Review of Part 1 and Introduction

Weaver reviews last week's message on spontaneous worship, recalling examples from Eliezer, the Israelites, Moses, and the Samaritan leper. He reiterates the distinction between public and private worship and the significance of bowing as a symbol of humility.

Last week I started a message which I entitled, "Bowing and Worshipping" or "Spontaneous Worship."

I will continue that message today, but I will take a few moments to review as well. So notice in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 and verse 20. The Bible says,

So last week I tried to begin by showing you there was a distinction between public worship and private worship. And I went on a little bit farther and pointed out that there was such a thing as spontaneous worship, which could be classified in one sense of the word as private, but it is not scheduled and so therefore it is spontaneous. And looking at it we saw the very first occurrence under Eliezer, who was Abraham's servant, when he went to get the wife for Isaac and he prayed and God providentially and sovereignly answered that prayer even before the words got out of his mouth. And when he found out that God had answered the prayer, the Bible said he bowed and worshipped the Lord. And then of course we also looked at the children of Israel when they received word that God was going to visit them and deliver them, they bowed and worshipped. Likewise, when the actual deliverance came in Exodus chapter 12 at the Passover again, and they realized that they were spared, the Bible says they bowed and worshipped.

And then of course we looked at Moses when God showed him His glory, and God told Moses that He would show him His mercy, and His goodness, and His longsuffering. And as God did so, the Bible tells us that Moses then bowed and worshipped. I pointed out last week by way of introducing this subject in Luke chapter 17 verses 11-17 that one of the clearest illustrations of spontaneous worship is found there in this one Samaritan leper. You remember our Lord had ten lepers come to Him and they all asked to be cleansed. And as they went away to show themselves to the priest, one, one alone, when he realized that he was cleansed, turned, and came back to the Lord, and bowed before Him, and worshipped Him, and thanked Him. We oftentimes emphasize the nine ungrateful ones, but we never ever really point out the one here who spontaneously worshipped the Lord.

And I pointed out by way of application how many times God has healed each of us over, and over, and over. And we just assume that, you know, that is just part of living, and fail to give God the praise, and the honor, and the glory. And I also pointed out this thing, and I asked, do you understand why we bow our heads when we pray? And oftentimes even when we worship we do not necessarily bow them all the way down to the ground, but there is a reason being. And that reason is very good.

The Stiff Neck as Rebellion

Weaver explains that refusing to bow indicates rebellion and a stiff neck, citing Deuteronomy 31:27, Psalm 75:5, and Jeremiah 17:23. He applies this to boastful planning without acknowledging God's will, referencing James 4:13-16.

The bowing of the head symbolizes humility, and submission, and servitude. Refusing to bow indicates rebellion, wickedness, pride, arrogance, haughtiness, and I would add perversity as well. Because Moses said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 31 and verse 27,

But notice if you would the stiff neck and rebellion are equated there. And then in Psalm 75 and verse 5, David says, "Lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck." And the stiff neck refuses to hear and heed. That's made exceedingly clear in Jeremiah 17 verse 23 where God says, "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction." So anyone then with a stiff neck is someone who just simply will not listen, will not hear, and will not heed. And of course God characterized the Israelites as a stiff-necked people. He told them in Deuteronomy 10 and verse 16, "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked."

And so oftentimes we are stiff-necked and really do not even understand what we are doing. For oftentimes we speak in pride, we speak boastfully, we speak what we are going to do when in reality our attitude is one of rebellion. We don't think about it like that, but let me give you a good clear illustration. In James chapter 4 God says this beginning there in verses 13-16, "Go to now you that say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and continue a year and get gain, whereas you know not what your life is or what it shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?" "It is a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then passeth away. For you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall do this or that." And then he adds a statement, "But now you are rejoicing in your boastings? All such rejoicing is evil." So when God tells us we should be saying, "Lord willing, we should do this or that," we need to take that into account because our lives are nothing but a vapor.

