| YOUR SOUL: AN EMOTIONAL APPROACH TO WORSHIP Derek Prince HIS GLORY REIGNS B. Childress Sep 18 2009 08:00AM We continue on our way into the holiest. Under the old covenant, God gave Moses an earthly pattern of heavenly realities and truth. But it is only through the new covenant in Jesus Christ that we can enter into the actual heavenly realities of what was disclosed only in shadow under the old covenant. Now we are going to go from the outer court of the temple into the Holy Place. Related to the areas of man's personality, we are moving out of the realm of the body, or the physical, and into the realm of the soul, or the emotional. Or, related to the life of Christ, we are moving out of the area of Jesus in the days when He walked the earth to that revelation of Jesus after death, through resurrection, which is only given by the inspired Scriptures.
for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." (II Corinthians 5:15-16) We are speaking now about the fact that Jesus not merely died, but He also rose. We move out of the outer area of physical knowledge and into the area where revelation is imparted by the Holy Spirit. The First Veil Leaving the outer court, we must first pass through the first veil or curtain. I believe this represents Christ's resurrection. When we pass through that veil, we pass into an area that has been opened to us by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It typifies, in a sense, our identification with Christ in resurrection.
God." (Colossians 3:1) We died with Christ, but Scripture says we have also been raised with Him. The Holy Place Within this first Holy place there were three main objects: the table of bread, the lampstand, and the golden altar of incense. I believe that these typify the corresponding functions of our soul. The Shewbread The table of bread, or shewbread, corresponds to the human will. In Scripture, bread is symbolic of strength, and the strength of the soul is not in its intellect nor in its emotions, but in its will. You can have a brilliant intellect or be highly emotional, yet remain very weak. When I preach, I am not seeking to reach people's emotions. I am seeking to reach and change their wills. It is comparatively easy to get people emotionally stirred up, but it is totally ineffective if we don't change their wills. That has to be our aim. So the shewbread on the table is symbolic of the human will. Referring to the Psalms, there is a key verse in the very area we are dealing with:
the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart." (Psalm 104:14-15) Here is we have God's provision for the three areas of man's soul. The wine is the emotions. The oil is intellect - notice the word shine, which speaks of light. And the bread speaks of the will. God's provision is summed up in these three things: the grain, the wine, and the oil. In Joel 1, God's people, who have abandoned Him, are destitute of all three items and without his presence. In Joel 2, where God said He would pour out His spirit, He also said, "Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:" (Joel 2:19). Grain is the strength of the will and the Word of God. Oil. is the illumination of the Holy Spirit. And wine is the joy of the Lord. You are living an impoverished life if you don't have all three. But God will be sure to provide them if we will turn to Him. It is Christ Himself who sets the pattern for the will.
BUT A BODY HAST THOU PREPARED ME: IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN THOU HAST HAD NO PLEASURE. THEN SAID I, LO, I COME (IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME,) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD." (Hebrews 10:5-7) Christ's body was prepared for one purpose: to do God's will. Likewise, there is only one reason we have bodies: to do God's will. Everything else is secondary. Jesus Himself said,
but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5:30) That is a very important principle. You can judge justly - your discernment will be correct - when you are not seeking your own will. When you are seeking the Father's will, you will not be deceived. You will have perception, you will have discernment, and you will have judgment. But when you begin to want your own will, then you will go astray. There is a passage in Matthew where we see the final confirmation of this point: "...O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matthew 26:39). Here is the picture of Jesus surrendering His will at every point to the Father. Likewise, it is through the surrendering of your will that you will discover the perfect will of God. What gave Jesus strength was doing the will of God. This can be seen in His conversation with His disciples after meeting the Samaritan woman at the well:
ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." (John 4:31-31) Jesus was physically weak when He sat at the well, but when He witnessed to the woman and fulfilled God's will, it gave Him actual physical strength. He no longer felt an immediate need to eat. The same is true for us. It is doing the will of God that gives us strength. It is setting our will to do God's will that gives our souls strength and purpose. The word shewbread is not a literal translation. It is actually "the bread of the face." Whose face? This was the bread that was always before the face of God. In Numbers, it is called "continual" bread (see Numbers 4:7). This was the bread that was continually before God's face day and night, seven days a week. I cannot think of anything that has more deeply affected me than the understanding that my will is like loaves of bread on a table displayed before God day and night, twenty-four hours a day. God demands to inspect my will. There were precisely twelve loaves on the table - if there is one loaf missing or out of place, He wants to know why. I promise you that if you can understand this point, you will be spared many disasters and heartaches. It is your will that you have to guard. It is your will where everything really begins in your dealings with God. The provision for the shewbread is found in Leviticus: "And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in; two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute." (Leviticus 24:5-9) Here I see eight successive features in which the shewbread typifies the kind of will God is looking for. First, to make the shewbread, the grain has to be ground very fine: "Bread corn is bruised" (Isaiah 28:28). This is God, dealing with man's will in which a continual bruising of