BWVC - The Apostle John's Desire (Part 2)

So what does the Apostle John want his readers to know about God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ? No sincere relationship can be made or maintained without understanding who we are seeking to relate to, especially with God. So how does John introduce us to the triune God in his Gospel?

When the Apostle John introduces us to God the Father, he first claims that no one has ever seen God or heard His voice. (John 1:18; John 5:37) That would seem strange especially for those who know the Old Testament; God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. But John specified that Jesus is the I AM, the Word of God; so John is not contradicting the Old Testament, but unveiling it.

What role does the Father play? He is the source; (John 7:16; John 8:28):  He is the destination. (John 14:2-6) Essentially the Father is the decision-maker and initiator.

Not too much to say about God the Father? That's because His fullness is displayed in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, whom He sent to be the Savior of the World; in other words, God the Father cannot be known without God the Son. (John 14:7)

John begins his Gospel with Jesus as the Word who from the beginning created all things, something that his Jewish readers would recognize from Genesis. (Psalm 33:6) Then he declared, perhaps to the shock of his Platonic Gentile readers, that the Word took on human flesh. So in other words, what Augustine called the Divine Imperative took on the Carnal Subjunctive to accomplish for us the Perfect Indicative.

Jesus came, sent by God to fulfill His Father's design for the world, which is the salvation of all the Father gives Him and the gift of life in His Son. (John 3:16-17; John 6:38-40; John 12:47) He performed miracles showing Himself to be God's anointed One. And in His prayer He mentioned that His work was finished and confirmed it on the cross. (John 17:4; John 19:30) Being now our Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ is the righteous propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:1-2)

Theologians commonly point out the seven statements that Jesus made about Himself in John's Gospel. Who doesn't like going over the seven I AM statements of Jesus? However, there is a danger of creating a philosophical construct of Christ that we just hang on our minds like a portrait in a museum just to gaze at, basically depersonalizing Jesus; John wrote these things that we would experience Jesus personally through his Gospel.

Jesus is the Bread of Life; He sustains and nourishes us in our sojourning by His Word. Jesus is the Light of the World; He sets all that is right and wrong for everyone's perspective, and illuminates our path. Jesus is the Sheep Gate; He protects us from harm. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; He devotes His life for His sheep. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life; He brings to life what was barren. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; John is not being snobbish, he is just acknowledging that there is no one that is more like-minded and well-pleasing with God than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Vine; all our strength and works is supplied by His love for us.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 3)

Public Prayer

Jesus denounced the religious leaders for seeking to gain recognition and praise from the public by praying in the public sphere. (Matthew 6:5-6) So why would we as disciples of Jesus want to have a practice in our services that seems to run contrary to what our Lord has said? While we must not dare to dismiss our Lord's admonition to a private prayer life, the catholicity of Holy Scripture has a broader vision for prayer than just the 'closet;' nations are destined to provoke one another to seek quickly the Lord in prayer. (Zechariah 8:20-23)  How can this be? It is because the Church is a Trinitarian body, one and many. Therefore what a church does as a body in her assembly is analogous to what an individual follower of Christ does in his or her private devotions.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 2)

Now we look at the activities that our elders had prescribed for our church (and for any church) which I believe is biblical and important. We will look at four of these activities and how they relate to the worship of Christ:

Proclamation of the Word

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2) This indicates a continual function in the body of Christ. This preacher is not somebody speaking what is on his mind; this is a messenger speaking with the authority and word of God, a proclamation of what is true and righteous. This is an assertive, in-your-face proclamation; which makes this ministry so awkward in our postmodern, "everyone's opinion is right and nobody is really wrong except the 'intolerant' people" culture.

What is this proclamation about? Here is how Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile defined Spirit-fill proclamation: “Preaching is God speaking in the power of His Spirit about His Son from His word through a man.” It is a Christ-centered message. "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) And why only Jesus Christ and His crucifixion? Because "by [Christ] all things consist." (Colossians 1:17) Christ is the intersection that brings everything together; and most importantly He is the only access to God the Father.

AAEVS - Expressing our Worship (Part 1)

“Our vision is to be a church that enters the worship service with awe towards God. We will view ourselves as ascending unto His presence with all other saints, both in heaven and on earth. We desire to actively worship God, not passively go through prescribed motions. This will include activities such as: confession of sin; reading of Scripture: public prayers; singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; giving; praise; the proclamation of the word; and partaking of the Lord’s Supper.” ~ Worship Paragraph 3

"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

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." ~ Hebrews 12:28-29

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.