They are here today and gone tomorrow. And he says we rejoice in our boastings when we begin to say, "We will do this and we will do that." We really don't know what we are going to do because we may not be alive. So we should be saying, "Lord willing." And usually when I accept invitations to preach somewhere, I will always add, "Yes, I will be delighted to come, Lord willing, if He allows me to live and have my health and have my being," because obviously if He doesn't there is no way in the world I am going to be there anyhow.

Fifth Instance: Bowing When Giving Sacrificially (1 Chronicles 29)

David and the congregation bow and worship after giving willingly for the temple. Weaver highlights that giving recognizes God's ownership of all things and that God loves a cheerful giver, connecting to 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 and Luke 6:38.

So we need to learn to bow and worship when we see the grace and the goodness of God in our lives. Now what I want to do today is pick up where I left off last week because I gave you four instances of bowing and worship in Scripture. And I am going to give you the last four today. And the fifth one is found here in 1 Chronicles 29 in verse 20. If you will look at it, "And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord and the King."

Now, it may startle you to discover the reason for bowing and worshipping in this chapter. But let me explain to you what it is. In this particular chapter the people are enabled by God to sacrifice and to give toward the work of building the Temple, that is toward the ministry of the Lord. And they are bowing and worshipping in the fact that God now has allowed them to give sacrificially and to do so in a gracious way. For instance let's begin reading with verse 1, watch it very carefully. I will come back and explain a few things. He says, "Furthermore David the king said unto the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great. For the palace, or the temple, is not for man, but for the Lord. Now watch carefully what he says, Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things to be made of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and stones to be set, glistering stones of diverse colors in all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of my own proper good that is over and above all this other that he set aside, of gold and silver which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for

the holy house. Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the house with them. The gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? Then the chief of the fathers, and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, were the rulers of the king's work offered willingly, and gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents, and ten thousand drams of gold, of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord.

And David the king also rejoiced with great joy." Now watch carefully. "Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and glory come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all. And in Thine hand is power and might, and in Thy hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. But who am I?

And what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all these things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers. Our days of the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee in house, for thine holy name cometh of thine own hand, and is all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart, I have willingly offered all these things, And now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee. And give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace for which I have made provision."

"And David said to all the congregation, now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers and bowed down their head and worshipped the Lord and the King." Now interestingly just let me point out a couple of things before I really start making applications to this. If you will notice in verse 2 David says, "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God." You know there is an interesting in the Bible and everyone can quote it, we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. Usually when we think of might we think of strength, but in this instance our might is our money. David said, "I have prepared with all my might," if you will look in verse 2, "the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver." And then he goes on to say in verse 3, because he had set his affection on the house of God, above all that he had been setting aside for years, he took out of his own personal all the gold and all the silver and whatever else.

And then you read the rest of this chapter and you find that the people offered willingly and sacrificed and gave whatever came into their heart to give. And of course when they ended they all bowed their head and worshipped. So let me ask you a question. Why should we rejoice? And why should we worship when God gives us the opportunity to give and to sacrifice? Well, first of all, David answers that for us in verse 11. Notice if you would please, he said, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. Now here it is, for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine." Skip down to verse 14. "But who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee." And then in verse 16, "O Lord our God all this store that we have prepared to build thee in house for thine holy name cometh of thine own hand and is all thine." So here is what David is saying, when we give, when we sacrifice unto the Lord, we are essentially recognizing that everything that we have has come from Him initially and originally. When you stop and think about it we can't give Him anything that He has not already given us. If God does not give to us then we cannot give to Him.

So in giving we recognize His bounty, His goodness, and His grace, and His mercy. So the one reason we should bow and worship when we give is because we are saying, "Lord, you gave to me and without you giving to me I would have nothing to give back to you." The second reason is this, in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 7 the Apostle Paul said, "According as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, nor necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver." Now, let me explain something. When he says, "God loveth a cheerful giver," do you realize it is absolutely impossible to be selfish and haughty when we are bowing and worshipping? You cannot give grudgingly when you are thankful for everything that God has given to you. It's just that simple. So obviously the Apostle Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. And I've hit on this before and Gary can corroborate this, but the Greek word there is the word hilarion. Actually it says God loveth a hilarious giver. So you've heard the old adage, "Give until it hurts." That is not true. You are to give until you are rolling in the aisle laughing is what it amounts to. God loves a cheerful giver, not a grudging giver.

