54a) Introductory Perspectives on Public Worship #1

Introduction to Oversight and Corporate Worship

0:02 But we come this morning, brethren, to our fifth lecture or lectures on the vast and vital subject of the work of oversight, government, and shepherding by the man of God in the pastoral office. And I trust that by now you have a conscious awareness of how I propose to open up this theme and that the ground of how we are going to proceed and the ground already covered is clear in your own mind. We've examined the biblical description of the task of oversight with respect both to its essence and to its governing disposition. And in our previous lectures, I informed you that our approach to the subject would be one in which we would take up the major divisions of the task under two general headings. Those duties of oversight which pertain to the corporate life of the people of God. And then in P.T. 8, the duties that pertain to the individual.

1:02 The individual care of the sheep of Christ. And after marking out these major divisions, I sought to take up this first division by putting it in a proper biblical context, demonstrating the crucial importance of that oversight concerned with regulating the corporate life of God's people. And my approach was to examine with you in some detail what I regard as the most crucial passage on this subject, namely 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15. And having sought to open up that passage, we then considered three secondary lines of biblical evidence showing the crucial importance of the oversight that pertains to the corporate life of God's people. Now today, we begin to consider but one of the specific major aspects of giving oversight to the corporate life of the people of God. And this first area is that which focuses upon the church as a worshiping body and assembly of God's people called together to engage in stated seasons of corporate praise, prayer, proclamation, and participation in what have come to be designated as the sacraments.

2:24 And as we take up the subject, all of our attention today will be focused on what I have entitled some introductory... some introductory perspectives on the public worship of God.

Defining 'Well-Grounded Conviction'

2:37 And in three of the four of those introductory perspectives, I will be using the terminology well-grounded conviction. And as you can see from your printed notes, I have tried to give you a working definition of my purpose in using those words. By well-grounded, I'm referring to that which rests...

3:02 upon a legitimate, biblical foundation, and that which is clearly grasped by an enlightened understanding. Such well-grounded perspectives are the opposite of mere nebulous, misty notions. And further, such well-grounded perspectives are the opposite of clear convictions, but convictions not rooted or grounded in the Scriptures, but in non-biblical, traditional patterns, or personal preference and natural inclination. So when we speak in three of the four perspectives of certain things that are well-grounded convictions, I'm using the terminology well-grounded to point in the direction of the foundation of those convictions being in the Scriptures, and those convictions being clearly understood by a... mind and heart enlightened by the Spirit of God before the data of the biblical revelation.

4:10 And by conviction, I'm using this word to describe a felt religious and moral persuasion. Such a thing as conviction is the opposite of clear notions, but notions regarded as expendable or negotiable. A conviction rooted in the Word of God, and inseparably bound up with the glory of God, is that for which you and I ought to be willing to pay any price short of sin. So when in the first three of the four introductory perspectives you encounter the words well-grounded conviction, this is what I mean by that terminology. Now then we come to the first of these introductory perspectives, vital to any solid, comprehensive, biblically-framed approach to the subject of the man of God in the pastoral office seeking to fulfill his responsibilities of government and oversight and shepherding as those responsibilities focus upon the corporate life of God's people. And the first of these introductory perspectives I have stated this way,

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: Old Covenant - General Revelation

5:31 that you must have a well-grounded conviction concerning the divine institution of the corporate worship of God. There is much shallow thinking in our day relative to this very point. Many view the public worship of God as a necessary expedient. They would not say an expendable expedient. It's necessary, but it is an expedient.

