Worship and Service Pt.3
JOHN 6:28-29
28 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
This word “work” means - that which any one is occupied, anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind – a lot of work we do now days is work that takes place in the mind. When you go to school, all that work takes place in the mind first, if you want to be a doctor, then there is first a lot of work that you have to do in your mind.
DANIEL 3:7
7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. (This was the entire known world that was united under one head – Babylon. Notice that it was at that time when all these different kinds of music were being played and heard, and that was the time when the whole world was forced into false worship - the false worship of a false image)
Worship and Service Pt.3
Just as the world is coming into a maturity of unbelief, this end time bride of Jesus Christ must also come to a perfection of a maturity of faith in the word of God in order to bring the resurrection that has been promised to take place at the end of this age.
This perfection of the bride is not about us never making human mistakes, while we are in this body of fallen flesh we will make mistakes, but this maturity is to do with us as individual members of the bride coming to a perfection of faith, a complete faith in the revelation that God has sent for this hour – that is the promise and the work that we are to be committed to for this hour. So the work of God begins by being taught by the messenger that God sends in your day.
Opening scripture:
JOHN 6:28-29
28 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
As we mentioned, this word “work” means - that which any one is occupied, anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind – a lot of work that is achieved in the great educational places of our towns, cities, and nations, is work that is achieved in the mind. When you go to school or university, all that work takes place in the mind first before you go out and do the “real” work of what you have studied for – if you want to be a doctor, or an engineer, or anything of advance skill, then there is first a lot of work that you have to do in your mind.
**So this work of God is to do with believing, and believing is something that first begins in the mind – it is a work of the mind.
*So notice carefully - This work that Jesus is talking about is first a spiritual work of the mind and heart, it is not a natural work first, because the work is to believe on the messenger for your day, and to believe is a spiritual condition that will lead you on into a maturity of faith, but you can’t believe correctly unless you first hear and receive the voice of him whom God hath sent because faith can only come by the hearing of the word.
MARK 7:5-7
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. (Their heart was far from the revelation that God was revealing for that hour, and that revelation was Christ himself, the coming of the Lord, the revealing of the word for that hour, but they didn’t recognise him then, and they also will not recognise him today at this revealing of Christ the word)
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
So the scripture is making it very plain that if you are sitting under a ministry of any kind that is teaching the doctrines of man instead of the revelation that God has sent through the one he has sent (and in this day it is his end time prophet for this age), then regardless of how much you may think you are worshiping the Lord and doing his work, your worship and service is absolutely not received by God.
***From last week we saw how that in 1965 brother Branham preached three sermons showing how that God will only receive worship from one place that he alone has provided, and that place is where he put his name, and his name is in his Son, and His Son is Christ, and Christ means “the anointed word for your day”, and so God will only meet a person and receive their worship if they are in the revelation of the word that he has proclaimed by the message for the day that you live in - that was our opening scripture:
“This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent”.
If you fail to believe on him whom he hath sent, then it is impossible for you to do the work of God and to serve him.
These three sermons:
*GOD'S CHOSEN PLACE OF WORSHIP - 20th of February 1965 - JEFF.IN
*GOD'S PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP - 25th of April 1965 - LA.CA
*GOD'S ONLY PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP - 28th of November 1965 SHP.LA
For the Holy Spirit to cause brother Branham to preach this 3 times in 1965, there can be no doubt in our minds that this was and still is a very important subject that the Lord is wanting to get over to us – remember that worship identifies where your name is written.
REVELATION 13:8-9
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
You must have an ear to hear what the message is saying for this hour to be able to withstand the deception of false worship.
*The bible is making it clear that if your name is written on the book of life of the Lamb, then you will not be found in false worship, and the only way that you will not be deceived like the rest of the world into false worship is only because you have heard the voice of God in this hour that has put a revelation of the truth in your heart, and that revelation of the truth has taken you out of a Babylonian condition and the false worship of Babylon.
“all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”
***In this day, you will either be found in a Babylonian deception and unbelief against the word (which is what you’ll get in any man made denomination), or you will be found in the word for your day which is God’s only provided place where he will receive your worship and service.
GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_ SHP.LA V-7 N-4 SUNDAY_ 65-1128M
God never put His Name in me, He never put It in the church, He never put It in the Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, but He put It in Christ the Anointed Emmanuel.
