Worship: November 2011
Table of Contents
Worship
Worship is the being lost in wonder at what we find in God and in Christ, and thus occupied, the heart overflows in adoration. God wants us, as His children, to know, not only that we are within the Father’s house, but within the Father’s bosom. He wants to have our minds filled with thoughts about His Son, and when a saint’s heart is full of this, it ascends up to God as worship. Knowing my redemption and that God is my Father, I have fellowship with God, and I am led through the power of the Holy Spirit into God’s estimate of the beauty and the humiliation of His Christ. Worship is being nothing and having God’s thoughts about Jesus rolling through my soul. When Jesus is everything, I am occupied with God, not about what I am, but about what Christ is. When the Spirit has led us to know the blood on the mercy-seat, He spends His time in taking of the things of Jesus and showing them to us and thus supplies food for worship. In the burnt, meat and peace offerings, we have Christ presented to us in type as the subject for worship. In the burnt offering, His perfect self-renunciation and devotedness to God, even to the death; in the meat offering, His life in action; in the peace offering, as the link between God and the church, that on which God and the church together feed in happy communion.
Girdle of Truth
Worship
The Scriptures are very full of instruction on worship, although there is much ignorance on the subject among many Christians. For example, some feel that listening to sermons is one of the highest forms of worship. It is quite true that the presentation of truth may lead to worship, but there is a vast difference between the act of worship and listening to the truth. In preaching (assuming that it is God’s truth that is being presented), the servant comes with a message from God to those who listen; in worship, saints are led into the presence of God to present their adoration and praise. The two things are therefore of an entirely different character.
Prayer
Prayer is not worship; a suppliant is not a worshipper. If I go to the king with a petition, I am presented before him in that character, but if I am admitted into his presence to render homage, I am no longer a petitioner. So when I unite with other believers in prayer and intercession, we are before God as those who are seeking special mercies, but when we bow before Him in worship, we give rather than receive. We are before Him wanting nothing, but with full hearts overflowing in adoration at His feet.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is very intimately connected with, although not the essence of, worship, for thanksgiving is the consequence of blessings received, whether in providence or in redemption. The sense of God’s goodness and grace in thus ministering to us, in blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, constrains us to pour out our thanksgivings in His presence. Then, necessarily, we are led to reflect upon the character and attributes of the God who thus delights to surround us with the tokens of His love and care, and consequently thanksgiving passes over into worship.
But in worship, considered in its proper significance, we lose sight of ourselves and our blessings, and we are occupied with what God is in Himself and what He is for us as revealed in Christ. Led by the Holy Spirit, we rise above ourselves and contemplate God in all His varied attributes and glories, for while “no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:18), and, overwhelmed by the display of His holiness, majesty, love, mercy and grace, we cannot but bow at His feet, as we render, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, the homage of our hearts.
This will be seen more clearly if we turn to the teaching of the Scriptures. The woman of Samaria questioned our Lord as to the place of worship, and in His reply, He went far beyond the limits of her question. “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24).
No Special Place on Earth
In the first place, our Lord here plainly teaches that there would be henceforth no special place of worship on earth. Jerusalem had been the place where the temple of God had stood, but consequent upon the rejection of Christ, their house, hitherto the house of God, was left unto them desolate (Matt. 23:37-39), and never since that time has there been a material house of God upon earth. The church is now the habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:22), and our place of worship is now inside the rent veil, in the immediate presence of God.
Who Can Worship
Second, He tells us who can be worshippers — those who shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and such the Father was seeking. That is, only believers, whom He would bring into relationship with Himself as His children, could worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Apostle affirms the same thing when he says, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit [or, as many read, who worship by the Spirit of God], and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3) — all evident characteristics of believers. Indeed, as the epistle to the Hebrews teaches (see ch. 10), it is impossible for any to approach God until their sins are gone from His sight, and again, since none but believers have the Spirit of God (see Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:6), none other can worship in spirit or by the Spirit of God.