5:58 A kind of convenient and helpful expedient. But they have little or no appreciation of the fact that it is an institution of God himself. And it is my conviction that you and I will not be prepared to give this subject its due and careful consideration until we see public worship as that which comes to us as an institution of God himself. Now in his classic work on the Church of the Apostles, Now in his classic work on the Church of the Apostles, The Church of Christ, James Bannerman suggests on page 324 of volume 1 that the foundation for the duty of public worship lies in the law of nature itself. On page 324 he writes, Man in the closet, man in the family, man in the church, is equally bound to the duties of the personal, the domestic, the public worship of God. Without this there are many of the powers and faculties of man's nature as a social being, formed as they were for the glory of God, which he cannot bring to do their proper work of glorifying him. The worship of God publicly and in society with others

7:19 is the proper expression towards God of man's social nature. The very law and light of nature tell us that the public worship of God is a standing and permanent ordinance for the whole human race. Now that conviction, that general revelation dictates the public worship of God, is not something shared uniquely by Bannerman. It's very interesting that in Owen's Catechism on the Worship of God, volume 15, page 448, he asks the question, By what means do we come to know that God will thus be worshipped? that God is to be worshipped, and that, according to his own will and appointment, is a principal branch of the law of our creation written in our hearts. It is grounded in natural, general revelation. Then he goes on to say, The sense whereof is renewed in the second commandment.

8:31 But the ways and means of that worship depend merely on God's sovereign pleasure and institution. And then he explicates his answer, and he says, These two things all men saw by nature. First, that God, however they mistook in their apprehensions of him, would be and was to be worshipped with some outward solemn worship, so that although some were reported to have even cast off all knowledge and sense of the divine being, yet never any were heard of that came to an acknowledgement of any God, true or false, but they all consented that he was constantly and solemnly to be worshipped, and that not only by individual persons, but by societies together, so that they might own and honor him whom they took for their God. He says, Even amongst the pagan who worships his God in terms of fetishism, he not only does so privately, but he finds ways to do it corporately and socially, showing that social or corporate worship is rooted in the very law of nature itself. But in addition to this, and overlaid upon it, of course,

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: Old Covenant - Direct Revelation (Place and Priests)

9:55 is the expressed warrant of direct revelation, directing the necessity and manner of the corporate or social worship which God requires of his people. And from the detailed regulations of the corporate worship and rituals of the old covenant, to the authoritative but less detailed directives for corporate worship under the new covenant, it is God himself who directs his people to gather together and in concert to draw near to him by means of activities and attitudes mandated by him. Let me therefore remind you of some specimen passages that underscore this assertion of the divine institution of the corporate worship of God. And these are only a smattering, not even a tithe of the witness of Scripture, first of all in the old covenant community. In Exodus chapter 25, we have set before us this very fundamental directive as God is revealing his will

11:13 with respect to the central place of his corporate worship, the tabernacle, the specific activities to be carried on within that place by those who have peculiar and unique responsibilities in conjunction with that place and those activities, namely the priests and then the children of Israel in general. And here in Exodus 25, 8 and 9, we read, And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, according to all that I show you. The pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall you make it. Even the place where his instituted corporate worship was to find its primary focal point, God is very specific that discretionary inclination is to have no part in his place of his special dwelling. All is to be made according to the pattern that God himself will reveal. Then in Exodus chapter 29 and verse 35, Exodus 29 and verse 35, where here it is not the focus, or the focus is not upon the tabernacle and its accouterments,

12:42 but upon those who have a primary function in that tabernacle, namely Aaron and his sons. Notice the same emphasis. And thus shall you do unto Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days shall you consecrate them.

13:02 So all of the details that God has revealed for the consecration and sanctifying of the priests, God says with respect to all of these things, as he did with respect to the place where they were to meet, again, there was not to be individual discretion. There was to be meticulous implementation not of some, but of all that God had commanded. In all the minutia there was to be meticulous obedience. Then when we come over to Exodus chapter 31, here we have directions concerning the actual construction of the tabernacle, and the account of God marking out these men, Bezalel, whom he has filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all manner of workmanship. Now notice, to devise skillful works, to work in gold and silver and brass, cutting of stones for setting, carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. And behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahissamach of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom. Now notice, these are artists.

14:19 And whatever artists are, they are free-spirited people. With tremendous expanded aesthetic and creative sensibilities. And God says, I have filled them with My Spirit to enhance whatever I inlaid by nature in their mother's wombs. My Spirit has come greatly to enhance all of that artistic and creative ability.

