Great is the Lord, and Greatly to be Praised

"We focus on the present Truth – what Jesus is doing now. . ."
ISSN 1442-8660

Christian greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; we are pleased you could join us in fellowship around God's unchanging Word.

Please welcome our guest contributor, Brother Boyd Reneau. His offering of praise in joyous worship is a fit response to our revelations on being "Predestinated unto the Adoption of Sons by Jesus Christ to Himself." Brother Boyd's previous writing was "Dystopia! Now is the Last Chance to get Your Future Right," but that was in 2005: we have had almost five years in which heed his admonition, so how many circuits of the Sun remain for God's elect—one, two, or . . . ? "To day if you will hear His Voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness".

As some of you will know, we have released a self-starting PowerPoint Presentation called "The Second Coming of Christ" illustrating Scripture God fulfilled in the ministry of William Branham (1909-1965) and explaining Christ's second or 'parousia' Coming which he introduced as John the Baptist introduced His first Coming. The Presentation incorporates film of Brother Branham's "Chicago Convention," and accessible from the same CD, the video "Footprints on the Sands of Time," plus the contents of Bible Believers' Church Website.

As subscribers zealous for the Lord and conscious of the extreme lateness of the hour, will you assist in God's harvest by helping us to reach out with this important CD before the "squeeze"? When national and world economies worsen and the prophesied depression sets in, people seeking work, food and shelter will have no chance to seek "the one thing needful." If you can send US$3.00 cash towards postage we will mail two CDs, one for you to study and copy for friends and loved ones, and one for you to pass to a minister in this Message or in the denominations. Our address is Bible Believers' Church, Gunnedah, NSW 2380, Australia.

This Newsletter serves those of like precious faith. Whoever will receive the truth is welcome to feed their soul from the waters of the River of Life. Everything here presented should be confirmed personally in your own Bible.

The coming Government Debt Default

July 20. 2009 – Under the current monetary system there is no limit to how much debt a government can take on, provided that the debt is denominated in its own currency. The reason is that the central bank stands ready, willing and able to be the bond-buyer of last resort, and the central bank's pockets are infinitely deep (there is no limit to the amount of new money that the central bank can create). . . At the point where the currency has lost almost all of its purchasing power the surreptitious default would essentially be complete because any debt denominated in this currency would be almost worthless.

But . . . it could, at some stage during the process, become politically more feasible to default directly on a large chunk of the outstanding debt. The reason is that hyperinflation would destroy the economy as well as the currency, and would thus inflict large losses on almost everyone, whereas directly defaulting on the debt would only inflict large losses on the holders of government debt. In the US case it is not hard to envisage the Administration being faced in the future with the following choice: default on all Treasury debt except for the debt held by US government trust funds, or plunge into hyperinflation and wipe out the values of all bonds and all monetary savings. Given that the bulk of the aforementioned Treasury debt is held by foreign governments, a direct default will potentially be the natural choice of the politically astute. . . Full story: speculative-investor.com

Comment: Rothschild's Goldman Sachs UK is dividing £14 billion in bonuses between 29,400 staff, while Goldman Sachs US paid out an astonishing $4.7 billion in bonuses and compensation in the first three months of this year, an 18 percent increase over the first quarter of 2008. It also raised $5 billion by issuing new shares almost immediately after releasing its first- quarter results. Taken together, the numbers show that Goldman essentially borrowed a $5 billion salary payout for its executives in the middle of the global economic crisis it helped cause, using half-baked accounting to reel in investors, just months after receiving billions in a taxpayer bailout.

TARP Watchdog says Treasury lacking Bank Data

July 19, 2009 – The top watchdog over the financial bailout package said the Treasury Department is rejecting 'common sense' by not requiring banks receiving billions of dollars in government money to say how they are using the money. In a report to be released on Monday, Neil Barofsky said banks that have received money from the $700 billion bailout package passed last year are able to indicate how they are using taxpayer money and that Treasury should require banks to be more transparent. . . Full story: truthout.org. Bernanke does not know which foreign banks were given half a trillion! What can you expect when Michele Bachmann (R. Minn) calls the Obama administration a "total gangster government"?

The World in a Coin

This sample of the first "test" currency from the international project for a new virtual global currency, given the draft name, "United Future World Currency—Eurodollar". . . The final name and symbol for the new currency will be decided in a competition for children in 1,000 schools throughout the world . . . Although the initial aim is to unite the United States of America with the United States of Europe it will also be open to other Countries. The first test issue:

OBVERSE the "Number 1" icon is repeated five times, representing the five continents. The border inscription reads "Unity in Diversity" and includes the first issue date of 2009.

