Posted on 02/26/2015 5:07:34 AM PST by Gamecock
It is very important that we take time to prepare our hearts to worship God before we set foot in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. God made this clear amid the awesome circumstances of the giving of the law in Exodus 19. God called the people to prepare to come into His presence, or near His presence, but not actually onto the mountain where He would speak to Moses. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people’” (Ex. 19:10–11). God wanted the people of Israel, before they came near to Him, to get ready to come near to Him, to prepare themselves for an encounter with Him.
Our church service begins at 10:30 a.m. At 10:20, we turn the lights down and begin the prelude. This is the signal for our people to begin preparing for worship. By contrast, God gave Israel two days to prepare. He required them to be consecrated and to wash their clothes. These preparations were appropriate for what was about to happen. If I told my congregation that in three days God was going to appear visibly and that He wanted them to wash their clothes for the occasion, I am sure they would do it. It would seem to be an insignificant requirement for the awesome privilege of standing in God’s physical presence.
Exodus 19:14 tells us that Moses did exactly as God commanded; He went down and sanctified the people. The people also obeyed by washing their clothes. They took the time to prepare for worship. We should do the same by reading God’s Word and praying for His assistance to worship Him rightly.
Part of our preparation for worship ought to be reminding ourselves of who God is—the holy, sovereign Lord. Turning again to Exodus 19, we read in verse 16:
Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
When the trumpet sounded and the moment arrived for the people of Israel to draw near to God, every person in the camp trembled. Unfortunately, few people respond to God in worship like that anymore. Many have forgotten how to tremble before Him, for they do not regard Him as holy. How different their response would be if they could see Him as He revealed Himself to the Israelites:
“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Ex. 19:17-18)
Over and over again God invited the people, “Come near to Me.” But that invitation was balanced by what God said following the deaths of Nadab and Abihu: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy.” We are commanded by God to come into His presence—to come near to Him. Not only that, we may come boldly into His presence, as Hebrews 4:16 makes clear. But there is a difference between coming boldly into the presence of God and coming arrogantly. When we come boldly into His presence and draw near to Him, we must always remember that we are to regard Him as holy.
We also must remember that we have no right to come into God’s presence on our own. No amount of preparation that we can do is enough to make us fit.
“Our church service begins at 10:30 a.m. At 10:20, we turn the lights down and begin the prelude.”
That’s good. Helps the people get ready for nap time...
Ok, I’m gonna get tarred and feathered for this, but here goes. And I have nothing against brother Sproul. Good Reformed theology, amen.
I think it’s interesting that He uses the Old Covenant and Moses to try to tell us how New Covenant worship should be. Hmmmm.
Sorry, but we have a better Covenant and better promises. As John Piper says, “He is more glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
I *LOVE* worship. I love Him. I love my brothers and sisters. I don’t go to church feeling somber.
Turning down the lights for nap-time... forget it.
:: I think it’s interesting that He uses the Old Covenant and Moses to try to tell us how New Covenant worship should be ::
Ya beat me to it! Why whiplash the flock back to OT strictures? Well. Law, that’s why.
To paraphrase from Wayne and Garth, “Are we not worthy?”
How wonderful to have a time of prayer before worship begins! I miss that. Growing up when we entered the sanctuary it was reflection time to be quiet away from the busy world, even though that was the 70’s.
Now, it seems meet and greet never stops from the time you enter the foyer, the pew, passing the peace and awaiting the end to talk more worldly talk, “How ya doin’...how’s hunting, etc.” No time now to just sit and pray before service, IMHO.
You didn’t go far enough.
If one is not worshipping the Lord in reality daily and through the week, going through some ritual on Sundays means nothing.
You can’t “prepare” for worship for just an hour or so one day a week.
Once and for all, Jesus put a stake in the whole concept that worship was associated with a PLACE in John 4:21 - 25 and no place has been a “place of worship” since then. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him MUST worship in spirit and truth.” (Not, BTW, “in spirit and in truth” - it is one thing with 2 dimensions, not 2 things)
Those who do worship in spirit and truth worship daily, even hourly - and not for just an hour or so a week.
Also, much of what goes on in a typical Sunday church service has nothing to do with worship, and the term “worship service” is often a misnomer.
Lastly, singing is not equal to worship - necessarily. It can be. It might not be. And there are many other acts that are also worship.......
“Lastly, singing is not equal to worship - necessarily. It can be. It might not be. And there are many other acts that are also worship.......”
I can’t say Amen louder to that.