14:43 But why has He enhanced it? That they might then give expression to this in terms of their own sanctified inclinations and judgments? Not at all. Notice, He said, I have done all of this that they may make all that I have commanded.

15:03 God equips them with all of their artistic, aesthetic, mechanical skills, not to exercise discretion as Spirit-filled men, but to render meticulous obedience to God's explicit, revelatory data concerning the construction of the place of His dwelling. And that goes right through to the end of the paragraph in the anointing oil, verse 11, in the incense of sweets, prices for the holy place, according to all that I have commanded you shall they do. So when we come over to chapter 36 and verse 1, what do we find? And Bezalel and Aholiab shall work, and every wise-hearted man in whom the Lord hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary according to all that Jehovah hath commanded. May I state it in a way that I hope it will stick? Covenant fidelity to Jehovah by these two men, Bezalel and Aholiab and all who worked with them, with all of their natural endowments, enhanced by the infilling of the Spirit of God to equip them for the task, covenant fidelity was to be tested in terms of how meticulously

16:31 the divine directives for every facet of the construction of the tabernacle was reflected as the fruit of their labors. And it would have been a form of covenant breaking for these men to think that anything pertaining to the public worship of God, was left to their discretion because they were filled with the Spirit and they were filled with wisdom. They were filled with wisdom with the Spirit in order to render not discretionary fruits of their labors but meticulous obedience to the revealed will of God. Now when we come over into Leviticus where we move beyond the place and beyond the priests who function in the place and beyond those who will construct the place to the activities that will go on within the place, the same emphasis comes through with equal clarity. Leviticus chapter 7. And here again we are taking just a sampling. Verses 37 and 38.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: Old Covenant - Direct Revelation (Activities and Judgment)

17:32 This is the law of the burnt offering and of the meal offering and of the sin offering and of the trespass offering and of the consecration and of the sacrifice of peace offerings which the Lord commanded Moses in Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. Here again with regard to the specific expressions of their coming to that special place of God's presence and the visible place of the congregating of God's people for these mandated acts of worship there was to be not only this mentality in the mind of those who construct the place and those who lead the place and the priests in the place but those who come to that place. There was to be a concern for all that the Lord commanded Moses with respect to the full spectrum of the instituted sacrifices connected with that worship. Then in Leviticus 8 and verse 5 you'll find this recurring theme throughout Leviticus 8. And so I've listed these passages from Leviticus 8.

18:46 Verse 5. And Moses said to the congregation this is the thing which the Lord has commanded to be done. Verse 21. And he washed the innards with the water and Moses burnt the whole burnt offering.

19:03 It was an offering made by fire unto the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 29. The same emphasis. Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord.

19:16 It was Moses' portion of the realm of consecration as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 36. And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses. And where the things God had revealed were treated lightly I refer to just this one incident where God has forever stamped on the surface of this passage how He regards discretionary intrusions into His worship.

19:49 Verse 27. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each one of them his censer and put fire therein and laid incense thereon and offered strange fire before the Lord which He had not commanded them. What was their sin? It was not making a calf and doing what Aaron had done and calling that calf a representation of Jehovah and worshipping the calf.

20:17 Verse 28. And David sent fire upon his altar. There is nothing and I found no commentator that says there is any allusion to some explicit revelation that by sending his own fire from heaven and causing that fire to continually burn upon the altar that God explicitly said and you shall introduce no other fire. As Jeremiah Burroughs points out in his book Gospel Worship based on this passage God expected them to deduce from His action His inflexible will.

20:48 And when they offer fire for which they had no explicit command how did God look upon this? And there came forth fire from before the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron this is it that the Lord spoke saying I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified and notice Aaron said and notice Aaron held his peace. Aaron did not object and say but isn't this overkill on Jehovah's part?

