GIVING A BIBLICAL RATIONALE FOR THE CONCEPT GOD AS
AUDIENCE AND STATING HOW THIS CONCEPT CAN BE BETTER TAUGHT AND EXPERIENCE IN
THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORSHIP
God is a supreme
being: the being believed in monotheistic
religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Christianity to be the all-powerful
all-knowing creator of the universe, worshiped as the only god
The Bible teaches us
that in all existence and from all eternity there has been and always will be
only one God. God was never created. He is and always has been completely
loving, completely just, completely holy,
and completely merciful. God is holy, and He can have nothing to do with sin as
the Bible says, "His eyes are too pure to look upon evil," (Hab. 1:13).
This does not mean that God cannot see what someone does that is wrong. It is a
way of describing how holy God is. God cannot sin. He is perfect.
God is a Trinity. This
means that God exists in three persons, not three gods. Technically, the
doctrine of the Trinity states that in the one God is the person of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is not the same person as the other, yet
there are not three gods but one. This is similar in analogy to the nature of
time. Time is past, present, and future. The past is not the same as the
present, which is not the same as the future. But, there are not three times.
There is only one thing called time.
The reason the word,
"person," is used in describing the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit is because each exhibits attributes of personhood--not in a body of
flesh and bones but in personality. In other words, each has a will, and each
loves, speaks, is aware of others, communicates with others, etc. These are
attributes of personhood, and we see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
each demonstrate these qualities.
Because of the Trinity,
God can become flesh in the form of the Son and still exist in such a way that
He can run the universe. Therefore, the Son can communicate to us on our level.
God, the center and focus
of religious faith, a holy being or ultimate reality to whom worship and prayer
are addressed. Especially in monotheistic religions (see Monotheism), God is considered the creator or source of
everything that exists and is spoken of in terms of perfect attributes—for
instance, infinitude, immutability, eternity, goodness, knowledge
(omniscience), and power (omnipotence). Most religions traditionally ascribe to
God certain human characteristics that can be understood either literally or
metaphorically, such as will, love, anger, and forgiveness.
An audience is
1. People watching performance: a group of
people assembled to watch and listen to a show, concert, movie, or speech
2. People watching or listening to broadcast:
the viewers of a movie or a television program, or the listeners to a radio
program
3. Author’s readership:
the people who read a writer's books
4. Formal interview: a formal, usually
prearranged, interview with somebody important
[14th century. Via
French < Latin audientia "a hearing" < audire "hear"]
When
we say God as audience of worship in a biblical sense, we are told in the
scriptures by Jesus in Matthew 18:20 for
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them KJV. Midst mean center: the middle or central part of
something. Telling us that God is present where his name is mentioned. Therefore
in our worship as Seventh Day Adventist, God is present. We ask why at all is
God in the Centre of our worship as a church? This is because it is to God, the
center and focus of religious faith, a holy being or ultimate reality that our
worship and prayer are addressed. Especially in monotheistic religions such as the
Seventh-day Adventist. Since God is the one our worship and prayer are directed
to he is also there in the midst of the gathering to watch how we go about
things in worshiping Him, whether we are worshiping and praying as He instructs
us to do from the Holy Scriptures. For these reasons God becomes an audience
for our worship as a church. Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD
are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. This Scripture tells us of
the Omnipresence Face of God everywhere. If God is everywhere is it in the
gathering made in his name that he is going to be absent? I answer NO, He is
going to be present watching and receiving our worship. The great truths of
divinity are of great use to enforce the precepts of morality, and none more
than this-That the eye of God is always upon the children of men. 1. An eye to
discern all, not only from which nothing can be concealed, but by which everything
is actually inspected, and nothing overlooked or looked slightly upon: The eyes
of the Lord are in every place; for he not only sees all from on high (Ps.
33:13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of
men.),
but he is everywhere present. Angels are full of eyes (Rev. 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him;
and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.),
but God is all eye. It denotes not only his omniscience, that he sees all, but
his universal providence, that he upholds and governs all. Secret sins,
services, and sorrows, are under his eye. 2. An eye to distinguish both persons
and actions. He beholds the evil and the good, is displeased with the evil and
approves of the good, and will judge men according to the sight of his eyes,
Ps. 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the
way of the ungodly shall perish.; 11:4 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
The wicked shall not go unpunished, nor the righteous unrewarded, for God has
his eye upon both and knows their true character; this speaks as much comfort
to saints as terror to sinners. For these reasons God who is watching charges
us and leaders to "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God
which He purchased with His own blood Acts 20:28. In our worship as a church
God places a charge on the leaders, Pastors Elders and others to lead the
church which He has bought with His precious blood in the right direction and
feed them with the right word of God as the Shepherd feeds the Flock.
In our worship because
God is an audience; He tells us to beware of our speech as worshipers. To stop
Gossiping in the house of God and at His presence. Gossiping in the church
house especially Seventh-day Adventist is becoming unbearable. Self-Discipline
is what the Lord God wants from us, Divine Restraints Justice in the believer’s
life as recorded in Psalm
141:3
Set a guard, O LORD,
over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. In doing this the Lord God
grants us His own protection, protection from danger as in Psalm 121:8 The LORD
will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open
to their cry. God seeing the righteous righteousness is a blessing to the
church when the members meet to worship God. Psalm 33:18Behold, the eye of the
LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His loving-kindness, here
God shows His loving-kindness, hope and blessings for those who fear Him. Jeremiah
1:12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over
My word to perform it." The lords word as in scripture is wherever two or
three gather in my name I will the present there. God watches our worship as
well as receives it. So if when he watches on our worship as a church and He is
not please He will definitely not receive it.
Then if God watching our worship cant receive it then I ask, who then
receives it. That is to whom it may please and obviously it will please the
devil to receive worship.
Let
the church and it members know that God is in their midst during their worship
as one of their audience enjoying the service and also receiving the worship of
his church. 
References
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. ©
1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
carm.org,
Matthew Henry Notes:
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