On Worship

by Norman Buselmeier
www.cvillechurch.com

"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 4:23-24).
According to this statement of the Lord by John, God wants worshippers who shall worship him in spirit and in truth. That it is these only that shall be the true worshippers. The Lord says further of those who worship God — that in spirit and in truth it must be done.

There are some phrases so simple in construction and yet so specifically definitive in their meaning, that to fail in understanding would seem impossible; but which at the same time, upon meditation, open up a field for thought far beyond the horizon, which would seem to defy the human intellect to comprehend. This, to me, is one. And what I shall say here could be only a bare beginning.

Worship is essentially a spiritual business. It has to do with God on one hand, the spirit and soul of man on the other. Man acts — God receives. The Spirit acts — man receives. This is a realm in which God's word is the only authority, the law final! God has in every respect the right to say who shall worship Him, and how. This He does. True worshippers worship in spirit and truth.
In Spirit: This has to do with the feelings, the emotions, the sensibilities, and the ability to demonstrate them; which are endowed by our Creator only on his humankind. And it would seem, since God is "jealous," that these attributes were given us for the special purpose of directing them, demonstrating them, first and to the highest degree, toward Him who made us. To worship Him in spirit then, in the ideal, would be to exercise our feelings, our emotions and sensibilities exclusively toward God while we worship; to devote ourselves wholeheartedly, without thought for anything else; without reservation or purposeful distraction, entirely intent, to think, to feel, to show, by our attitude, that no extraneous thing engages our attention at the same time. Man's soul and intellect completely attuned to God in this spiritual exercise.
In Truth: Those deeds which God has let us know will please Him, as worship, and which He has made known that He will accept as worship, and only those — no others!

The word "worship," like the word talk, has at least two grammatical designations: as a verb, both transitive and intransitive; and as a noun. The transitive verb is meant here — with God as the direct object. As a verb, one would sing (songs); preach (the word); pray; give; eat and drink — proclaim by showing. As a noun — as the act itself, the deed. We have the command to worship (verb), with precepts and examples of worship (the noun). We would have to pluralize or compound the noun, since there is more than one noun included in the noun worship. In other words, we would sing spiritual songs; pray prayers; preach the word; give money and service; eat and drink bread and wine, (memorial of body and blood) (proclaim by showing the Lord's death).

Each of these five acts for which there is precept and example is subject to certain elements to make them classify as acceptable worship to God. They must show reverence and devotion from an honest contrite heart. They must glorify and exalt God, etc. If these are present, the doing of the acts then becomes worship by faith, in truth, by the true worshippers.

The latter act being mentioned last by no means indicates a lesser significance; rather, if all the implications of this act of worship were generally appreciated, it could well be the most important, which is probably why Luke ascribes the chief purpose of the disciples coming together to be the "breaking of bread."

In addition to worship in "truth" one must be sincere, earnest, and honest, with God and oneself. Merely a pious mien, merely a show of reverence, going through the motions of doing the acts, even showing emotion without feeling it, would hardly do. That would be like the hypocrites whom Jesus castigated (Matt. 6), and like the "whited sepulchers," appearing beautiful outside, but inside "full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." (Matt. 23:27) To worship in truth by true worshippers implies integrity, complete honesty and purpose.

One more thought it seems necessary to include here that has to do with preaching as worship. Preaching is the one act in worship done by one person. Is preaching any the less worship on the part of all who hear, for this? Is "hearing" not implicit in preaching? What good is there in preaching — if there are none to hear? For we who hear are having our thoughts directed into godly channels. We are taught spiritual things. In our thought we become separated from the worldly; we consider holy, divine, uplifting, and edifying to ourselves, and in so doing, do we not exalt God? Do we not revere and praise Him the more, and by our attention show that we do? That preaching and hearing is desirable to God as worship should be unquestioned, since every necessary element is present. The one factor which would delete "hearing" from worship classification would be to have the ears open and mind closed. And by the same principle, any other item of worship could be struck off.

