Public Worship

That the saints love public worship is a constant Puritan theme. Why their delight in it? Because in worship the saints do not merely seek God; they also find him. Worship is not only an expression of gratitude, but also a means of grace, whereby the hungry are fed, so that the empty are sent away rich. For 'there is in worship an approach of God to man.' [Stephen Charnock] 'God's presence in his ordinances' is a reality; God is essentially present in the world, graciously present in his church. 'God delights to approach to men, and converse with them in the worship instituted in the gospel.' [Stephen Charnock] And men honour God most when they come to worship hungry and expectant, conscious of need and looking to God to meet them and supply it. 

A Quest for Godliness: 

The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life 

J.I. Packer

Missing Church

What's so bad about missing church? Not all the time. Just once in a while. You know, when something else really interesting shows up. Well, there's nothing bad about missing church - unless something supernatural happens there. And something supernatural does happen there. Church - or better, worship - is a time when the saints get to meet with God in a way that is unique. So, a sermon isn't a learned lecture but rather God speaking through a weak man. Baptism isn't a profession of faith by a convert but an assertion of ownership by God, Father, Son and Spirit. The Lord's Supper isn't a time for some reflection. It's God feeding needy souls. The benediction isn't a pastor's wish but God's blessing. This isn't just the weekly gathering of some people but the communion of the saints. And the service isn't a time to get some help with your problems but a time to respond to God, to who God is and how good He has been to you. But if you want to miss this, go right ahead. But that really makes no sense.

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.

Evangelism: Motivation

There are several motivations - good motivations - when it comes to evangelism. Here's one: jealous worship. (HT: Gary West Davis) The petition 'hallowed be thy name' reminds us of this motivation. There is to be within the soul of every Christian the deep desire to see the Father honored by every person walking this globe. That such honor is not the case is to be something that troubles every child of God. The particulars of how one responds to this situation will differ according to things like calling and context. But we all are to desire that this lack be changed until God, our Father, is honored 'on earth as it is in heaven'.

A Prayer for Our Times

Father,

We live in crazy times. There is so much change going on all around us. And so many have no idea how to handle it. But we are protected from the confusion and panic. We are protected because You are our God and our loving Father. You have promised to keep us safe. And You will most certainly do that. So, it only makes sense for us to worship You, to give You the glory due Your name. We eagerly look forward to the day when we will be able to do this face to face in a new heavens and a new earth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

What Worship Is Supposed to Be

That the saints love public worship is a constant Puritan theme. Why their delight in it? Because in worship the saints do not merely seek God; they also find him. Worship is not only an expression of gratitude, but also a means of grace, whereby the hungry are fed, so that the empty are sent away rich. For 'there is in worship an approach of God to man.' [Stephen Charnock] 'God's presence in his ordinances' is a reality; God is essentially present in the world, graciously present in his church. 'God delights to approach to men, and converse with them in the worship instituted in the gospel.' [Stephen Charnock] And men honour God most when they come to worship hungry and expectant, conscious of need and looking to God to meet them and supply it.

A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life
J.I. Packer

Worship

Jesus had many conversations with many different kinds of people. And we can learn much from a careful look at each of them. One conversation that He had was with an unnamed woman from Samaria, a conversation that started because Jesus was thirsty. As a part of that conversation Jesus said something that I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard before.

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 4.23–24

Now, as with all of Jesus’ statements, there is so much going on here. Here’s just one item. The Father seeks worshipers. But not just any worshipers. He seeks a certain kind of worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and truth. These Jesus calls ‘true worshipers’. Now, whatever else you might draw from Jesus’ words, this much is clear. Worship, the right kind of worship, is important to the Father. And that means that it is to be important to you.

This morning we’re going to take a look at worship. I don’t think that the Spirit guided me to this topic because there are large problems among us when it comes to worship. I rather think the Spirit wants me to talk to you about worship because we can always go deeper. There is more to understand and more to enjoy. And we work at going deeper so that we can do better at giving to the Father what He desires so much: true worship.

Why Worship God?

This morning I'm going to once again follow up on a previous sermon. Last week, I spoke to you about Noah. I pointed out that the first thing that he did after leaving the ark was to worship. In that context I said this.

Noah’s worship was not just some vague actions pointed toward God. He had some particular goals for his worship. The details reveal what Noah wanted to accomplish by his worship.

There were things that Noah wanted to accomplish by his worship. We saw what they were when we looked at the significance of burnt offerings in the Scriptures: thanksgiving, petition, atonement.

Here's the point that I want to make this morning. Following Noah's lead, we also should have goals for our worship, things that we want to accomplish.

Care of Your Soul and Bible Reading?

I think that it is quite eye-opening when you notice that something isn’t in the Bible when you really expected it to be there. So, consider caring for your soul. And then, ask yourself whether you are supposed to read your Bible to do a good job of that. What’s the right answer that we’ve all heard – and some of have passed on to others? Read your Bible – every day! However – and this can be quite surprising – I have yet to find a verse or theme or pattern in the Bible that calls for the saints to give themselves to Bible reading, daily or otherwise. If such a practice is a key to a healthy soul you'd expect to see it called for in Scripture – and that fairly clearly. But it's not there. 

Consider Psalm 119. This is a psalm that extols the glories of the Scriptures as God’s instruction for living. You'll find exhortations about keeping it, treasuring it, meditating on it and learning it. But you'll never find the call to 'read it' or anything like that. The Bible does not command the saints to read their Bibles.

If this is true, then how are we to care for our souls?

Consider the other end of the spectrum. What you do find lots of times and in lots of places? The call to prayer. There's the verse that teaches us to 'pray without ceasing'. Then, there’s Jesus' statement, 'when you pray…'. There are also examples of people who prayed. Besides the obvious example of Jesus, James refers to Elijah as a praying man and calls the saints to imitate him. And then, there are lots of examples of prayers. Most of the Psalms are prayers. And don’t forget the Lord's Prayer which is presented as a model for us to follow. It's pretty clear that the saints are to pray. 

This is why I said in an earlier post that one key discipline for a healthy soul is prayer.  

Now, an important question. Does this mean that we need not care about getting as much Bible into us as possible? Are we to forget about Bible intake? 

I hope that the answer is obvious. 'No!' It’s true that the Bible doesn't command believers to read it. But that’s not to say that Bible intake is unimportant. The issue here is not about the importance of getting as much Bible into your soul as possible. The issue is about how to go about doing that. 

There’s a theme from Scripture that deals with how the saints are to get more Bible. Here are some expressions of it.

Then [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Exodus 24:7

And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. Joshua 8.34,35

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. Nehemiah 8.2,3.

The Bible prescribes a way to get lots of Bible, and it is a way that has not been stressed nearly as much as personal Bible reading: weekly worship with the saints.

