Creflo Dollar - Discovering The Essence of Worship - Part 2
Worship is a heart product. It is not a practice product, a training product, a tradition product, it's a heart product. I give him the allegiance of my heart, and from my heart I do this, from my loyalty and my commitment I worship him. Now, let's dig into this. Now, here, here is where I want us to end up at the end of the day. Worship, we want to end up with worship being an inner thing, worship as an inner God word experience, worship as an inner God word experience of the heart, worship, an inner God word experience of the heart. That's what we should desire to be manifested in our everyday lives, an inner God word experience of the heart.
Now, this is seen in the words of Jesus in John chapter 4, verse 21 and 23, turn there. This is Jesus with the woman at the well, and he's taking her from the... I don't know when I'll get to it, but I'm gonna show you the difference between worship in the Old Testament and worship in the New Testament. There are things they could not do in the new... Old Testament because they were not born again. They can only worship him bodily. There were some anointings that came on some people, but not everybody. Watch this. So, "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh," oh boy. He's talking about this grace and this New Testament that's getting ready to come. Look at what he says, "'The hour cometh, when you shall neither in this mountain,'" specific mountain, "'nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.'"
What is he saying? In the Old Testament where you worship was a big deal, and he is saying that's about to change. We're no longer going to be talking about where you worship, in this mountain or in Jerusalem. Now, look at the next verse. "'You worship, you worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh,'" here we go, something's gonna change. "'And now is,'" uh-oh, "'when the true worshipers.'" Somebody say true worshipers. Just by saying that, there's a distinction. How many want to be a true worshiper? "'Now cometh the time, and it is, where the true worshipers shall worship the Father,'" watch this, "'in spirit and in truth,'" why? "'For the Father seeketh such to worship him.'"
The Father is seeking true worshipers. He says, quit talking about you got to go to church to worship. Quit talking about you got to go to Israel to worship. But true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth. Old Testament saints were not born again and didn't have the Holy Ghost. They couldn't worship in spirit. But you and I, who, as a result of what Jesus did and died and was raised from the dead, we can worship in spirit and in truth. True worshipers are available now, and the Father is seeking you out. I don't see too many places in scripture where it says God's seeking out true worshipers to worship him in spirit and in truth. He's not seeking out performers. He's seeking out true worshipers...
There's a distinction there. True worshipers, glory to God, that have the Holy Ghost that will understand how to worship from the inside out, somebody that can worship him inwardly. Before you see anything outwardly, somebody that can worship him in here, in a secret place. Somebody, before they open the mouth up, there's worship that happened in their heart between them and the Holy Ghost. "I'm looking for a true worshiper that's not concerned about the hand clap and the fame of other people. I'm looking for somebody that on the inside their heart has gotten involved with me. I'm in there, they're in there, and now their allegiance on the inside". And they say, Lord, Lord, I'm not doing that. I've already decided inwardly that belongs to you. I'm married. That's a fine woman, but I pledge allegiance to you. That inside commitment at a point of temptation is worship. The Father is seeking such.
Now, you know we're gonna be breaking that down as we go throughout the series. He's seeking true worshipers that will worship him in spirit and in truth. And you thought you needed a guitar to do that. All you needed was the Holy Ghost. And the Father seeketh such to worship him. True worshipers. Inner spiritual realities replacing geographical locations. You see that again in Matthew, go to Matthew 15, verses 8 through 9, which is quite interesting. Matthew 15, verses 8 through 9. I want to read it in King James, then I want to read it in the NLT. A farce, a farce is almost like ridiculous comedy added to a display. It's a complete waste of time. It's empty and vain.
Verse 8, "These people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips. But their heart is far from me. But in vain they do," listen to what he says, "But in vain they do worship me. They said they worship me, but it's in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men". I mean, you know, you don't want to be worshiping God in vain, and there's a lot of vain worship. Look at this in the NLT. "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me". You see why God doesn't want to receive a gift from you and your hearts far from it. Everything he wants from you, he wants out of your heart.
Verse 9, "Their worship is farce". Y'all need to do a word study on that. You know what ultimately that word means? It means it is something that's considered a waste of time. Their worship is a complete waste of time. Who's worship? Lip worship and mouth worship with no heart. "For they teach man-made ideas as commandments from God". They teach manmade ideas as commandments from God. We see a lot of that these days. They're teaching you manmade ideas for the sake of having a illustration that you will say, ooh, ah, oh, that's good, that's good. Manmade ideas as if they were commandments from God. He said it's a waste of time. Another translation, it's almost a joke. He says it's crazy humorous, that's one of the terms for the word farce, it's humorous. It's almost like, I can't think of those plays that are just silly. That's what it's viewed as, worship that's a joke, and it's silly.
And I pause, and I wonder, oh my gosh, Lord, don't let World Changers be a joke. Wow. Because it's not done from the heart. Here's the part that gets me, I don't know if you're getting this part, "Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas," manmade ideas? That's stuff that's not even in the Bible. I have heard in my 41 years of ministry people in praise and worship seminars making up stuff. That's what he's talking about. He's like, that's not it. And then teaching it like it was a commandment that came from God. Normally condemning people with it. "If you don't fall in your face before the Lord, you're not really worshiping him". That's just plain old witchcraft. "What do you mean witchcraft"? You're trying to manipulate somebody into doing something because it's this manmade idea.