In Spirit and Truth
Third, the Lord defines the character of worship. It must be “in spirit and in truth.” Now to worship “in spirit” is to worship according to the true nature of God and in the power of that communion which the Spirit of God gives. Spiritual worship is thus in contrast with the forms and ceremonies and all the religiousness of which the flesh is capable. To worship God “in truth” is to worship Him according to the revelation which He has given of Himself. The Samaritans worshipped God neither in spirit nor in truth. The Jews worshipped God in truth, so far as this can be said of a revelation which was imperfect, but in no sense did they worship Him in spirit. To worship God now, both are needful. He is to be worshipped according to the true revelation of Himself (that is, “in truth”) and according to His nature (that is, “in spirit”).
The Person and Work of Christ
But the revelation of God to us is in the Person and connected with the work of Christ, for all that God is has been manifested at the cross. The death of Christ is therefore the foundation of all Christian worship, for it is by the efficacy of His precious blood that we are qualified to enter into the presence of God. Inasmuch as that death is the revelation to us of all that God is — His majesty, holiness, truth, grace and love — it is through the contemplation of that wondrous sacrifice that our hearts, wrought upon by the Spirit of God, are led out in adoration and praise. Thus worship is connected in a very special way with the Lord’s table, because it is when we are gathered around it, as members of the body of Christ, that we show forth His death. To quote once more the words of another, “It is impossible to separate true spiritual worship and communion from the perfect offering of Christ to God. The moment our worship separates itself from its efficacy and the consciousness of that infinite acceptance of Jesus before the Father, it becomes carnal and either a form or simply delight of the flesh.”
The Degeneration of Worship
Wherever the Lord’s table has lost its true character or place, the spring and motive of worship are obscured. Of what are we specially reminded at the table of the Lord? It is His death, and it is in that death we are enabled to see what God is for us and what Christ is to God, as well as the infinite efficacy of His sacrifice in bringing us without spot into God’s immediate presence — in the light as He is in the light. The grace, the eternal love of God, and the grace and the unquenchable love of Christ are alike displayed to our souls, as we remember the One who glorified God in His death on the cross, where He bore our sins, and having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, we bow and worship before God.
E. Dennett, adapted
Christian Worship
The two grand elements of Christian worship are the presence of the Holy Spirit and the remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ, which is commemorated in the supper.
But in this worship the affections which are connected with all our relationships with God are developed. God, in His majesty, is adored. The gifts even of His providence are recognized. He who is a Spirit is worshipped in spirit and in truth. We present to God, as our Father — the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — the expression of the holy affections which He has produced in us, for He sought us when we were afar off and has brought us near to Himself, as His beloved children, giving us the spirit of adoption, and associating us (wondrous grace!) with His well-beloved Son. We adore our Saviour-God, who has purged us from our sins and placed us in His presence without spot, His holiness and His righteousness, which have been so marvelously displayed in our redemption, being to us a source of joy which passes not away, for, through the perfect work of Christ, we are in the light as He Himself is in the light. It is the Holy Spirit Himself who reveals to us these heavenly things and the glory which is to come and who works in us so as to produce affections suitable to such blessed relationships with God. He it is who is the bond of union between the heart and these things. But in thus drawing out our souls, He makes us feel that we are children of the same family and members of the same body, uniting us in this worship by means of mutual affections and feelings common to all towards Him who is the object of our worship. Jesus Himself is present in our midst, according to His promise.
Worship is exercised in connection with the very sweetest recollection of His love, whether we regard His work upon the cross or whether we recall the thought of His ever fresh and tender affection for us. He desires our remembrance of Him. Sweet and precious thought! Oh, how joyous to our souls, and yet, at the same time, how solemn ought such worship to be! What sort of life should we be careful to lead in order to render it! How watchful over our own spirits! How sensitive as to evil! With what earnestness should we seek the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, in order to render such worship suitably! Yet it should be very simple and truthful, for true affection is always simple, and at the same time devout, for the sense of such interests imparts devoutness. The majesty of Him whom we adore and the greatness of His love give solemnity to every act in which we draw near to Him. With what deep affections and thankfulness should we at such times think of the Saviour, when we recall all His love for us — abiding through Him in the presence of God, far removed from all evil, in the foretaste of our eternal blessing!
