55a) Introductory Perspectives on Public Worship #2

The Regulative Principle Defined by Confessions and Theologians

0:02 Alright, well let's begin brethren then and press on and hopefully you'll indulge me if I take a few minutes, I think I may have to go a few minutes beyond the hour to cover this second of these introductory perspectives with respect to our oversight of God's people as that oversight pertains to the ordering of the corporate worship of God. And the second of those introductory perspectives I have noted in your printed sheets, you must have a well-grounded conviction concerning the regulative principle as it relates to the corporate worship of God. And what I want to do is first of all to set before you a definition of the regulative principle and not to do so in terms of one simple statement. But first of all, to show how the regulative principle comes to definition and description in both the Westminster Confession of Faith, at many parts the confessions are parallel, but particularly in our own London Baptist Confession of Faith. In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love. In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love.

1:28 In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love. In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love. In chapter 21, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love.

2:27 In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love. In chapter 1, in paragraph 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and love. of an implicit faith and absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also. If you are to bind the consciences of God's people to specific activities in corporate worship, you must do so knowing, I trust, that they understand that their consciences are free from doctrines and commandments which in anything are contrary to the word or not contained in it. That's the regulative principle. When we come to chapter 22, religious worship in the Sabbath day, again, the light of nature shows us there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is just, good, and doth good unto all, is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instead of worshiping the true God.

3:55 By himself. There's our first introductory principle. Conviction that worship is a divine institution and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Scriptures. That's the regulative principle as it applies to worship. And then in chapter 26, in these two paragraphs, relative to the doctrine of the church, having established that Christ is Lord of the church and that he exercises that lordship by means of his own appointment, skip over paragraph 5, I've noted it for you in the interest of time, to paragraph 7, to each of these churches thus gathered. According to his mind declared in his word, he has given all that power and authority which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline which he has instituted for them to observe, with commands and rules for the due and right exerting

5:17 and executing of that power. And here, again, the regulative principle stating that Scripture is the sufficient and the only rule to regulate the order in worship as well as in discipline. In that clever little, not couplet, but trilogy of thoughts that Pastor Dunn has brought together in trying to teach the regulative principle to our Pakistani brethren, he summarized the teaching by saying, in the worship of God, we are to be concerned that we worship him with those who worship him. In those things revealed in the Scriptures, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.

6:01 Now, the distinction between more and else is difficult to define, but it is a nice little catchy trilogy. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else than that which God has mandated in his word. And then in Farnwell's Selected Writings, Volume 4, we'll find one of the most helpful applications of the doctrine of the regulative principle. In Farnwell's ongoing debate with Hodge over church boards, it's fascinating reading, fascinating for a number of reasons, not the least of which that Farnwell was able to grasp the central principle and all of the canon fodder that was shot in his direction by Hodge left him unmoved. He stood his ground on the application of the regulative principle. But in this whole matter, we find...

6:54 We find some very helpful material from Farnwell. I want to get hold of my Farnwell quote here. Five...

7:04 Where did Farnwell go? I have 5C, which is Bannerman. Ah, there's Farnwell. I went over all of this material even again this morning to make sure I had it here.

Distinguishing Calvinistic and Lutheran/Anglican Views on Worship

7:14 On page 248, quoting from another writer, from this one example, we may judge what it is to be thought of the whole class that the whole sum of righteousness, and all the parts of divine worship, and everything necessary to salvation, the Lord has faithfully comprehended, clearly unfolded in his oracles, so that in them he alone is the only master to be heard. But as in external discipline and ceremonies, he has not been pleased to prescribe every particular that we ought to observe. He foresaw that this depended on the nature of the times, and that one form would not suit all ages. In them we must have recourse to the general rules that he has given, employing them to test whatever the necessity of the church may require to be enjoined for order and decency. The notion of Calvin and our confession of faith, in other words, is briefly this. In public worship, indeed in all commanded external actions, there are two elements, a fixed and a variable. The fixed element, involving the essence of the thing, is beyond the discretion of the church. The variable involving only the circumstances of the action, its separable

8:34 accidents may be changed, modified, or altered according to the exigencies of the case. The rules of social intercourse and of grave assemblies in different countries vary. The church accommodates her arrangements so as not to revolt the public sense of propriety, where people recline at their meals. She would administer the Lord's Supper to communicants in a reclining attitude. Where they sit, she would change the mode. Dr. Cunningham, the noble principal of the Free Church College of Edinburgh, one of the first divines of Europe, has not scrupled amid the light of nineteenth century to teach the same doctrine, and then he quotes Cunningham on the regulative principle, of the views generally held by the reformers on the subject of the organization of the church. The church is a church of the church, and the church is a church of the church. The church is a church of the church. The church is a church of the church.

