Reigning through Grace: NEW TESTATMENT WORSHIP

#2. In the New testament the obvious absence of altars is the essence of worship. This is so because an altar is a place of death. Upon the end of the Mosaic age we see the old heaven and earth destroyed alongside with sea, which is where the sacrifices were made daily. Upon the introduction of the new heaven and earth in the New covenant, no altar is mentioned because the cross was God's own altar that forever appeased Him. This is why the early church did not set up altars.

God no longer requires us to set up altars for worship. The only altar that stands is the one in heaven. We already have one in place that is the reality of the shadow of the Old covenant.

“We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. (Hebrews 13:10-12)

This altar continually pours out a sweet smelling savour in heaven. The offering of Jesus sacrifice is the only reason why your worship and praise is acceptable and pleasing in His sight. You could never be acceptable based on your own preparation and sacrifice.

#3. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO ENTER THE TEMPLE OR WORSHIP.

I hear so often how worship leaders emphasize the need to be prepared before giving God quality worship. It's a nice idea one that doesn't qualify for new testament application. In the Old covenant, a lot of preparations were necessary because the way into the Holy of holies was only if you were able to meet up the perfect standards for God to commune with the High Priests. So they offered lambs that were spotless, without blemish and perfect. The high priest inspected the lamb offered before approaching God's presence.

Jesus came as God's chosen lamb offering to make the way into the holy of holies open for all. He was inspected by God and he was found perfect so that his offering would end the offering system, wrap up the need for the temple. Now the temple of God is no longer in a physical location but in our hearts.

John said in Revelation 21:2 " And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." This was fulfilled when the old testament was wrapped up in the destruction of the temple in AD70 and the new began in earnest.

You are now his prepared place. His dwelling place is now within you. He never leaves this place. We only need to realize that and live from that truth. The anointing is always there, his presence is always there. Your praise and worship makes you to acknowledge the indwelling presence and not to invoke it. You are already his prepared place. Jesus's finished work has completed us in Him and He sees us a perfect dwelling place even more than the heavens. He sees us as our High priest for every nation is as faithful as their high priest. Halleluyah!

#4. LOCATION IS NO LONGER ISSUE:
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." John 4:21.

The spirit of God has found a new temple in you. God went through all length to let the former be destroyed. To prove that He is no longer in Sinai but in Zion. Many people still offer worship from Sinai. Their worship is based on their goodness and not His goodness. Worship from Sinai is exalting God's holiness and man's unworthiness. It focuses on the unexplainable mysteries of God. New worship in Zion on the other hand is based on His goodness towards us. It focuses on the revealed mysteries of God which was hidden for our glory.

Whenever you go now you carry the temple with you. Lucifer was created with musical strings and equipments but we have been recreated with the essence of His temple where worship is produced.

#5. YOU CAN'T WORSHIP HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL AND STRENGHT:
In new testament worship, it is the spirit that leads and not you. Jesus said that for that those worship must worship in spirit and truth. There is no perfect way that you can come across to God in and of yourself. When God told them to worship Him with all their heart, soul and strength, He was setting them up for failure because they boasted in Exodus 19 & 20 "that whatever he commands we will do". You cannot fulfil a divine mandate with human resources. This was to bring them to the end of themselves hence the need to cry for a saviour.

As we know from Biblical history they failed over and over again. Jesus came and fulfilled that law so that whenever we stand in recognition of his presence through worship God sees us accepted in the beloved (Ephes 1:6)

You don't need to cry or roll on the ground if you can't find yourself "lost in the spirit". He is not looking for the demonstrations of a desperate worshipper. He is looking for Jesus in you. That's why His grace can actually leave you speechless in worship. Despite your imperfections and shortcomings He is always looking forward to have a moment with you. Why? You have been called into the fellowship of His son Jesus (1 Cor 1:9)

#6. YOUR IMPERFECT WORSHIP STILL ACCEPTABLE:
The High Priest of the Old Covenant was a type of Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant. Once every year the High Priest under the Old Covenant had entered into the tabernacle on earth with the blood of bulls and goats to make a yearly atonement for the sins of Israel. The priests stood daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices for the sins of Israel (Hebrews 10:11). Christ entered into Heaven itself with His own blood, having obtained ETERNAL redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12, 23-27).

Jesus' ministry as High Priest did not end with His carrying His blood into the Holy Place, but He is still the minister of the Sanctuary (Hebrews 8:2). The word, "sanctuary," in Hebrews 8:2, in the Greek means "Holy things." He is ministering in the "Holy things." These "Holy things" are our prayers and worship. We do not know how to worship Him as we ought, but He takes our ofttimes raw and imperfect petitions and worship and makes them beautiful to the Father. These "Holy things" are our "Spiritual Sacrifices" which He makes acceptable to the Father. Every prayer, every worship is accepted by the Father when it is presented in the name of Jesus.
I Peter 2:5, "Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ."

He is a merciful and faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17-18). He is a High Priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:14-16). He is High Priest forever (Hebrews 6:19).

Your imperfect worship is filtered through faithful and perfect High priest. Seated there is a man. Our champion. Our High Priest. He is our representation. He sits there because he earned it, Jesus is the only man who went to heaven by works. He is the only man who went to heaven by merit. That is your worship does not merit God's manifestations because all is fulfilled in Him and through Him as high priest.

Sometimes we spend so much time perfecting our worship, playing the right notes and some people believe their voice is not good enough but the real question to ask is this"Is my High Priest good enough"

#7. NO DISQUALIFICATIONS!
“GOD spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to GOD; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am GOD who makes them holy.” Leviticus 21: 16-23

“No bastard is to enter the congregation of GOD, even to the tenth generation, nor any of his children.” - Deuteronomy 23:2

Based on the above scriptures none of us would have been qualified to offer up to God acceptable sacrifices as priests. Revelation 5:10 says that “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” For God to call us a kingdom of priests it means we have no spiritual defects. Those defects in the Old testaments were not something that you could get rid off. Just like our old man and nature wasn’t going to be done away through our determination in self righteousness.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to be perfect before God can accept your worship. Don’t tell anyone that their sin will not let the power of God flow and that He can’t hear their worship. Jesus was so bruised with every conceivable device so that he would bear all our imperfections and iniquities and become so deformed that we would receive the beauty of his perfection in our spirits. Whenever you stand in worship realize it is not about you but about him. He is your qualification. He is your beauty and He has clothed you with the beauty of His holiness. Your worship is romance of perfection upon perfection. Divinity sharing with humanity without finding fault but joy and unequalled love.