The Bible on the Liturgy of Worship

This is an email that I sent to a friend who asked me some questions about worship. 

One way that God teaches from the Scriptures is by establishing patterns. Here is one pattern that defines the liturgy of worship, that is, the steps that make up worship. It’s rooted in the sacrificial system which was God’s lasting instruction to His Church, then and now, about some basics of worship. 

There are three main sacrifices that made up the normal cycle in worship. These three follow the same order: first, a sin offering; second, a whole burnt offering; third, a peace offering. What is being (symbolically) taught here are three steps in corporate worship: first, cleansing and forgiveness of sin; second, whole-hearted consecration; (resulting in) third, communion with God and the other members of the family of God. Based on this, worship today is to be something like this: first, hearing God’s Law and responding with confession of sin and a declaration of forgiveness; second, hearing God’s word explained so that the saints could live faithful lives (Scripture reading and the preaching of the Word); third, communion with God and each other (the Lord’s Supper). From other places in Scripture, we know that there is also to be singing of praise and such, as well as the prayers of the people of God. 

Here’s a quote from the NIV Study Bible that supports what I’ve written. 

When more than one kind of offering was presented (as in Num. 6: 16-17), the procedure was usually as follows: (1) sin offering or guilt offering, (2) burnt offering, (3) fellowship offering and grain offering (along a drink offering). This sequence furnishes part of the spiritual significance of the sacrificial system. First, sin had to be dealt with (sin offering or guilt offering). Second, the worshiper committed himself completely to God (burnt offering and grain offering). Third, fellowship or communion between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper (fellowship offering) was established. To state it another way, there were sacrifices of expiation (sin offerings and guilt offerings), consecration (burnt offerings and grain offerings) and communion (fellowship offerings — these included vow offerings, thank offerings and freewill offerings). 

Let me include here one tidbit about a particular aspect of worship that I tend to talk about a lot. It’s about preaching. 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Timothy 3:16–4:2 

Paul here teaches Timothy about the blessings of Scripture as God-breathed. He makes it clear, in this context, that this is for the benefit of ‘the man of God’. The ESV has a footnote explaining what this phrase means: ‘That is, a messenger of God (the phrase echoes a common Old Testament expression)’. This expression was used of OT prophets. Paul addresses Timothy as a ‘man of God’. This is about Timothy as a preacher. As such, he (and every other Christian preacher) is a messenger of God, someone with a message from God. It is unfortunate that there is a chapter break here. There shouldn’t be. Paul does not begin a new topic. He continues to explain how his being a man of God, well-equipped with Scripture, is to show in Timothy’s ministry. Paul calls him to preach in a certain way in light of the nature of Scripture as God-breathed. Let me point out three words in this context: ‘reprove, rebuke, and exhort’. These qualities are to be a key part of Timothy’s sermons. Or to say it in another way, Paul is telling Timothy that application is to be a necessary element of his sermons.