A Very Thin Line Between The Worship Of God & The Worship Of Vessels Greatly Used By God.

 


Scripture in Revelation 19:10 clearly states that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus and this emphatic statement was made as a reprehension/censure against a very subtle tendency to divided worship; tendency to worship a creature/vessel greatly used of God alongside the creator(God).

Revelation 19:10

And I fell before his feet to worship or do him homage. And he says to me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow-bondman, and the fellow-bondman of thy brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.

Even in the presence of overwhelming revelation, the instruction was clear: Worship God, not the vessel...the spirit of prophecy has nothing before it as it's focus & very essence, but the testimony of Jesus. It's not about any man or vessel greatly used of God, but Jesus. Having any other thing in view is veiling & obscuring the testimony of Jesus, and that represents immense spiritual loss; losing that which is the very spirit & essence of prophecy, losing divine truth and direction as to the future.

Scripture in 2nd Corinthians 4:3-5 shows where the testimony of Jesus is veiled in the lost by the activity of the god of this world in blinding the minds of the unbelieving, yet beyond that, the more subtle aspect is where the testimony of Jesus is veiled in the church by men/ministers preaching themselves & not Christ/Him crucified. 👇🏼

But if our gospel is veiled says the apostle, it is veiled in those that are lost, but he goes on to say for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

Acts 15:21 says "Moses from generations of old, had in every city those who preached him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath", and in 2nd Corinthians 3:15-16 the apostle says that "unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil lies upon their heart. But when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away."

In other words, where Moses is preached or read, the veil lies upon the heart of the hearers, that's the same principle where ministers today preach themselves; however, this is a great tragedy for there has been a transition from the veiled face of Moses to the unveiled face of Jesus Christ, from the old to the new testament, it has turned to the Lord and the veil has been taken away so where in christianity, men still activate the veil of the old covenant by preaching themselves and not Christ, it's a great tragedy.

The testimony of Jesus is obscured by men/vessels preaching themselves; the man centered gospel which takes focus away from the Lord Jesus and makes man and men the focus; the blessing of man, the honour of man, the lifting & glory of man, with very little or no fellowship with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, beholding his glory and being transformed into his image.

Where the testimony of Jesus is obscured, the true spirit of prophecy is lost and such a terrible spiritual condition in the church can be scripturally diagnosed as resulting from lack of fellowship with the Holy Spirit who speaks not of himself but testifies of Jesus(bears the testimony of Jesus) and shows us things to come(the spirit of prophecy) - John 15:26; 16:13.

The Holy Spirit speaks not of himself but bears the testimony of Jesus, no one who speaks of himself or preaches himself can truly bear the pure/unadulterated testimony of Jesus.

Where the testimony of Jesus is lacking, there is no beholding of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, thus the glory & worship of man naturally takes center stage as the worship of God is relegated to the background and becomes a mere banner under which the worship of man is promoted.

In Revelation 19:10 which was stated earlier, we can see that a very thin line exists between the worship of God & the worship of vessels greatly used of God.

There is a very subtle tendency to worship vessels greatly used of God, and this tendency can easily catch up with us; it can easily catch up with men and women who sincerely & passionately love the Lord. 

Even an apostle so close to the Lord, so fond of Jesus that he often leaned on his breast, fell down to worship the vessel God used to show him prophetic visions in the book of Revelation. That subtle tendency to idolatry amongst God's people, against which this same apostle wrote thus in 1st John 5:20-21: "little children keep yourselves from idols" 

Oh! Just how many idols we need to be kept from, for anything that takes attention and focus away from the Lord Jesus, is an idol and the most subtle are religious activities, engagements and even christian ministry which in the name of Jesus and under the banner of 'the work of God' yet takes our attention & focus away from the Son of God, occupying us with every other thing but not with the Lord Jesus.

It is a terrible thing where such worship of vessels greatly used of God goes on in the name of honor or doing homage to men of God, without being discerned, detected & reprimanded.

May the Lord search our hearts and deliver us from every subtle & undetected idol, everything that obscures the light of the knowledge(consciousness & awareness) of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


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