REVERSE: the Tree of Life, with five leaves symbolizing local tree species that grow in the five continents. The border inscription reads "United Future World Currency". Full story: futureworldcurrency.com

Comment: Since Christ is the Tree of Life who refused to receive one world government when it was offered by Satan, who is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which tree do you believe the test world currency represents? What do the pentagrams signify to the occult world planners?

Orders revoked for Soldier challenging Obama's Legitimacy as President

July 14, 2009 – A US Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office. His attorney, Orly Taitz said, ". . . It means that the military has directly responded by saying Obama is illegitimate—and they cannot fight it. Therefore, they are revoking the order!"

Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook said, ". . . any order coming out of the presidency or his chain of command is illegal. Should I deploy, I would essentially be following an illegal [order]. If I happened to be captured by the enemy in a foreign land, I would not be privy to the Geneva Convention protections. . . "He said the vast array of information about Obama that is not available to the public confirms to him "something is amiss. . . " Full story: wnd.com and another case, truthout.org.

Comment: Orley Taitz has found Obama has 140 addresses and 39 different SS numbers while the SS number he uses was issued in Connecticut where he has never lived and shows he is 119 years of age. No wonder this Kenyan with Indonesian nationality will not show his birth certificate. Listen to this! Anyone falling under any obligation emanating from a bill signed into law by President Obama should file suit demanding proof that Obama is really a US citizen.

The Rise of a revived Holy Roman Empire

Richard Rozoff, who wrote the main article in Newsletter 586, exposes the "hidden hand" of the City of London in the rise of a revived Holy Roman Empire as a 'front' to again send Goyim to kill Goyim, especially Christians, and deploy the Judaeo-Roman Catholic false church to destroy the credibility of Messiah so "the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will be from that moment without compass (direction), anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view, a manifestation which will result from the general reactionary movement that will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time" (William Guy Carr, Pawns in the Game, p. xv-xvi).

As Illuminus F. D. Roosevelt admitted, history is pre-planned: "If something happens in politics you can bet it was planned that way," or as his kinsmen boast, "By way of deception, thou shalt do war"! Operation Unthinkable was decided 64 years ago, and until today you knew nothing about it. It is later than you think.

July 12, 2009 – When the post-World War II German states, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, West and East Germany, respectively, were united in 1990, it was for many in Europe and the world as a whole a heady time, fraught with hopes of a continent at peace and perhaps disarmed.

Despite US pledges to the last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not move "one inch" eastward, what German reunification achieved was that the former German Democratic Republic joined not only the Federal Republic but NATO and the military bloc moved hundreds of kilometers nearer the Russian border, over the intervening years to be joined by twelve Eastern European nations. Five of those twelve new NATO members were republics of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union itself, neither of which any longer exists.

Far from issuing in an era of disarmament and a Europe free of military blocs—or even of war—the merging of the two German states and the simultaneous fragmentation of the Eastern Bloc and, a year later, the USSR was instead followed by a Europe almost entirely dominated by a US-controlled global military alliance. . . Full story: globalresearch.ca

July 15, 2009 – A British document from the months preceding the surrender of Nazi Germany in May of 1945 and the subsequent Potsdam Conference of July 17 – August 2 called "Operation Unthinkable: 'Russia: Threat to Western Civilization'" was declassified and made public in 1998. A photocopy of the Joint Planning Staff of the British War Cabinet report identified by the dates May 22, June 8, and July 11, 1945 is available for viewing on the website of Northeastern University in Boston:

"The overall political objective is to impose upon Russia the will of the United States and the British Empire (two colonies of the Empire of the City of London – Ed). . . "A quick success might induce the Russians to submit to our will. . . That is for the Russians to decide. If they want total war, they are in a position to have it."

A few years ago a Russian appraisal of the document would state "This was the groundwork for the notorious Operation Unthinkable, under which World War II was to develop immediately, without interim stages, into a third world war, with the goal of ensuring the total defeat of the Soviet Union and its destruction as a multinational community." [1] The total defeat of the Soviet Union and its disappearance as a multinational community in fact occurred in 1991.

The British wartime document consistently refers to the then Soviet Union as Russia, incidentally, and as such suggests plans not only for war but for a change of political system and a vivisection of the sort seen later in a post-war—that is, post-World War III—Russia. . .

