Hindrances to Worship in the Worship Service

Driving home: The sins forbidden in the second commandment are all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and in any wise approving any religious worship not instituted by God himself.

Martin quotes the Westminster Larger Catechism's answer to 'What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?' to underscore that all religious worship not instituted by God is forbidden, reinforcing the regulative principle.

This is the way that I appoint. This is why I read from Genesis chapter 4, the experience of the first two sons born to our first parents is an experience in which their characters were revealed in the kind of worship that they brought to God. One man bringing worship that was commanded and revealed by God as acceptable, and the other bringing a form of worship for which there was, there was no biblical warrant from God as to its acceptableness by God. In the larger catechism, in the section dealing with the Ten Commandments, when the question is asked in question 109, what are the sins forbid...

11:17 - 12:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The sins forbidden in the second commandment are all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and in any wise approving any religious worship not instituted by God himself.

Martin paraphrases Bannerman's statement that man, having sinned, has no right to dictate how to approach God but must submissively learn God's conditions, illustrating God's sovereignty in establishing worship.

Do you catch something of the force of that? What sins are forbidden in the second commandment? All devising, counseling, commanding, using, and approving any religious worship not instituted by God himself. Now Bannerman in his classic words, in his work on the Church of Christ has written perhaps what to my knowledge is the most perceptive statement of this principle, and I'm not going to read a lengthy quote to you, I'll sort of paraphrase as I go along.

12:29 - 13:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

Martin provides examples of carnal aids people use, such as pictures of Christ, crucifixes, and stained glass windows, to illustrate how people seek sensory catalysts for worship, which he argues God forbids.

You are not to make images, and idols, and representations of what you think Me to be as an aid in your worship of Me. You are to worship Me only in the way of My appointment. And I have heard many times in my own day people who say, well, I find that a picture of Christ helps me to think of the person of Christ and to worship Him better. And the Roman Catholic says that fingering his crucifix helps him to think of Christ dying upon the cross for sinners.

19:58 - 20:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

Martin recounts his shock at finding 'worship centers' in evangelical Sunday schools, complete with altars, Bibles, and candles, to illustrate the pervasive intrusion of carnal aids even in Protestant contexts.

And others say stained glass windows in which you have pictured events in the life of Christ and the great figures of the Old and the New Testament help them to render spiritual worship to the God who has spoken in His word of the apostles and prophets and Moses and these great figures who are pictured on the stained glass windows. When I was in the itinerant ministry which took me into many churches across the country and up in Canada, I can remember the shock when I would go into evangelical church after evangelical church and find in the Sunday school what they told me were worship centers....

20:34 - 21:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

He uses the image of a 'Solomon's head of Christ' with a 'saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look' to represent inadequate and misleading physical depictions of Christ, arguing they are unnecessary for true worship.

Hear Him. Those are baptism and the Lord's Supper. In the preaching of the Word and in the attention upon that Word with the ears and if God has caused us to retain our sight as our eyes follow the living communication through the living communicator, God has ordained no other elements in His worship that impinge upon the senses. In baptism the water impinges upon the senses and in the Lord's Supper the bread and the fruit of the vine impinge upon the senses of touch and sight and taste but to intrude anything else as to dishonor the living God who has structured His worship in such a way that...

22:01 - 23:28 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

John's reaction to seeing the exalted Lord in Revelation 1 (falling as one dead) is used to show that even those who knew Christ physically did not worship Him based on a physical image, but in awe of His glorified state.

When John on the Lord's day has this vision of the exalted Lord and when he gets this apocalyptic vision of what his Lord now is in the state of glory, he does not snuggle up and put his head upon his bosom. He says, when I saw Him I fell at His feet as one dead. And isn't it interesting that that's to be the fruit of true biblical preaching upon the unsaved as well? For Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, if the unbeliever comes amongst you and through the opening up of the truth that opens up his heart, he comes to see himself, we read, he falling down upon his face will worship saying, God is of...

25:33 - 26:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

Paul's description in 1 Corinthians 14 of an unbeliever falling down and worshiping God when confronted with truth is used to illustrate the powerful, non-carnal effect of true biblical preaching.

When John on the Lord's day has this vision of the exalted Lord and when he gets this apocalyptic vision of what his Lord now is in the state of glory, he does not snuggle up and put his head upon his bosom. He says, when I saw Him I fell at His feet as one dead. And isn't it interesting that that's to be the fruit of true biblical preaching upon the unsaved as well? For Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, if the unbeliever comes amongst you and through the opening up of the truth that opens up his heart, he comes to see himself, we read, he falling down upon his face will worship saying, God is of...

25:33 - 26:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

Martin mentions the church worshiping in a gymnasium, an old auditorium, and their current 'cracker box' building to illustrate that the vigor and quality of worship are not dependent on aesthetic surroundings or carnal aids.

When John on the Lord's day has this vision of the exalted Lord and when he gets this apocalyptic vision of what his Lord now is in the state of glory, he does not snuggle up and put his head upon his bosom. He says, when I saw Him I fell at His feet as one dead. And isn't it interesting that that's to be the fruit of true biblical preaching upon the unsaved as well? For Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, if the unbeliever comes amongst you and through the opening up of the truth that opens up his heart, he comes to see himself, we read, he falling down upon his face will worship saying, God is of...

25:33 - 26:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He who has Christ revealed to his heart by the Spirit in all the magnitude and uncontainable glory of His person needs no Solomon's head of Christ with its rather saccharine, sentimental, far-off, dreamy look in the eyes…

He recounts the elders' refusal to include stained glass windows or a projected cross on the back wall in a proposed new building, even when suggested by an architect, to demonstrate their commitment to excluding carnal aids based on principle, not taste.