Now I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I want to read verse 7 but I want you to see verse 8 in light of this. By the way 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are the two chapters that actually deal with Christian giving and Christian sacrifice. So if you look in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 7, in fact we can read verse 6 if you want to. He said,

Now I want you to recognize what he is going to say in verse 8. Because the Apostle Paul said in Acts chapter 20 and verse 35, listen carefully I'm going to quote it, he said, "I have shown you all things how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He said it is more blessed to give than to receive." Now look what he tells us, 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 8,

Now Paul said you need to remember the words of our Lord. It's more blessed to give than to receive. Someone says, "Well, I don't know if that's true or not." Well, I'll tell you what, you don't think it's true, I'm sure that God can work it out where you will never be able to give.

And all you can do is depend upon people handing you something. Now I don't know about you but I'd much rather be the giver than the receiver. You see? And notice he said in verse 8 that "God is able to make all grace abound to you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." So God has promised as long as we are faithful and fulfill His Word then of course He is going to make sure that we always have the sufficiency to abound to every good work. Now if we wish to have a sufficiency to abound to every good work then we must heed the words of our Lord in Luke 6 and verse 38. Listen to what He said,

Now God said He is going to give to us exactly to the same measure that we give. So if we want to give grudgingly we can receive grudgingly. If we want to give sparingly, we can receive sparingly. But I want you to note what he said. He said, we are to give good measure, pressed down, shaken together.

Now if you don't understand that let me give you a little illustration. Get a five gallon bucket and fill it absolutely to the top of corn. Put it in the back of your truck or your golf cart. And drive about 100, 150 yards, and get out and look at your five-gallon bucket full of corn, and you'll find it's down about three or four inches. So when he says you give, press down, shake it together. In other words, you get everything in that thing that you can possibly get. And that's exactly what he's saying. So it is indeed a blessing to give, and certainly it's a blessing to receive as well, especially when you need it. But let me just tell you something that has happened to me innumerable times. I've been in meetings, and all of a sudden, here's a little girl or little boy come up to me, three or four, five years old, and they just kind of stand there, kind of doing like this in front of you. And I bend down, and I'll say, "Did you want to say something to me?" "Yes." And then they cram that little hand out, and I open my hand, and they drop a penny in it.

You know what I do? I thank them and tell them, "You know, I will probably need that penny one of these days. Thank you for giving to me." And I want them to understand the blessing in giving. And so obviously, I mean it was a blessing to me to receive a penny. It's a penny more than I ever had at that particular time. So God says it's more blessing to give than to receive. And here in this passage we are to bow and worship when we are able to give. Now I want you to turn over to 2 Chronicles 7, 2 Chronicles 7 because in this passage we have the sixth instance of bowing and worship. 2 Chronicles 7 and notice if you would please verse 3, 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 3.

I'll explain the context in just a moment. 2 Chronicles 7 verse 3,

This passage deals with the dedication of the Temple. If you were to read it in the context, Solomon now has prayed, there has been a sacrifice placed upon the altar, and when Solomon finishes praying God sends fire down from Heaven and He lights that altar and consumes the sacrifice. If you study the book of Leviticus chapter 9 verse 24 when the tabernacle was dedicated and the sacrifice was on the altar again God sent fire from Heaven and consumed that sacrifice.

Sixth Instance: Bowing When the Fire of God Falls (2 Chronicles 7)

At the temple dedication, fire from heaven consumes the sacrifice, and the people bow and worship. Weaver explains the fire signifies God's acceptance of the sacrifice, destruction of enemies, and revival, citing Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18, and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8.

You know what I do? I thank them and tell them, "You know, I will probably need that penny one of these days. Thank you for giving to me." And I want them to understand the blessing in giving. And so obviously, I mean it was a blessing to me to receive a penny. It's a penny more than I ever had at that particular time. So God says it's more blessing to give than to receive. And here in this passage we are to bow and worship when we are able to give. Now I want you to turn over to 2 Chronicles 7, 2 Chronicles 7 because in this passage we have the sixth instance of bowing and worship. 2 Chronicles 7 and notice if you would please verse 3, 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 3.