21:24 There was no explicit command not to bring in any other fire. They were not violating an explicit command, no. They did something for which they had no explicit command and introduced it into the solemn sacred divinely revealed patterns of the worship of God's people. Now this I say brethren is but a sampling of the principles or of the specifics that undergird the principle in this first introductory perspective when I say that you and I must have a well grounded conviction concerning the divine institution of the corporate worship of God God made that principle abundantly clear throughout the institution of his worship in the old covenant community. And it's very interesting that in that very old covenant community when there is tremendous declension from God's revealed will and through the prophets God calls his people back to covenant fidelity never once as the prophets expose empty formalism when they call the nation to repentance they never call them either to innovate or to abandon the instituted worship. They indict them for formalism in the midst of it. They castigate them for introducing elements not ordained by God but the prophets

22:54 never, never, never call them to despise the instituted worship of God. They call them to purify it. They call them to fill it up with the heart and not be satisfied with mere external worship. They call the worshipers to match life with deeds of cultic worship.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Radical Reorientation

23:14 But never do they suggest innovation or abandonment of God's instituted worship. So the old covenant worshipper concerned with covenant fidelity had to be deeply concerned about God's appointed place and God's appointed seasons and God's appointed manner of drawing nigh unto him in that worship. Now then, we come to consider some of the evidence with respect to the new covenant community that indicates the divine institution of the corporate worship of God. And I would ask you to turn first of all to John chapter 4 verses 20 to 24 which is a watershed text. Under the freedom and liberty and expansion of the new covenant a radical order of worship is going to take place. You remember the discussion about worship is introduced by the Samaritan woman as our Lord is dealing with her offering himself to her as the water of life. And she wants to discuss the proper place of worship.

24:32 And she says to the Lord Jesus verse 20 our fathers worshipped in this mountain Gerizim. You say in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her woman believe me the hour comes when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall you worship the Father. Now remember her concern is those focal points of the visible corporate worship of God.

25:02 Gerizim and Samaritan worship Jerusalem at the temple. He says you worship that which you do not know. We worship that which we know for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers.

25:29 God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Of the radical introductions that our Lord highlights he says that the specific place will no longer be central. The debate as to whether Gerizim or Jerusalem is the proper place to worship will fade away before a more glorious reality. And worshippers everywhere will be sought by the Father who worship not in Gerizim or at Jerusalem but worship in the realm of spirit and of truth.

26:07 But it's interesting that the radical changes that our Lord highlights in evangelizing this woman have to do with worship and not just worship generically but remember the background. What is the proper place to worship? It has the overtones of communal or corporate worship. And he says that in the New Covenant community you will find the worshippers comprised of those who worship in spirit and in truth.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Corporate Identity and Function

26:40 It should not surprise us that we find no detailed covenant worship in one concentrated section of the Word of God because everything about that worship both in its individual and in its corporate expressions must be consonant with the breadth of the commission of Matthew 28 where you had one nation in covenant relationship to God with a revelation of the kind of corporate worship that ought to be carried on by that nation with events and circumstances and activities all mandated by God. That is all going to give way now to the tremendous expanse among the nations in the New Covenant. And when Jesus says all authority has been given unto me going therefore make disciples of the nations of the nations baptizing and teaching them well certainly as the truth of God the gospel goes out among the nations bringing people into discipleship and bringing disciples into visible communities of the people of God as worshipping communities among the nations there will be tremendous flexibility in the details of the worship mandated by God. There must of necessity be such diversity

28:09 yet within that reality when we open up the New Testament we do find some amazing statements concerning the nature and identity of the New Covenant community as a worshipping people and some clear indications of authoritative apostolic directives in the regulation of that worship. And I set before you several of these specimen passages in 1 Peter chapter 2 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 3 to 10 we have one of the most helpful passages in all of the New Testament 1 Peter chapter 2 where here God's people are described in this language as newborn babes long for the spiritual milk if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious unto whom coming a living stone rejected indeed of men but with God elect precious you also as living stones are built up and look at all of the language now that is extracted from old covenant shadows a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ because it is contained in scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious

29:36 and he that believes on him shall not be put to shame for you therefore that believe is the preciousness but for such is disbelieved the builders rejected the same was made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for they stumble at the word being disobedient where unto also they were appointed but you are an elect race again old covenant language a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for God's own possession who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who in time past were no people but now are the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy and what is particularly germane to our discussion this morning is that while there are precious individual dimensions of these realities we dare not miss what is on the very surface of the passage those who come with him in the embrace of individual faith but they come into contact with him rubbing shoulders with other living stones in his living temple they come to him in community you are built together to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices

31:06 and the whole imagery then of royal priesthood holy nation all the things that take us beyond the individual privilege and status of the believer in the new covenant into dimensions of his corporate identity and his corporate function as part of that new covenant priesthood within the new covenant temple offering up new covenant sacrifices onto God acceptable to God through Jesus Christ then a similar emphasis in a In Corpus Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, where the apostle describes the constituting of the new covenant community of Jew and Gentile in these words, verse 19, You are no more strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.

32:04 You see the corporate emphasis? Fellow citizens, household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone in whom each several building fitly framed together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. And here the imagery of the individuals being built. Built into that which is larger than any one of those individuals, and perhaps the imagery even of the individual temples being built into something grander and more glorious yet, one massive temple in which God dwells by his Spirit. And then in Philippians chapter 3, where Paul contrasting the marks of the true circumcision with these knife wielders concerning whom he has warned the Philippians. Verse 2, Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the knife wielders, for we are the circumcision.

33:14 What is the true mark of those who are God's covenant people, who worship by the Spirit of God, or who worship God in the Spirit? It's a question of the precise rendering, but one thing is clear. The primary mark of the true circumcision has to do with their worship. They worship.

33:35 They worship God by the Spirit, or worship by the Spirit of God. Glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. Any man who is to produce the evidence that he is part of the circumcision must be able to attest in the theater of his own conscience that he worships by the Spirit of God. And in the analogy of Scripture, that worship must go beyond individual worship.

34:04 Since God... ...instituted him in the new covenant community, part of the household, part of the living sanctuary, part of the temple of his dwelling.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Early Church Practices

34:14 And it's very interesting when we turn to what we would call the events that surround the constitution of the new covenant community and its full-blown post-resurrection initiation into the life of the Spirit. How central is the matter of corporate worship? Turn to Luke, chapter 24. I was struck with this afresh in my own recent reading through the Gospel of Luke, in my own devotional reading through the New Testament.

34:45 The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, has manifested his presence time after time to his own, has opened their understanding truly to understand the Old Testament Scriptures. He has given them their commission. He's made it plain that they are not to go forth in fulfillment of that commission until the day of Pentecost. Until the promise of the Father is fulfilled.

35:10 Now, verse 50. And he led them out until they were over against Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. The last vision they had of their Lord after the flesh was hands raised up in priestly blessing.

35:30 Pierced hands. And he went up into heaven. And what did they do? And?

35:38 They worshipped him. And just a little aside. Brethren, that puts us exactly where they were.

35:47 We've never seen him. They ceased to see him. But we worship precisely the same Christ.

35:54 With hands raised up in priestly blessing upon his people. And they worshipped him. But now notice. And returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

36:05 And each man went to his closet and continued to praise and bless God in secret. No. And they were continually in the temple. Blessing God.

36:18 What they had witnessed and experienced as they are awaiting the event of Pentecost. Apparently their time, if not equally divided, is greatly distributed between the activities described in Acts 1 and the activities described here. In the temple. In concert with others.

36:38 Blessing God. Now in the context, what would that blessing God be? It would be blessing and speaking well of God. For the full accomplishment of redemption which now they understood.

36:51 He opened their mind. We read in the previous paragraph. That they might understand the scriptures. That all of the Old Testament scriptures pointed to the very thing they were desperately trying to cut off at the past.

37:04 Namely, the death of their beloved Lord. Now they understand that all the scriptures pointed to those events. That he must. Suffer.

37:12 He must be killed. Must be raised from the dead. On the third day. And now that it has come to pass.

37:18 And their Lord has ascended up into heaven. And their last sight of him is that of hands upraised. And his voice speaking blessing upon them. What do they do?

37:28 In the light of those realities. They are found in a corporate expression of their relationship. In the temple. Blessing this God.

