Longing for Eden -Part 2 of 3 Luke 18:1-2, 6-8 THEN He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man....(vs 6-8) Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” The then in vs. 1 follows the last thing Jesus taught in Chapter 17 of Luke. Luke 17 is the equivalent of Matthew 24...this is Jesus teaching about the last 7 years leading up to His physical return to re-establish Eden over 1,000 years. He finishes off the teaching by prophesying that God will respond to the night and day cry of His people. 24-hour worship and prayer is one of the most-prophesied aspects of the end-times. Right now, over 500 locations are contending for night and day worship...this is one of the most blatantly obvious signs of the times pointing to the soon-return of Jesus...but almost no one knows about it!! 24-hour worship seems like a new thing to many people, but it is actually the most Biblical way to worship. It is one of the oldest ways to worship corporately. This is what Davids Tabernacle was all about. David hired 4,000 singers and musicians to keep night and day worship going in Jerusalem. This was eventually moved into a permanent location, called the Temple. God took this very seriously. Most of the Book of Psalms was written in less than 40 years by David and his night and day singers. Solomons Temple, and its 24-hour worship format was ALL about responding to Gods desire for very good...to be with His people face to face. He promised Solomon that if He took the Temple seriously like His dad did, then God would dwell in the land with them: I Kings 6:11-14 Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “ Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.” So Solomon built the temple and finished it. Worship is the highest expression of desire. God searches the earth looking for people that desire what He desires (people who are loyal to Him and His plan to restore the earth back to Eden) and then He gives them faith to start changing the land back to Eden, step by step: II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him... This is what the Temple was all about. By the time Solomons reign was established, the land of Israel had started to physically change: II Chronicles 9:22-27 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year. Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. So he reigned over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. How did a man make cedars as common as sycamores? By putting His faith in God and leading the people in making worship and prayer THE priority in the geographic region he was responsible for. Even the military leaders were connected to the Temple. God responded by filling Solomons mind with wisdom and insight, changing the nature of the economy, protecting the land from enemies, and changing the very nature of...nature! This is the promise God has always held out for His people willing to agree with Him: Leviticus 26:3-12 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage...and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies... your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you...I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. This is the beginning, and the point of, of Eden: a lush place to live for man and God to dwell together. It begins with worship and ends with the transformation of the land. This is why: because FAITH transforms the physical realm to agree with heaven, where God is. God has given the earth to mankind...we really have a say in the quality of our land, economy, and the extent to which we encounter God...and according to the Bible, this all comes down to how we approach God in worship. Do we dwell together in worship as a united family whos number one goal is agreeing with God about what happens around His throne? Do we make a night and day cry out to Him our actual strength? Or do we make other earthly things our strength and do worship when it is convenient for us? This is really the question!! 24-hour worship is probably one of the MOST INCONVENIENT THINGS THE CHURCH CAN DO!! BY DESIGN. It REQUIRES putting aside other permissible things in order to keep the fire on the altar. To maintain 24-hour worship, you have to REALLY believe God is the only answer, source, and reward...otherwise, you will quit. Behind every 24-hour worship location, there are at least a few crazy people who are giving their ENTIRE lives to it...otherwise, it just simply will stop. You cant do 24-hour worship half-heartedly...it is impossible, by design. This is the first commandment: Matthew 22:35-40 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” The temple worship order required both commandments be held to in order to work. 24-hour worship with a bunch of people is the context of living out the two most important commandments according to Jesus! That is why He was so disgusted with what church had become at the time of His first coming. This is why He threw over the tables and declared this place is supposed to be a House of Prayer! Yes, the temple was open 24-hours a day, but at the time of Jesus first coming, the people didnt see the worship 24/7 as their priority in life...only one person did...her name was Anna, and she was a forerunner to Jesus coming the first time...she was the only one recorded that was longing for Eden in the Temple: Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Anna had faith to remain in the Temple expressing her desire to God for the Messiah. Anna got what she contended for, which was the biggest step back to Eden mankind has taken, to date. Jesus made the very return to Eden possible, and God made a point of letting the world know that Anna was the one with a night and day presence in the Temple contending for it. Faith changes the physical realm to move back in the direction of Eden, because faith is the conscious act of putting all your eggs in the basket of Gods presence: Matthew 21:18-22 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Faith changes the physical realm to agree with heaven. BUT, most people dont have mountain-moving faith. What we DO have is desire unlimited. Desire is the currency of heaven. You spend it with your words. The temple was the place to express desire in worship. That worship, expressing desire in the highest possible way, obtains earth changing faith. This isnt symbolic. The tree really died. We are supposed to speak to the physical and see it change...but this is a process of dying to ourselves, taking up the cause of Heaven...Eden...wholeheartedly...and step by step growing into this faith. This starts globally with 24-hour worship at the time immediately preceding Jesus return.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:11:47 +0000
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