I'll explain the context in just a moment. 2 Chronicles 7 verse 3,

This passage deals with the dedication of the Temple. If you were to read it in the context, Solomon now has prayed, there has been a sacrifice placed upon the altar, and when Solomon finishes praying God sends fire down from Heaven and He lights that altar and consumes the sacrifice. If you study the book of Leviticus chapter 9 verse 24 when the tabernacle was dedicated and the sacrifice was on the altar again God sent fire from Heaven and consumed that sacrifice.

May I remind you, and I will show you some scriptures a little bit later on this, but in 1 Kings chapter 18 when Elijah was challenging the priest of Baal, remember he had built the altar, he had put the sacrifice on, put water on the sacrifice, water all around, etc. And the Bible says he prayed and the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water in the trench. Now in each of these instances the fire of God fell. So let me ask you this question, what is the significance of the fire of God falling? And how is it and why is it that we should bow and worship when we understand this? Well, first of all let me point out that the fire speaks of the acceptance by God of the sacrifice. When that fire fell on the tabernacle it was God's fire and He was accepting the sacrifice. When the fire fell in the temple it was God's fire and he was accepting the sacrifice. When the fire fell on Mount Carmel it was God's fire and he was accepting that sacrifice. You must remember that Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron, priests, offered strange fire unto the Lord and God killed them. Why? Because it was not His fire.

Now I want you to think about this. In the Old Testament it was the fire of God that fell and consumed the sacrifice, which indicated that God was pleased with that sacrifice and that He accepted the sacrifice. It was still the same fire, the fire of God's wrath that fell upon the perfect sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He of course is our propitiation, He is our sacrifice, our substitute, and our surety. That is why in Isaiah 53 and verse 10 the Bible says,

Note it pleased the Lord to bruise him. And when the Bible says the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand that means Him taking the wrath of God and the anger of God as our substitute. That's why the Bible tells you in Romans 3 and verse 23, "being justified freely by His grace, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation for our sins."

Now wait a minute, God the Father set forth Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for our sins. The Greek word for propitiation is the word hilasterion, and it literally means to placate and to satisfy. So God set forth Jesus Christ in order that Christ might placate and satisfy the wrath of God, the justice of God, and the holiness of God, and that's exactly what He did. So when the fire falls, number one, it indicates that God has accepted the sacrifice. The fact that He raised Jesus Christ from the dead demonstrates again that He accepted the sacrifice. Secondly, when the fire falls it also speaks of the consumption and or the destruction of His enemies.

Now, you remember John the Baptist was preaching in Matthew chapter 3. And the Bible tells us that the people resorted unto Him, but also scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees came. And what did He say when He saw them? He said, "O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now you have to remember that John is speaking to two groups. He is speaking to some who are repentant and He is speaking to some who are not repentant. And when you get to Matthew 3 and verse 11 He said this, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Wow! I've heard people say in my ministry, "I want to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire." I've got news for you, I don't. I want to be baptized with the Holy Ghost that is for sure, but not with fire.

Because John is speaking to two groups. One will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the other will be baptized with fire because the falling of fire often demonstrates that God is consuming and destroying His enemies. Do you remember the passage in Genesis 19 and verse 24 talking about Sodom and Gomorrah? "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone out of heaven." Wow! The fire fell. How about Numbers 11 verses 1 through 3? "And when the people complained, It displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." Taberah is what it was called because it indicates a burning. Here the people were in rebellion against God, and God consumed them with fire.

Now let me give you a passage. I'll ask you to turn there, I can quote it, but I want you to look. In your Bibles, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. This is one of my favorite passages. You say, "Why is it your favorite?" Well, I want you to see. Look what he says. We are talking about the fire of the Lord falling, not only accepting the sacrifice that God provided, but also consuming and devouring His enemies. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7, "And to you who are troubled rest with us." Here is what the Apostle is saying, if you are troubled take a minute and rest, here is what is going to give you rest. Watch, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."

"punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you is believed in that day." Isn't that interesting? When Christ comes back He is going to come back in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fire in the Bible always speaks of destruction. Look if you would into the book of Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. Here is a passage that most of you should be familiar with. Revelation 19, "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments. For He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."

Now the smoke of their torment, where there is smoke there is fire. God sent fire to consume His enemies. And if you look in Revelation 20 and verse 9, Revelation 20 and verse 9, look what the Bible says, "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Wow. So obviously when the fire falls, it not only speaks of God's acceptance of the sacrifice, it also speaks of consuming those who are in rebellion to Him as well. I want you to turn back to Psalm 58, and let me show you a passage that relates to the destruction of God's enemies, and I hope that it will help you understand Revelation 19 a little bit better when the saints of the Lord said, "Amen, Hallelujah" at the destruction of God's enemies.

The Fire of God and the Destruction of Enemies

Weaver expands on the fire as judgment, referencing Sodom and Gomorrah, Numbers 11, and Revelation 19-20. He notes that the righteous will rejoice at God's vengeance, as in Psalm 58:10.

Now, you remember John the Baptist was preaching in Matthew chapter 3. And the Bible tells us that the people resorted unto Him, but also scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees came. And what did He say when He saw them? He said, "O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now you have to remember that John is speaking to two groups. He is speaking to some who are repentant and He is speaking to some who are not repentant. And when you get to Matthew 3 and verse 11 He said this, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Wow! I've heard people say in my ministry, "I want to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire." I've got news for you, I don't. I want to be baptized with the Holy Ghost that is for sure, but not with fire.

Because John is speaking to two groups. One will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the other will be baptized with fire because the falling of fire often demonstrates that God is consuming and destroying His enemies. Do you remember the passage in Genesis 19 and verse 24 talking about Sodom and Gomorrah? "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone out of heaven." Wow! The fire fell. How about Numbers 11 verses 1 through 3? "And when the people complained, It displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." Taberah is what it was called because it indicates a burning. Here the people were in rebellion against God, and God consumed them with fire.

Now let me give you a passage. I'll ask you to turn there, I can quote it, but I want you to look. In your Bibles, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. This is one of my favorite passages. You say, "Why is it your favorite?" Well, I want you to see. Look what he says. We are talking about the fire of the Lord falling, not only accepting the sacrifice that God provided, but also consuming and devouring His enemies. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7, "And to you who are troubled rest with us." Here is what the Apostle is saying, if you are troubled take a minute and rest, here is what is going to give you rest. Watch, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."

"punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you is believed in that day." Isn't that interesting? When Christ comes back He is going to come back in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fire in the Bible always speaks of destruction. Look if you would into the book of Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. Here is a passage that most of you should be familiar with. Revelation 19, "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments. For He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."

Now the smoke of their torment, where there is smoke there is fire. God sent fire to consume His enemies. And if you look in Revelation 20 and verse 9, Revelation 20 and verse 9, look what the Bible says, "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Wow. So obviously when the fire falls, it not only speaks of God's acceptance of the sacrifice, it also speaks of consuming those who are in rebellion to Him as well. I want you to turn back to Psalm 58, and let me show you a passage that relates to the destruction of God's enemies, and I hope that it will help you understand Revelation 19 a little bit better when the saints of the Lord said, "Amen, Hallelujah" at the destruction of God's enemies.

In Psalm 58 verse 10 in this passage he is talking about the wicked. In fact go back to verse 3, "The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they be born speaking lies." Verse 4, "Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, they are like the deaf adder that stop at their ear." So he is talking about the wicked. Now skip down to verse 10, look what he says,

Now notice he said,

What does that mean? It means he will be saying, "Amen, Hallelujah." And I've got a sneaking suspicion we'll probably also be bowing and worshipping and saying, "Lord thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy to me." And we'll understand that yes there is a reward for the righteous. And yes there is a God that judgeth in the earth. So when the fire falls it not only speaks of God's acceptance of the sacrifice. It also speaks of the destruction of his enemies. But thirdly, it also speaks in the Bible of what you and I would call revival.

The Fire of God and Revival

The fire also represents revival, as seen in 1 Kings 18 when Elijah's sacrifice is consumed and the people turn back to God. Weaver cites Deuteronomy 5:24 and Jeremiah 23:29 to show God's word is like fire.

