Biblical Church 2019 (Biblical Worship)
Text: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
A few weeks ago, we started a short series on five elements that make up a Biblical Church. We first talked about the need for the Church to be made up of truly converted, Biblical Christians. Then we said that it has to be a Church that is learning the Bible, and then sharing the Bible. And if you’ve been with us since we started this series, and it hasn’t all clicked yet, I’m hoping that today is the day where you see how it all fits together, as a completed picture. Because today we’re talking about Biblical worship.
Now the truth is – that as Southern Baptists, a lot of times, we do things without having any real knowledge or sense or understanding of where those things came from. How they originated. Or even why we do it the way we do it. Have you ever wondered why we have our order of service, the way that we do? Why do we sing the songs that we sing? Why do we not baptize infants? Why do we have VBS, a nursery, and our children’s verses and fighter verses? Why do we so Sunday School the way we do? Why do we do anything the way we do?
Chances are; there are some of you who probably HAVEN’T EVER wondered about those things… you’ve just accepted them as the norm. It’s just the way we do it… right? But what would we do if we found out there was no precedent for some of those things in Scripture? Or what if we learned that there’s other things that we maybe should be doing but aren’t?
Well; we might touch on some of those things indirectly as we look at Biblical Worship, because the Bible doesn’t actually address a lot of that stuff directly. Instead it gives us principles and commands that we are to obey, and then we work that stuff out guided by those principles and commands. Now; we’ll be turning to several texts as well, so that we can get a good glimpse at what the Bible has to say about worship. And we’ll start in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 (READ).
Church, each and every one of us knows (at least I hope you do) that God created the world, and everything in it, for His glory. And we know that man fell into sin, and with sin came corruption. Corruption of God’s creation. So instead of being without sin, mankind is now corrupted by it… we are born into sin, born spiritually dead, born separated from God. And every part of our being is corrupted by sin and affected by sin… our minds, our wills, our emotions, our desires, our bodies, the world around us. Things break, things wear out and decay, things go wrong, things suffer and die. When sin came into this world, there was also corruption of God’s created order and design. Instead of unity between husband and wife, now we argue, we disagree, we want different things... we struggle to find commonality in our priorities, our goals and our desires. And that goes beyond husband and wife. All individuals face that, and so do groups, and nations and governments. And instead of mankind working together, unified in truth and love, for the purpose of bringing glory to God. Now we want what we want… we want to glorify ourselves, and satisfy ourselves, and do what we please.
And that’s the state of all mankind outside of Christ. And that’s a problem… It’s a problem because the Bible tells us that mankind, outside of Christ, is incapable of doing anything good, he is incapable of believing in God or even coming to Him. I’ve given you a hand out in your bulletin that will help you see what I’m talking about here… So man cannot rightly understand the truth. And man; the human being, apart from Christ, cannot even seek God, nor does he want to. So when a person who is not a true Christian worships, they aren’t worshiping God… even when they think they are. If they are not born again, and truly converted, they may think that what they’re doing is worshiping God, and glorifying to God, and praising God, but really it’s fleshly, sensual, worship of themselves. Do you remember what we said last Sunday? We said that people with itching ears will accumulate teachers to suit their own desires.
If you were to go to one of those Prosperity Teachers churches, you’d find a whole lot of folks who think they are worshiping God… but according to Scripture, they aren’t.
They would think that they’re actually hearing God’s Word being preached, but they aren’t. But they don’t know, because they’re spiritually dead. They’re unable to see, recognize, and understand the truth.
So what sinful man does now is exchange the glory of God for a lie, and he will worship the created things rather than the Creator (That’s Romans 1:25 by the way).