God knows that we need the Bible, lots of it. But instead of commanding that we read it on our own He calls the saints to assemble to hear the Word read and explained. The prescribed way of getting lots of Bible is not solo reading but weekly worship with the saints.

This explains why I wrote that the care of a soul includes these two Spiritual disciplines: daily prayer alone and weekly worship with the saints. I suspect that the notion that personal Bible reading is what really counts for a healthy soul comes from the cultural influence of American individualism. That's why we expect to find that practice commanded in the Bible. This is another indication that God views us as a group as well as individuals – and maybe more as a group than as individuals.

All of this says something about the role of a pastor as Bible teacher of his church and the structure of a worship service. It seems to me that a pastor should imitate Ezra, the scribe. 

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra 7.10

Study it, do it (put it into practice) and then teach it. Imitating Ezra in these things is indispensable if one is going to be a faithful pastor. And that makes sense when you realize that the primary way that the saints are to get lots of Bible is as they assemble on Sundays to have it read and explained to them by their pastor.

Then, consider what Paul wrote to Timothy as he pastored a church. 

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 1 Timothy 4.13

This says something about what happens during Sunday worship services. It seems that there should be a good bit of 'the public reading of Scripture'. My sense is that there is less and less of this these days. If that’s true, it would be a shame.

Worship

Psalm 95.1-7

The worship of God is one of the hallmarks of being a disciple of Jesus. It is something that's built into our religion, a given, something simply assumed about being a Christian. And just because there is so much that is just assumed about worship we can miss what is important. So, this morning we're going to take a look at worship. To get at this I'm going to pose a question that I hope will get you thinking. The question is simple. Why should we worship God? Or to put it another way, what do you hope to accomplish by being here? Let's examine this to see what the Spirit will point out.

Here's one popular answer. We worship God because we're supposed to. It's commanded by God in the Bible – our text being just one example – and so we are to obey that command and worship God. And that sounds pretty good. It's hard to deny that worship is commanded. It really is in our text. But ... if that's all there is, then all you've got is duty. And while duty has its place, what kind of relationship flourishes based only on duty? Now, we are to worship God because He commands it. But does He have a reason for this command? Is there something more that we need to see?

Let me add to this. There are some who have been critical of our religion because at the heart of it all is a God who commands His creatures, 'Praise Me! Worship Me!' That sounds rather egotistical and a bit insecure to these critics. It seems that this God has a lack, a need that our worship fills. And that, according to these critics, is not very appealing. Is this what's behind God's command to worship Him? Does our worship meet some need in God? I hope that you see this as the slander against God that it is. But, if our worship is not intended to meet some need in God, then why does He command it?

So, mere duty doesn't seem right. And God being somehow dependent on our worship is just plain wrong. So, why do we worship? There is more at stake here than just getting the right answer. The answer affects how we worship. We need to get this right so that we might worship our God well.

The first step to a good answer to our question is to pose and answer another question. What is worship? Clearly, it is more than just a list of things to do on Sunday mornings. What is worship? Try this on for size. Worship is acknowledging God as the God that He is. That might sound odd, but it's in our text. Whoever wrote this Psalm is worshiping God even as he calls others to join him. Listen again to how he acknowledges God as the God that He is.

'Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!'
This God is a savior. He is our savior.

'Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.'
Compare our God to all the rest. He is greater than all the other gods that people worship. He is the King over all.

And then the Psalmist fills out what that means.

'In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.'
Our God is in control of this world from the deepest place in the ocean to the highest mountaintop.

'The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.'
It all belongs to Him because He is the Creator of it all.
'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!'
He has also created us.

'For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.'
Using the language of 'our God' is using the language of covenant. So, the Psalmist is telling us that more than just having created us, this God has also made a covenant with us. And that makes us more than just His creatures. We are His people, the sheep that He shepherds oh so carefully.

So, you see, the cry of the Psalmist, 'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!', makes sense. There are good reasons to worship our God. At its heart, worship is acknowledging God as the God that He really is.

However – and this is so very important – we do not acknowledge God in some abstract way. This is not an academic theology class where we discuss God in some detached, scientific way. (That's not even a good way to study theology.) Acknowledging God as the God that He really is can only happen as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are. Let's go back through the Psalmist's points, his description of our God. God is a savior. That means we are people who are in need of being saved. God is the King who rules over all. We are His subjects. God is the Creator. We are mere creatures. God is our covenant God. We are His sheep who are so dependent on Him. There are two sides of the coin that must go together. And now we have an answer to our question, 'What is worship?' Worship happens when God is acknowledged for who He really is by people who acknowledge who they really are.

Let me say all of that using a more familiar model. We are children of God, and in worship we are coming to meet with our Father. While coming to Him as His children means that we come as those who are privileged to come, it also means that we come with needs. We come, with those needs, to the One who can meet those needs. And so, we come so that those needs might be met. We come in need of a fresh experience of God's kindness. We come in need of greater clarity about what it means to follow Jesus well. We come in need of our spirits being lifted up by reminders of the beauty of the Gospel. We come in need of having our sins pointed out and then gloriously forgiven. We come in need of the assurance that the Spirit gives. We come in need of getting to know our God – Father, Son, Spirit – better. So, why do we worship? We worship because we are in need, and we know that God alone can meet those needs. That's just another way to say we worship God by acknowledging Him as He really is, as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are.

Now, I know that there some in the Church at large who would go ballistic if they heard any of this. They would say, 'Wait a minute! That can't be right. The focus isn't supposed to be on us in worship. It's supposed to be on God. What you've described is so selfish, so man-centered. Worship is about Him, not about us!' A young boy asks his dad if he can talk to him about something. So, his dad takes him aside and the boy says, 'I used to think that girls were ucky. But now, I'm not so sure. I think that I'm liking them, especially one. What's going on? What do I do?' The boy comes to his dad with a need, and his thoughts are focused on that need. But consider what he is saying by his actions, by coming to his dad. 'You're my Dad. You've always been there to take care of me. You must know about this girl stuff that I have no clue about. I trust you to steer me straight. Help me now.' The boy is honoring his father by all of this. He is acknowledging his dad as his Dad with all that that means, and he comes to his Dad acknowledging himself as his very needy son, with all that that means. So, how will his father respond? Do you think his father will reply, 'Son, you're only thinking of yourself and your need. If you want to honor me properly, come back when you are ready to focus on me and not on yourself. Come back when you get our relationship right'? Does that make any sense? Any good dad would be ecstatic with a son like this. He would relish the opportunity to guide and comfort his confused son. He would rejoice in being able to be all that 'Dad' means to his son. This would be a glorious moment in their relationship. But there's more to my little story. After the son receives the help that he was looking for, what will he think about his Dad? What is he going to tell his buddies? 'My Dad is the best. He's the greatest Dad. I know that he loves me and that he's going to take good care of me. He is always there for me. Man, my Dad is great!' What is that? It praise, authentic, heartfelt praise for his Dad. No one told him he had to do it. It just shows up. He came as a needy son, and he found his Dad to be all that a dad is supposed to be. Praise is inevitable. And that's what worship is. Worship is acknowledging God as the God he really is – Creator, Savior, Father, and all the rest – as we acknowledge who we really are – creatures, sinners, needy and loved sons and daughters. The inevitable result of our coming to this God in this way is praise.