But why need there be no material difference in the vigor and the reality and the God honoring quality of our worship because we do not worship under the impulse of carnal aids to worship. This is why in seeking to plan the interior of the building that at one time we thought we might build, may yet, we don't know what God will do, there was unusual simplicity of color, of design, of ornamentation. Why? No stained glass windows, no projection of a cross on the back wall, though it was suggested by the architect it was flatly and resolutely refused. Why? For this very reason. It's not a matter ...

26:52 - 27:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second hindrance is including activities in worship not warranted by Scripture. While God doesn't provide a detailed manual, Martin explains that warranted activities can be…

Martin explains how the apostles deliberately followed the pattern of synagogue worship (reading, exposition, prayer, praise) rather than temple worship, illustrating the historical and biblical warrant for the simplicity of New Testament worship.

When the apostle Paul speaks as an apostle of Jesus Christ, giving directives for the worship of the church as he himself is led by the Spirit of Christ. And when we go through the New Testament, and I'm not going to do that with you, you find references such as these in which the apostle is giving explicit directives for those activities which are to form part and parcel of the public worship of the people of God. Now the interesting thing in all of this is that in doing this the apostles deliberately followed the pattern and model of the synagogue worship and not the temple. That's a very in...

37:52 - 39:16 Read in full sermon

The point: If you feel so strongly about your objections that you cannot worship in the simplicity of this framework then you better go where there's a three ring circus where you'll feel much more comfortable.

Martin shares his Salvation Army background, where he eagerly played the bass drum, to illustrate that his personal tradition would lead to very different worship practices if he were to impose it, reinforcing that current practices are based on biblical conviction, not personal preference.

Very seriously. And the form of worship the things included and excluded are not matters of tradition with us. If I were to have imported my tradition I'd have a big bass drum down there. My tradition goes back to the Salvation Army and I used to be the first one to run into the hall to grab whichever the kids who was able to grab the thing whatever you call it that you bang it with.

51:21 - 51:46 Read in full sermon

The point: If you feel so strongly about your objections that you cannot worship in the simplicity of this framework then you better go where there's a three ring circus where you'll feel much more comfortable.

He lists the diverse denominational backgrounds of his fellow elders (Mr. Clark's non-paid elders, Pastor Dixon's Roman Catholic background, Pastor Rogers' preference for quartets) to demonstrate that the church's worship structure is not based on any single elder's tradition but on collective biblical conviction.

If Mr. Clark was projecting his tradition we'd have no stated pastors who are paid elders. That's abominable from his tradition. We'd have Lord's Supper every single Sunday if we were dictating worship by his tradition.

51:55 - 52:11 Read in full sermon

The point: We insist that parents who bring their children control their children in public worship.

Martin describes suffering through a 'reformed church with an old clown standing and saying the Bible says you got to glorify God super personality doing calisthenics up here trying to whip up the troops,' to illustrate a distracting and unwarranted 'aid' to worship.

You wonder why we don't have some super personality up here saying everybody turn to 345 sing it out now everybody I had to suffer through it Friday night in a reformed church with an old clown standing and saying the Bible says you got to glorify God super personality doing calisthenics up here trying to whip up the troops. My friend if your view of God and of his glory and his grace and his forgiveness and his partners in Christ if the mind reverently contemplating those truths as they are reflected in scripture

54:09 - 55:18 Read in full sermon

The point: I've never understood how a mother or father could be so irresponsibly determined to quote get a blessing by hearing a sermon that they would profane a whole fifty minutes of worship by keeping a crying baby in the assem…

He uses the example of parents keeping crying babies in the assembly to illustrate a distracting disturbance, arguing it is an insult to God and disrupts the worship of others.

I hope the reason is they have such a high view of God they would never dare distract the minds of three or four hundred people who are engaged in the solemn worship of God. I've never understood how a mother or father could be so irresponsibly determined to quote get a blessing by hearing a sermon that they would profane a whole fifty minutes of worship by keeping a crying baby in the assembly of God's people. I believe it's the height of insult to Almighty God and that's why we don't tolerate it here. Is it because we're anti-baby?

57:40 - 58:18 Read in full sermon

The point: We urge modesty of dress upon our people men and women.

Martin cites immodest dress, particularly women's attire, as a distraction in public worship, comparing it to a 'weekly fashion show' that turns heads away from God.

No my friends God's worship is a solemn and an awesome thing. This is why we urge modesty of dress upon our people men and women. Isn't it interesting that in the context of directives for public worship in 1 Timothy 2 Paul says in verse 8 I will that the men pray in every place lifting up holy hands without doubting and wrath in like manner that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. You go into many churches worship services or the weekly fashion show and every head is being turned to watch Miss Futhy as she comes down the aisle with her latest.

58:33 - 59:16 Read in full sermon

The point: We urge modesty of dress upon our people men and women.

He mentions admonishing people for 'excessive loud amens' that distract others, illustrating how even well-intentioned expressions can become hindrances if they disrupt the focus of worship.

This is why we will admonish anyone who comes amongst us and is excessive in loud amens because many find that distraction to be a sin. We said excessive. Frankly, I wish there were a few more loud amens from time to time but excessive and we've actually admonished people who've come amongst us and they said amen even in the pauses in the preacher's sermon. Maybe they were saying amen hoping it was done.

59:33 - 60:05 Read in full sermon

The point: We urge modesty of dress upon our people men and women.

Martin refers to oriental cultures where people pray or recite all at once, acknowledging that cultural norms for noise differ, but emphasizing that in their context, distractions are to be avoided.

If you're brought up in a culture where a lot of noise in public worship doesn't bother you as I understand in some oriental cultures when they have public prayer everyone prays all at once at the same time. And I understand in some of their schools that's the way they learn. They recite all at once at the same time. Well, when you're accustomed to that, fine.

60:18 - 60:36 Read in full sermon