"God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." ~ Psalm 89:7
"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Acts 20:7
In the first section, we looked at worship in general and the importance of it; in the second section, we looked at the means of building a worshipful attitude. Now in this section we will look at how worship is expressed, particularly in the public worship of God on the Lord's Day. It is appropriate that the first half of the paragraph still deals with the attitude of the worshipers of Christ, because Jesus said that good words come from good hearts. (Matthew 12:35) These three sentences contain three senses that involve how we ought to strive for a more edifying worship on the Lord's Day. The last sentence states what activities we ought to use to express our worship.
1. The Sense of Preeminence
Once we come to grips with whom we are worshiping, our focus becomes enraptured with God's holiness and it should bring joy and trembling to our hearts. Just as it would be rude and silly in a public art gallery to stare at the floor and remark loudly how ugly the floor is, so it is to worship only with personal concerns and other earthly problems. On the other hand, we are not talking about some Gnostic spirituality that ignores the issues of our earthly existence; we worship the living God who took on human flesh and bore the sorrows that plague our fallen universe.
One way people find awe in God is the vastness of the universe and how we immensely seem so insignificant in the midst of it. "Astronomers are now convinced that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the beaches of the world. When you consider that our sun - the star - is the grain of sand, this makes Earth infinitesimally small! And on this eensy speck of earth, out of the billions of people, the Lord of the universe came to earth to save you. Truly, the heavens declare not only His glory, but His mercy!" ~ Joni Eareckson Tada, as quoted in 'The Heavens Proclaim His Glory'
Another way to find awe is to contemplate the irreducibly complex nano-machinery that the Lord has designed in the biological cells. This video says about all that needs to be said:
But the most important way to find awe is in Scripture. "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil." Psalm 119:161-162
2. The Sense of Presence
When we gather in the assembly, it is natural and easy to assume that what we see in our congregation is what is really present in our midst. But God says that there is more than what meets the eye. For example, He told His disciples that He is present in the midst of two or three who meet with the authority of Christ. (Matthew 18:20) Paul in the Spirit told the Colossians that "though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ." (Colossians 2:5) Do we need a course in metaphysics in order to understand it and take comfort in it? No, let's just look at what God said about His presence and the presence of His Church; and let's believe it.
So how do we know that God is in our church in a special way? Is there an objective way of knowing His presence without demanding His full, unveiled presence here and now? Thankfully, God gave us ways to know that He is near to us: (which assembly is the gate of heaven; Genesis 28:16-17)
He dwells in the joyful praises of His faithful people. (Psalm 22:3-4) He is present with the lowly and penitent. (Isaiah 57:15) He is present even in the midst of a faithful few who trust in Christ's authority and love. (Psalm 22:22; Matthew 18:20) He dwells with those who seek to live out the words of Jesus. (John 14:23) He is present when profession of faith and brotherly love is made. (1 John 4:14-16)
Scripture also states that not only are we in the presence of the triune God, we are in the midst of a nation; a Church of redeemed sinners past and present that is bought with His blood. How do we sense their presence? The Spirit connects us beyond the physical realm, as Paul said in Colossians. How does He do it? By the testimonies of how God has and is preparing and using men and women in the faith past and present to advance His Kingdom throughout the world. (1 Thessalonians 3:6-7; Hebrews 12:1)
3. The Sense of Participation
When God tells us to not abandon "the assembling of ourselves together," (Hebrews 10:25) He does not intend for us to arrive at the service and have someone do all the worship for us. Rather as He stated in Leviticus, "he shall offer it of his own voluntary will" (Leviticus 1:3) which shows that individual worship is active. This does not mean that members cannot be influenced by each other to worship, as Hebrew 10:24 reminds us. But it does mean that it is the responsibility of every member to come to grips with the God they are professing.
Some of us (maybe all of us) may find that we lack motivation to actively participate in the church. One reason why that is may be that we lack conviction; we may come to church just because that's what our parents made us do and/or because that's what our church leaders want us to do. But who is Christ to us? Is He the ultimate treasure of our souls? Is He a cause worth struggling for? And what is the Church? Is she not the house of our Lord? Is she not the means by which God brings His Kingdom into our community? If all of your answers are yes and you're still apathetic, it's likely you are mistaken on what you believe God is or you have blessings that you have attributed credit to other sources instead of the God of the Bible.
