath rest. For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:4–9. This expression “Sabbath rest” is important. If Joshua had given them rest, then David would not have spoken of it for another day. God continually kept promising a rest for His people. The Scriptures tell us that there remains a Sabbath rest for someone to enter into.
A need is always magnified before the answer comes. As we walk with God and carry heavy burdens of deep intercession, we may bog down with a spirit of heaviness. The Word tells us that in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we are to let our requests be made known to God. However, that verse begins with the exhortation, “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6).
You can be burdened without being anxious. You can be burdened without your spirit laboring under a load. Learn how to cast your cares upon the Lord, because He cares for you. Learn how to come into His presence with every request being made known to Him with thanksgiving. Come before Him, giving thanks always for all things. Determine that when you come into His presence, you will never be without a song, without His rest, without His blessing.
We must learn how to carry responsibility in the Spirit. We need to learn that His is the Kingdom, and we do not have to hold up the heavens. We come, continually giving thanks. The great beings in heaven—the twenty-four elders, the creatures, and all the great hosts—have the execution of the divine order for the whole universe on their shoulders; yet they are continually praising God and giving thanks (Revelation 4:4–11).
The pastors, the elders, and all the other ministries and members in the house of God will become more effective if they are more conscientious, but less burdened down with the loads that God never intended should be borne on the human level. Be anxious for nothing. Does this mean that we are not to be concerned? Of course we are to be concerned. However, if we seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, we know that the other things will be added to us. Joyfulness is in our hearts when we trust in the Lord. Then we can enter His courts with praise and come before His presence with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4).
Hebrews 4:10–11 tells us to rest from human striving: For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works (the human striving), as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience.
The seventh thousand-year period is upon us. We are living at the dawn of the great Sabbath of the universe. In this overlapping period we see that labor, turmoil, decay, and futility are upon the whole earth; however, we are part of the new creation, the Kingdom. We need not be dismayed. Jesus has promised, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32). We ought to enter into His presence rejoicing and dancing, for we are His heirs, and we have dumped our loads at the old house where we used to live. We are coming up to live in Zion now. This should be our thinking as we keep the Sabbath.
Do not meet your spiritual battles with human strength or on a human level; meet them with the anointing of the Lord and with a song in your heart. If you were to analyze your activities during the day, you might be surprised to realize how many hours of the day you are not praising the Lord or giving Him thanks. These negative attitudes need to be repented of. But what about the positive aspect? Does that cause you to be disturbed? You are told to give thanks always, in everything. Are you always doing that? Remind yourself often of Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians and the Colossians. There we see the way we should go to church.
Is God pleased with the way you come to church? You are to be a glorious worshiper of the Lord, not a grouch. Praise must become a conditioning of your heart. Enter His courts with thanksgiving and keep His Sabbath. You do not experience the Sabbath by having someone pray over you, declaring that confusion is at an end and your labor is over. You are the one who has to cease from your labors. You must proclaim the Sabbath. You are commanded to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). The Sabbath must be a holy day. Do not desecrate it and profane it by carrying your burdens on the Sabbath day.
Learn how to go to church. Learn how to war in the army of the Lord. Spiritual warfare is never won, nor does the battle cease, when you fight on a human plane. It cannot be accomplished by human energies. It is won only when you enter into Christ’s perfect victory over Satan and appropriate that victory for yourself in every situation. Learn to be thankful and to give praise to the Lord. Then the spiritual level will change and worship will fill the house of God—whether it is a large congregation or a small group of believers.
God is seeking worship. Most people are not seeking to worship; they are seeking a word that will help them get rid of their problems. God’s present moving in the earth is not a deliverance movement; it is a worship movement. God is sending a living Word which will give the people who receive it their answers and releases. If they bog down and become burden-oriented, they will fail. If they are worship-oriented, they will receive deliverances.
It is much more difficult for a man to get across a range of mountains than it is for an eagle. The man will need some heavy cleated boots to climb over those mountains. He will encounter various obstacles that need to be overcome, including perhaps a rushing river. An eagle does not have to worry about swimming across the river or climbing over the rocky crags. He does not have to worry about slipping and breaking his ankle. He can soar over every obstacle. Isaiah 40:31 says that those who wait on the Lord will mount up with wings as eagles. Fly over your problems. Do not accept the problems that the devil throws in your way. You will never be able to get rid of the burdens until you learn to wait on the Lord and come into His presence as a worshiper. When you walk with God, you fly over the top of your burdens. You soar like an eagle.
Isaiah 58:13–14 gives further instructions concerning the Sabbath. “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor it, desisting from your own ways” (getting out of human ruts and discarding human burdens), “from seeking your own pleasure, and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
What are we going to speak on the Sabbath day? Do not speak your own word; speak the Word of the Lord. Be the oracle of God. Let His words dwell in you richly. Speak with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
The children of Israel kept the Sabbath, but they did it with groans. For them it was a heavy day. It is not to be a heavy day. Leave your burdens at home and come into the presence of the Lord. The Sabbath is symbolic of a whole way of life for the next thousand years. Be a praiser or you will be a loser.
A man who praises the Lord and gives thanks in everything has his focus totally on the Lord. You might have your focus on the Lord in a restricted sense, looking back and thanking Him only for bringing you through a difficult time. Be careful; you are liable to run into a wall if you continually look backwards. Instead, thank and praise the Lord for everything—for what is happening now as well as what happened in the past. Recognize that the Lord is in everything that you are going through.
Do not be fearful of what is coming. According to Revelation 21:8, the fearful and the unbelieving lead the way into the pit, followed by the murderers and immoral persons. Do not be fearful of what is coming. Believe that it will be marvelous, that the Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will. Echo David’s words: “I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). “I have set the Lord always before me. I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8).
When you come to the house of the Lord with praise and thanksgiving, you are expressing faith in His faithful hand. He will never fail you. Recognize His hand in everything that happens—past, present, and future. Be grateful for His presence and for His provision. His provision is perfect and complete. The thankful and grateful man receives so many blessings that he forgets about his burdens. The man who gives praise and thanks to God, who keeps the spirit of the Sabbath, is the man in whom God has projected Himself in every aspect of his life and being.