ARTICLES ON WORSHIP
DATE: 2 June 2002
SPEAKER: Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
TITLE: The four dimensions of worship
TEXT: Ephesians 3:14-21; John 4:19-24
The natural is characterised by three dimensions. Everything that is tangible has a length, a breadth or a width and a height.
The spirit realm however, is characterised by four dimensions. There is a dimension that transcends our natural senses, our human abilities and our physical reach - it is the fourth dimension. Paul gives us a hint of this dimension in I Corinthians 2:9,10.
When worship is done in spirit and in truth. It embraces all four dimensions. Our focus transcends that which eye can see and ear can hear. We are no longer concerned with worshipping in "Jerusalem or on the mountain" - we are looking for the dimension of the spirit.
There is a width, a length, a depth and a height of worship. Notice that there is an order - first the width, followed by the length, then the depth and finally the height. Most people long for the heights of worship - they want to mount up with wings as eagles. But the reason why this experience with God is the exception rather than the rule is that we have skipped the first three dimensions.
Ephesians 3:18: "And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you will be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God." - The Message Version
The width speaks of capacity, the length of consistency, the depth of intimacy and the height of ecstasy. The width and length are usually our own initiative - the horizontal dimensions. Then the depth and height are God's response - the vertical dimensions.
David was one of the few Old Testament personalities who experienced all four dimensions. In Acts 13:22, he was described as a man after God's own heart. - The only person in the entire bible who received that testimony. (See also I Samuel 13:14)
In 2 Samuel 23:1, he was described as the man raised up on high, "the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel."
THE FOUR DIMENSIONS1.THE WIDTH OF WORSHIPThis speaks of the capacity of your heart. Your worship cannot exceed your hunger for God. If you find that your worship is dry, shallow, superficial, empty and routinous - could it be that there is no hunger for God in your heart?
It is extremely difficult to eat when you are not hungry or to drink when you are not thirsty. Has anybody ever tried to offer you a drink just after you have had about four drinks? You will find that it usually doesn't work. On the other hand, when you are thirsty, your capacity for a drink is very high. There is, as it were, plenty of room in your heart for a drink. Psalm 42:1,2
Four important truths about the width of worship:
i.God does not feed people who are not hungry.
Only those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filed - Matthew 5:6 .When we were children, our parents sometimes tried to force feed us - a very frustrating experience for parent and child. Not so with God - if you are not hungry, that's okay. It is unfortunate that many times God spreads a table before us and all we do is nibble casually. No wonder our cups are not running over - Psalm 23:5.
ii.God cannot turn away from the cry of the truly hungry Psalm 107:9:
As a mother cannot ignore the cry of her hungry child, when you cry out to God with a genuine hunger in your heart - He is compelled to move on your behalf.
When people are really hungry, they don't care what people around them think - they are willing to do the most ridiculous things to get food. It's time we began to put our hunger on display in God's house - it's time to choose Deity over dignity. When someone next to you begins to act abnormal and out of turn, don't get upset -it may be that they are really hungry for God.
David put his hunger on display when he danced before the Lord with all his might 2 Samuel 6:14-16. Bartimeus refused to be silenced by people around him and Jesus responded to his hunger.
iii.God's response to you will be directly proportional to the degree of your hunger:
The reason why a lot of us are not experiencing a lot of God in our worship is because our hunger is not a lot. We must have an uncontainable hunger to attract an uncontainable God. In 2 Kings 4:1-6, the oil stopped flowing not because heaven ran of oil, but because earth ran out of vessels.
iv.Your hunger for God can be created by God and by you:
You create a hunger for God by focussing your attention on Him. If you give your attention to anything long enough, you will begin to desire it.
THIS IS THE WIDTH OF WORSHIP - THE CAPACITY.
2.THE LENGTH OF WORSHIP:This speaks of your consistency or your "persistency" in pursing God. The hunger inside you will make you go the distance with God. Moses waited on the mountain for six days before God even said a word Exodus 24:15-18.
Elisha was willing to follow Elijah to the finishing line - 2 Kings 1:1-9. Unfortunately many times we stop short of the finishing line because we do not understand how to persevere in God's presence.
Daniel persisted in prayer and fasting 21 days, and Gabriel broke through Satan's resistance in the heavenlies - Daniel 10:2-13.
The Syrophoenician woman refused to be put off - and her persistence released her miracle Matthew 15:22-28.
Jacob wrestled with God all night and received the destiny-changing blessing - Genesis 32:24-30.
How long are you willing to wait on God? What price are you willing to pay to see His face?
THIS IS THE LENGTH OF WORSHIP - THE CONSISTENCY.
3.THE DEPTH OF WORSHIP:This speaks of the intimacy we enjoy with God in the time of worship. When God sees our true hunger and our persistence, He then begins to say "okay, come here, let me show you something you will never see before." Then He takes us into His "secret place", where only a select few are invited - Psalm 91:1. This is the only place of intimacy.