37:38 Who in the person of the Lord Jesus. Has conferred. Redemptive accomplishment upon them. And then when we turn to Acts 1.12-15.

37:49 We find again. That in preparation for the coming of the Spirit. Corporate worship is described. In terms of their praying together.

38:01 They returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. Which is nigh unto Jerusalem. A Sabbath day's journey off. And when they were come in.

38:09 They went in unto the upper chamber where they were abiding. And then the various ones are described. Verse 14. These all with one accord.

38:18 Not each in his own closet. With one accord. In expression of corporate worship. This aspect of worship highlighted being prayer.

38:28 Continued steadfastly in prayer. With the women. And Mary the mother of Jesus. And with his brethren.

38:36 So Luke puts the spotlight on their corporate activity. Of going to the temple. Blessing God. Here he places the spotlight upon another dominant activity.

38:47 And that is their corporate prayer. Not individual. I'm sure they prayed alone. But the Holy Ghost does not emphasize the individuality of their devotional life.

38:57 But the corporate nature of their prayers. And obviously they were doing something else. It's an integral part of new covenant worship. They were studying the scriptures together.

39:07 And as they're studying the scriptures. Peter stands up and says. Brethren it was needful that the scriptures should be fulfilled. And he reminds them of a scripture.

39:17 That apparently in studying the scriptures. Perhaps picking up threads laid out by our Lord. In what is described at the end of Luke. Maybe the Lord left them what we call some teasers.

39:28 And said now fellows when I'm gone. I haven't exhausted how all the Old Testament points to me. And all that it says of me. Here's some teasers I'm going to leave with you.

39:37 But apparently they're engaged in some kind of Bible study. And Peter says hey look we found something here. That gives us some directive. And when God gives us directive out of his word.

39:45 Now it's time for corporate implementation of that. And I'm appalled at those who try to say. That this was a carnal intrusion into God's choice of Paul. As the next apostle.

39:57 Is God going to follow this account? With when the day of Pentecost was now come. The Holy Ghost comes in power. If he's got a bunch of disobedient.

40:04 Carnally motivated. Carnally thinking. Frankly brethren. I marvel at the cheek of some people.

40:10 The way they handle scriptures. God is describing. This is part of the overall preparatory work. Of a people who are now.

40:17 As it were being graciously eased. Into their new covenant identity. And they are as a community. In the temple.

40:26 Praising God. In the upper room. 120 of them are praying. They are studying the scriptures.

40:32 Seeking corporately to implement the scriptures. And then when the day of Pentecost. Chapter 2 verse 1 was now come. They were all together.

40:43 In one place. And suddenly there came from heaven. And God makes it very very clear. That in coming to his new covenant community.

40:53 To constitute it. His new covenant temple. It is in a setting of prayer. Of worship.

41:00 Of serious regard for the scriptures. To know them. To implement them. And the spirit of God comes to them.

41:07 In community. Entering each individual yes. But not each individual. Apart from proximity.

41:15 To his worshipping. Praying. Waiting brethren. And as a result of it.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Post-Pentecost Practices

41:21 God says now I am going to greatly expand. That community in one day. And when he expands it. By blessing the preaching of Peter.

41:29 Where does the Holy Ghost place the emphasis. On the success of that initial expansion. He places it. Verses 41 and 42 of Acts 2.

41:39 Then they that received his word were baptized. And they were added unto them in that day. About three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in their personal devotions.

41:53 And in domestic piety. No. They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching. And fellowship in the breaking of bread.

42:02 And the prayers. And the note on which that account closes. Points us in the direction. At least in principle.

42:12 Of the new covenant. New covenant community. As a corporate worshipping community. The dominant element here in their worship.

42:21 Being subjecting themselves to the directives. Of their exalted Lord. Ministering as their great prophet. Through the apostolic instruction.

42:32 Their corporate activity. There is much discussion whether fellowship here. Refers to the koinonia of shared goods. Or whether it refers generically to shared life.

42:42 And I won't go into that. But one thing is clear. It was shared something. It wasn't the emphasis upon the individual.