The Love of the Father
and the Son
These two great subjects about which Christian worship is occupied (namely, the love of God our Father and the love of the Lord Jesus, in His work and as Head of His body the church) afford slight changes in the character of the worship, according to the state of those who render it. At times, the Lord Jesus will be more specially before the mind; at times, thoughts of the Father will be more present. The Holy Spirit alone can guide us in this, but the truthfulness and spirituality of worship will depend upon the state of those who compose the assembly. Effort in such things has no place. He, who is the channel of worship, let it be observed, should not present that which is proper and peculiar to himself, but that which is truly the exercise through the Spirit of the hearts of those who compose the assembly. This will make us feel our entire dependence upon the Comforter — the Spirit of truth — for truthful service to God in communion. Nothing, however, is more simple or more evident than the truth that the worship which is rendered should be the worship of all.
J. N. Darby
Worship Today
Worship is the highest possible exercise of the renewed soul, whether here or in glory. Prayer and thanksgiving are both unspeakably blessed in their place, but while prayer takes cognizance of our wants and spreads them out before God and thanksgiving has in view the blessings of His grace, worship rises up to God Himself, and the heart loses itself in the blissful contemplation of His excellencies and deep perfections. Prayer will cease when we attain to the rest of God; worship is unending and indeed will be exercised in its fullness only when we are with the Lord above.
The Various Dispensations
Worship varies in its character according to the character of the different dispensations and God’s revelation of Himself. In patriarchal times, for example, He was adored as God Almighty. However, we notice a great change in the order when Israel was called out to be the people of God in the earth. God dwelt among them in the tabernacle, an inestimable privilege and blessing unknown by man before. This involved the institution of the priesthood, but necessarily put the people at a distance. The priests acted for them; they dealt with the blood of the sacrifices and presented the sweet incense before Jehovah in the sanctuary.
All this is changed now, for Christ has come. God is no longer hidden behind a veil, but has revealed Himself fully in the person of His beloved Son, so that we who believe know Him as Father. Not only this, redemption being accomplished, Christ has gone back to God and sits at His right hand on high. Hence, the whole character of worship is altered in this period of grace.
The Words to the
Samaritan Woman
In John 4, we have the Lord Jesus dealing with the conscience and heart of the woman at the well. Feeling pricked in her conscience by His word, she sought to avert its keen edge by turning to the subject of worship. To this the Lord graciously responded, “Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24).
Several things must be noticed here. First, the Lord completely sets aside the Samaritan worship. “Ye worship ye know not what.” Second, He vindicates Judaism as intelligent and of God: “We know what we worship.” He then proceeds to show that the hour had come to set both aside that a better thing might be established. There are no holy places in Christianity. To recognize and serve a holy place on earth now is to rob one’s soul of the enjoyment of all that is distinctively Christian. Further, we worship “the Father.” What nearness and affection is implied in this! We stand now in the relationship of children through Christ’s work and can lift up our hearts in worship in the conscious liberty of sons. But this quite shuts out all who are not children of God. For such the gospel is intended; until that is received in faith, none have title to join in worshipping the Father; one must be a child of God to worship God as his father.
The Father Seeks Worshipers
The Father seeks worshipers — precious thought! But He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. This implies that the inner man is engaged under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that His truth is known and controlling the soul. This is in direct contrast with mere forms, which require neither God’s truth nor His Spirit, and can never satisfy His heart.
Further, not only does the Father seek spiritual worshipers, but His solemn “must” comes in — “they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” His nature is now fully revealed, and what is suitable to Him is now declared in consequence. Men who come before Him with mere external rites treat Him as if He were as the deities of the heathen; the Christian who has been brought to know Him understands that spiritual worship alone can suit such a God as ours.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
The epistle to the Hebrews introduces to us another line of truth. In it we are regarded as in the wilderness, passing onward to the rest of God. As to worship, we have liberty of access by faith to the heavenly sanctuary. This is all quite different from John’s line of instruction. There, as we have seen, the family relationship is prominent — we are viewed as children, worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth.