Our relationship with God in worship can be likened to man's relationship with his wife in intercourse. This is the ultimate expression of oneness. This is the place you do not go with everyone or just anyone - it is reserved for the one you are in covenant with. This is the place where life flows - the place of impartation. The place great things are birthed.
In the place of intimacy, Jesus is the Bridegroom and you are the bride - whether you are male or female. He is the initiator and you are the responder. This is the place of complete nakedness - here you are not trying to impress God anymore. You have nothing to hide from Him. He knows; and you know that He knows; and He knows that you know that He knows. He sees everything, the fat, the flesh, the flab, the cellulite, the stretch marks and every other blemish. Yet He says, "I still love you".
The depth of worship is the place where you and God whisper "sweet nothings" into each other's ears. You tell Him how wonderful He is and He tells you how precious you are. This where you discover your true self.
Once you have been in this place, you always want to keep coming back. Why? Because it was fun - you enjoyed it. You experienced the fullness of joy. But guess what - God enjoyed it too! And He keeps longing for the next time you would come back.
THIS IS THE DEPTH OF WORSHIP - THE INTIMACY.
4.THE HEIGHT OF WORSHIP:This speaks of the ecstasy you experience as you spend time in God's presence. In that place of intimacy, you hit a point where God takes you - like He did Enoch - Genesis 5:24. God lifts you to unprecedented heights. It's like being drunk with wine and being high on drugs at the same time.
Ephesians 5:18-20 - Paul did not say, "do not be drunk". He simply said, if you are going to get drunk, wine is not the way to do it. Why? Because that kind of drunkenness carries with it what Paul calls "dissipation". This speaks of "frivolous amusement" or "intemperate living".
But still, we all have a need for intoxication Acts 2:13,15. "For these are not drunk as you suppose". The world has their own way of getting high - alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, music, clubs etc. All these are the devil's counterfeit for true intoxication.
But as you enter into the spirit of true worship you begin to mount with wings as an eagle. You will run and not be weary; you will walk and not faint. At this height, your perspective changes - you begin to see with bird's eye view or should I say "God's eye view".
The issues that used to wear you down and depress you no longer have that effect on you. Your God gets bigger and your problems get smaller. Life takes on a whole new meaning.
THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF WORSHIP - THE ECTASY.
God is calling His people into the four dimensions of worship - are you ready to come? Are you ready to come back to the heart of worship?
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.
The spirit realm however, is characterised by four dimensions. There is a dimension that transcends our natural senses, our human abilities and our physical reach - it is the fourth dimension. Paul gives us a hint of this dimension in I Corinthians 2:9,10.
When worship is done in spirit and in truth. It embraces all four dimensions. Our focus transcends that which eye can see and ear can hear. We are no longer concerned with worshipping in "Jerusalem or on the mountain" - we are looking for the dimension of the spirit.
There is a width, a length, a depth and a height of worship. Notice that there is an order - first the width, followed by the length, then the depth and finally the height. Most people long for the heights of worship - they want to mount up with wings as eagles. But the reason why this experience with God is the exception rather than the rule is that we have skipped the first three dimensions.
Ephesians 3:18: "And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you will be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God." - The Message Version
The width speaks of capacity, the length of consistency, the depth of intimacy and the height of ecstasy. The width and length are usually our own initiative - the horizontal dimensions. Then the depth and height are God's response - the vertical dimensions.
David was one of the few Old Testament personalities who experienced all four dimensions. In Acts 13:22, he was described as a man after God's own heart. - The only person in the entire bible who received that testimony. (See also I Samuel 13:14)
In 2 Samuel 23:1, he was described as the man raised up on high, "the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel."
THE FOUR DIMENSIONS1.THE WIDTH OF WORSHIPThis speaks of the capacity of your heart. Your worship cannot exceed your hunger for God. If you find that your worship is dry, shallow, superficial, empty and routinous - could it be that there is no hunger for God in your heart?
It is extremely difficult to eat when you are not hungry or to drink when you are not thirsty. Has anybody ever tried to offer you a drink just after you have had about four drinks? You will find that it usually doesn't work. On the other hand, when you are thirsty, your capacity for a drink is very high. There is, as it were, plenty of room in your heart for a drink. Psalm 42:1,2
Four important truths about the width of worship:
i.God does not feed people who are not hungry.
Only those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filed - Matthew 5:6 .When we were children, our parents sometimes tried to force feed us - a very frustrating experience for parent and child. Not so with God - if you are not hungry, that's okay. It is unfortunate that many times God spreads a table before us and all we do is nibble casually. No wonder our cups are not running over - Psalm 23:5.
ii.God cannot turn away from the cry of the truly hungry Psalm 107:9:
As a mother cannot ignore the cry of her hungry child, when you cry out to God with a genuine hunger in your heart - He is compelled to move on your behalf.