42:49 Private elements of their life. But as a newly formed. Worshipping. Sharing community.

42:58 The breaking of bread. The remembrance of the Lord. In the way of his appointment. And the prayers.

43:03 The stated seasons. Most likely one of those. Referred to in chapter 3 in verse 1. When in their corporate life.

43:11 They sought the face of their God. And it's very interesting. That with all of the liberty. And all of the freedom.

43:20 And the non-detailed specificity. Of new covenant directives. Yet emerging from the new covenant documents. It is clear.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Special Day and Activities

43:28 That the new covenant community. Had as I've indicated in your notes. It's special day for corporate worship. And it's special activities.

43:38 Of corporate worship. It's special day. When Paul writes. His letter to the Corinthians.

43:45 It's what our good friend Jack Seton. Calls God's little throwaways. Sometimes there's a wealth of truth. In God's little throwaways.

43:52 Paul did not have to give a directive. About when. And in what circumstances. The collection for the poor saints.

44:00 Could be taken up. He assumed something. Upon the first day of the week. Let each one of you lay by him in store.

44:09 As he may prosper. That no collections be made. When I come. And there's the assumption.

44:17 That everyone would know precisely. That to which he is making reference. When he says. On the first day of the week.

44:26 Likewise in Acts 20. And verse 7.

44:30 Where Luke giving this account. Of this part of his activities. Along with Paul. And the other companions.

44:38 Could say Acts 20. And verse 7. And upon the first day of the week. Like when.

44:50 We were gathered together. To break bread. All discourse with them. Intending to depart in the morrow.

44:57 Prolonged his speech. Unto midnight. And for anyone to say. That the connection between first day of the week.

45:04 And breaking bread. Was just an incident. That they were gathering on the first day of the week. To eat a normal meal.

45:10 Turns the text into a ridiculous statement. Why highlight the fact. That they had a normal meal. On just any old day.

45:19 I mean it just makes. It makes no sense whatsoever. Luke is there again. Underscoring that there was.

45:26 An assumed directive. That gathering on the first day of the week. And as part of that gathering. To break bread.

45:34 In remembrance of their Lord. In a setting. Where the ministry of the word. And of the servant of God.

45:39 Was perfectly appropriate. And an integral part. Is in the very surface of the passage. So that when.

45:45 The writer to the Hebrews. Giving this sober exhortation. That will hopefully. Neutralize the tendency to apostasy.

45:54 When he writes. In Hebrews 10.25. Not forsaking our own assembling together.

46:00 As the custom of some is. But exhorting one another. He doesn't have any assumption. That people will scratch their heads.

46:08 And say what forsaking when and how. The assumption is. That that gathering. Of their assembling together.

46:15 Was an event well known. And the reference point. Well fixed. And we know from the analogy of scripture.

46:22 And these other references. That the new covenant community. Had its special day. For corporate worship.

The Divine Institution of Corporate Worship: New Covenant - Specific Activities Detailed

46:29 And then it had its special activities. Of corporate worship. And here again. Just some specimen passages.

46:36 In first Corinthians chapter 11. The apostle Paul. Clearly indicates. That when they gathered.

46:43 There was an activity. Specifically in mind. When they did gather. Verse.

46:49 17 and follow. In giving you this charge. I praise you not. That you come together.

46:54 Not for the better. But for the worse. For first of all. When you come together.

46:59 In the church. I hear that divisions exist among you. And I partly believe it. And then verse 20.

47:05 When you assemble yourselves together. It is not possible to eat the Lord's supper. You think you are. But you're really not.

47:12 You're neutralizing. The whole significance. Of the supper of remembrance. By the other shenanigans.

47:18 Going on. Going on amongst you. And then he proceeds to correct them. One after another.

47:23 But one thing was evident. They knew. That integral to their corporate gathering. Was this dimension.

47:30 Of their new covenant worship. Remembering the Lord. In obedience to his word. And though.

47:36 That remembrance had been greatly prostituted. The apostle. Can assume. That they understand.

47:43 That there is to be. Such a gathering. And he does not discourage. That gathering.