Let us examine Hebrews 10:19-22. Under the law, the worshippers could not go into the presence of God; the veil barred the way. But there is no hindrance now. The work of Jesus has so satisfied God’s claims that the veil is rent, and the way into the holiest is now made manifest. Moreover, our consciences are purged, so that we are able to stand in peace before Him. We have the assurance that the one sacrifice of Jesus has removed all our sins and has perfected us forever. His present seat at the right hand of God is the glorious proof that the question of sins has been settled once and forever. If we had not this confidence, we could not worship. A man who is uncertain and unhappy as to his position before God is not in a condition to worship, however upright and good his desires.
The work of Christ being accomplished, the way to God is open, and every believer may draw near with holy boldness. “Full assurance of faith” glorifies God really. If anything depended on ourselves, we might well be filled with fear and trembling, but knowing that our Christian privileges are all based upon the work of the Lord Jesus, we dare not dishonor Him by entertaining a doubt.
Our Imperfections
Yet we do well to remember our present imperfect condition. To be “perfect, as pertaining to the conscience” is not necessarily to be perfect in every other sense. In fact, while we are in the body, every service will fall short of God’s standard and of our own desires. I do not now speak of positive sin, but of the shortcoming which is due to our infirmities. Here the priesthood of Christ comes in as our aid. “Having an high priest over the house of God,” through Him all our spiritual sacrifices rise up to God acceptably. He presents them to God for us, accompanied by all the excellency and fragrance of His ever blessed person and work. How dependent we are on Him, not only for our general need in the wilderness, but even in the worship from our renewed hearts!
When Paul wrote, souls were slow to grasp the blessedness of the new order of worship which Christ had brought in, because of the blinding power of ancient religious prejudices. The same thing accounts for the darkness which covers many minds today. Earthly systems have been reared up in imitation of a judged Judaism form of worship, and the tendency of them all is to keep the soul more or less at a distance from God. May He establish our souls more completely in His own grace and truth.
W. W. Fereday, adapted
The True Idea of Worship
The Master has so filled the vessel that it overflows. When the heart is filled with the truth, “as the truth is in Jesus,” and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it overflows in thanksgiving and praise — it worships God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth. The heart of the guest, we may say, responds to the kindness of the host. But, plainly, that which comes down from God to the soul in grace re-ascends from the soul to Him in grateful praise. Like the curling smoke from the golden altar, it ascends in the sweet odors of acceptable worship.
It is perfectly clear that a cup running over can hold no more; that which is poured in only increases its overflow. But what, may I ask, are the spiritual feelings of a soul that answers to this figure? They are heavenly in their character and produced by the Holy Spirit. Nothing on earth comes so near the occupation of heaven as worship. It will be our happy occupation throughout eternity. But the soul must, in spirit, be in heaven — in the holy of holies — before it reaches this condition, and that is where the Christian should always be. He is in Christ, and Christ fills all heaven with His glory. In God’s account there is no outer-court worship now; it must be priestly and inside the veil. When the heart of the worshipper answers to the overflowing cup, it is evidently completely filled up — not a corner is left empty. This is the main thought. It feels, spiritually, that every wish is met — every desire is satisfied — and all the longings of the soul perfectly answered. True, the worshipper is not yet in resurrection glory, but he knows and feels that he has everything except glory. That he waits for, but not uncertainly. “We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal. 5:5).
Prayer and Worship
It may be well to notice the difference between prayer and worship, however nearly allied they may be to each other, and even suitably mingled together, as “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks.” We have always much for which to be thankful; still, the two things, in themselves, are quite distinct. We bring our empty cups to the prayer meeting and beg and beseech our God and Father to fill them. This shows our knowledge of God and our confidence in Him, and if we pray in faith, the oil may flow until every vessel is filled (2 Kings 4). Thus, prayer may lead to worship, as preaching the gospel to the world and teaching God’s people may do. Nevertheless, it is well to understand the difference between prayer, preaching, teaching and worship. They are each most important in themselves and all of God and ought not to be confounded. In the preaching of the gospel, God is addressing the world; in teaching, He is speaking to His saints, but in worship we address God — we render adoration to Him. Ministry is from God to man; worship is from man to God. Hardly any two things could be more distinct, and yet the distinction is rarely seen. True worship may be produced by any of the three named services, and even a spirit of worship may be enjoyed when engaged in them, and so much the better when it is so, but in Christian worship we draw near to God as our Father through Christ Jesus and address ourselves to Him. When we know God as He has revealed Himself in the person and work of Christ, we have holy liberty in His presence and render the praise, adoration and thanksgiving of an overflowing heart.