Two of the fundamental purposes in launching the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance in 1949 were to base nuclear weapons, on which the US had a monopoly at the time of the bloc's founding, in Europe and to rearm Germany as a military bulwark on the continent and for use abroad.

Anyone still in thrall to the notion that NATO was planned as a defensive alliance against a Soviet military threat in Europe would do well to recall that:

The Warsaw Pact was formed six years after and in response to NATO, especially to NATO's advance into Germany.

The Warsaw pact, already long moribund, officially dissolved itself in 1991. Eighteen years later NATO still exists without any pretense of a Soviet or any other credible threat.

In the past decade alone it has expanded from 16 to 28 member states, all of the twelve new ones in Eastern Europe and four of those bordering Russian territory.

During the same ten year period it waged its first air war, against Yugoslavia, outside the bloc's own defined area of responsibility and its first ground war, in Afghanistan, a continent removed from Europe, half a world away from North America and nowhere near the North Atlantic Ocean.

That NATO officially expanded into the former Warsaw Pact by admitting the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland at its fiftieth anniversary summit in 1999 while in the midst of its first war, the 78-day bombing onslaught against Yugoslavia—ten years after the end of the Cold War—is an irrefutable retroactive indictment of its true nature and purpose since inception.

The bloc continues to maintain nuclear warheads in Europe, including on air bases in Germany, with long-range bombers and missiles able to deliver them. NATO recently renewed the commitment to its nuclear doctrine, which continues to include the first use of nuclear weapons.

The world's largest and only surviving military bloc, one which now takes in a third of the planet's nations through full membership or various partnerships, was born out of the last days of World War II in Europe. Its fundamental purpose was to unite the military potential of the countries of the continent's west, north and south into a cohesive and expanding phalanx for use at home and abroad. Victors and vanquished of the most mass-scale and murderous conflict in history—Britain, the US and France and Germany and Italy—were gathered together under a joint military command.

If the transition from WW II to a far deadlier, because nuclear, WW III was averted, an argument nevertheless exists that the Second World War never ended but shifted focus. As an illustrative biographical case study of the seamless adaptation, the New York Times ran a reverential obituary three years ago from which the following is an excerpt:

"Gen. Johann-Adolf Count von Kielmansegg, a German Panzer division officer during World War II who became commander in chief of NATO forces in Central Europe during the height of the cold war, died on May 26 in Bonn. He was 99. . . By the start of World War II, he was commander of a Panzer, or armored, division. In 1940, he took part in the German invasion of France, sweeping around the Maginot line's obsolete fortifications in eastern France and rushing to the English Channel. After fighting on the Russian front, he joined the General Staff in Berlin. Restored to tank duty, he fought the American Army in western Germany. . ."

It would be intriguing to learn what Count von Kielmansegg thought at the end of his nearly century-long life about the return of his homeland to the ranks of nations sending troops to and waging war against others both near and far.

It would prove equally edifying to hear whether he thought that his career as a military commander ever truly changed course or rather pursued a logical if not inevitable path from the Wehrmacht to NATO.

Lastly, it doesn't seem unjustified to believe that the Count might at the end of his days have been proud of a Germany that had become the third largest exporter of weapons in the world, one which has arms agreements with 126 nations—over two-thirds of all countries—and that had troops deployed to war and post-conflict occupation zones in at least eleven countries at the same time and would soon, at this year's NATO summit, use its army at home again. . .
Full story: globalresearch.ca

Understanding the Use of Thermite on 9/11

July 20, 2009 – The evidence is now clear. Large amounts of Thermite/Thermate were placed in towers (WTC 1, 2 and 7) and were responsible for cutting the core columns, slicing the trusses and beams, and pulverizing the concrete in the floors. . . The chips of Super-Thermite and balls of previously molten iron in the dust and rubble are solid evidence of the use of Thermite. When the use of Thermite/Thermate in the destruction of the World Trade Center is understood, the entire scam is revealed. The three towers did not fall due to airplane crashes caused by Islamic terrorists; they were demolished by Zionists working with the owners and lease-holders of the towers: Larry Silverstein and Frank Lowy . . .
Full story: rense.com

Comment: What about the attack on the Pentagon? The Highest Treason Substantiated, Parts 1–5, evidence not seen.