47:48 What he does. Is seek to prune. And correct it. From those things.

47:53 That had marred it. And had undermined. Its usefulness. In first Timothy 2.1.

47:58 As we alluded last week. Paul here. Giving directions. For behavior.

48:03 In the house of God. Makes it very clear. That one of the prominent activities. Is to be.

48:10 Prayers. I exhort. Therefore. First of all.

48:13 That supplications. Prayers. Intercession. Thanksgiving.

48:17 Be made for all men. And for kings. Etc. And this is in the context.

48:22 Of behavior. In the house of God. And then in Colossians 3.16.

48:27 Though one would be hard pressed. To say that the limits of this text. Are the corporate gatherings. Of God's people.

48:34 The fact that there is a strong. Horizontal dimension. To the text. Cannot be denied.

48:40 Let the word of Christ. Dwell in you richly. In all wisdom. Teaching.

48:46 And admonishing. One another. With psalms. And hymns.

48:50 And spiritual songs. Singing with grace. In your hearts. Unto God.

48:56 You see the two dimensions of this. You are singing. With grace. Unto God.

49:02 But the very things. By which you are. Singing with grace. Unto God.

49:07 Psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Become instruments. Of teaching.

49:11 And admonishing. One another.

49:15 And surely then. This is an element. Of the corporate worship. Of the new.

49:19 Covenant. Community. And then. First Thessalonians.

49:23 Chapter five. And verse twenty seven.

49:27 One of those little throwaways. Again. Coming at the end. Of this epistle.

49:32 First Thessalonians five. And verse twenty seven. I adjure you. Strange language.

49:39 You don't often find this. In the epistles. Here is a solemn adjuration. Being charged.

49:44 As in the very presence of God. I adjure you by the Lord. That this epistle be read. Not by all the brethren.

49:52 Copies made and distributed to all. But this epistle be read. Unto all the brethren. And here a new covenant community.

50:01 Described in chapter one. As the church of the Thessalonians. Part of that new covenant community's. Corporate activity.

50:11 Was to be listening to the reading. Of that apostolic epistle. And that's the emphasis. Of revelation one in verse three.

50:19 Where. A peculiar blessing. Is pronounced. Upon the one who reads.

50:25 And they that hear. The words of the prophecy. Clearly underscoring the same principle. Highlighted in first Thessalonians five.

50:34 Twenty seven. That this was an assumed activity. Within the corporate worship. Of the new covenant community.

50:43 Apostolic. Letters were to be read. In the hearing. Of the people of God.

50:49 And then. I've added Romans fifteen five and six. At the conclusion. Of his treatment of Christian Liberty.

50:56 Which if not handled the right. Would re-erect the middle wall of partition. Between the people with a Jewish background. In their peculiar scruples.

51:05 And those with a non-kosher background. In their scruples. And people with differing pagan backgrounds. And all of his instruction.

51:14 On the proper use. And understanding of Christian Liberty. Has this end. In view.

51:20 Verse five and six of Romans fifteen. Now the God of patience and comfort. Grant you. To be of the same mind with one another.

51:29 According to Christ Jesus. That with one accord. You may with one mouth. Glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

51:41 And here he pictures. As an integral part of the activity. Of this new covenant community. That with this internal spirit.

51:49 Of spiritual oneness. Lined up by the truth. As it is in Christ. Christ the reference point.

51:56 Of their oneness. They may as it were. Be one mouth. That speaks forth.

Conclusion: Clenching the Conviction

52:03 The glory of our God. And of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well I trust brethren. This fly over of a number of passages.

52:13 If you've had any question in your mind. That these under the blessing of the Spirit of God. Will. Be clenched in your heart.

52:21 To convince you. And give to you. A well grounded conviction. Concerning the divine institution.

52:30 Of the corporate worship of God. Now we need to take a break. And then we'll come back and pick up. Number two.

52:38 And I doubt we'll get any further. Than number two. Of these well grounded convictions. That must be ours.

52:47 If we are to take seriously. Our task as overseers. In the house of God. Let's take our.