The Sacrifice of Christ
The sacrifice of Christ, which is commemorated in the breaking of bread, is the only foundation of true worship, and the Holy Spirit present in the assembly is the sole power by which God can be worshipped acceptably. It would be the most daring presumption for anyone to draw near to God as a worshipper, unless he knew that all his guilt was removed and that he was a new creature in Christ Jesus. But when we know that the blessed Lord, by the blood of His cross, has fully glorified God, blotted out all our sins, and cleansed us from all defilement, we have holy boldness to draw near to God as our Father. But for the cross, all must be judgment, but by means of the cross, all is grace, boundless grace. The rending of the veil from the top to the bottom is the divine witness to us that Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and opened up the way for us into the holiest of all. In virtue of His atoning sacrifice, there is now, glory be to God, no question of sin between the worshipper and God. That question was fully gone into on the cross and there settled — there closed forever. The same stroke which slew the Lamb rent the veil and laid open the way into the presence of infinite holiness, where the worshipper now stands without spot and rejoices before the Lord His God.
Still meditate, O my soul, for the deepening and the elevating of thy worship, on that wondrous cross — the great center of God’s moral universe! To this center God always pointed and the eye of faith always looked forward, until the Saviour came. And now we must always turn to that cross as the center of all our blessing and the basis of all our worship, both on earth and in heaven — in time and throughout all eternity. The “new song” never could have been sung in heaven and no hymn of praise could ever have been sung on earth by fallen man, but for the cross of Jesus, and, but for that same cross, ours must have been forever a cup of trembling, in place of an overflowing cup of rejoicing.
The Power of Worship
Having briefly dwelt in our meditations on the only foundation of worship — the sacrifice of Christ — we will now refer to the only power of worship — the Holy Spirit. When “born again” we receive a new nature, which is holy and suited to the presence of God. It is also capable of enjoying Him, which truth surely gives us the highest thought of creature-happiness, and yet, as the Apostle says, that blessed state may be enjoyed even now. “We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11). Without this new nature there could be no worship. It is the children that the Father seeks to worship Him. Sonship is essential to our worship. But the Father delights in the worship of His children. Not only does He accept it, but He seeks it. Wondrous, gracious truth, O my soul! Our God and Father is seeking worshippers! “The Father seeketh such to worship Him.”
The Religion of the Flesh
Here, it is not the sin of the flesh, but the religion of the flesh, which the Apostle warns against. In God’s sight the one is as bad as the other. The true worshippers are known by worshipping God in the Spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus. The flesh can be very pious in its own way and be largely occupied with good works, but it will never “rejoice in Christ Jesus.” It knows nothing of Christ as despised on earth and honored in heaven, nor of setting our affections on things above. But even when Christ has His right place in the heart and the Holy Spirit is owned as the sole power of worship, we have need to watch against mingling the thoughts of the flesh with the guidance of the Spirit. It will be the constant aim of the enemy, where he cannot substitute flesh for Spirit, to mingle the two. One solemn question — one grand test — remains for each, for all: Do we rejoice in Christ Jesus alone? This is the true standard to judge by — the touchstone of spiritual worship. Answer this, O my soul, to this standard: Is Christ my all in all? Do I come before God — standing in His holy presence — rejoicing in Christ Jesus alone? He is the delight of the Father’s heart — the object of the Spirit’s testimony — the joy and glory of His people. Happy, thrice happy they who, in this day of widespread fleshly pietism, “worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Things New and Old, 8:53
Mary’s Ointment
In John 12:1-3, we read of a woman who came to anoint the Lord Jesus. She did not come to hear a sermon, although the first of teachers was there, nor did she come to sit at His feet and hear His word (Luke 10:39). She did not come to make her requests known to Him, although there was a time when, in deepest submission to His will, she had fallen at His feet, saying, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (John 11:32). Nor did she come to pour out her supplications to Him, for her brother was seated at the table. She did not come to meet the saints, though precious saints were there, for “Jesus loved Martha ... and Lazarus.” Fellowship with them was blessed and of frequent occurrence, but that was not her object now. She did not come after the weariness of a week’s battling with the world to be refreshed from Him, though like every saint she had learned the trials of the wilderness and knew the blessed springs of refreshment in Him.
