God’s purpose of creating the world and people is to build an eternal dwelling for Himself.

Behold, the dwelling placeof God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:3)

Saints become one with the Son and the Father through the Holy Spirit. And we worship God day and night. It is not only on Sundays that we worship. We worship everyday and every moment.

Day and night they never stop saying: “’Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8)

For those who are still under the Law, this thought of continuous worship may terrify them because they attend public worship services because of guilt and fear of punishment. Indeed, fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But true fear is rooted from true knowledge of God. The end is love.

In the history of Israel nation, God dwelt in the tabernacle and then in the temple in Jerusalem. Those were only shadows of the true Kingdom. However, people without knowledge put emphasis on places and acts of worship then and even now. Instead of following what the early Reformers taught them, they went back to pagan ways of worship just like the Roman Catholic. And these actions were rebuked many times in the OT and the NT. In the OT, the public worships in high places and in the Northern Israel (at Dan and Bethel) were announced illegal but people still carried on. However, God is not concerned about where the worships are done now. The laws regarding worship were given as shadows of true worship.

Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (John 4:21)

This was shocking to the Jews, especially the Pharisees, who believed they lost their country because they did not keep the Law. But God was not concerned about the external form of worship. From the very beginning, God wanted people who know Him. And Christ came exactly for that purpose – the priestly Kingdom.

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19)

The Pharisees tried to accuse Christ of blaspheming God and the temple. They also accused Apostle Stephen of blaspheming their temple. Stephen explained that the earthly temple was never God’s final temple (See Acts 7).

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21:22)

Christ became the cornerstone of the Kingdom, where God will dwell forever. There are ignorant people who ask why Christ delays His coming. The answer is that the Kingdom (the new Jerusalem, the invisible church) was only born when Christ died. And she has never stopped growing since. Only when the end comes, she will be fully ready.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)

The Gospel of John explains a lot about worship.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24)

It was God’s will that Israel nation was built as a shadow of the true Kingdom and Christ was born as a descendant of David. Therefore, salvation comes from the Jews but not all Jews are saved as in the OT. Only the remnant chosen by grace will be saved regardless of their backgrounds.

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Romans 11:5)

The priests of the Kingdom worship God without ceasing. And the important truth is that God accepts only what is from God – Truth (Son, Word) and Spirit. And this is shown in Psalm 22:22. The Father receives praise from the Son because the Son is one with the Father. The Son truly knows the Father. This is the only condition of true worship – one must be one with the Son and the Father through the Holy Spirit. All other elements of public worship come after that.

There are three important elements of publish worship. They are prayer, praise/singing to God, and preaching. Many churches, even the Reformed, fail in all three elements. All three are connected to the knowledge of God. As I mentioned, the Covenant Theology and the active obedience of Christ have done much harm and the knowledge became crooked.

At present, prayers are done without knowing what God has done and will do. People focus on their own salvation and are not interested in the coming Kingdom that will come down out of heaven. The Law is overly emphasized as if it can give people salvation. And although the Law is emphasized, they do not keep the Law.

Singing hymns made by men is also a big problem. Men-made songs are loved much more than the songs made by God. The Psalms are full of the knowledge of God, but people think some men-made songs with “love” and “Jesus” would please God more than the Psalms. Music is closely related to idolatry.

But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of victory, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But I hear the sound of singing.” (Exodus 32:18)

I heard Zwingli, as a wise man, removed all kinds of instruments and music from public worship because of its effects on people. People would rather dwell in ecstasy that music brings than listen to the words of God. That is human nature. People in churches believe they have the Holy Spirit, and they can write new music for God. For them, music is better than words of God because they do not get the same joy that saints get when reading the Bible. I do not want to waste my time arguing with them.

Lastly, ministers preach what is not true. Most of them preach against Sola Gratia and the divine election. And those in the Reformed denominations preach on the Covenant Theology and the active obedience of Christ, which bring wrong understandings of God and His Kingdom.

While I was in a Reformed church, I tried hard to persuade the elders. But they did not want to change their stubborn ways. They were satisfied with their ways of worshiping God. God showed me the state of the church before I joined in a dream. And God has announced that her wound is incurable.

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! (Acts 7:51)

People who receive the mark of God are those who mourn over idolatry.

Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it (Ezekiel 9:4)

It is not surprising God has shut the doors of many churches around the world during the pandemic because it is the first sign and seal of Christ’s reign on the earth.