Do you know that one of the most famous Christian publications of all times, and I suppose it is not even in existence today, but the title of it was Revival Fires. Leonard Ravenhill I think published that. He has been dead many, many years. Revival fires. You know the Bible says in Psalm 110 in verse 3, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." In other words when God speaks and God speaks in power His people listen. Let me show you. I want you to turn to two passages. Number 1, Deuteronomy chapter 5 and number 2, 1 Kings 18. So we are going to pick up in Deuteronomy chapter 5. Then we're going to 1 Kings 18. Deuteronomy 5 and I want you to look there at verse 24. Deuteronomy 5 verse 24. Remember "thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Deuteronomy 5 verse 24, "And you said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire, and we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and He liveth." Note, God spoke out of the fire, and they said, "We heard His voice, God speaks with us." Now, turn right over to 1 Kings chapter 18, because this is the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Elijah now has set up this contest and if you look in verse 24, he let them choose their own bullock, he let them build their altar, he let them go first in everything.

And he said in verse 24, "And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, And the Lord that answereth by fire, let him be God." And all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken." Did you hear that? "Let him that answereth by fire, let him be God." And the people said, "Yes." So the prophets of Baal now and the priests of Baal take their own bullock and of course they begin in verse 26 crying, "O Baal hear us, O Baal hear us." And of course nothing happens. They jump on the altar, they cut themselves, they start bleeding, nothing happens. And if you look in verse 27, "It came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god."

"Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey." Actually he is in the outhouse, that's what he is talking about. "Or perventure he sleepeth and must be awakened." In other words he is mocking. And of course they cry and do everything, nothing happens because Baal is not a God. But when it comes time for the evening sacrifice, if you will skip down to verse 36, it is now Elijah's turn. "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel." "and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God." So what is God doing here? He's turning the hearts of the people back to Himself.

It's what you and I would call a revival. Do you realize in Jeremiah 23 and verse 29, God asks this question, "Is not my word like a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" God's word is like a fire. Now, sometimes God uses that fire to punish his enemies. Sometimes he uses that fire to awaken and refresh his people. Which brings me now to the seventh instance of bowing and worshipping. And I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 29, because this passage is in direct reference to revival. 2 Chronicles chapter 29, and notice if you would verses 29 and 30. Then we will come back and pick up the context. 2 Chronicles 29, verses 29-30, watch carefully.

Seventh Instance: Bowing in Revival (2 Chronicles 29)

Under Hezekiah, the temple is cleansed and worship restored; the people bow and worship. Weaver emphasizes that even small encouragements from God should prompt worship, referencing Psalm 92:4.

"And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they sang praise with gladness and they bowed their heads and worshipped." One of the greatest revivals in the Bible took place under Hezekiah. The Temple was cleansed from its impurities and the images that had been placed there by the Judean kings had been taken out. The sacrifice was reestablished. The priesthood and the Levites were sanctified and the Passover was observed in such a way that it had not been observed in a previous manner.

Now I want you to get just a glimpse of what took place here. So let's go back to verse 1 of 2 Chronicles 29 and let's read the first 11 verses. Watch carefully, "Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them." "And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together into the east street. And he said unto them, Hear me ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers. And carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and have done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him, and have turned away their faces from the habitations of the Lord, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you see with your eyes."

"For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons," remember he is talking now to the Levites and the priests. "My sons, be not now negligent, for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, and to serve Him, and that you should minister unto Him, and burn incense." Now what Hezekiah does, he gets the priests, he gets the Levites out, and he reminds them of their duties and their responsibilities. He tells them about how they had trespassed against God, and not just the priests and the Levites, obviously they had because they had not been giving the morning and the evening sacrifice, none of this stuff. But all the people had trespassed against God as well. And so he wants to renew the covenant with the Lord.

And I want you to see what happens, skip down to verse 15, this is absolutely astounding especially when I tell you of one truth just momentarily. Look in verse 15, "And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves." We are talking about the priests and the Levites. "And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it. They brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it to carry it out abroad unto the brook Kidron. Now they began on the first day of the month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end."