But at the moment when the world was expressing its deepest hatred of Him, she came to pour out what she had treasured up, the most valuable thing she had on earth, upon the person of the One whose love had captivated her heart and absorbed her affections. “Jesus only” filled her soul; her heart beat true to Him, and she “anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.” Adoration, homage, worship and blessing were her thought, in honor of the One who was all in all to her. Surely such worship refreshed Him! The nonspiritual might murmur, but He upheld her cause and appreciated the grateful tribute of a heart that knew His worth and preciousness. Thus a lasting record is preserved of what worship really is! If every eye were on the Lord alone, every heart true to Him, each determined to see “no man save Jesus only,” what full praise there would be! Not with alabaster boxes now, but our bodies filled with the Holy Spirit, a stream of thanksgiving and highest worship would ascend in honor of the blessed One who now adorns the glory, as He once adorned the earth. It is also our privilege thus to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
D. T. Grimston, adapted
An Altar of Earth
“An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings” (Ex. 20:24). Whatever expresses acceptance on the part of God, as the burnt offering, or communion between the worshipper, God and the priest who offers it, as in the peace offering, is connected with the altar of earth, for it was on earth that “Christ gave Himself an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” And on earth He made peace through the blood of the cross and came and preached peace to those that were afar off and to them that were nigh.
It is in the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and accomplished work, as accepted of God, that we find the elements and grounds of worship. It is for the soul to be occupied with these in the presence of God, in the expression of wonder, gratitude, joy, thanksgiving, delight, anticipation, hope and desire, in order to present true and acceptable worship. The altar of earth is surely found in the cross, the symbol of which Christ has ordained and that it should constantly be brought before us when we gather together in His name. And so exactly answering to the declaration here, ‘’In all places where I record My name,” is the promise of the Lord, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
No Hewn Stones
But in connection with this worship of the altar of earth two things, expression of man’s work and man’s order, are forbidden. “If thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.”
Nothing can be more important than for our souls to bear in mind that in worship we have nothing to bring to God — nothing to work out by way of effort — and nothing by way of external form or by an effort of internal feeling to raise ourselves up to God. He meets us at the altar of earth. God comes to us where we are. It is to have our souls filled with the sense of what His grace has done and how He has come down to meet us where we are and to be occupied with the sweet savor of Christ, “who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,” for worship is the reflex of this, the heart expressing its delight and satisfaction, its adoration and praise for what Christ is for us as this blessed provision of God.
No Ascending by Steps
Now it may very well be that where human works are rejected and human order in worship is avoided, there is still the presence of the two things, in a more subtle form, that are here forbidden. The ritual acts of bowing, crossing yourself, sprinkling holy water, and the attitudes and order of ordained ritual may be refused, while, at the same time, there may be an attempt to raise the feelings in order to come to God by some mental process, which are altogether different from the occupation of the heart in God’s presence with what Christ is and what He has accomplished. Or, it may be thought that most of the saints are so occupied in the world during the week that it is necessary to act on their feelings when they come together, in order to produce in them a better tone of worship on the Lord’s Day. But this is a wrong assumption. A life of the well educated is not necessarily a life of greater spirituality than those not having it. Where the Lord is owned as ordering our circumstances and is acknowledged in the daily walk of life, the heart, when brought into His presence, will naturally respond to the exhibitions which He gives of His grace when we meet to worship in His name. Moreover, worship, if true, is that of the assembly, and not the effort of an individual to act on the minds and feelings of the saints, in order to bring them up to his sense of the appropriate tone of worship.