The best way to find conviction is to trust in the authority and reliability of Scripture. When you trust God in what He says about everything, then you can commit to serving Him faithfully 100% all the way.
Here's a link from the Rebelution which is an article on the Vikings, exhorting us to take initiative in our Christian discipleship.
1. The Sense of Preeminence
Once we come to grips with whom we are worshiping, our focus becomes enraptured with God's holiness and it should bring joy and trembling to our hearts. Just as it would be rude and silly in a public art gallery to stare at the floor and remark loudly how ugly the floor is, so it is to worship only with personal concerns and other earthly problems. On the other hand, we are not talking about some Gnostic spirituality that ignores the issues of our earthly existence; we worship the living God who took on human flesh and bore the sorrows that plague our fallen universe.
One way people find awe in God is the vastness of the universe and how we immensely seem so insignificant in the midst of it. "Astronomers are now convinced that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the beaches of the world. When you consider that our sun - the star - is the grain of sand, this makes Earth infinitesimally small! And on this eensy speck of earth, out of the billions of people, the Lord of the universe came to earth to save you. Truly, the heavens declare not only His glory, but His mercy!" ~ Joni Eareckson Tada, as quoted in 'The Heavens Proclaim His Glory'
Another way to find awe is to contemplate the irreducibly complex nano-machinery that the Lord has designed in the biological cells. This video says about all that needs to be said:
But the most important way to find awe is in Scripture. "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil." Psalm 119:161-162
2. The Sense of Presence
When we gather in the assembly, it is natural and easy to assume that what we see in our congregation is what is really present in our midst. But God says that there is more than what meets the eye. For example, He told His disciples that He is present in the midst of two or three who meet with the authority of Christ. (Matthew 18:20) Paul in the Spirit told the Colossians that "though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ." (Colossians 2:5) Do we need a course in metaphysics in order to understand it and take comfort in it? No, let's just look at what God said about His presence and the presence of His Church; and let's believe it.
So how do we know that God is in our church in a special way? Is there an objective way of knowing His presence without demanding His full, unveiled presence here and now? Thankfully, God gave us ways to know that He is near to us: (which assembly is the gate of heaven; Genesis 28:16-17)
He dwells in the joyful praises of His faithful people. (Psalm 22:3-4) He is present with the lowly and penitent. (Isaiah 57:15) He is present even in the midst of a faithful few who trust in Christ's authority and love. (Psalm 22:22; Matthew 18:20) He dwells with those who seek to live out the words of Jesus. (John 14:23) He is present when profession of faith and brotherly love is made. (1 John 4:14-16)
Scripture also states that not only are we in the presence of the triune God, we are in the midst of a nation; a Church of redeemed sinners past and present that is bought with His blood. How do we sense their presence? The Spirit connects us beyond the physical realm, as Paul said in Colossians. How does He do it? By the testimonies of how God has and is preparing and using men and women in the faith past and present to advance His Kingdom throughout the world. (1 Thessalonians 3:6-7; Hebrews 12:1)
3. The Sense of Participation
When God tells us to not abandon "the assembling of ourselves together," (Hebrews 10:25) He does not intend for us to arrive at the service and have someone do all the worship for us. Rather as He stated in Leviticus, "he shall offer it of his own voluntary will" (Leviticus 1:3) which shows that individual worship is active. This does not mean that members cannot be influenced by each other to worship, as Hebrew 10:24 reminds us. But it does mean that it is the responsibility of every member to come to grips with the God they are professing.
Some of us (maybe all of us) may find that we lack motivation to actively participate in the church. One reason why that is may be that we lack conviction; we may come to church just because that's what our parents made us do and/or because that's what our church leaders want us to do. But who is Christ to us? Is He the ultimate treasure of our souls? Is He a cause worth struggling for? And what is the Church? Is she not the house of our Lord? Is she not the means by which God brings His Kingdom into our community? If all of your answers are yes and you're still apathetic, it's likely you are mistaken on what you believe God is or you have blessings that you have attributed credit to other sources instead of the God of the Bible.
The best way to find conviction is to trust in the authority and reliability of Scripture. When you trust God in what He says about everything, then you can commit to serving Him faithfully 100% all the way.
Here's a link from the Rebelution which is an article on the Vikings, exhorting us to take initiative in our Christian discipleship.
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