"Then they went into Hezekiah the king and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the showbread table with all the vessels thereof. Moreover, all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord." Then Hezekiah the king arose early and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord." And then the rest of this chapter tells you about the offering that they made, the sacrifice that they made, and how God moved upon the people. Now here is the thing that is astounding, wow, the Levites and the priest went in and cleanse the filth out of the house of God.

That doesn't mean just the dirt, that means all those false images and all the other trash that the unbelieving kings had put in there. It took them eight days. May I remind you there were thousands of Levites. How many worked in the Temple I do not know. And the priesthood, yes there was only one high priest, but there is a priestly family. Just like Aaron had Eliezer, and Nadab, and Abihu, and there is another son, Ithamar. You know there is a priestly family. But if there was nothing but 100 Levites, 8 days?

I want you to notice something. Skip down if you would to verse 36, the last verse. "And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people that God had prepared the people, for this thing was done suddenly." So let me put it to you like this. When God revives your heart, when God encourages your heart, when God revives your work or your people, your proper response is to bow and worship. We may not have in our day and time a great revival the way Hezekiah did, I hope we do, I pray we do. But whatever God does for us the tiniest little bit of encouragement we should bow and worship. The Bible says in Psalm 92 in verse 4, "For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work I will triumph, I will triumph in the works of thy hands." So whenever time, whenever God makes us glad, we should bow and worship.

You know, I used an illustration this morning. We should be thankful for anything and everything. We have an old clawfoot bathtub, and I get in that bathtub and I lie back, and the first thing that comes out of my mouth is, "Thank you, Lord, for a hot bath." And you begin to think of the people in the world that can't even have a bath, and some can't even have a hot bath. And one of our men and his wife just got back from a trip to Uganda, and he said, "Oh, we had no hot water."

Eighth Instance: Bowing at the Reading of God's Word (Nehemiah 8)

Ezra reads the law from morning to midday, and the Levites explain it; the people bow and worship. Weaver stresses thankfulness for Scripture and teachers, calling God's Word the next greatest gift after Christ and the Spirit.

He said, "I can resonate with that." Understand God can encourage us in so many ways if we would just stop and be thankful for anything and everything that He has done for us. And that is an encouragement to me. There is one last point I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah. 2nd Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, turn right over to Nehemiah chapter 8 and I want you to look at verse 6 and you are going to have to understand the context but I want you to see it. Ezra chapter 8 and verse 6, I'm sorry Nehemiah, Nehemiah 8 and verse 6. Ezra and Nehemiah, Nehemiah 8 and verse 6. Nehemiah 8 and verse 6. Here the Bible says this, "And Ezra blessed the people. And Ezra blessed the Lord and the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground." So here is the last instance in the Bible of people bowing and worshipping.

In order to understand this you must see the context. So go back up to verse 1. "And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month." Now watch, "And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women and those that could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law."

Now let me ask you a question. How many of you would come at 6 o'clock in the morning and just listen to me read the scripture until noon? Yeah, but notice if you would. Verse four, "And Ezra the scribe stood upon a little bit of wood which they had made for that purpose. And beside him they list all the Levites that are standing there." Verse five, "And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen. And with lifting up their hands they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground." Watch the middle part of verse 7, the middle part of verse 7, "And the Levites caused the people to understand the law, so the people stood in their place. So they, Ezra and the Levites, read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused the people to understand the reading."

Now, here is the point that I want to make. They were not just reading the Scripture they did for the first half of day, but the second half they were expounding, and explaining, and applying the Scripture so that the people could understand the reading. So how often you read the Word of God? How often do you hear the Word of God? How often do you hear the Word of God expounded, explained, and applied? How often have you thought about the Word of God? And each time we should, when we think of it, each time we should think of it, we should also bow and worship God for it. God has given us His Word. God has given us teachers.