In the first place the very constitution of the assembly, as composed of the children of God, is that they are able to worship, for “the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” Another thing is that, being possessed of a nature in common that can delight in God, it is the proper and spontaneous action of that nature to worship, when brought into His presence. Besides this, believers being partakers of the Holy Spirit, each member, in his measure, is made responsible for the worship of the assembly. Worship is for spiritual persons who are led by the Spirit. To lower the character of communion in order to meet the assumed unspiritual condition of some who may be supposed to be present is emphatically to make steps up to the altar. Rather let spiritual worship proceed, and if there be souls that cannot join in it, let them judge their condition in the Lord’s presence on account of it.
Girdle of Truth, 8:373
The Fire and the Incense
“Nadab, and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord” (Lev. 10:1-2). The fire presents a figure of the judgment of God. The fire they put into their censors did not come from the brazen altar where the continual burnt offering was offered to God. The fire under the burnt offering is a picture of how the judgment of God brought out the sweet savor that Christ was to God when He was on the cross. There was nothing unholy in Him. Christ willingly offering Himself to God in death made propitiation with God. The holiness of God demanded that propitiation be made. “Christ ... offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14).
The second place the fire was used was in the sin offering, the sacrifice necessary to put away sin. The fire consumed the sin offering outside the camp. The victim died in substitution of the guilty ones and took away their sins. Christ fulfilled that during the three hours of darkness when He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” This sacrifice was necessary for the sinner. We ought to realize what Christ suffered, being abandoned outside the camp for our sins.
The action of fire in the burnt offering produces only a sweet savor. The action of fire in the sin offering consumes, outside of the dwelling-place of God (the camp), all that is contrary (sinful) to His holy presence. These two effects are connected with the action of fire, and both met their fulfillment at the cross. On this basis God seeks worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. On this basis believers may now go into the holiest as worshippers. The action of the fire on the incense in the censors brought out its sweet smell. It is a picture of the person of Christ. He is the theme of our worship. No incense (worship) is allowed in God’s presence that is apart from the action of the fire of judgment where Christ died or apart from the remembrance of it. The only acceptable incense savor to God (a type of our worship) was that produced from the fire from the altar. Worship in spirit and in truth has for its basis the refusal and judgment of all that I am in myself and the confession that God has found His eternal satisfaction in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every pretension to worship that is not based on this is the result of “strange fire.” Neither natural talent, gift, intellect, musical ability or fine arts are acceptable as worship; they are things of the first man (Adam), and nothing which has its origin in him can come before God except for judgment. All Christians may be worshippers, but self-assertion is disallowed. Christ is the only object which delights the heart of God. As worshippers we stand on “holy ground.” The fire consumes all that is contrary to the mind of God, and only that which speaks of the person and work of His beloved Son is acceptable. May it be our desire to present that which is pleasing to Him.
Compiled
Europe Needs a Strong Leader
The Apostle John describes in Revelation 13 a beast rising out of the sea “having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 13:1). He further says, “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed” (Rev. 13:3). The formation of the European Economic Community in 1957 was viewed with interest by many Christians who believed that this was the beginning of the revived Roman Empire (the deadly wound healed) which would be the seat of the beast. As years went on, more countries joined and progress was made toward a customs union and other forms of cooperation. It became known as the European Union (EU) and aimed to allow for the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. By 1999, there was a monetary union and a common currency was formed called the Euro, which began to be used in 2002. At present, the combined population consists of about 500 million persons and, taken as one, is probably the largest economic entity in the world in terms of G.D.P. (gross domestic production).
To the Christian observer, this all seems to indicate that Europe is getting ready for the conditions where one leader, “the Beast” described in Revelation 13, can take control, and it indicates we are very close to the events that will take place after the coming of the Lord for His church. It is interesting to note that the first Roman Empire consisted of all of present-day southern Europe, Turkey, Israel, parts of Egypt and the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It included many countries that are presently Islamic.