BUT… when we are saved by the grace of God… When we are born again by the incorruptible Seed of God’s Word, and brought to spiritual life out of death, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, God begins the process of making us a new creation in Christ. And our hearts and minds, turn back to the truth of God, and we find in ourselves a desire to worship the Triune God of the Bible who is our Maker, and Creator, and Sustainer, and Redeemer, and Savior, and Justifier, and Sanctifier. In other words, we have this desire, this compulsion or need to worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Now where we run into a problem is with that person we were before being rescued by Christ. I’m talking about our old sin nature. You see; even though we’re born again, and we are a new creation in Christ Jesus, our old sin nature hangs on… it dies hard. We’re told to put it to death every day… to crucify our flesh – that’s our sin nature… and if we don’t, we’ll find ourselves still struggling with temptation, with falling back into old patterns of life, and old thoughts, and things like that. And we’ll find that we’re still trying to glorify ourselves and satisfy ourselves, instead of God. And this is where knowing the Bible, and learning the Bible, and studying the Bible helps us out. Because as we do that, we won’t be conformed to the world, but we’ll be transformed as we renew our minds.
So we’ve got to be born again… and we’ve got to be learning and studying God’s Word. And as we do that, what we’ll find is; that God has actually given us some guidelines to go by when it comes to Biblical Worship.
The first thing is that God is worthy. Get that settled in your mind. God is supremely worthy of our worship, our praise, our adoration, our reverence, and our love. And not only is God worthy, He is more worthy than ANYTHING else! That’s why Mark 12:30 says that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that’s why Jesus said in Matthew 10:37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” When we love something more than God, it shows that we lack understanding of God’s worth.
So… God is supremely worthy of our worship. That’s the first thing… the second is that God alone determines how He should be worshiped. Stay with me here, and let’s think about this.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone, maybe it’s your spouse, or your good friend, comes up to you, and asks, “What do you want for Christmas?” And you told them, very specifically… and I mean… to the very last detail, exactly what you wanted. And then they went out and bought you something totally different than that? Or maybe you and a buddy are putting a big compressor back together, and you tell him that it takes a ½ inch bolt, and he sticks a 7/16th inch bolt in instead? Now why would anyone do that? They just don’t care? They don’t pay attention? They just want to do what they want, and aren’t concerned with the results?
Let me give you one more example… let’s say a guy has had a heart attack and he goes in to get a stint, and the Dr. says, “Oh I’m supposed to use this particular stint, but I really like putting this other kind in. I like the way it looks and feels, so that’s the one I’m going to use.” Now think about this… the God who created all things and holds all things together… the God who is Almighty, and All Powerful… the God who has saved you from eternal wrath… says to us in His Word, “This is the proper way to worship Me.” Are we really going to just shrug our shoulders and say, “Meh, I don’t like that, I’m going to do it my way”?
So #1 – God is worthy of our worship, and #2 – God tells us what proper worship is.
In our text from 1st Corinthians, Paul tells the Corinthian believers that there’s a right way and a wrong way to worship God. God is not the author of confusion. All things should be done decently and in order.
Is it really that big of a deal? Well… turn with me to Leviticus 10:1-3 (READ).
And in Mark 7:6-7 Jesus said, “The people honor Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me; in VAIN do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” In other words, they’re taking these man-centered, worldly ideas, and implementing them into the Church service and calling it worship. But remember, Jesus says in John 4:24, that we are to worship in Spirit and in truth. That is worship that is driven, and empowered by the Holy Spirit that is true, and real, from the heart… but it’s also focused on truth. In other words, true, Spirit filled, worship is worship that is focused on, directed by, and guided by the Word of God.
Not what you want, not what I want, but what God wants… What God says.
And if we go back to 1st Corinthians 14, and look at verse 33, we see that this is the pattern for ALL THE CHURCHES OF THE SAINTS. It’s not cultural… it’s a regulative principle, given in God’s Word.