Wind Turbines Generate Lunacy

July 19, 2009 – Britain's Global Warming Religion sends them off the "deep end," America soon to follow . . . It would be hard to beat the sad gullibility with which the media last week reported the plans of Lord Mandelson and our Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband to cover our countryside and sea with 10,000 more huge wind turbines. According to one newspaper, it would need "an area of only 70 square miles to generate Britain's total power requirements".

Well, no, actually. To meet our peak demand of 56 gigawatts of electricity would require 112,000 turbines covering 11,000 square miles, or an eighth of Britain's entire land area.

Another newspaper solemnly reported that a new study shows that "a well-placed turbine could make enough energy to power 825,000 homes." Well, no, actually. The figure for a single 2 megawatt turbine would be just 825 homes, meaning that the newspaper was only 1,000 per cent wrong.

Even more alarming than the media's credulity is that of the ministers themselves, in seriously trying to pretend that their £100 billion dream of building three giant turbines every day between now and 2020 has the faintest practical hope of being realised let alone that it would serve any useful purpose to do so. . . Full story: rightsidenews.com

Comment: The new ice age predicted in the '70s has been so slow in coming it morphed into global warming. When global warming did not take place "climate change" was devised, and when that did not happen the language was downgraded to carbon pollution, carbon footprint, and a carbon-free economy (i.e. extinction). There is no energy crisis—no oil shortage beyond Machiavellian legislation and the spin of alien-controlled media. These absurdities flow endlessly: what the liars are about is the de-industrialization and impoverishment of the West, massive world depopulation and the return to serfdom whereby a Satanic elite imagine they will be secure in Lucifer's totalitarian one world government your political leaders are striving to build over your dead body (Revelation 6:8).

Great is the Lord, and Greatly to be Praised

By Brother Boyd Reneau

Isaiah may have seen many visions, but Scripture attributes only one to this great prophet. He is in the court near the altar in front of the Temple when a mighty earthquake shakes its foundations, and in the Holy of Holies, which has no veil, he sees our Lord God represented as an Eastern monarch, attended by seraphim as His ministers of state, and with a robe and flowing train that fills the temple (Revelation 6:12; 11:1-2, 19; John 12:41). Isaiah's vision is the same as that seen by Micaiah 140 years earlier (I Kings 22:19). This is our Lord Jesus Christ; the seraphim are incense burners and represent the seven angels to the Church Ages, while His train, a badge of dignity in the East, is the Bride of all Ages. Jesus is the glory of God and the Bride is His glory and His temple, thus "the earth is full of His glory" (I Corinthians 15:7; Ezekiel 40-44; Daniel 9:24; Revelation 21:22).

Not until the Seven Seals were revealed could we truly appreciate the significance and our part in this tremendous vision of Isaiah 6:1-4: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphim, each one had six wings; with two he covered his face [in reverence] with two he covered his feet [in humility] and with two he flew [in service]. And one cried to another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the fullness of the whole earth is His glory." And the posts of the door (or foundations of the earth – Revelation 16:18-20) moved at the voice of the one calling, and the house was filled with smoke."

Isaiah sees beyond the end of the Gentile dispensation and as you will have noticed, Messiah is the Ark in the Millennium Temple (Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 3:16; Habakkuk 2:14; Ephesians 1:23; Revelation 5:13) and Isaiah represents the 144,000 elect Israelites who have a clear vision of Messiah, the Millennium Temple and grace. Sadly they are unable to share this revelation with their non-elect kinsmen who see only the wrath of an angry God (Isaiah 6:9-13; Daniel 12:10-12; Zechariah 14:6-8; Revelation 11:15-19; Newsletter 549).

Three centuries after Isaiah Ezra declared: "You alone are the Lord: You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is thereon, the sea and all that is therein. You preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships You" (Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 5:11-14).

Such is the splendor and glory of the Lord God. The energy of His creative Word brought forth a stupendous creation with perfect order and beauty; in the case of Earth, from a formless void to a bountiful beautiful paradise, so that every form of creation to the highest order of sinless creatures worships Him in fullest glory. That in itself expresses most vividly the absolute sanctity of worship and the great esteem of honour and praises due to the Almighty God our Great Creator.

In John 4:24 Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth" (for the Father seeks such to worship Him). So God made man in order to reveal and express the attributes of His glorious Self and so fulfill His purpose of being in us. He is our Creator and our Redeemer, Saviour, Healer, Restorer, Comforter, Deliverer, Warrior, King, Lover of our souls, Prince of Peace and so many other marvelous relations. But not until there was an earnest yearning for those offices to intercede in response to desperate human needs could God manifest His true nature and character, and gather glory and Lordship to Himself. as His people in sublime worship, thank and praise His holy Name, rejoicing in His deliverance and the gracious provision in all their necessities.