the will occurs. Your will is acceptable when it is as smooth and as fine as that flour. Until it is, God will go on bruising, bruising, bruising. Second, to make the loaf, it must be molded. Your will must be conformed to the revealed will of God in the Scriptures. And the pattern used for the molding is Jesus. Third, after it has been molded, it has to be baked in the heat of the fire. The heat represents testing. You say, "All right God, I want to do Your will." Then everything goes against you. Five hardships hit you in one day. Do you change your mind because you cannot stand the fire? Do not think it strange that the fire is all around you. That is the baking of the bread. Fourth, the bread has to be ordered. There have to be twelve loaves, in two rows of six. You don't have seven in one row and five in another. This is where many Christians, charismatics in particular, can get sloppy. Without discipline, you cannot be a disciple. If you don't think it matters that you have five loaves in one row and seven in another, you do not think like God. God says six loaves in each row, opposite of one another. Not haphazard; not askew. If your will is like that, your desk, your office, and your kitchen will be like that. If you have trouble keeping order in your life, check the shewbread. Fifth, the bread must be covered by frankincense, which always signifies a type of worship in Scripture. Our response cannot be, "Well, God, if You insist, I will do it." It must be, "Thank You, Lord. I am glad to do Your will. I bow my head in submission and worship. Your will be done, Lord." On earth, as it is in heaven; that is the standard. Sixth, as already mentioned, the bread has to be continually displayed before the face of God day and night. God says, "I want to see where the bread is." Seventh, a double protective crown surrounds it (see Exodus 37:10-12). So precious was the bread that one protective crown around the top of the table was not enough. They put a border with another crown so that if any little crumbs got outside the first crown, they were still protected from falling to the earth by the second crown. Similarly, there is a double crown around your will. What is the double crown? It is to watch and pray.
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:36) You must live in such a way that it would be unrighteous of God to bring the judgment that is coming upon the ungodly upon you. Watch and pray so that you may be counted worthy to escape. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41). Jesus said, "You said you'd follow Me all the way, but if you do not watch and pray you will be caught off guard." Sure enough, that is what happened to the disciples. That is our double protective guard to keep the shewbread in place - watch and pray. The eighth and final feature of the bread is that it has to be put there fresh. You must regularly rededicate your will to God. Smith Wigglesworth said, "Every new revelation demands a new dedication." I agree with that. Every time God shows you a new truth, a new assignment, it demands that the shewbread be put on the table afresh. In the outer court, it was what God has done for us. But when we enter the Holy Place, it is about our responses to God. It begins with the will. To me, it is very clear. As I walk along the street or participate in some daily activity, I think to myself, Is the shewbread there? Is every loaf in place? Is there anything in me that's not submitted to the will of God? I do not mean resigned to God's will; I mean positively delighting to do His will. The Lampstand The next item of furniture within the Holy Place is the seven-branched candlestick, which I liken to the intellect - the source of light. The lampstand was illuminated by olive oil. This represents the human intellect as illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The lampstand and the cherubim on the ark of the covenant within the Holy of Holies were both made of beaten gold. Everything else in the tabernacle was made of pure gold. Pure gold is divine in nature; beaten gold is of a divine workmanship. Similarly, just as the cherubim were created beings, the mind is also a creation of God. Furthermore, beaten gold suggests a process of shaping, hammering, and forming something into a certain pattern. I believe it represents two facets of our intellect: study and discipline. For the lampstand of your intellect to be what God intends, it has to be beaten or shaped.
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ..." (II Corinthians 10:5) Here is a verse that obviously applies to the area of the mind. The suggestion is that, when left to our own nature, our thoughts are in opposition to God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). Every thought of that enemy (the carnal mind) has to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That process is the hammering out of the golden lampstand. Do you know how to tell when your mind is in the captivity of Christ? When everything you think is in line with Scripture. As someone trained in philosophy before I came to Christ, I have probably had more problems with my mind than the average Christian. God has shown me that this was the weak area of my life. He showed me that I needed protection for my mind and gave me a helmet of hope (see I Thessalonians 5:8). He showed me that the world is alienated from God in the attitude of its mind. One of the great ministries of the gospel is bringing people's minds into captivity to the obedience of Christ. But God revealed to me that I had to start with my own mind. I have certainly not arrived, but I have a very different mind from the one I had when I was a young man. I have deliberately hammered away at the lampstand to bring every thought into captivity. This is the process every believer is to go through. In Psalms, we see that light is related to understanding:
And then, in Ephesians, we see that this understanding is a spiritual process. "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Ephesians 4:23). The word "renewed" is in the continuing present tense, suggesting that the mind is continually and progressively renewed. It is not a one-time event. Understanding comes from yielding up your mind to the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit takes over your mind, He will bring it into line with the Book He wrote - the Bible. When the Holy Spirit captivates your mid, your mind agrees with Scripture in every point. But it is a process. Just as Jesus sets the pattern for the will, we see that He does the same for the mind:
Learn to think the way Jesus thought. As the passage continues, you will see that the key word is humility:
Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. That is the mind that was in Jesus. The mind must undergo its crucifixion. That is the process of bringing your proud, stubborn mind into captivity, to obedience, to humility, and to death on the cross. The crucified mind doesn't argue with God. It does not say, "But...." It says, "Amen." The illumination of the intellect depends upon the yielding of the will. You cannot have your intellect illuminated until you yield your will. The illuminated intellect always reveals the condition of the will. After all, in the temple, the candlestick was over the table of shewbread. If your will gets out of order, your illuminated intellect will reveal it, but will also resent it. Then, you will go into darkness. Instead of getting true revelation, you will get false revelation. Jesus said, "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6: 23). The place of revelation, the Holy of Holies where we are headed, is the holiest of all. To receive true revelation, you must be rightly related to the holiest of all. If you are not in right relationship to the source of revelation, you will only receive false revelation. This is the order of divine revelation and direction from God for the believer. It is God's Spirit that controls and operates in the believer's spirit, which controls the believer's soul, and which controls the believer's body. So, as with everything, the initiative, the source of origin, is with God, and it all depends on the will being fully yielded to God. The Golden Altar of Incense The final item within the Holy Place, the golden altar of incense, was the tallest item in the room. It was two cubits high, while everything else was one and a half cubits high. It had horns on top at each corner of the altar. Between the horns, a fire burned, but no sacrificial animal was burned in this flame. The only item placed in this fire was the special incense, created from a certain formula that was unlawful to ever be copied or used in any other situation but on that one golden altar. In other words, the altar of incense represents the place of worship in the life of the believer. There is a worship we give to God that we must never offer to any other. Don't become a worshiper of preachers, because that is misusing the incense that only belongs on the altar that leads to the presence of God. We can identify eight features of the golden altar of incense. Remember, we are still in the area that relates to the soul of man. God first deals with the will (the shewbread), then with the intellect (the lampstand), and then He is prepared to turn your emotions loose. Some people are afraid of emotions in religion. But that isn't really logical since emotions are such an essential part of man. Certainly it is possible for the emotions to become out of control and disorderly, but this particular pattern that we are following shows us how we might bring our emotions back under control. God desires that we be in control of our emotions, and not let our emotions control us. It is the will that determines control. I can dance and celebrate and turn loose like most people. But it isn't my emotions that make me do it; it is my will. I cannot allow my emotions to dictate to me. That is not to say that I appear unemotional. I have emotions, but they must come to their right place. I believe you can have full reign of your emotions when your will and your intellect have been dealt with. But if you do it the other way around, then you are the slave of your emotions. Thus, the first feature of the altar is that it was four-sided and square; it was equal in every dimension. This signifies that your emotions must be balanced, not given to one type of emotion or another. Second, as the table of shewbread was protected with two crowns, the golden altar of incense was protected by one. What is the crown that protects the emotions? It is nothing else but self-control. Remember, you are in charge of your emotions. Never let them take charge of you. Third, the fire symbolizes intensity, purity, and the passion of the soul. Far from wanting us to be unemotional, God wants us to be passionate people. But it is a controlled, purified, and directed passion. Kate Booth Clibborn, the daughter of William Booth, once said, "Jesus loves us passionately, and He wants to be loved passionately." He certainly does. Passion is part of holiness, but it has to be in the right relationship and under the right control. The fourth aspect of the golden altar was the incense, which spoke of devotion made fragrant by the test of fire. Frankincense is a black, unattractive lump until you put it on the fire. Then it becomes wonderfully fragrant. Honey, on the other hand, is sweet and pleasant until you put it on the fire. Then it becomes a sticky, black mess. And God said that He didn't want any honey on the offerings of the Lord made by fire (see Leviticus 2:11). No sweet talk or nice phrases if it won't stand the test of fire. Fifth was the smoke rising up. Beautiful and fragrant, the white smoke is adoration expressed in praise and worship. Sixth, the horns of the altar had to be purified with the blood of the propitiatory sacrifice every year on the Day of Atonement. In other words, our worship must always acknowledge that we only have access by the blood of Jesus. If we ever offer worship that isn't through the blood of Jesus, it is totally unacceptable to God. The altar had to be sanctified by the blood. It was the tallest piece of furniture. The horns brought it up to the approximate height of the cherubim on the mercy seat. Thus, when we launch out in praise and adoration and worship, we are rising up like the smoke of the incense to the highest spiritual levels. And finally, the altar is the transition from the soul to the spirit, from the holy to the most holy. There is no other appointed way but the way of praise, adoration, and worship. Thus, we approach that inner place of holiness with our attitude in line - our will, intellect, and emotion in accordance with God's requirements. Now, we are ready to enter into the very presence of God and discover true worship. Source: ENTERING INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD, by Derek Prince, Copyright 2007, Whitaker House. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
2010 - HIS GLORY REIGNS
| LIFE IN JESUS-MINISTRIES |