It also gets me that we call services “services.” I mean, if we really want to serve the Lord, maybe we could... I dunno... go out and love someone???
~~~~~~~
Isaiah 58 (NASB)
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?
*******
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
*******
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Oh that we - God’s people - would live in the reality of Isaiah 58! It describes the true Christian faith.......
Yes, the word “Service” is a misnomer for sure.
Sadly, so much of the practice of much of Christendom actually originates with Judaism......some of that is very good, and some of it was for the Hebrews, but not Christians. This is far more true of Catholics than Protestants, but so much of Protestantism came from Catholocism.
I believe the concept of a “service” goes back to Hebrew times.
Everything with the Jews (religion) was outward, physical, temporal. All that was a “shadow” Hebrews tells us (though true saints like Abraham indeed walked with God & we should emulate them.). We now have the reality - Christ in us, the hope of glory. In the body of Christ (NOT an analogy, but a reality), we have His presence, His headship & Lordship, He as the center, and His finished work as the foundation, and the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and empower. The Lord Jesus - in the midst.
The essentials for the Christian are best seen in Acts and addressed by Paul: Like in Acts 2:42 - fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, study of (now) scripture. Throughout all of that is, of course, worship. The first century believers would not have understood at all the concept of a “worship service.”
With some reservations, I suggest reading Frank Viola’s “Pagan Christianity”. A bit too harsh and critical for me, but a lot of truth in it.
I used to be part of a Sunday morning singles group that met in a bakery (the church had part of a strip mall, but didn’t own all of it at the time).
The group of believers that met was exactly what God had planned because we all had actual COMMUNITY, quite spontaneously and without manipulation.
Something weird started going on at that church (Brownsville “revival” was influencing the pastor) and of course this beautiful thing God was doing in a bakery had to be disturbed. HAD TO, because it wasn’t big enough. The visions of the ministry “team” were HUGE and befitting a MIRACLE-WORKING GOD!!!
Problem: GOD does not part Red Seas but ONCE. After that, “tell your children what the LORD your GOD did for you”. Same thing with Penetecost and ACTS. GOD establishes something and then withdraws signs so FAITH can settle and dominate (IMO,of course...I am not going to argue about the sign gifts so let that go...)
Anyway, the bakery fellowship was destroyed, fizzling out as men tried to make bigger something God was doing smaller on purpose. A similar destruction occurred when a Baptist church I went to decided their choir was no longer cool. Good business for the band, I guess, but do you think for one minute God didn’t see the tearing apart of the choir FELLOWSHIP that occurred so the leadership could upgrade their church to the latest phoney baloney?
I’d love to be a part of a bakery fellowship again. You cannot MAKE something like that happen.
Certainly there are many important aspects to worship - and this article doesn’t seem to cover many of them, unfortunately. But the one in Heb., remember, is in the New Testament and echoes the call to respect and reverence. Sometimes I do feel we have lost that aspect in our churches. I’m a member of our praise team at my church and play the “electric guitar” complete with effects pedals but sometimes I feel we forget that awe and get too chummy with God as our “pal” and “buddy” and not as our Lord who died for us. For all eternity we will remember the price our unholiness cost the Son of God. There is freedom of expression with the Lord. As Chuck Gerard (this will date me) use to sing, “...sometimes hallelujah, sometime praise the Lord, sometime softly singing our hearts in one accord.” So style of music is not as important as what’s inside us. Our lives should reflect what’s happening in our hearts by way of the sanctification process - becoming more and more like God’s Son. Thankfully, I John 1:9 is still in there for all of us, too.
Eph. 5:19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
John 4:23-24
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Heb. 12:28 & 29
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Rom. 12:1
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your
Yeah, that is interesting.
I think Dr. Sproul does have an underlying point in this that people are a bit flippant about worship. I see that a lot in my church.
This is my testimony from a previous, now locked, thread:
My older sister – now in heaven – was always the ring leader.
It so happened that an old retired Baptist preacher heard about the bakery shop kids and came by to meet us. He was moved by what he saw and he used his life’s savings to build a tiny little church up the street.
Naturally all the kids got the rest of their families to join them in meeting in the new church – and before you knew it we were all baptized Southern Baptist. The church grew and split and had missionary churches of it own.
If it had been someone from another Christian “label” who found the bakery shop kids, built the church and baptized us, I’d probably be wearing a different label today. LOLOL!
As it is my "letter" has always been in a Baptist church, though that point is meaningless to me because at the root, I will always be that bakery shop kid – a Christian, plain and simple.
Love that story, Alamo Girl. Thankful the Lord made you His at an early age!
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