I cannot leave this short discussion on worship without emphasizing briefly one more point, concerning the benefits derived from "mass" action; the mass influence of all doing the same thing together at the same time. The primary definition of the word mass in my dictionary reads: "an assemblage of things that collectively make one quantity." Is the idea of assembling to collectively make one quantity not included in the Lord's prayer "that they all may be one, I in them, that they may be made perfect in one" (John 17), or in Paul's fervent expressions "if there be any fellowship of the spirit — be ye likeminded — having the same love — of one accord — of one mind — let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2)? It may seem puerile for one to suggest that there is a reason for this idea, a very special reason; but since some seem to deny, I would urge that there is, and I believe the reason is apparent in the mass influence of all doing the same thing — together. Further, to do anything else in worship, I believe would defeat the whole purpose of God. Thus it is, in part, for true worshippers to worship God in spirit and in truth.

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Borrowed Arguments

by Larry Rouse
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I recently was asked by a brother to look over an e-mail discussion he was having with a friend who was also an experienced preacher. As I looked at the discussion I was impressed with how the preacher had steered the study away from an honest application of Bible authority to a series of emotional and disconnected statements and arguments that would do little more than confuse and intimidate. This preacher was not a man that understood Bible authority. He was not committed to giving “book, chapter and verse” for his practice. In fact his words were very strange when taken in the context of the immediate discussion. He kept bringing things up that seemed to come from “out of the blue” making extreme charges about what a position would lead to and making sweeping generalizations about the beliefs of others.

Why would a man do such a thing as he attempted to discuss the Bible with another? In this particular study, I knew this man was reading material and debates from a series of controversies in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In many debates the goal of the debater was to make the opponent’s position look so absurd and confusing, that the listener would just turn off their minds to the discussion. This was a particularly effective technique when you had “power” from a political and numerical side of a question. If a majority of members, churches, preachers and influential institutions wish to continue practicing something without authority, then the easiest way to keep others “lined up” is to shut off the discussion by these approaches.

How would the Lord view such a “successful” strategy? “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor 4:1-2). When one is touched by the grace of God that comes from the pure truth of the gospel, he puts away the tricks and the strategies of men. A basic honesty and sincerity will produce a principled and consistent approach to the study and application of God’s word. When you handle God’s word in this manner, then you will see the fruits that God intends to produce. If people disagree and leave, or people repent and stand from such a study, then both results will bring glory to God. Please do not become a “peddler” of God’s word to meet human goals (2 Cor 2:14-17).

When one is serious about the power of God’s word, he will make statements affirming an openness to study and a willingness to change in order to be in harmony with that word. You will also see a gentleness that will lead the mind of one towards the gospel rather than use the personal, emotional intimidations of a slave driver. There are weapons that Satan will use in such a battle that the servant of the Lord must never touch (2 Cor 10:3-5).

This preacher was, in effect, parroting another man’s arguments. He was employing the arguments, tactics and language of debaters in years past. He talked about Christians allowing babies to starve, caring more about a church lawn than helping a child be protected from the elements, and would ask if everyone was “going to hell” if they disagreed with the personal belief of this brother.

As I read this discussion I was saddened from several standpoints. I thought back to the generation that allowed these kinds of arguments to stand. There was a time in years past where brethren believed in having authority for all of their practices (Col 3:17). It was debaters like this that completely undermined this stand. When men learn that practices can be justified by carnal tactics and those who try to reason from authority are labeled as “radicals” and “cast out of the synagogue,” then the next generation will use these same tactics. The present generation among mainstream “churches of Christ” has completely discarded any belief in Bible authority and is now following the lead of “church colleges” in their attempt to become another denomination amongst the denominations.

The other thought that saddened me is that this preacher is actually attempting to stop the apostasy of this present generation. He needs desperately to teach others about respect for the Bible and how to handle it. Today, He, and those like him, are in a position where they are in a great minority and are being labeled and misrepresented with the very same kind of tactics.
Let us all examine our hearts and make sure our stand is firmly upon the Lord and His word. As we open God’s word, let our only motive be to find His truth. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21)

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Two Views of Time -- God's and Man's

by Larry Rouse
www.cvillechurch.com

A wise man is aware of how short life truly is. “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12). As we come to see the great uncertainty that the future holds from the standpoint of man’s wisdom and insight, we ought to take great comfort in knowing that we serve a God who holds the future in His hands. Men change, nations rise and fall, my own body grows old and will die, but our God never changes! “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8).