Praise and a joyous celebration of His presence in our midst is intrinsic to the Christian experience so that one cannot serve God without giving thanks and rendering glory to His matchless Name.

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His Presence with singing. Know that the Lord He is God: it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful to Him, and bless His Name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations" (Psalm 100).

No saint can enter His gate except with a thank offering to give. The same God who said in Isaiah 65:17, "Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth . . ." also said "I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, says the Lord: and I will heal him" (Isaiah 57:19).

After crossing the Red Sea, all Israel praised God for His mighty act in delivering them from their enemies by making a path through the sea. "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, "I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously: the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song; and He has become my salvation: He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him" (Exodus 15:1-2).

The very thought of a congregation of over two million souls on the shores of the Red Sea singing a triumphal song to God is exalting, a fitting offering of praise worthy of the great King and a foretaste of the excellent praise of Christ's Bride foretold in Revelation 7:9-12:

"After this I beheld a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands; and they shouted with a loud voice, "Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb."

"And all the angels [or theophanies of Christ's Bride already together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:6)] stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory and wisdom, and thanksgiving and honour and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen"!

O brother, sister that is so inspiring, it can catch you up into the Spirit in the Lord's Day (Revelation 4:1). As the Prophet would say, "I feel religious. Hallelujah!" Throughout the history of His people, God has kept His worship and praise inviolate, saying ". . . My glory will I not give to another neither My praise to graven images" (Isaiah 42:8).

When Abraham walked this earth, he built no cities, only altars on which to offer sacrifice. And as the savory smoke of his sacrifice went up, the blessings of God came down. Of that great Patriarch and Friend of God the Bible says, "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20).

This is the standard by which God measures every man to gauge the virtue of unchanging love and undying devotion to the Lord expressed in sacrificial lives of praise and glory to His holy Name. In Romans 5:1-5, Paul says:

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation produces patience; and patience character, and character hope: and hope does not disappoint; for God's love is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost which has been given to us".

What a wonderful thing to have peace with God; He is not angry with us anymore because we are justified by faith and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. But Paul makes clear that we are also to glorify God in tribulations and mentions the fruits of such worship.

In our part of the land, some houses, especially those made of wood, and because they are very old or have been poorly constructed, are called "dry weather houses" since it is only in dry weather that can one reside in relative comfort, for as soon as the rains start, nearly everything inside is drenched and when it starts drying out, the stench of mold and mildew is stifling. Some professing Christians are like "dry weather houses," they sing and rejoice when the going is good, but as soon as troubles and trials appear their wonderful testimonies dim, then disappear, and like Israel in the wilderness, their songs of thanksgiving and praise change to complaint and murmuring in reproach to God. "You have brought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices: but you have burdened Me with your sins and wearied Me with your iniquities" (Isaiah 43:24).

God is always seeking true worshippers whom He can bless and reward, like the faithful servants who doubled their talents from two and five to four and ten respectively. The TOKEN, which is a Christ-like life in us, must be on display at all times and under all circumstances. God is especially glorified when we offer the sacrifice of praise under adverse conditions or whilst sustaining Enemy fire.

I Peter 1:3-7 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (Can you say, "Revelation 10:7")? In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, you may be distressed by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being far more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may prove to be for praise and honour and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ".

What a blessed Word, and truly what great rejoicing we can indeed have seeing the consummate Word that has been revealed in our time. Though afflictions, trials and temptations come, that's when we truly enter the Hall of Fame of the Faithful in Christ Jesus. That's when we become more like the FAITHFUL WITNESS Himself as we look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

God so ordained singing as an important part of worship to Him that He delivered His people many times purely on the basis of their devout adherence to this principle.

"David commanded the chief of the Levites to organize the singers into an orchestra with musical instruments; psalteries and harps and cymbals to raise sounds of joy. . . Moreover, Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music was selected to direct the music because of his skill. . . And David dressed in a robe of fine linen, and also the Levites who were carrying the Ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music with the singers" (I Chronicles 15:16, 22, 27).

On that day David danced before the Lord girded in a linen ephod, as the Ark of the Covenant was returned to its place in the prescribed manner, the Levites bearing it on their shoulders over their hearts with staves as Moses commanded by the Word of the Lord.