214 And the Name is in the Word because He is the Word. Amen! What is He then? The Word interpreted is the manifestation of the Name of God.
***What is he saying - It is the message of the hour, that is where his name is, it is in the revealed word – outside of that, God refuses to accept your worship and service.
Also in 1965, brother Branham preaches two sermons entitled.
*TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT BEING THE WILL OF GOD_ JEFF.IN SUNDAY 18th July 1965 -
*27th November 1965 - TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT IT BEING GOD'S WILL_ SHP.LA SATURDAY -
In these two sermons brother Branham is dealing with the subject of Worship and Service – false worship under the teachings of man’s denominational understanding, and also false service within the system of man’s organisation that is teaching for doctrine the commandments of man, but then he is also showing us what true worship and service is in this hour toward God, because as God’s people are being brought into true worship by the message of this hour, the entire world is being brought into a place of forced worship under a Babylonian culture and teaching.
Article – Released Thursday, 5thJanuary, 2017
More Music Is Being Listened To By More People Than Ever Before
A new analysis about the state of music consumption in the United States during 2016 has been released by BuzzAngle Music, revealing that more music is being listened to by more people than ever before. While it’s certainly an exciting time for music, despite the industry’s physical and digital drops in sales, music is increasingly more accessible due to the availability of free/low-cost streaming services.
According to the report, audio stream consumption increased from 82.6% to 250 billion streams in the last year (2016). “Both album sales and song sales continued to decline but the transition to these new access methods has shown to provide overall growth and a sustainable business model for the future,” the report details.
The overall consumption of music in the United States rose by a whopping 4.2% over 2015’s figures. Because of the ease that streaming services provide, over 28 million unique songs were played compared to seven million unique songs that were purchased. Beyond just being easy, streaming services offer a non-committed relationship between the music and the listener. It gives people the opportunity to taste before taking the bite, to see if they are interested before going any further. In a way, streaming services may have boosted the music industry to spread artists’ music to people that would have otherwise never been acquainted. It will be fascinating to see how this trend continues in 2017, and how it might perhaps affect live music ticket sales.
Then on the 9th of November 2017, this article came out in Forbes…
Streaming has changed not only the music industry and how it functions, but also the lives of everyday people. Now, simply by signing up to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio or any of the dozens of other streaming offerings out there, millions of people can discover tunes that might not otherwise have reached them, stay on top of what’s just been released and listen to as much music as they want. It seems that many are indulging in that last option, and now, Americans are spending more time listening to music than ever before.
According to a new report released by Nielsen Music, on average, Americans now spend just slightly more than 32 hours a week listening to music. That’s an incredible figure, and it shows significant growth from even just the past two years. In 2016, Americans listened to an average of 26.6 hours of music per week, while the year prior, it was just 23.5 hours. (Remember that it is not just the music, but music has words, and words teach and influence your mind)
The trend shows massive gains from year to year, with the average expanding by several hours every 12 months. While some interactions with forms of media are measured in minutes, Americans now listen to almost a day and a half of music every week, which shows that they have songs, albums and playlists streaming throughout the day, and that they now incorporate music in many different parts of their life. The upswing isn’t likely to stop growing, but how many more hours per week can people have music playing?
While the actual figure is massive and somewhat shocking, it’s not actually too surprising that the amount of time Americans spend playing music itself is growing, as the number of songs being played is also rising. While one doesn’t necessarily mean the other is happening, this country is seeing streaming grow all aspects of music consumption.
At 2017’s mid-year mark, Americans had hit play on 184 billion songs on on-demand streaming outlets like Spotify and Apple Music. That’s up an incredible 62% from the same period a year before. The major players in the space have all added millions of users over the past several months, and they'll continue to pad their subscriber bases as time goes on.
These figures show that not only are more people listening to more music, they’re spending a lot more time doing so. While that 32 hours per week stat does take into account all forms of music consumption (including radio), streaming is a big part of the story, and since these numbers are all collected digitally, it’s become easier to be more accurate when looking at play counts and time spent tuning into big hits
DANIEL 3:7-18
7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews (Not all Jews, not all message believers) whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Notice again, service and worship)
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
These three believers were exclusive – they had a real understanding under their prophet Daniel of this subject of worship and service so much so that they were willing to die before they would allow themselves to be involved in the false worship of their day.