30 May 2014 by Adeline Lum CM-
“How many of you are aware that Satan’s greatest desire is to blind everyone on earth from worshipping the living God in Spirit and in Truth?” said Rev Jai Kumar on May 28th at the Saint Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur.
After a transcendent worship experience that reverberated within the walls of the cathedral, Rev Jai shared on the relevant topic of Worshipping God in His Holiness.
Why is Satan kicked out from Heaven? According to Rev Jai, Lucifer (another name for Satan) was originally an angel of worship, who is said to be ‘full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.’ (Eze 28:12) Yet, he was banished from Heaven because he wanted the worship for himself and not God. (Isa 14:12-15)
Rev Jai shared that our spirit is the highest form of personality, and only this part of our personality—not our body and soul—can connect with God. (1 Cor 6:17)
Hence, to get our whole self to be in tune with God, we need our spirit to work with our soul and body. In other words, to wholly worship God, our spirit needs to cooperate with our body and soul.
David sang, “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” (Psalm 103:1) In fact, he was constantly desperate to worship God in the Spirit, especially during hard times. (Psalm 51:11)
Which part of his body is David referring to? Rev Jai shared that David is speaking from the spirit to the soul.
“When you worship God like this, you touched the heartbeat of God. That is the heart of worship,” Rev Jai said.
So, what is true worship?
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman, He told the woman that worshipping God will no longer be confined to a location (i.e., Jerusalem, Samaria) but God is looking for worshippers in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-14)
Rev Jai shared that because our body is referred to as the temple of Christ (1 Cor 6:19), the three elements of our being, mirror the Holy Tabernacle of God as well.
The outer core of the temple, which is most visible, signifies our human body.
The inner holy place signifies our soul and spirit.
Lastly, the holiest place of the tabernacle—Holy of Holies—signifies the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit in us.
And what is the difference between worshippers of the Old Testament and the New Testament?
While believers in the Old Testament worshipped God with musical instruments, singing, and clapping of hands, they were unable to worship God in Spirit and truth due to their sins. Because of that, Rev Jai shared they could not touch the heart of God.
But because Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, the curtains separating the Holy of Holies were torn into two (Mark 15:37-38), signifying the restoration of our relationship with God.
The cancellations of our sins by Christ made us sinless before God (2 Cor 5:21), allowing us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, compared to the believers of the Old Testament.
“This is the greatest gift that God has given us so that we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Our spirit that was disabled to reach God is reactivated and reconnected with Him,” Rev Jai said.
He shared 3 things that would happen when we encounter God during worship.
1. You will discover how great your God is.
Rev Jai shared that the prophet Isaiah was worried that Jerusalem will be attacked by other nations, after the death of King Uziah who defended and expanded Jerusalem in many wars during his lifetime (2 Chronicles 26:5).
So, when King Uziah died, Isaiah went to seek the Lord at the tabernacle. There, he encountered God and received a revelation.
“Although the human king has died, Isaiah realized and saw another King, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8), seated on His Throne. (Isa 6:1-2) This king is in absolute control and he felt encouraged.
“Likewise, you and I may be going through a difficult situation seeing things from our natural eyes. And so, we come into a church to worship God. And sure enough, God shows up during worship and transforms our fears into encouragements and boldness to face the future,” said Rev Jai.
2. You will discover how small you are.
Rev Jai shared how Isaiah realized how small he is before God when he encountered God that he cried out, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips… and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isa 6:5)
“Many of us are mistaken. We think the whole world is all about us. There’s no doubt that you’re very unique in the sight of God. God loves you no matter what, whatever condition you are, you are very significant in His sight.
“But when you come and compare yourself to God, you will immediately realize how small you are before your Creator. Our God is bigger that all our problems and the storms against you,” said Rev Jai.
When we encounter God during worship, we become naturally humbled in our position.
3. Our hearts will be transformed
Rev Jai also shared how some people often felt hindered to worship God.
This is because of an unrepentant and prideful heart. Because of the frequent habit of sinning, some people become desensitize to sins and unable to distinguish between right and wrong anymore. (Eph 4:18)
In a vision of his encounter with God, Rev Jai shared:
God called him, “Come here, son. Look at me. What is it that I see in you?”
Rev Jai asked, “What Lord?”
God replied, “Did you see what I see?”
Feeling convicted, Rev Jai answered, “I see sin.”
Finally, God replied him, “Very good. My business is to get you off your problems if you confessed your sins.”
Upon reflection of his vivid encounter with God, Rev Jai said, “I would not be standing here if I didn’t say that I need God’s help.”
Hence, seek for God’s forgiveness and humbly confess our need for Him. The Bible says that God is just and will surely forgive us upon confession. (Psalm 103:12)
A real encounter with God transforms our heart. Worship bids us to lay our sins bare before Him and seek for forgiveness, because only then God can work in our lives.
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