Back to duty. Duty is not worship. But duty is important. Duty will get you here to worship. Ever have this conversation with someone in your family or maybe even with yourself: It's Sunday; time for worship. I don't want to go. Too bad. It's Sunday; time for worship. Okay, okay, I'm going. Duty is important. It will get you here when nothing else will. But duty is a poor motivation for worship. There needs to be more than just a sense of obedience to some command of God. And yet, please note God's kindness in giving us that command to worship Him. In that command He is telling us, 'You have needs – some you know about, most you don't. Those needs will be met in the context of worship. So, get there to worship Me.' We come as needy children. We come to our Father who loves to give good gifts to His needy children. And as we come – acknowledging Him as He really is as we also acknowledge ourselves as we really are – the inevitable result is praise.

And now, our text makes a bit more sense. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Now, all of this is impossible without Jesus. To be sure, there is the obvious. Sinners like us cannot come, dare not come, to worship a holy God. But Jesus has taken care of that. He has dealt with our sin. He has made us sons and daughters who are now welcomed by the Father. This much should be obvious to you. But there is another aspect to what Jesus has done that has a crucial role in our being able to worship God. By definition, sin is the refusal to worship. Sin is the refusal to acknowledge God as He really is, Creator, King, the only Savior. Sin is also the refusal to acknowledge ourselves as we really are, mere creatures, subjects of the King, needy sinners. Now, we are the saved. We are sons and daughters who are welcomed by the Father. And yet, we still sin. And that would make worship, real worship, impossible for us – if it were not for one thing. And that one thing is not a good sermon on worship. Being able to worship God properly is not a matter of changing some ideas in your head so that you can adjust your behavior. Right thinking is important, crucial even. But right thinking alone is powerless against sin, absolutely powerless. Remember the Pharisees who knew their Bibles really well. They were still enslaved to their sin, and that showed in their worship. Trying harder because of some new ideas will not do. That will not save you from your sin and how it affects your worship. Only Jesus saves from sin. The only reason that we are able to worship is because Jesus has given us His Spirit. It is the Spirit who causes us to cry out with the words that are of the essence of worship, 'Abba, Father', the cry of needy children who know where their needs can be met. We are able to worship only because the Spirit of Jesus is doing His work in our souls. Without the Spirit, the command to worship would only frustrate and discourage us. Any command of God, apart from the Spirit, would do the same thing. True worship, worship that acknowledges God as He really is as we acknowledge ourselves as we really are, comes from hearts where the Spirit is doing His work of renovation. Worship that pleases God and satisfies us comes from hearts where the Spirit is busy. This is the Gospel.

I don't usually remember where a sermon first comes from. But it seems to me that this sermon started a few weeks back when I heard someone refer to what Jesus said to the Pharisees. 'You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me..."' I hope that this applies to none of us. But there is a very real danger. And that's what hit me; the danger of vain worship. It was out of that sense of danger that I wanted to teach you about worship. So, let me encourage you to consider what I have taught you and to discuss it with the Father so that you might worship your God well and in this way enjoy what it means to be one of His children.

Who Is God and What Is He Like?

Exodus 33.12-34.8

So, who is God and what is He like? Personally, I think that that is a rather important question. But not everyone agrees with me. There are some who respond by saying that it may be an interesting question, but life is just to full right now to answer it. They'll ponder it when they get more time. Interesting but not all that important. Then there are others. These folk agree that it's a fine question but then ask, 'Isn't it the kind of question that theologians need to answer? Aren't they the ones who are supposed to deal with those deep and heavy issues?' And so, they don't answer it either. I'm sure that there are other ways that people avoid my question. And I think that it is unfortunate they do. Let me tell you why. This question is important because it is so very practical. How a person answers it sets the tone of his life. Let me explain. Take someone who is too busy consider a thoughtful answer to my question. There are consequences to that choice, and one of them will be loneliness. How can it not be? Such a person may not label what he feels as loneliness, but there will be a disquiet within him. He was made to know God and to come to understand, by experience, who He is and what He is like. A refusal to take the time to get to know the God who has created him has to result in this huge hole in his soul. Something will be missing. And life, instead of being the exploration of all these vivid colors, will simply be a trudge through the gray. There are those, however, who do take the time to answer the question. But they pursue an answer by taking refuge in abstract theological study. And so, their answer to my question, 'Who is God and what is He like?' goes something like this: 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.' But what will this result in but a cold and formal acquaintance with Deity? How else can you relate to someone whose character is understood as infinite, eternal and unchangeable? These folk have misapplied a good answer to a different question. So, I hope you see where I'm coming from. 'Who is God and what is He like?', is an important question. How we answer it, or refuse to answer it, will affect us in ways that go far beneath the surface.

In our text Moses wants an answer to our question. That's not to say that he's never asked the question before. He already knows what God is like, at least to some extent. But he's not satisfied with his current experience of God. He wants to know his God better. So, he pushes for a deeper answer to that question. And what is so exciting and encouraging for us is that he gets an answer. And it's this answer, God's answer to our question, that we are going to be looking at this morning. Listen to how He described Himself. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'

There are two things that I want to point out to you right away. First, this description is a collection of what have become church words, words that we have gotten so used to that we use them without thinking much about them. So, I'll have to translate them. I point this out to remind you that you need to stop when you encounter a church word. You need to make sure that you understand what it means. Second, I want you to notice that God describes Himself in terms of relationship, His relationship with us. This is not some abstract description. Our God is no cold, distant Deity. Part of what makes Him who He is, is His affection for us, His people, and His involvement in our lives. And that will become clear, I hope, as I attempt to translate these church words.

So, how's this for a translation? 'I am Jehovah, the almighty God, and I have decided to focus My might on pursuing the wellbeing of My people. I am determined to see them flourish. I pursue this course knowing that these, My people, are stubborn and willful. They are slow to get the point and slow to trust Me. In light of this, I will need to be patient with them, repeating often the things that I have told them, forgiving their insulting rejection of Me and My ways and reminding them time and time and time again that I love them. There will be those who will adamantly and repeatedly refuse to listen to Me. I will respond to them appropriately. But they will not turn Me away from doing good to the rest. I know that there will be obstacles in My way, but I intend to keep at it until I succeed.'