What an absolutely joyous occasion that was. "After the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings were made, David blessed the people in the Name of the Lord, and dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. . . On that day for the first time David began the custom of using choirs in the Tabernacle to sing thanksgiving to the Lord by Asaph and his brethren. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His Name, and make known His deeds among the people. Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him, talk of all His wondrous works, glory in His holy Name: let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord" (I Chronicles 16:2-3, 7-10).

Such powerful praise reaches the very throne of God. Like true Christian confession in which one cannot speak words the heart repudiates so in true worship the heart must believe, and its rejoicing is a manifest token that its resolute rest is in the power of Almighty God. It is the Spirit of God that searches the heart and knows who has surrendered his life and have His Life and will living through them. When every chamber of the heart is so filled with His Presence, each of its strings move by the Spirit in vibrant frequency a melody sweeter than psalms or harps in praise worthy of acceptation, gladdening the heart of the Lord.

In earlier times, David's sweet and skilful playing of the harp, drove to flight the demons troubling King Saul. So there is a work of grace and power in artful praise to our God that gives glory only to the Lord.

I Chronicles 24 describes how the sons of Aaron were divided into twenty-four courses and chapter twenty-five explains how the singers and musicians were divided by lot into twenty-four courses:

"They were all under the direction of their father in music in the House of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthum and Heman" (I Chronicles 25:6).

So when a great multitude of the enemies came against Jehoshaphat, he sought the Lord, proclaiming a fast throughout all Judah to ask God's help through intercessory prayer. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, a Levite, one of the sons of Asaph. And He spoke saying . . . "THUS SAITH THE LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S . . . You will not need to fight in this battle, just hold your place, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you . . .

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord to worship Him. And the Levites of the sons of the Kohathites and the sons of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice. . . And when Jehoshaphat had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and those who should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the sons of Ammon, Moab and mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were smitten" (II Chronicles 20:1-22).

Praise the Lord. What a marvelous deliverance was wrought from their enemies as His people sought Him in faith: after hearing THUS SAITH THE LORD they worshipped and praised "the beauty of holiness." O God that is heavenly. But do notice, all the elements must be present for the power of God to move on behalf of His people. The need of the people was great, but as prayer was addressed to the Lord for His help; "THUS SAITH THE LORD" raised the unseen substance of faith to such a height, the glory of His praise rang out on high, then the Lord worked His wonder against their enemies.

All this happened to a people under a Covenant sealed with the blood of bulls and goats. What can a people under a better Covenant expect? The everlasting Covenant sealed with the blood of the great Shepherd of the sheep! Surely something more wondrous than mortal minds could ever grasp or conceive.

In Ephesians 5:18-19 Paul commanded the Church, "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord".

Colossians 3:16, "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord".

As it was in the Old Testament so is it in the New, the Church has a direct command to worship the Lord and sing praises to His Name. The power of a truly spirit-filled and enthusiastic song service is a great blessing in the worship of Almighty God; singing lifts the spirit before the preaching or teaching of God's Word and kindles the deepest feelings of devotion. Like a down-pour of rain after a hot dry spell, singing saturates and refreshes the soul, the lips utter praise, holy hands are lifted without wrath or doubt in surrender, waving in tribute to our God.

The heart and soul so thoroughly anointed with His Presence utters exultation and renders purest worship with glory in the highest, to the One True God, our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate purpose of the service—to praise the Lord. O what spiritual blessings we reap as we follow His command in doing that which is right. Now like a thoroughly plowed field the heart is ready to receive the seed of the Word, which builds us up in our most holy faith as we pray in the Holy Ghost. That Word also casts out sickness and disease right where you are seated in the Presence of God.

Speaking of His sacrificial death for the redemption of our souls, Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down His life for His friends." Conversely, there can be no greater tribute of love to our worthy Redeemer than as Paul said: "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1-2).

Again in Hebrews 13:15 we have this wonderful Word, "Through Christ let us continually offer up the sacrifice of praise to God, which is the fruit of our lips that confess His Name [to others]".

The soul that cannot worship in that manner—continually praising God with the fruit of the lips, knows not God and is far removed from the kingdom. We call to mind the Words of our Lord in Mark 12:30 when He said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all our mind and with all your strength." It is not a part-time rendering of praise we offer, as God has not given us an incomplete sacrifice, salvation or redemption. Like the man who sold all he had to obtain the field of great price, we divest ourselves of all, to ensure wholehearted service and worship of our God and King.