When people are really hungry, they don't care what people around them think - they are willing to do the most ridiculous things to get food. It's time we began to put our hunger on display in God's house - it's time to choose Deity over dignity. When someone next to you begins to act abnormal and out of turn, don't get upset -it may be that they are really hungry for God.
David put his hunger on display when he danced before the Lord with all his might 2 Samuel 6:14-16. Bartimeus refused to be silenced by people around him and Jesus responded to his hunger.
iii.God's response to you will be directly proportional to the degree of your hunger:
The reason why a lot of us are not experiencing a lot of God in our worship is because our hunger is not a lot. We must have an uncontainable hunger to attract an uncontainable God. In 2 Kings 4:1-6, the oil stopped flowing not because heaven ran of oil, but because earth ran out of vessels.
iv.Your hunger for God can be created by God and by you:
You create a hunger for God by focussing your attention on Him. If you give your attention to anything long enough, you will begin to desire it.
THIS IS THE WIDTH OF WORSHIP - THE CAPACITY.
2.THE LENGTH OF WORSHIP:This speaks of your consistency or your "persistency" in pursing God. The hunger inside you will make you go the distance with God. Moses waited on the mountain for six days before God even said a word Exodus 24:15-18.
Elisha was willing to follow Elijah to the finishing line - 2 Kings 1:1-9. Unfortunately many times we stop short of the finishing line because we do not understand how to persevere in God's presence.
Daniel persisted in prayer and fasting 21 days, and Gabriel broke through Satan's resistance in the heavenlies - Daniel 10:2-13.
The Syrophoenician woman refused to be put off - and her persistence released her miracle Matthew 15:22-28.
Jacob wrestled with God all night and received the destiny-changing blessing - Genesis 32:24-30.
How long are you willing to wait on God? What price are you willing to pay to see His face?
THIS IS THE LENGTH OF WORSHIP - THE CONSISTENCY.
3.THE DEPTH OF WORSHIP:This speaks of the intimacy we enjoy with God in the time of worship. When God sees our true hunger and our persistence, He then begins to say "okay, come here, let me show you something you will never see before." Then He takes us into His "secret place", where only a select few are invited - Psalm 91:1. This is the only place of intimacy.
Our relationship with God in worship can be likened to man's relationship with his wife in intercourse. This is the ultimate expression of oneness. This is the place you do not go with everyone or just anyone - it is reserved for the one you are in covenant with. This is the place where life flows - the place of impartation. The place great things are birthed.
In the place of intimacy, Jesus is the Bridegroom and you are the bride - whether you are male or female. He is the initiator and you are the responder. This is the place of complete nakedness - here you are not trying to impress God anymore. You have nothing to hide from Him. He knows; and you know that He knows; and He knows that you know that He knows. He sees everything, the fat, the flesh, the flab, the cellulite, the stretch marks and every other blemish. Yet He says, "I still love you".
The depth of worship is the place where you and God whisper "sweet nothings" into each other's ears. You tell Him how wonderful He is and He tells you how precious you are. This where you discover your true self.
Once you have been in this place, you always want to keep coming back. Why? Because it was fun - you enjoyed it. You experienced the fullness of joy. But guess what - God enjoyed it too! And He keeps longing for the next time you would come back.
THIS IS THE DEPTH OF WORSHIP - THE INTIMACY.
4.THE HEIGHT OF WORSHIP:This speaks of the ecstasy you experience as you spend time in God's presence. In that place of intimacy, you hit a point where God takes you - like He did Enoch - Genesis 5:24. God lifts you to unprecedented heights. It's like being drunk with wine and being high on drugs at the same time.
Ephesians 5:18-20 - Paul did not say, "do not be drunk". He simply said, if you are going to get drunk, wine is not the way to do it. Why? Because that kind of drunkenness carries with it what Paul calls "dissipation". This speaks of "frivolous amusement" or "intemperate living".
But still, we all have a need for intoxication Acts 2:13,15. "For these are not drunk as you suppose". The world has their own way of getting high - alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, music, clubs etc. All these are the devil's counterfeit for true intoxication.
But as you enter into the spirit of true worship you begin to mount with wings as an eagle. You will run and not be weary; you will walk and not faint. At this height, your perspective changes - you begin to see with bird's eye view or should I say "God's eye view".
The issues that used to wear you down and depress you no longer have that effect on you. Your God gets bigger and your problems get smaller. Life takes on a whole new meaning.
THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF WORSHIP - THE ECTASY.
God is calling His people into the four dimensions of worship - are you ready to come? Are you ready to come back to the heart of worship?
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.
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