You might think that I have taken some liberties in my translation, and I have. But I think that it gets at the sense of what our God said to Moses. Listen to the original once more. 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'

Now, where do we go from here? I have a choice as to what I say next, and how I say it is rather important. I could say, 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' I suppose that in some sense that's accurate. But once again, the idea of tone comes into play. To my ears, that sentence sounds like a command from an overly strict God. So, getting to know Him is an obligation placed on us, an obligation that quickly feels like a burden. 'And this is the God that you need to get to know better.' And we're back to understanding God's character as 'infinite, eternal and unchangeable' and other distant qualities. You may hear this differently, but in this context, at least, that's the tone I feel. So, I'm not going to put my next thought in those terms. Instead, I'm going to say this. 'And this is the God that you can get to know better.' I like that better, and I'll tell you why. Jesus didn't come to pile more obligations and burdens on us. Quite the opposite. He came to free us from such things. And He did that so that we would be able to enjoy the real God, the God who is determined to see us flourish, the God who loves us. Jesus has come so that we can find the satisfaction that our souls were built to enjoy, a satisfaction that becomes increasingly ours as we get to know our God. So, our question is answered. God has described Himself in our text, and in so doing He invites us to enjoy Him.

Now, we're ready for the next step. What do we do to get to know our God better? I want to clarify something here. There are things that we are to do to get to know our God better, but our doing those things does not cause us to know our God better. He does not pay you off because you've jumped through the right hoops. That just ends up as more burdens: finding the right hoops, jumping though them from the right side, doing that well enough to get at least a passing grade, doing it all over again when you don't do it well enough and never being quite sure of how you're doing. Who needs that? If you get to know Him better it will be because of the things that He does and not because of the things that you do. It's like this. If you want to enjoy seeing the sunrise you're going to want to get up early and then look east. If you sleep in or even if you're up early enough but look west – well, it just isn't going to work. But getting up early and facing east will not cause the sun to rise. God does that. What you need to do is put yourself in the right place at the right time so that God can bless you then and there with His beauty. There are things for you to do, but just remember that a growing enjoyment of your God is something that He does in you. And that is so freeing. To put all of that into church words, we are saved by grace and not by works.

Back to Moses. He wanted more of God. So, what did he do? What can we learn from his example? Well, it may sound obvious but too often it isn't. Moses asked for more. That is, he prayed. 'Please show me Your glory.' Now, we might have encountered another church word here, prayer. So, let me say it this way. Moses had a conversation with God and told Him exactly what he was thinking. He told God that he wanted to know Him better and that He wanted God to make that happen. He prayed for more.

Now, if someone is going to do what Moses did, there are going to be a couple of other things also going on. Moses had his conversation with God because he was convinced that God would listen. The empty religious ritual that some people call prayer boils down to saying some words in your head, and maybe someone is listen or maybe not. Real prayer knows that God is listening. Real prayer is actually talking to Someone. Moses prayed. Now, that's good and it's important, but it's not quite enough. Moses also knew something else. He knew that God cared about he had to say. And this gets us back to God's description of Himself. Real prayer is based on this foundation: my God really is determined to see me flourish. So, discussing that with Him makes sense. Real prayer. Before a word is out of the mouth, there are important things going on in the soul. It is because of those things in the soul – things that are known – that such a person can pray. That such a person can discuss with his God how he can flourish.

There's one more thing to notice about Moses' prayer. He wasn't timid. In fact, you might almost say that he was a little pushy. Listen to what he said. 'See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.' Do you see what Moses is saying? 'Lord, You have given me a job to do. But there are problems doing the job. If it's true, as You've said, that You have decided to love me, then bless me. Bless me with more so that I can fulfill what you have called me to do.' We are sometimes just too timid. Our prayers are small and predictable. Just as He did with Moses, the Father leaves problems in our way to see what we'll do. Moses faced the problems and got a little pushy. [I'd say 'bold' but that's become another church word.] We need to get a little pushy like Moses. But that will only happen when we are convinced of a couple of things: what God has called us to be and to do is so very important and beyond our current abilities, and He really does want us to flourish. Ironically, we will only become convinced of these things if we ask God to grant that conviction.

There's one more thing I want to point out from our text. Getting to know anyone is a rather subjective thing. How do you know if you're making progress? How can you be sure that you really are getting to know God better? Consider Moses again. Did you notice his response at the end? 'And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.' The evidence of a growing knowledge of your God is worship. Something happened to Moses. There was a sense of awe and wonder, a sense of being small, though definitely not insignificant, in the presence of God. And that sense can express itself in any number of ways from singing a song of praise, to responding with some appropriate Scripture, to just being quiet in God's presence. The evidence of getting to know God better is a soul that finds itself worshiping. And that makes perfect sense. Worshiping God is just another way of talking about flourishing as a person. And that's God's goal for our lives, knowing Him, that is worshiping Him, in a way that also satisfies us. We flourish better as worship becomes more real.

Everything that I have told you is just another way of describing the Gospel. Jesus has come so that we can enjoy God – Father, Son, and Spirit. That's what that church word 'salvation' is about. Jesus has come to rescue us from our petty, self-centered ways so that we might flourish in our enjoyment of God. This is the Gospel. All you need to do is believe it.

Worship

[Originally preached 16 November, 2003]
Revelation 14.6-13

We’re going to retrace our steps a bit this morning. We skipped these verses last week when we looked at heaven. Our text is about three angels and the message that they proclaimed. We need to spend a little time understanding what’s going on. But the key question that we want to get to is this. Why is this here? Why did John include it? We’ll get to that after a bit.

So, what’s happening with these three angels? What are they talking about? There is a certain progression in what they are saying. The first angel proclaims the basic message of the Bible. The second proclaims that the rebellion against the God of the first message has failed. Babylon has fallen. Then we have the third angel who pronounces the consequences that follow from all of this. God will condemn these rebels. That’s the overview of our text. Now, let’s get more specific.

I told you that the first message is the basic message of the Bible. That’s why it’s called ‘an eternal Gospel’. This message has never changed nor will it ever change. This message is built around three imperatives, three commands: ‘fear God’, ‘give Him glory’ and ‘worship Him’. Now, these aren’t three separate things. They are the same thing. The issue here is worship, a key theme of Revelation. The first two commands simply explain what the third one is about. I think that it’s safe to say that most people today don’t understand what worship really is. The popular notion is that worship is something that you do in a building especially built for that purpose. It’s limited to certain behavior done at a certain time in a certain place. But that isn’t what worship is, at least, not according to Scripture. Worship is a matter of fear. It may sound odd to relate the worship of God to the idea of fear. But think about that common biblical phrase, ‘the fear of the Lord’. The Hebrew language has no word for religion. This phrase is how they referred to religion. This is true religion, the fear of the Lord. This is true worship. When a person was confronted with God there was fear and there will be fear. And the reasons are obvious. For one thing, it becomes abundantly clear that God is not just man made larger. He is so different from us. He is God! And at the same time, we aren’t. And that is very scary. But even beyond that, it also becomes abundantly clear that it is to this God – the holy, righteous and just God of the Bible – that we shall give an account of our lives. And when that happens, a person grasps more clearly than he may like the truth of the Scriptures that, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ [Hebrews 10:31] Worship is responding to this God with a holy fear of who He is.