Psalms 33:1-3; 81:1-4; 92:1-2 and a host of other Scriptures testify to the glory and wonder of singing and praise to God. Who other than the blessed God of heaven could have inspired the beautiful Words penned in Psalm 48:1-2:

"Great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised,
in the City of our God,
in the mountain of His holiness.
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,
is mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King".

"Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy,
Thou art worthy O Lord,
Thou art worthy to receive glory,
glory and honour and power;
For Thou hast created, has all things created,
Thou hast created all things
And for Thy pleasure they were created
Thou art worthy O Lord".

"I shall not, I shall not be moved,
I shall not, I shall not be moved,
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
I shall not be moved".

The joy of the Lord is my strength and is ever the oxygen that fuels my every motion and activity. When I hear folk speak of the song service as dull and lifeless, I know instinctively that "Birth" has not taken place. I was at an assembly recently where they were singing "Hold the Fort." I was right at the door and I barely heard them, I'm sure their singing did not even reach the ceiling. In contrast, when they sang "Happy Birthday" for a member, they sang loudly and with gusto. The Scripture is right, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." In many instances song services are dull because many of the members sing half-heartedly, if at all. All too often it is obvious many don't have their mind on the service and are not concentrating on what is being said. Sometimes preaching that treats sheep as goats destroys the spirit of worship and wrecks the congregation.

At other times the whole congregation may be lifeless with the exception of one or two born-again saints who are deemed odd birds by the congregation with their desire to lift up their voices in praise to God. Too often whole churches just go through song service barely displaying the "mechanics," let alone the "dynamics." Words are mouthed with little thought to their inspiring Message. Paul said, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" (I Corinthians 14:15). Otherwise it is just sounding brass or tinkling cymbals

Because music has such a tremendous effect on the lives of men, it is imperative sacred music and singing to the Lord is not contaminated with the perverse lyrics, vain repetitions and sensuous carnality of the secular beat of a worldly church. As surely as God destroyed two of Aaron's sons for offering strange fire before Him, those who profane His holiness will not escape damnation. Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and commanded all his councilors, rulers, sheriffs, princes, judges and everyone in the provinces, "when the band strikes up, you are to fall down prostrate and worship the golden image." We are all familiar with Daniel 3:5. Satan, in cunning subtlety—ever trying to rob God of the glory and praise that is His due—devised another golden calf scheme that debased men and turned them into idolaters. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow to the image, and God vindicated their faith in His Word, making them non-combustible and impervious to the heat and flames, and Christ met them as the "fourth Man" in the fiery furnace.

Many of today's "Contemporary Christian Artists" so-called employ the sackbut and dulcimer and all kinds of music to take to themselves glory and honour due to the Lord. Neither they nor their vile and abominable offerings are the subject of this talk: two verses of Scripture from Psalm 50:22-23 will be sufficient reprimand: "Consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces and there be none to deliver. He who offers a sacrifice of praise honours Me: to him who orders his way aright, I will show the salvation of God".

In Colossians 1:9-14 Paul prayed on this wise: "From the day that we heard of your faith, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all Spiritual wisdom and understanding and live in a way worthy of the Lord and to His entire satisfaction, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the cheerful exercise of unlimited patience and perseverance, with thanksgiving to the Father who has qualified you for your share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins".

"We are delivered from the power of darkness and have been transferred into the Kingdom of His dear Son"—if such a Scripture cannot be punctuated with a resounding "Amen" or an ecstatic "Hallelujah" we are a corpse in the hearse, not treasure in an earthen vessel. These are reactions of the eternal attributes of God. I believe He has made it easy for us to believe, and as we bask in His glory and talk of all His wondrous love and power, His Presence sustains and replenishes our soul like an artesian well, constantly springing forth the waters of Life.

Another important admonition for singing in Church is found in Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord".

So, besides praising God we also teach and admonish one another with hymns and spiritual songs. O how wonderful the Lord is. That then is a ministry all by itself. And like all things, the more we practice, the easier and more efficacious our ministry will become. And persecution will come upon us, as it came to Paul and Silas who were thrown in jail, because singing praise to God was not just "something they did in Church on Sunday" but part of their everyday life in Christ, so "at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises to God: and the prisoners heard them" (Acts 16:22). They were NOT ashamed of the Gospel of Christ or the fetters that held them bound. Then as now, "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes . . . to the Judean first, and also to the Greek".