So let me just throw the Biblical principles out there real quick and we’ll see what this means for us… Biblical Worship is focused on God, it’s directed toward God, it’s directed by God’s Word, and it brings glory to God. It’s to be done in a way that doesn’t promote or cause confusion or chaos… but orderly, because God is not the author of confusion. So decently and in order. So that we can engage our minds (because we’re to love God with all our heart, soul, MIND, and strength). Not just check out into pure emotionalism… It’s to be done in a way that builds up the Body of Christ… in other words, strengthening us, equipping us, encouraging us. It’s to be Word focused… not man’s philosophies, or man-centered. That means the songs a Church sings should be Scriptural, focused on God and Christ… We’re to sing about Who God is, and how God is, and what He has done. The style of music isn’t as important as the content of music… as long as you’re engaging your emotions, your desires, and your mind…
And understand this Church, our corporate worship is NEVER going to be designed or done in a way to appeal to unbelievers. Because if it is, then you’re no longer worshiping God. You’re no longer focusing on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You’re focusing on appealing to worldly desires. That’s not Biblical worship. Worship and evangelism are not the same thing. Worship is when the Church gathers to praise, honor, glorify, and exalt a Holy, Good, and Just God, Who is perfect in all of His ways! So worship is not something done “for” an audience. It’s something done “by” a congregation of called out saints, “directed to” an Almighty God. That doesn’t mean that worship is dull, or boring… but only “saved” people can worship the Savior. So worship starts with people who have been truly saved by the grace of God, through faith in Christ… it’s done by people who are learning the Bible, and it’s directed by the Bible, and it is brings glory to the God of the Bible.
Let’s Pray
CLOSING
HAND OUT
Total Depravity
Man is constituted a sinner by his relationship with Adam Psalm 51:5, 58:3; Romans 5:18-19 He is therefore unable
1. To do anything good
Genesis 6:5; Job 15:14-16; Psalm 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 13:23; John 3:19; Romans 3:9-12; James 3:8; 1John 1:8
2. To believe in God (or come to him)
John 6:44, 6:65, 8:43-45, 10:26, 12:37-41
3. To understand the truth
John 14:17; 1Corinthians 2:14
4. To seek God
Romans 3:10-11
He is dead in sins Gen 2:16-17; John 3:5-7; Eph 2:1-3; Col 2:13
He is blinded and corrupt in his heart Gen 6:5; Gen 8:21; Ecc 9:3; Jer 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; John 3:19-21; Rom 8:7-8; Eph 4:17-19; Eph 5:8
He is captive to sin and Satan John 8:34; John 8:44; Rom 6:20; 2Tim 2:25-26; Tit 3:3; 1John 5:19
He performs actions freely according to his nature and will, but his nature and will are wholly evil Job 14:4; Mat 7:16-18; Mat 12:33; Mark 7:21-23; Jam 1:13-14
BECAUSE MAN IS IN THIS STATE, HE MUST BE TRULY BORN AGAIN BEFORE HE CAN TRULY WORSHIP THE TRINUE GOD OF THE BIBLE. THUS, WORSHIP IS INTENDED TO BE DONE BY THE BELIEVER, NOT THE UNBELIEVER, AND IT IS DIRECTED TO GOD. BECAUSE OF THIS REASON, TRUE BIBLICAL WORSHIP WILL NEVER BE APPEALING TO THE LOST SINNER
Principles for Worship
1. Focus on God in every element in worship: This is why we do our announcements and greeting of one another at the beginning of service, so that it does not interrupt our focus on God.
2. Be directed and guided by Scripture: The Bible doesn’t address issues like, “do we use pews or chairs”, “do we put the words up on the screen or use only hymnals”, but it does speak to the “how” and “Who” of worship. Therefore, worship should be done in Spirit and in truth, it should be done decently and in order, and it should be focused on the Triune God of Scripture, not having a man-centered focus or done in accordance with worldly philosophies. The music should be songs, hymns, and spiritual songs, that are Scriptural, and that help the congregation focus their heart, soul, and mind on our holy and sovereign God. They must contain Biblical lyrics, and avoid ambiguity, but rather be clearly worshiping God. Our service, our programs and activities should also be Scriptural, meaning that everything we’re doing (fighter verses, preaching, Sunday School, nursery, etc…) should be in the scope of Scripture – they should build up the believer, equip the believer, teach the believer, make disciples, be focused on God and Christ, and all be done ultimately for God’s glory.
3. Our preaching and teaching should be mainly the exposition of God’s Word. Personal stories are fine, but they have no power to transform hearts, souls, and lives.