Worship is also a matter of giving glory to this God. The Psalms often talk about this.

Give to the Lord, O heavenly beings, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. [Psalm 29:1-2]

What is this giving to the Lord glory? Are we adding something to Him? Obviously not. Some translations render that Psalm slightly different. Instead of ‘give’ which is literal, they have ‘ascribe’. ‘Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.’ To ascribe is to credit someone with something. Giving glory to God is declaring something about His character. Giving glory to God is crediting Him with being faithful to His word, being patient with us because of His love, being merciful to sinners and all the rest. Giving glory to God for these things is our response to the different ways in which God reveals His character to us. And what is that but worship? One reason that we sing hymns and Psalms is to ascribe glory to God for the great things that He has done for us. Fearing God and giving Him glory are expressions of worship to our God.

Now, if someone understands that as only applying to what happens on Sunday morning then they’ve completely missed it. Fearing God and giving Him glory are things that happen in every day living. The key question of life is about worship. Whom will you fear? Whom will you credit for the good things you enjoy? These are the fundamental questions of life. These are questions of worship. And these questions go far beyond what happens on Sunday morning. The things that you do, the choices that you make, the ways in which you act all reveal how you are answering those questions. A person’s deeds reveal the ways that his heart has answered the question of worship. And so, the first angel declares this fundamental issue of the Bible. ‘Worship God!’ Not the beast, not Satan. Worship God.

The second angel refers to an image that we haven’t been properly introduced to yet. John doesn’t formally present Babylon the whore until chapter 17. He’s done this sort of thing before. And even if we don’t understand the imagery of Babylon the point of the second angel is clear. This agent of Satan, along with the other agents of Satan, has failed. The rebellion that Satan fostered has been crushed. The false worship encouraged by Satan has come to nothing. Babylon has fallen.

This leads, then, to the third message. God is about to act. There are those who refused to worship God. Instead they worshipped the beast. It was he that they feared. After all, he could kill them. It was he to whom they gave glory. Remember what they said, ‘Who is like the beast and who can fight against it?’ [Revelation 13.4] The Last Day has come. Having rejected the message of the first angel these now face the consequences. These now face the wrath of God. And did you notice that it is coming upon them ‘full strength’? Is there another kind of wrath that is only partial strength? Yes, there is. God expresses His wrath now, before the Last Day. Romans 1 teaches that. ‘For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven…’ But that wrath is a tempered wrath. There is at least the opportunity for repentance. There is an element of mercy here. In most cases, one of the purposes of that wrath is to encourage people to repent that they might be delivered from their sin. But when the Last Day comes the wrath of God will not be tempered at all. There will be no mercy, no opportunity for repentance. No, on the Last Day, wrath will be expressed full strength. And this is why our text uses the language of torment. ‘They will be tormented with fire and sulfur.’ These who will experience the untempered wrath of God will be in inconceivable agony, misery and suffering. They will experience hell. Our text uses the language of fire and sulfur. Some ask this is real fire or just imagery. What an irrelevant question! If it isn’t literal does that mean that it will not be as terrible? Literal or not, hell will be a terrifying place. It will be the place where God’s justice will have full reign. These who rejected the first message will suffer for their rebellion. There will be no mercy. And notice that the text tells us that ‘the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever’. There will be no end to this. It will last into eternity. There are those today who reject this aspect of hell. And some of them even claim to be evangelical Christians. These tell us that hell comes to an end. The punishment is limited. These do not understand how serious it is to refuse to worship the true God. It is a sin of the greatest evil. The punishment of hell is appropriate. As our text tells us, ‘they have no rest, day or night’. It will go on and on and on forever.

Do you see the progression? There is the call to worship proclaimed by the first angel. Our text tells us that it is a call that goes out ‘to every nation and tribe and language and people’. This call is rejected. There are those who follow the different agents of Satan and in this way worship the devil. They rebel against the God who made them. But then the day of justice arrives. All flesh will stand before God to give an account of the choices made, an account of the behavior that was pursued. All will have the thoughts and intentions of their hearts exposed before God. Then hell will be filled with those whose hearts refused to worship God. They neither feared Him nor gave Him the glory He deserved. And they will bear their punishment. Our text gives us a sobering look into the future.

Now, we’re ready for the question that I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. Why is this here? Why is it included in Revelation? What you need to see at first is that it is not intended as a warning to the lost. Remember now, to whom was this letter written? It was written to the seven churches. They were the original audience. It was to be read to them. It wasn’t something to be preached to the pagans. So, the unbelievers were unaware of its contents. They were probably unaware that this letter even existed. So, it wasn’t intended as a warning to the lost. So, it must be that our text is for the sake of the Church. It’s for the benefit, first, of those first-century Christians of Asia Minor and then for us. So, what are we supposed to get out of it? The answer lies in what comes next in the text. Listen to verse 12.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Our text is intended to be an encouragement to the saints. It is intended to reinforce the need for them to endure, to obey, to continue their faith in Jesus. And it reinforces this need by reminding the saints, ‘If you fail in continuing to be faithful, your fate will be among the rebels.’ Jesus understands that faithful living is hard. He understands the temptation to give in. So, He sends a message to His people through John. ‘As hard as life might be for you now imagine what it will be like if you quit. Don’t quit! Endure to the end.’ Our text is an exhortation from Jesus for His saints to persevere in the face of suffering.

But it’s not just a warning of dire consequences. Remember what the next verse says.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Revelation 14:13

If we do endure then heaven awaits. Fill in here all that I told you last week from this text. Enduring to the end, as hard as that is, is worth it.

Do you see the point of the text? It is an exhortation that you need to take to heart. It urges you to continue on, to endure to the end. It does this first by warning you of the terrible results if you give in. But then it urges you on by reminding you that the day will come when the struggles of this life will be over. The faithful will enter into their rest. Then the faithful will gain their reward.

Let me get more specific now. Satan is after you. It may not feel it at times, but it is a fact. He is trying to snare you. An obvious area of attack is your worship. How are you doing at developing your worship of God? How are you doing at developing a holy fear of God? Imagine if Adam and Eve had a fully developed fear of God. They wouldn’t have gotten anywhere close to that tree. Is your understanding of the fear of God growing, developing, maturing? This may be surprising to you but you’ll know that your fear of God is developing when you notice that your fear of others is diminishing. As God more and more becomes your first audience, when what He thinks matters most, then the importance of secondary audiences fades away. The fear of others diminishes. In its place there develops a gentle boldness before the world. This isn’t some obnoxious devil-may-care attitude. But there is a quiet confidence before those who, at one time, sent you scurrying. You’re not afraid of them because you’re more afraid of God. That is a great protection. How else were the martyrs able to stand? How are you doing here? You need to have a growing fear of God so that you might stand before the pressures of an unfriendly world that is in the service of the evil one. [1 John 5.19]

And how are you doing at giving credit where it really belongs? How are you doing at giving God the glory for the great things He does for you? The blessings you enjoy aren’t yours because you’ve worked hard or were lucky or just because you’ve paid your dues and now it’s your turn. You are blessed because of the Father. Think about this in terms of the particular ways in which you and your families have been blessed. Who is getting the credit for all those things? Are you growing in your understanding of giving God the glory? How is it showing? Being careful to give Him the glory will result in a growing awareness of how much He really does love you. After all, you’re seeing more and more clearly the multitude of ways in which He has blessed.