That's what God told you to do, now you're trying to make everybody else do it, and then feel bad if they don't. Any kind of doctrine that's designed to make you feel bad if you don't, because God weighs your heart. What is it that's going on? "Hey, if you don't do this, feel bad if you don't". God weighs your heart. For one dude to sit there and lift two fingers up and say peace with God may be a huge step in God's eye, because he did that out of his heart. But you don't see that, because you're thinking that, you know, this is what it is, and this is why you got to know God, because he's weighing your heart, and he wants us to worship him from our heart, and I gotta teach this like I gotta teach everything else.
It's like, dude, you just got out of a situation, we're going back now into some kind of... can I get a month off? No, I got to see Jesus. I'm not gonna stand before Jesus, saying, "I know you wanted me to teach them, but I was scared, they were talking about me already, Lord. I just went viral all the time, Lord, please". And I heard this real simple, he says, "But if you ain't going viral up here, that ain't Word, that ain't... what you're doing, it's me and you. You got to see me one day". I said, "You're right, I got to see you one day, not them".
God showed me that he's getting ready to bring grace people together in one place and people that believe the Word in one place. It's almost like he's gonna be forming some kind of new denomination that he's gonna bring us all together at one place, and you're gonna see how big you are. I can't get away from this. Manmade ideas, teaching it like it was commandments from God. You want the windows of heaven to open on in your life, you gotta give a dime. You think a dime opens the windows of heaven over your life? Jesus, and when you got born again, the windows of heaven were open over your life because you believe in Jesus Christ. That's why the windows of heaven are open over your life.
So, really, you think he's gonna open the windows and then shut them down if you ain't right? Open the windows, better watch out, better not cry, better, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus, Jesus, close them, open them, close them. Seriously, it's a joke. Open them up. You've been good. Shut them down. You're bad. Open them up. You're good. Shut them down. You're bad. You seriously think, like, God's like you? We've done the same thing with worship. You seriously think you falling on your knees in front of everybody is real worship? It may be performance, I don't know. It may be real, I don't know. But let it be real. Let it be real.
Don't do it so you can provoke everybody else to do it. Do it because it's real. When you do stuff like that, you almost have to bring yourself back into the reality of you in front of people. Sometimes when I'm up here preaching, I get lost, because sometimes I see you, but I don't see you, because, this thing got to be real, y'all. This thing has got to be genuine, real, it's got to be the real McCoy, it's gotta be something that's coming out of your heart, it's got to be something you're gonna willing to live for, or even willing to die. When it's real to you, then death ain't nothing but a game. When it's real to you, when it's real to you.
The problem is we take on the title of Christian, and our heart's far from it. It's gotta be real. I do not want and will not go to heaven saying I pastored a fake church. There might have been some fake people in there, but there wasn't no fake church, because I told them. I told them this thing got to be real. You can't be like my aunt used to say, you can't be a jive turkey. You remember that, you a jive turkey. It's got to be real. And it's gotta be real with you. And it can't be real when you walk through those doors. It's gotta be real when you was at home. It's gotta be real when you was driving in your car. It's got to be real when you pulled up in the parking lot, when they didn't let you park where you wanna park. It's gotta be real when you come in here, and you can't sit where you want to sit. It's gotta be real, because you're gonna die one day, and only what you do for Christ, oh God.
You know, we're having all these storms, and I thought, man, we could get out of here. Thunder hit my property, shook, and I said, the first thing I did was, "Come on, come on, come on". It was like, "Any time. Oh, come on". And then somebody was like, "Hold up, hold up. I ain't did that yet. Ain't did that yet". Well, what you waiting on? You better get moving. "But I want to get married first". You better start rapping. What you're talking about? You better get it going. You better get going, because I'm praying this thing out my heart, glory to God! Come on back, Jesus, come on, Jesus.
Everything I hear that sounds like a trumpet, every shout I hear, every lightning bolt I hear, everything that shake, I'm looking. I'm looking, because it's gonna be better than this. It's gonna be so outstanding. It's gonna be so outstanding. It's gonna be so outstanding. They had this new telescope that could see farther than ever before, and it's the first time I ever saw a nebula, and when I saw it, the beauty of it blew my mind. I've never seen anything like this, and we're a speck in a galaxy of galaxies. And I thought, that nebula looked like a big hourglass with rotating planets in it, and I thought to the one that made that, do you actually think that there's anything here that can compare to the brilliance? And do you really wanna waste this life playing church?
It's real. It is real. He is real. God created Lucifer, an archangel. The most magnificent thing you have ever seen. His beauty, the Bible describes it. He carried the essence of worship, which was why it was such a betrayal. He worshiped God perfectly. When he opened his mouth, it was accompanied with the songs and instruments in him. And he says to Jesus in the wilderness, "Bow down and worship me". He knew that was the number one thing that God seeks, is worship.
Okay, so maybe we missed this part in our development as Christians. If you keep coming here, I'm gonna catch you up. Well, you got so many rules, you can't even be saved because there's so much church stuff. Why is it so much church drama? You can do that for a crook, you can do that for a politician, you can do that for an athlete, you can do that for a teacher, a famous person, you can just do that for almost anybody, but will you do this? Go on, lift your hands up, try it. There's a difference. Is this scripture? The Bible says, "Lifting up holy hands without wrath or without doubt, and in the middle, receive his presence". This, ladies and gentlemen, brings more honor than this.