Some Particulars of Playing Church (Part 2)
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
From: Martin Overfield
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001
Some Particulars of Playing Church (Part 2)
"... the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. ... And
it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the
calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables
out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf
which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and
strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it."
(Exodus 32:6b, 19-20)
Prayer
While Moses was intensely involved in the process of obtaining the law
of God, the people had grown weary of waiting or watching. As Jesus said in
the New Testament, "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:40).
Moses was fasting forty days and nights and the people decided they would
indulge themselves. Would it not have been far better for them to have
denied themselves and spent extra time calling upon the name of the Lord
instead of entering into temptation?
Another particular of playing church, or of breaking God's commandments
and principles while supposedly worshipping the true God is found in the
area of prayer, or of the lack thereof. Here is a New Testament command
that many today are breaking:
"Pray Without Ceasing." (I Thessalonians 5:17)
One of the great sins of the church today is prayerlessness! It is much
easier to have a social program, a pizza party, or some "religious" activity
than to have a true prayer meeting. When someone does attempt a prayer
meeting -- not only in name -- he will often find that the people have too
many other "important" things to do. If they do attend it is many times a
perfunctory ordeal. Not many are willing to stay beyond thirty minutes to
do the hard work of entering into soul travail and of carrying the burden
until they have prevailed with God for an answer.
How many times have we arrived at church to find that the people seem to
believe that it is more important to catch up on all the small talk with
their neighbors than to prepare their hearts for worship and to plead with
God for His powerful presence in the services? Some may say, "But I do all
my praying at home." If such a one has truly PRAYED at home, I dare say
that the spirit of prayer will be carried to the place of worship and NOT a
spirit of levity.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am NOT saying that we should not have
fellowship and that we should not have words to say to visitors. What I am
saying is that when about all the people do is talk, talk, talk before and
after service and do not spend much time talking with God, then the Spirit
of God is grieved. We ought to be courting His presence rather than
slighting Him by treating the house of God as though it were some social
hall. Did not Jesus emphasize the truth that God's house "shall be called
of all nations the house of prayer" (Mark 11:17)? Then why do those who
claim to love God so much contribute so much to prayerlessness in His house?
Leonard Ravenhill said something like this about our modern day "When
the people had played the place was taken" instead of "when they had prayed
the place was shaken" (Acts 4:31).
Show me a few saints who are willing to be considered fanatical in this
matter of prayer in order to make the Holy Spirit welcome in their midst and
I'll show you a place where the services will have real spiritual life.
There will be those who shout for victory, and others under conviction
crying for defeat until they gain the victory, if only the church will cease
to play and really pray!
God longs for a group of people that will give themselves unto prayer
without ceasing. It is then that He will answer and make us and others
ready for His eternal kingdom.
Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield
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