AAEVS - Preparing for Worship

“Because the Lord’s service is a reverential occasion, we will seek to prepare ourselves on Saturday evening for public worship on the Lord’s Day.” ~ Worship Paragraph 2f

"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." ~ 1 Samuel 7:3

"So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses." ~ 2 Chronicles 35:6

 

"Why does the Lord tell us to remember the Sabbath day? The Larger Catechism (Q. 121) answers that this is “partly, because we are very ready to forget it.” Knowing our weakness, the Lord tells us, as part of his moral law, to make special efforts to keep the day for rest, worship, and works of necessity and mercy , separated unto him. (Holy means “separated unto God.”) It is sobering to realize that failure to keep the Sabbath day separated unto the Lord is on a par with idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. That alone should be a powerful rebuke to us when we regard the Sabbath day as our day rather than the Lord’s, and when we seek our own pleasure rather than his (see Isa. 58: 13). If we think of the Lord’s Day for anything beyond what God has ordained it to be, we are guilty of a serious form of idolatry of self. As a major part of your preparing for Lord’s Day worship , plan ahead— that is, “remember”— to keep that whole day separate for God’s purposes for it." ~William Shishko, Helps for Worship (Kindle Locations 171-172). Committee on Christian Education. 

So why did I separate this sentence of the paragraph when all of it goes together? Because setting aside a time to prepare for the Lord's Day is unfamiliar to some of us. We sometimes just go into the church building, persevere through the service, and hope that we will get something edifying from it. But what does it mean to come before God on the Lord's Day? It means coming before the Sovereign Lord of the universe; this makes the Lord's Day not just special but venerable. Therefore as children of the King, should we not ready ourselves for His appearance? Just as musicians practice their instruments before their performance in public, we ought to "practice" our hearts before we come into the presence of our gracious and awesome God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

AAEVS - The Importance of Worship (Part 2)

The Nature of God

All humanity knows that the Creator has revealed Himself in creation: His intelligent design, His just morality, His logical thoughts, and His direct revelation. So what makes God who He is? Of all of His wonderful attributes, it is His holiness that distinguishes Him as God. Holiness is not an easy word to define, so let me give my own definition: A holy being is righteously, majestically, and beautifully separated from elements that are sinful, chaotic, and/or mundane.

All three of those characteristics are intertwined; in a way they refer to the same thing. Righteousness exalts those who live by it; it is pleasing when it is established among God's people. Majesty is upheld by just standards; it invokes awe and joy in those that contemplate it. Beauty is molded by righteous consideration and contemplation; it commands respect and awe in those that behold it. God is the only one who is perfectly all three: righteous, majestic, and beautiful.

AAEVS - The Importance of Worship (Part 1)

"Our vision is to be a congregation of saints who offer their bodies as living sacrifices unto God, ordering our services in accordance to His revealed word. We will practice family-integrated worship as we offer these spiritual sacrifices. This is our reasonable worship and means that we submit to His will (as found in His word). We desire to display this by setting apart the first day of the week to worship the Lord with fellow saints. We do not view the Lord’s Day worship as drudgery, but as an occasion to celebrate His victorious work on our behalf and rejoice in the rest He has provided for us. Because the Lord’s service is a reverential occasion, we will seek to prepare ourselves on Saturday evening for public worship on the Lord’s Day." ~ Worship Paragraph 2

"Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house." Haggai 1:8-9

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." ~ Romans 12:1

We've looked at why the Kingdom is important; we've looked at what the Kingdom looks like here and now.  Now we'll look at how the Kingdom of God is established which is the worship of God in this world. What do we mean by "worship?" What is it? Some people say that worship is performing special rituals; others say worship is a good feeling when certain religious activities are practiced. But what is worship, particularly how does a Christian worship the true and living God? And why does it matter? First, let's look at a couple of ministers' definitions to get a sense of what worship is.

A Few Things...

After thinking about it, I decided that I will skip over the paragraph on ecumenical fellowship and go on to the section on Community; Mostly because my applications had only our church's leadership in mind. So to make up for the lost time, I'll share with you two things,

One: Sermon Clips from Doug Wilson on Holiness and Worship.

http://www.canonwired.com/sermons/sermon-clips/holiness/

http://www.canonwired.com/featured/definition-of-worship/

The Apostles' Creed set in Music

This is a video of Christ Church (or Doug Wilson) in Moscow, ID singing the Apostles' Creed. (This song isn't exactly word for word with the Creed but it's pretty close. It starts on 0:05)

http://www.canonwired.com/featured/apostles-creed/