The Difference 100 Years Makes

We tend to judge history by own current standards and experiences. Consider the difficulty we would have in understanding the generation that lived just over 100 years ago. Consider these facts from another writer: “Here are the U. S. statistics for 1904. The average life expectancy in the US was 47. Only 14% of the homes in the US had a bathtub. Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. The average wage in the US was $0.22/hour. More than 95% of all births in the US took place at home. 90% of all US physicians had no college education. Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg. The American flag had 45 stars. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school. There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US.” Now imagine what will the next 100 years bring!

The Struggle of Daniel’s Generation

The great Old Testament prophet Daniel had a struggle to comprehend the world that he lived in. He was taken from his home in Israel when he was around17 and lived the rest of his life in foreign lands. After he was brought to Babylon his name was changed from Daniel (God is my judge) to Belteshazar (a servant of Bel, the principle Babylonian deity) (Dan 1:7). He was taught a different language and lived in a completely pagan culture. Early in his stay there the news came to his ears of the destruction of Jerusalem including the temple of God built by Solomon.

Now imagine living nearly 70 years in the capital of the most powerful empire in the world. If Daniel had relied upon his considerable, but limited human wisdom, he would have likely concluded that the nation of Israel was crushed and would never return. He also would have likely concluded that the Babylonian empire would last for hundreds of years into the future. Fortunately for Daniel and for the few remaining Jews that walked by faith, they were not swayed by the “wisdom” that “all things continue as they were” (2 Peter 3:4). Those faithful Jews, as a result, never trusted in the “status-quo” of Babylonian rule.

Daniel was in his early 80’s when the events of Daniel 5 came to pass. He was aware of the prophecy of Jeremiah that the captivity would only last 70 years (Jer 25:11-14). Daniel’s life was defined by his relationship to God and not by “success” determined by worldly standards. At any point during Daniel’s lifetime those who “walked by sight” would have laughed at the “insignificant few” associated with his stand of faith. His stand brought ridicule and death threats. Some of those threats were put into action. In all of this God was, in fact, using Daniel as the first building block of a remnant that would return to rebuild Israel and usher in the Messiah. Would you have been found standing with Daniel if you had lived then?

The Struggle of Our Generation

Prosperity can be more damaging to a living faith than adversity! When Israel was told about the promised land and the great physical blessings that God would give them, He also included a warning of the likely reaction of the people to their prosperity. “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt….then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth” (Deut 8:11-17).

Look again at how far we have moved in our physical prosperity within the church. Sociologists have noted that religious movements that “move up the ladder” of wealth and education often cast off their past beliefs to be more compatible with their new social relationships and status. The scriptures bear witness to this tendency to allow prosperity and education to choke a Biblical faith. “Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? (James 2:5)” “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26).

God is in Control

Daniel was able to witness in his lifetime what Isaiah and the other prophets had plainly stated about the kingdoms of men. “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing…. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless” (Isaiah 40:15-17). In one night the hand of God wrote the epitaph of the Babylonian empire on the wall during a drunken party of their ruler Belshazzar (Daniel 5:5-9). Even though Belshazzar offers Daniel the position of third ruler in the kingdom, a gold chain and clothing of purple, Daniel appropriately responded ““Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another” (Daniel 5:17). Before the night was finished Belshazzar was dead, the “impregnable fortress” of Babylon was captured and destroyed never to rise again, and Daniel was alive and well and faithful to God.

The Need of Our Generation

We desperately need to build a people that looks to God as their foundation. Rather than trying to lament over numbers, reunite a human movement called “the restoration movement”, or make our worship man-centered so more people can be found in our assemblies, we need to learn again how to draw close to our God. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:8-10).

What will last in this life? “But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:29-31). The handwriting is already on the wall for this world as the Lord is returning and all physical things will be “burned up” (2 Peter 3:9-10). Where do you stand?

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