The Bible says He gave pastor teachers as a gift to the Church. How many times have we actually thought about the value of the Word of God, and hearing the Word of God? I believe outside of the grace of God, and the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the next greatest gift is His Word. Think about it. Think about all of the countries that do not have the Word of God. Think about all the people who do not hear the Word of God. Think about the people in this country who would not even walk across the street to hear the Word of God, who will not even pick up a Bible in their own home and read it. Think about that which God has shown us, of which most even professing Christians are totally ignorant. Think about that. Think about the truth that God has opened your eyes to. I started to say how many, but I could change it to how few.

really grasp God's sovereignty, God's omniscience, God's omnipotence, God's omnipresence, His immutability, anything about God. Whenever we hear the Word of God, whenever we get to read the Word of God, we should bow and worship. Does it take long? But we should thank God for it. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 18, "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus."

Applications: Practice Spontaneous Worship Daily

Weaver urges believers to bow and worship spontaneously throughout the day for every blessing, especially for God's Word, ministry, and spiritual family. He encourages constant thanksgiving as a sacrifice of praise.

I thought coming to church this morning, I was praying for some folks that are so hard hearted and they are professing Christians. But they're so hard-hearted. And I was praying for them, and I thought, "Lord, I may be hard-hearted, but I thank you that I am not hard-hearted in those particular areas." I know families where sons will not even speak to their fathers. Children will not speak to their mothers. I cannot even grasp that. I cannot even conceive of that. And yet it is there. All I am saying is we should learn to give God thanks for every bit of truth that He gives us. We should learn to give God thanks for the tenderness in our hearts and our lives in which He has given us that tenderness. Let me just say it like this. There is never a bad time, and there is never a wrong time to bow and worship.

You should always be bowing and worshipping. It doesn't take long, but whenever your mind comes upon a particular blessing, particular goodness that God has given to you or shown to you, you need to bow and worship. It may be done publicly, it may be done privately, but certainly it should be done spontaneously. Whenever we are particularly blessed, enlightened, protected, preserved, and providentially cared for, we should bow and worship. I've pointed this out so many times, I'm going to do it one more time. One of the favorite passages that I quote every day of my life is Lamentations 3, 22 and 23. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Because his compassions, they fail not. They're new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness." Every morning, you should bow and worship and thank God that he's allowed you to live through the night. When you go to bed at night, before you close your eyes, you should bow in worship and thank God that He's allowed you to live through the day.

Now, I just have two applications. The first one is this. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to be grateful for and so much to be appreciative for that we should be constantly and continually giving praise and honor and worship to our great and glorious God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that most people have to work. I understand that. And I know you can't sit at a desk with an open Bible all day long. I understand that. But it really doesn't matter whether you're at whether you're digging ditches, whether you're driving, whether you're sitting down, it really doesn't matter. When some thought or some blessing comes to your mind, you should just simply bow and worship. It may take you a second, but fine, do it. Acknowledge and recognize God. The Bible tells us Hebrews 13 and verse 15, "By Him, that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, by Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise unto God continually, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His name."

So we should learn to be thankful and to be appreciative. No one wants to give to an unthankful, ungrateful, unappreciative child. Not even God. Okay? The second application is this. Oh, we should learn to be thankful, especially for the Word of God, for the ministry, for the Brotherhood of the Saints. I've had people say this to me countless numbers of times. And I've said it myself. What they would say would be this, "I'm far more comfortable around my spiritual family than I am my physical family." And that's true. And that's true.

Because there is a stronger bond in the faith than there is in the flesh. And we should learn to be thankful for our husbands, our wives, our sons, our daughters, our friends. There's so much that we could always bow and worship and thank God for. I want to encourage you to do something. I want to encourage you to practice bowing and worship. Just drop your head and say, "Thank you, Lord, for this," and keep going. You'll be amazed at how many times during the day you'll catch yourself just worshipping God and thanking Him and praising Him for the grace that's in your life. You'll be praising Him for health, for life, for sleep, for rest, for food, for any thing that comes to your mind, thanking, bow, and worship. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for the truth of bowing and worship. We thank thee, Lord, there is such a thing as a spontaneous worship where our hearts are so moved and so grateful and so appreciative that we cannot help but just bow and say, "Thou art God, and I thank thee."

Help us, Lord, to live for Thee, and to glorify Thy great name. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask and pray, amen.