Fearing God and giving Him the glory are great defenses against the evil one. Growing in these ways is just another way of getting to know who God really is to you. A life of worshipping your Creator and Redeemer is the best way to insure that you will endure to the end.

Advent: Seeking Worshipers

John 4.19-26

What a fascinating conversation. Sitting at the local well, Jesus is chatting with this woman. And what do they discuss? Worship! They actually have a little debate about worship. When was the last time you chatted with a stranger about worship. It just doesn't happen. If you were to raise a question about worship you'd probably hear, 'You mean, do I go to church? Sure, I go to church. But why are you asking me about that?' So many people today will tell you that worship just isn't that important, though probably not in so many words. But that wouldn't be true. Worship really is that important to them. It is actually something that most people stress over. That may sound wrong, but it's not. It comes down to how you understand 'worship'. If you define worship as some religious ritual performed in a special building on special days, then it is a very small part of life for the great majority of people these days. In fact, for a growing number of people, this ritual has absolutely no role in their lives. But that's not how the Father defines worship. Whatever a person focuses on, greatly desires, dreams about, looks to, is awed by, demands, defends with vigor, longs for, hopes in and lives for is what that person worships. So, you see, everybody worships. The whole issue of worship is the focal point of their lives. And when people have what used to be called a 'nervous breakdown' it is because whatever they worship didn't come through for them, and they finally accepted that fact. Everybody worships. It's the whole issue of worship that lies behind the demand of so many football stars for a Super Bowl ring. It's the whole issue of worship that takes a good worker and transforms him into a workaholic. It's the whole issue of worship that makes parents demand that their children achieve specific goals. Is it wrong to try to do well at sports or work hard at the job or to want to see kids succeed? It all depends on how one defines doing well, working hard and succeeding. It's all about worship.

What someone worships is not always obvious to him. The heart is deceitful. But people can discover what they worship - what they really worship - just by watching themselves in action. One big tip­‑off is the emotions. Are they engaged? How? There are some people who have absolutely no interest in football. The TV is blaring about some key game that's going down to the wire, and they give it no attention - not even a little. But then, as you know, there are those for whom football is everything. It's obvious to everyone. And it's obvious because, for one thing, their emotions are engaged. Oftentimes, a person can tell that the issues of worship are at stake in some situation or other as he notices either the ecstasy or the rage pouring forth. Here, just think of Jesus, rejoicing in what the Father is doing in rescuing people or enraged as He cleans out the Temple. The emotions are a tip‑off. So, while people may not stop to chat about worship at the local well, worship is still a hot issue for everyone.

Now, we're ready for the text. '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.' Understand what Jesus is saying here. The Father is seeking people who focus on, greatly desire, dream about, look to, are awed by, demand, defend with vigor, long for, hope in and live for - Him. The Father is seeking people who are emotionally engaged when it comes to Him, so much so that there are times of ecstasy and times of rage - just because of Him. The Father is seeking worshipers, this kind of worshipers. And so, do you know what He did? He sent Jesus. We're still dealing with the same question we've been looking at for the last couple of weeks. Why Advent? Why did Jesus come? And we're coming up with yet another answer. Jesus came seeking worshipers for the Father, people so given to the Father that it shows.

I hope that it is clear that this worship is by no means limited to times of religious ritual. It certainly includes that, but it goes far beyond those times. This kind of worship of the Father is about all of life, just as the workaholic's worship is about all of life. Jesus has been sent to seek people whose whole lives are so focused on the Father that it becomes obvious in everyday living. It becomes impossible to miss. He is why they live. Or to put it another way, Jesus has come to win the hearts of people away from whatever else they have been worshiping so that they might greatly desire, long for, be awed by the Father instead. That's why Jesus has come. That's what the Gospel is all about.

It's time for a question. And this question isn't just some hypothetical. This is a real question coming from real people.

'What kind of God wants people to make Him the center of their lives, the exclusive focus of everything that they do, the very reason that they exist? If any of us were to make that kind of demand we'd be labeled egotistical and selfish. So, how can this Christian idea of God get away with it? A real God would just let us live and enjoy life and not make this demand of people. And it is a demand. What happens to those who refuse to worship this God? They end up in hell - or so you say. What kind of God are you guys peddling?'

The people who ask this kind question often have an attitude, but the question is still quite appropriate. What kind of God, indeed? We need to answer this question, and we need to answer it well. For one thing, we need to respond to those who raise such questions. This is a real issue for them. We need to rise to the challenge to help them see the truth. But even more important than that, we need to answer this question for the sake of our own souls. Is the God whom we worship just an egotistical tyrant? If we do not settle this in our own minds then we will be dogged by large doubts about the character of the Father, doubts that will ultimately destroy our ability to worship Him. After all, how can anyone look to, hope in and long for a tyrant who is stuck on Himself? We need to answer this question. Our ability to worship is at stake.

So, what shall we say? How shall we answer this question? The key to our answer is tied to the Christian idea of creation. It makes a big difference that the God of the Bible, Jehovah, has created us. It goes beyond the idea that since He has created us He can require of us whatever He wants. That's true, but if that's all there is then we really are ruled by a tyrant who can bully us to do whatever. So, you need to see the rest. You need to see that our Creator has created us in a certain way. He made us to enjoy dazzling sunsets, leisurely meals with close friends, moving symphonies and restful sleep at the end of a full day. He made us in a certain way. And those who cannot enjoy such things, for whatever reason, are missing something. The Father also made us to worship Him, to focus on Him, to desire Him as our chief joy. We were made for real worship of the Father. And likewise, those who cannot enjoy this worship, are missing something. But missing this 'something' is much more devastating than not being able to enjoy that sunset. Missing this is missing something huge. Life cannot be lived, not truly, when this is missing from a person's life. We were created for worship.

And so, you see, the Father's call to worship Him is not the demand of some insecure and egotistical deity. Worshiping the Father is the way things work best, the way life is lived best. It's part of how we were designed. The call to worship the Father is not a demand that oppresses but an invitation that gives life. Jesus told us that He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. At the heart of that life is the worship of the Father, that He would be the focus of who we are and what we do. Life without true worship isn't life. It's death.

