Chapter
Fourteen:
THE
DESIRE OF WORSHIP: THAT I MIGHT KNOW HIM
'That I may know him'
(Philippians
No matter how high the level we
have reached in worship, there are always greater heights to reach. This is
what is so exciting about worship. There
is always more and we should always be seeking to come into a closer
relationship with the Lord. Paul
experienced being carried to the third heaven where he heard things he could
not repeat, (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).
I believe that it is impossible
for anyone who has been to such heights of glory experientially to tell about
it, because we are incapable of understanding.
How can anyone explain eternity to us?
We have only lived in time. How
can we understand the glory of the place where holiness alone can dwell? We have only experienced living in a sinful
world. Paul had been carried to these
heights, but even though he had worshipped at such a high level, still he cried
'that I might know Him'. There are
always more heights to climb. Worship in
eternity will bring the worshipper into higher and higher realms of glory. The cry ' that I might know Him' must be the
cry of the worshipper at every level of worship.
A worshipper can only reach the
heights in worship that he or she has reached in his or her experience.
A worshipper who has entered into
worship through praise and thanksgiving can only worship to the extent of his
or her experience. The height that we
reach in worship is dependent upon the closeness of our relationship with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Some worshippers
have not yet reached the level of a surrendered life but they can offer 'praise
and thanksgiving' and say with Paul 'that I might know Him'. We should always be seeking to know Him and
to move higher in worship. Whether we
have just begun to go up to worship or if we are on the highest level, the prayer
is the same 'that I might know Him'.
The height of our worship will depend
upon how much we desire to know the beauty of the Lord. The prayer of Paul for the Ephesian believers
was 'that Christ may dwell in your hearts'.
Paul was praying for people who knew the Lord. He was not praying for their salvation. His prayer was for the Ephesians to fulfil
the higher calling to worship. He wanted
Christ to be at the centre of their affections that they would know the love of
God. This is the higher calling to
worship. 'That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge,
that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.' (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Worship is always centred upon
the love of Christ, and the beauty of Jesus is revealed through the cross. When we know the 'love of Christ' then our
response will always be to worship. The
Apostle John says look at this love that God has shown to us. The Son of God was willing to leave heaven
where the angels worshipped Him, and come down to earth to identify Himself with us. He
was willing to be scourged, spat upon, and crucified, yet He did it with joy
because He knew the Father had given Him a people for His inheritance. 'Behold, what manner of love the Father has
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world
knows us not, because it knew him not.' (1 John 3:1).
A worshipper is one who desires to
know the beauty of the Lord.
We
are called to enjoy a wonderful love relationship with the Son of God. It is a relationship that many Christians
never reach. The one
who is a worshipper will stand in awe when He beholds 'the King in His beauty'
(Isaiah 33:17). Peter had this love for
Christ in mind when he wrote that to us who believe 'He is precious' (1 Peter
2:7). He is the One described by Solomon as Altogether Lovely', 'he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend,' (Song of Solomon 5:16). Song of Solomon is written for worshippers
who rejoice saying: 'I am my beloved‘s, and my beloved is mine' (Song of Solomon 6:3). When
we desire to see the King in His beauty then the pull of worldly things will be
taken away. The honours and pleasures of the world are as nothing in
comparison to the glory of knowing Christ.
The call to worship is the most exciting calling that it is possible to
be given.
When
believers who have never learnt to worship get to heaven they will be so sad when
they realise they were robbed of their opportunity to worship the Lord with
their lives. They will see their
brothers and sisters in Christ worshipping with joy at the judgment seat of
Christ, but they will have nothing to present to the Lord in worship. This is
not a judgment of fear; it is a judgment of love, and how we worship then will
depend on how we worship now. In the
book of Revelation, the Laodicean church had been
drawn away from their relationship with Jesus.
They gloried in their wealth, possessions, abilities, and their
self-reliance. The Lord wanted them to
have fellowship with Him. 'Behold, I
stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' (Revelation 3:17-18)
When
we talk together with believers it is easy to know those who have a close
relationship with Christ. They are
excited about Jesus, they talk about Jesus, and they are full of the joy of the
Lord. I love to be with people who are
like this. Paul had so much that he
could have trusted in, but in order to be a worshipper he had to disregard all
of this and become a fool for Christ. He
did this with joy. When we pray 'that I
might know Him', then we must also say 'I consider all things as rubbish in
comparison to knowing Christ'. If we
mean it then we will be willing to face anything with joy in order to win
Him. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords
gave everything for us so that we can be His, but now that we are in Christ,
all that is His is ours. How can we ever
understand this love? How can we ever
understand the greatness of this calling that we have been called to?
Paul's one
desire
Paul
desired only to worship on the highest level.
He counted all things as rubbish that he might win Christ. He wanted to be one with Christ in His
righteousness, and to worship on the highest levels. He desired to know the power of His
resurrection, and worship on the level of the anointing. He desired to worship on the higher level as
a fellow participator of His sufferings.
He wanted to worship on the highest level of being united with Christ in
His eternal purpose by being made conformable to His death. Paul's sights were on having a glorious
entrance into heaven so that he could rejoice with great joy, united for all
eternity with the One He loved above all.
'That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; If by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' (Philippians 3:10-11).
The desire of the worshipper at
every level is to know Christ. The
desire to worship begins with being drawn to Christ, but there is no limit to
the heights of worship. Paul desired to
know Christ even though he had experienced the glory of the Lord in paradise
and heard things that he could not repeat.
We will see the beauty of the
Lord according to the heights we have reached in worship. A Christian who knows the Lord as Saviour may
not understand those who have gone higher in worship to see Him as 'the
Altogether Lovely One'. The desire to
know Him increases as we move to higher realms in worship, and the desire for
the things of the world will decrease according to our longing after
Christ. Worship is born out of the
desire to 'know Him'. The worshipper
will always find more heights in worshipping the Lord because there are no
limits to His glory. What we desire will
determine what we seek after. The
longing of our hearts should always be to 'know Him'.