The Financial Condition
Recently, however, the EU has been under stress due to immense sovereign debt levels of some members, caused in part by the Credit Crisis of 2008. The recent recession has caused the weaker countries in the EU to have government deficits that are far greater than those allowed by the treaties they signed when they joined the EU. Running large deficits for years has forced weaker countries to borrow significant amounts, which they did, and much of this has been loaned by the stronger members of the EU.
It is probably true that some of those countries were dishonest about their financial condition when they joined the EU. Because they now share one currency, the weaker countries do not have a currency of their own to devalue, which is the normal solution to a weak economy with foreign debts. This condition is beginning to cause great stress as the leaders grapple with the problem of how to proceed. The population in the strong countries is voicing their unwillingness to lend more to weaker countries such as Greece and Spain. Yet the leaders realize that, having already loaned vast amounts, if they abandon these countries, they would suffer catastrophic losses in their banking system, possibly causing a crisis which could rival or be worse than that of 2008.
These are very stressful times in the financial world; the problems in Europe are extremely complex and will require great skill to solve, if, in fact, they can be solved democratically. There are no easy solutions. What a time for a strong leader to emerge! It truly seems that we are entering a period where the world needs extraordinary solutions to the many crises that exist.
Fragile Standard of Living
From a different standpoint, the developed world in this twenty-first century is very vulnerable to shocks that would plunge it into crisis. Technological advances have raised the standards of living to amazing levels. The converse of this is that countries are globally interdependent and problems such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes can drastically shut down economies. Consider the Internet which is vital today to most businesses that provide our daily living necessities. Can we imagine what would happen if there were a power outage that covered North America or Europe, that was more than temporary? It is apparent that something like this will occur during the tribulation (Rev. 6:8) and plunge the world into starvation and violence such as has never been seen.
In conclusion, we see Europe facing very complicated issues that will require a strong leader to impose the needed solutions. Second, the world is very dependent upon technology in everyday life, yet the foundations of this society are extremely fragile and vulnerable. There has never been a time when conditions in the world have been so set for what we understand will occur after the Lord returns to take His heavenly people home. May we say from the bottom of our hearts, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
D. Berry
True Worship
True worship is in a known relationship, praising, adoring, thanking, blessing God, in the consciousness of His favor, in His presence as those brought in by the work of Christ, both cleansed and according to the value and savor of His sacrifice. Worship is in a known relationship of present favor and grace wherein we stand, so that we joy in God and, I may add, are before the Father who Himself loves us.
It is the outgoing of heart, delighting in God and adoring Him for all that He has done when we think of that, but it flows from what He is to us. And we are actually in His presence, never forgetting surely how we got there, for He has been manifested. In that we have learned love and righteousness and holiness there, but as within, praising Him whom we have found, in our present relationship to Him.
J. N. Darby
The Father Seeketh Worshippers
The Father seeketh worshippers,
His praises to impart,
And to and fro throughout the earth
He searches every heart.
It is our hearts the Saviour wants,
Affections and our praise;
The fruit and worship of our lips
By singing of His ways.
His heart of love would have His own
Responding to His love,
By gathering around Himself
And praising Him above.
“Sweet is thy voice,” the Saviour says
To His beloved bride,
Who thus responds to worship Him
And thank the Lamb who died.
What peace and satisfaction comes
From worshipping the Lord!
From praising and remembering Him,
According to His Word.
From knowing all our sins forgiven,
Our conscience now is free,
For Jesus paid the debt we owed
On Calvary’s cruel tree.
Oh! He is worthy of thy love;
He’s worthy of thy praise;
And every knee shall bow to Him
In coming future days.
But precious ’tis to own Him now,
The Lamb for us once slain,
Responding to His heart of love,
And worship in His name.
Oh! thank Him then, remember Him,
And worship at His feet;
Give Him the homage that’s His due,
The praises that are meet.
May the thanksgivings of our heart —
Our praises — e’er ascend,
To God the Father, through the blood
Of Christ, the sinner’s friend.
L. Beckwith