Now, we need to be very careful here. There are those who think about the worship of the Father only in terms of what it will get them. For them, the Father simply becomes a means to an end. And that end, that goal, is all about themselves. Here, we're back to football stars and workaholics. But think. Is it possible to use the eternal God simply for one's own sake? Does anyone really think that he can get away with that? This was the error of the Pharisees. They were hot for worship, ready to debate anyone about it. But their focus was not on the Father. Their focus was on themselves. It is no wonder that Jesus had such damning words for them.

When it comes to true worship of the Father, He is the goal. He is no means to some other end, some other goal. There is no using Him. He is the goal. However, it's still true that, in worshiping Him, we do, in fact, gain. We are, in this way, able to enjoy life. There is a subtle, but crucial, difference here. Real worship of the Father is for His sake. Counterfeit worship is for my sake. Those who understand the difference and truly worship the Father, truly focus all on Him, rejoice the most because, as a result of their worship, their lives work best. Jesus came to seek such worshipers.

And that presents us with another aspect to all of this that we need to see. When Adam and Eve were working the Garden, eating the fruits and vegetables, enjoying walks with Jesus in the cool of the day, they were worshiping, and it was all good. But, as you know, sin entered the picture and everything was ruined. The focus of worship was dramatically changed. Just consider Satan's temptation, 'You know, you really should worship yourself. You should be the focus of your life. If you eat, you'll be able to do exactly that. If you take the fruit you'll be gods, worthy of being the focus of your own life, worthy of worship. Go ahead and take some, and worship yourself.' They believed him, and, as a result, there have been billions upon billions who have followed in their footsteps. And that's why the Father seeks worshipers. That's why Jesus has come. Left to ourselves we would never worship the Father. We might opt for some counterfeit worship but never the real thing. Never! Left to ourselves we would believe Satan's lie to our last day. And so, Jesus came to deal with that. And it all boils down to repentance and faith. If anyone is going to be able to enjoy a life of worshiping the Father he must turn from what ultimately is self worship. (Repentance.) And then he must turn to true worship. (Believing the Gospel.) Repentance and faith are absolutely essential. But by themselves they are worthless. They work only because of Jesus. Your repentance and faith will never satisfy God's demand for justice when it comes to your sin. And they will never give you the ability to change from what you are into a true worshiper of the Father. These things work only because of Jesus. His death on the cross, His being raised to the right hand of the Father, His sending His Spirit, these are what make the difference. So, now that Jesus has come, your repenting of your sin and your believing the Gospel will actually accomplish something. Only Jesus makes true worship possible for sinners like us.

So, you see, Jesus' ministry is all about remaking you into a true worshiper of the Father. Jesus' Advent is all about worship. And, fortunately, His ministry among us is not done. From time to time, His Spirit nudges us - as only He can - to point out the different ways in which we falter in our worship of the Father. He shows us when we are worshiping the wrong things. And the emotions are often the tip‑off. Bit by bit we are remade into people who really do worship the Father, the right way, all the time. Bit by bit we get to really enjoy life.

So, we have another answer to our question: Why Advent? Why did Jesus come? He came to seek true worshipers for the Father. This is something to ponder in the context of the different parts of our lives. This is something to work at as the Spirit guides us away from false worship and into a greater experience of true worship. This is something to enjoy and rejoice in as we see what Jesus has done for us.

A Look at Worship

[Originally preached on 18 May, 2003]

Revelation 5

One of the most important things that we do, as creatures of God and as Christians, is worship. That is why we were made and that is why we have been redeemed. Worship is a priority of Christian discipleship. And yet, until recently, I have not done much thinking or studying on this topic. When I was in seminary I took no course on the subject and until recently, I did just about no teaching on the subject. It’s become clear to me that this is not good. So, I thought that it would be good to take advantage of the text before us to take a look at some aspects of worship. Now, let me say that there are some limitations here. We do not have a ‘worship service’ in our text. And so, we won’t see everything that might be included in a worship service. Yet what we do have here will help us understand what is going on when we do gather as the church for worship, as well as when we have our own personal and family times of worship.

Let’s start by looking at how the worship of this text begins. In two places we hear the word, ‘worthy’: ‘Worthy are You’ or ‘Worthy is the Lamb’. What is this all about? To declare someone worthy is to say that this person is deserving of something. At the heart of worship is the conviction that the God we worship is worthy of that worship and more. Hence, the words of the Psalmist,

Give to the Lord, O heavenly beings, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. [Psalm 29:1-2]

This worshiper is convinced that the Lord is worthy of receiving worship. In our text, the worshipers are declaring that Jesus is worthy to take the scroll, worthy to receive their praise. It is this conviction that fuels true worship. Without it, worship is empty. And so, a working definition of worship: worship is the proclamation of the worthiness of Jesus that comes of out the convictions of the worshipers.

Now, it needs to be said that the word ‘proclamation’ is a neutral one. It can simply mean a plain, straightforward statement. It says nothing about how the statement is being made. But as we look at our text it is clear that this proclamation is made with exuberance. We read about the singing of praise and about loud voices. We see the elders falling down and the living creatures shouting their Amens. Worship is the proclamation of the worthiness of Jesus with some feeling. Now, here keep in mind the things that I told you last week. The key issue isn’t the emotion itself. It is the state of the heart. But hearts that love Jesus, hearts that are caught up with Him, will worship with feeling. Their affections will be involved in some way. Now, it needs to be said that the feelings being expressed aren’t always going to be happy ones. There are times when worship will be rather somber. Here, just consider some of the solemn expressions of the Psalms. But still, the heart is engaged.

Now, let’s move on and notice something else from our text. Did you see that there are reasons for this worship? Listen again to the song of praise offered to Jesus.

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation… Revelation 5:9

That ‘for’ can also be translated ‘because’. There are reasons for us to worship Jesus. This is important because it is the companion to our emotional involvement in worship. We are always pursuing a biblical balance in our discipleship. So, here we see that there are reasons why we exuberantly proclaim the worthiness of Jesus. We don’t just emote. At the top of the list is the cross. ‘… for you were slain…’ Behind our worship is an awareness of the cross. We remember what happened there, the endurance of the cruelty of men, the suffering of the wrath of God because of our sin, all done for us. It is Christ crucified who draws forth our proclamation of His worthiness. But the text goes on. This song includes the results of Jesus’ work on the cross. ‘… by your blood you ransomed people for God…’ Ransomed from what? From sin, from death, from wrath. And ransomed to what? The song includes this too.

… and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Rev. 5:10

The song is teaching us that at the heart of worship is the Gospel, how Jesus has rescued us. Out of our growing experience of the Gospel we ‘proclaim the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light’. [1 Peter 2.9] We are convinced that He is worthy because we have tasted of the Gospel. And so, good worship is based on good theology, a good understanding of the Gospel.