An old saint who loved the Lord maintained a frequent acclamation of "glory," or "praise the Lord" during the preaching. He was very poor and had no shoes; one day the pastor said, "Brother, I know you love the Lord, and love to shout His praise because He means so much to you, but if you will just hold your peace in this service, we'll buy you a fine pair of shoes to wear next service. The preaching started and all was quiet for a while, but as the richness of the Word came forth, the silence was broken with "Shoes, or no shoes, praise the Lord! Shoes or no shoes, glory to God"! That's just how it is when one is truly born of the Spirit; he cannot restrain the praise and hallelujahs! "Rejoice in the Lord always and AGAIN I say Rejoice"!

"When the Lord was making His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the throng spread their garments in the way, those who went before and they those who followed cried, "Hosanna, to the Son of David: Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest"! But when the chief priests and the Scribes noticed the wonderful things that He did, and the children shouting in the Temple, they were indignant, and some of the Pharisees among the multitude said to Him, Master, rebuke your disciples. But He answered, I tell you if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out".

Such is the attraction and compelling glory of Jesus. Some held their peace when they saw the marvelous works He did veiled behind the flesh of Brother Branham, revealing the Son of man, "the same yesterday, and today, and forever," but I praise God. Like others who have become partakers of the divine nature, I am one of the "goodly stones" cut from around the world and perfected for God's Temple, crying "Grace, grace unto it" in thankful praise for the precious work He has done and continues to do in my life.

After the Last Supper, knowing His betrayer would confront Him, Jesus sang a hymn of praise with His disciples and went to Gethsemane to meet His Enemy in the greatest battle ever fought. The strategy of worshipping God before engaging the Enemy held steadfast: He overcame the world of His mortal senses to become Lord when He chose the will of the Father over the allure of mortal life. Then He defeated His Enemy on Calvary, and won the victory of eternal Life over death when He rose from the grave.

Christians today should note what is written in Hebrews chapter two, how Jesus was made a little lower than the angels—our theophanies—to taste death for His kinsmen of Adam's race who have also been made lower than the angels, that we should overcome through our faith in Him. Paul recalls the great salvation of which we are partakers, and how God bore witness with signs and wonders and miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, placing all things, including the world to come, in subjection under Jesus' feet. And now we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour as He says in verse 12, "I will declare Your Name to My brethren, in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to You." This all but stole my breath when I first understood it means that Jesus, the Son of David and Captain of our salvation, like Asaph, David's choirmaster, is leading "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven" in the ultimate expression of praise and worship to God "the Judge of all".

Colossians 1:16-17: "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before all things and by Him all things consist".

Here is where Believers of all ages have lived—in the Presence of God—their lives a sweet perfume, pouring forth the fragrance of love and adoration to the Father of glory. Jesus' life blood washed and made us clean, clothing us in the righteousness of God. There are hardly sufficient tongues to sing all His praises, yet with heartfelt desire, we sing, clap our hands, and worship in holy ovation to the King of kings. Proclaiming "He is the blessed and only Potentate, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Who only has immortality, dwelling in the Light to which no man can approach; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen!" (I Timothy 6:15-16).

In Revelation 5 we enter a scene of greatest Spiritual drama. John, who represents you and I, the end-time Bride who will not see death in the flesh, wept much after a strong Angel advertised for One who is Worthy to open the Book in the right hand of He who sat on the throne, and to loose its Seven Seals. John wept because no man in heaven, or on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the Book, neither to look thereon.

Revelation 5:5-14: "And one of the Elders said to me, Weep not: Behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the root of David, has prevailed to open the Book, and to loose the Seven Seals. And I saw, standing midway between the throne and the four Living creatures, and among the elders, a Lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent forth into all the earth. He came and took the Book from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne, and when He took the Book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each of them having a harp, and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the Book, and to open its Seals, because You were slain, and by Your Blood You have ransomed us to God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And made us a Kingdom and priests to our God, and we shall reign over the earth."

"Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders, and they numbered ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory and blessing."

I'm so glad that I can say I'm one of them.

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures said, "Amen," and the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped". nl591.htm

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Brother Grigor-Scott is a non-denominational minister who has ministered full-time since 1981, primarily to other ministers and their congregations overseas. He pastors Bible Believers' tiny congregation, and is available to teach in your church.

Bible Believers' Church
Gunnedah NSW
Australia 2380

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