Now, let’s move on to something else. In verse 9 we read that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sang ‘a new song’. What is this ‘new song’? This same language shows up elsewhere.

Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. Psalm 98:1

Why a new song? Is there something wrong with the old ones? Well, actually, yes there is. The old songs are incomplete. There is a new song because something new has happened. The new thing that has happened in our text is that Jesus has come forward to take the scroll. He has conquered. He has overcome. Now, ‘all authority on heaven and earth belongs to [Him]’. [Matthew 28.18] So, these songs of heaven incorporate the new thing that God has done. At each new stage in the history of God’s plan of redemption, the Church has sung news songs of worship that incorporate the new things that God has done. The songs of David's day are different from the songs of Moses’ day. A lot had changed. And both are different from the songs that the Church sings today, after the cross. And this is reflected in our text.

Now, all of this applies the smaller scale also. Listen to David.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-3

David encountered a problem. He cried out to his God and his God heard him and rescued him. And what is the result? David sings a ‘new song’. This new song incorporates this new thing that God had done personally for David. It includes David's latest experience of the grace of God. And the same should be true of you. The Scriptures assume that you are growing in your experience of what it means that Jesus is your faithful Savior. The Scriptures assume that your also encounter problems, cry out to your God, the Lord Jesus, and find Him faithful as He once again rescues you. And so, out of this kind of experience comes a new song for you, as well. This doesn’t mean that you need to write something from scratch. Rather, the old hymns that you’ve been singing take on new depth. Because of your recent experience of the grace of the Gospel those old hymns become more profound for you. ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.’ How many times have you sung that or heard it sung? But see what happens the next time you grasp more clearly how much of a wretched sinner you really are. See what happens the next time the Spirit opens your eyes to see some of the despicable evil that remains deep within your heart. See what happens when these truths are driven home and then when the Spirit once again applies the glorious grace of God in Christ to you. ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.’ It becomes a new song in your mouth because of your new experience of the Gospel.

A moment ago I said that good worship is based on good theology. I need to add something to that. Good worship, the heartfelt proclamation that Jesus is worthy, is based on the growing experience of what good theology is about. The quality of what happens on Sunday morning depends on what goes on during the rest of the week. If, during the week, you are not growing in your experience of the truths of the Gospel, if your soul isn’t having dealings with God, then corporate worship will be dull. It’s going to feel like the same old hymns, the same old prayers, and the same old Bible readings. And it will feel this way because there is no reason to proclaim His worthiness. There has been no ongoing experience of His grace. There is no new song in your mouth in response to what Jesus has been doing with you because He hasn’t been doing anything with you. But, if your experience of the Gospel is real, if something has been happening between you and your Lord, then it will show. There will be the conviction that He is, in fact, worthy. You know that because you’ve experienced it. And that will make itself known. The solution for a dull, boring worship service on Sunday is not jazzier songs or a peppier worship leader. The solution is for the congregation to faithfully pursue a growing walk with Jesus the rest of the week.

Let’s look at something else. We see in our text different groups worshipping. First, there are the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [8]. Then there is myriad of angels [11]. Then there is the group that includes every creature in heaven, on the earth and under the earth and in the sea [13]. Here, we have these different groups, but each group worships with one voice. They either sing the same song [9], or shout the same praise [12,13]. Now, they could have worshipped as individuals who just happen to be together. But they didn’t. Each group worshipped as one. This reflects the unity of the worshippers. There are some these days who gather with others in the church but who actually are worshipping individually. For these folk, the rest of the congregation is unimportant. It’s a matter of ‘me and Jesus’. But that’s not what corporate worship is about. When we gather as the church for worship, it is both a statement of our being a community and a strengthening of that community. We are worshipping as the one Body of Christ. Sunday worship is not an individual affair. It is a community affair and we each worship as a part of the community. I stress this because we need to develop a greater sense of community. We have lots going against us in this. For example, we don’t live near each other, and we live in a culture that stresses individualism heavily. But worship is one way of dealing with those obstacles if we approach it biblically. Corporate worship strengthens community.

There are a couple of things that I’d like to point out from the last verse. Listen again.

And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshipped. Revelation 5:14

Let’s start with the second part where the elders fall down. This isn’t the first time. They were doing the same thing earlier in the text and also in chapter four. I suppose you can say that they are following a long established line of those who have fallen down before God. It seems that Moses was doing it all the time. Why? Actually, the Scriptures speak more than just a bit about our gestures in worship. We are commanded to lift holy hands. [1 Timothy 2.8] Some of the saints have prayed on their knees. [See Daniel 6.10.] At other times they would bow their heads in reverence. [Exodus 4.31] Let me read to you about the time when Ezra led the people in worship. Watch for the different gestures.

And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:4-6

What’s with all this? Do these gestures matter? Here, we encounter the fact that worship is not just a matter of the mind. The whole person is involved and what we do with our bodies is saying something. It says something to the God we are worshipping and it is saying something to ourselves as well. Do you think that it would make any difference if, for my personal prayer time, I got comfortable on the sofa, slouching a bit, put my feet up on the coffee table and with my hands tucked behind my head I began to pray? Doesn’t that say an awful lot about how I view what I am doing? Doesn’t it reinforce to me that I can just relax and kick back when I pray? Would I sit that way if I were talking with someone senior to me whom I respected a great deal? If I did, what would that say to this other person? There are certain intangibles associated with worship. And that makes sense. There are intangibles associated with any interaction between ourselves and another person. This includes things like how we carry ourselves, what our bodies are doing. There are some solid Presbyterian churches that are installing kneelers in their pews so that the people can kneel during certain prayers. Do you see why? We need to be careful lest our worship become too mental or too casual. We are meeting with God, after all.

Then the last thought, the ‘Amen!’ of the four living creatures. The saying of amen at the end of a prayer was not intended to be the signal that the prayer is over. Saying ‘Amen’ is to express an endorsement of what has been said. It was included in that passage I read from Nehemiah. After Ezra offered praise to the Lord the people responded with their amens. They were making clear that they wholeheartedly agreed with Ezra. His praise of God was theirs also. So then, when I finish a prayer, it is not I who is to say amen. Actually, it is you who is to say it. The prayers offered from the pulpit are actually your prayers to God. You can express your own endorsement of them – and should – by your saying your own ‘Amen’. This is why, in some churches, you’ll hear someone say, ‘Amen’, even in the middle of the sermon. He is expressing his own endorsement of what was just said. Is this the most crucial aspect of worship? No. But it does affect the tone of worship. It does affect you. It’s another way of being less passive and more involved in what is going on.

Worship is one of the great joys of being a Christian. There is a lot more that we all need to understand about this part of the Gospel. But I think that we’re making some progress here. And I am confident that in time the Spirit will show us more. Until then let’s ask for grace so that we can put into practice what we have seen.