9:25 There are two which have been always very offensive to men of a loose and latitudinarian tendency. That is, the alleged unlawfulness of introducing into the worship and government of the church anything which is not positively warranted by Scripture, and the permanent binding obligation of a particular form of church government. The second of these principles may be regarded in one aspect of it as comprehended in the first. But it may be proper to make a few observations upon them separately in the order in which they now have been stated. The Lutheran and Anglican sections of the reformers held a somewhat looser view upon these subjects than was approved by Calvin. They generally held that the church might warrantably introduce innovations into its government and worship which might seem fitted to be useful, provided it could not be shown that there was anything in Scripture that expressly prohibited or discountenanced them, thus laying the onus probandi, so far as Scripture is concerned, upon those who oppose the introduction of the innovation. What they say is, show me a Scripture that condemns what I'm doing. If you can't, I'm free to do it. That's,

10:45 he says, the basic Lutheran and Anglican perspective. The Calvinistic section of the reformers were of the opinion that there were sufficiently plain indications in Scripture itself that it was Christ's mind and will that nothing should be introduced into the government and worship of the church unless a positive warrant for it could be found in Scripture. This principle was adopted and acted upon by the English Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians, and we are persuaded that it is the only true and safe principle to this matter. The principle is, in a sense, a very wide and sweeping one, but it is purely prohibitory or exclusive, and the practical effect of it, if it were carefully carried out, would be just to leave the church in the condition in which it was left by the apostles, insofar as we have any means of information. A result, surely, which need not be very alarming, except to those who think that they think that they are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the ones who are the very superior powers for improving and adorning the church by their inventions. A little bit of sarcasm. You see what he is saying? If we take the regulative principle, and we will introduce

12:06 nothing but that for which we have warrant, we will find the church in principle as the apostles left it. And he said, that is not going to upset you unless you think you are wiser than the apostles. The principle ought to be understood in a common sense way, and we ought to be satisfied with reasonable evidence of its truth. The principle ought to be understood in a common sense way, and we ought to be satisfied with reasonable evidence of its truth. Now, brethren, listen to this.

Applying the Regulative Principle: Essence vs. Circumstances

12:27 If you get hold of this, it will save you from being shaken down the road. So listen with all your ears, and create a third one if you can. Those who dislike this principle, from whatever cause, usually try to run us into difficulties by putting a very stringent construction upon it, and thereby giving it an appearance of absurdity, or by demanding an unreasonable amount of evidence to establish it. You see?

12:56 They will try to bully you into saying, well, that's ridiculous, and take that principle to an unreasonable extent. One obvious modification is suggested in the first chapter of the Westminster Confession, where it is acknowledged that, quote, there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the world. And, quote, there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church common to human actions and societies, which are always to be observed. But even this distinction between things and circumstances cannot always be applied very certainly. That is, cases have occurred in which there might be room for a difference of opinion, whether a proposed regulation or arrangement was a distinct thing in the way of innovation, or merely a circumstance attaching to an unauthorized thing and requiring to be regulated. Difficulties and differences of opinion may arise about details, even when sound judgment and good sense are brought to bear upon the interpretation and application of the principles. But this affords no ground for denying

14:11 or doubting the truth or soundness of the principle itself. And then Thornwell goes on to say, in directing his guns against Dr. Hodge, we want the reader distinctly to apprehend the point at issue. It is not, as Dr. Hodge represents it, whether the church has any discretion. That is conceded on both sides. But what is the measure or limit of that discretion? We hold it to be the circumstances connected with commanded duties, and hence affirm that whatever is not enjoined is prohibited. He holds that it pertains to actions themselves and

14:56 maintains that whatever is not prohibited is lawful. And of course, he was dealing there with church boards and matters of church governance. But in that section, you have a marvelous isolation and identification of the essence of the issue bound up in what we call the regulative principle. Well then, having tried to give you this overview from our confession and some of these quotes from Thornwell, that in the worship of God, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, that we must have clear warrant for those things that we consider of the very essence of the things that God says He will approve of when they are incorporated into His worship, we make that distinction between the essence and the circumstances. I will that prayer, supplication, intercession, giving of thanks be made for all men. But how shall we pray? Standing? Sitting? Kneeling? Or shall we make an inflexible rule and say that

16:05 the lifting up of hands that was common to the prayers in the synagogue and apparently carried over into at least segments of the early church assemblies, I will that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands. Now, is that of the essence or is that but a circumstance? Now, some may differ. But you see, the essence of the prayer is that of the holy hands.

16:27 Now, some may differ. But you see, the essence of the prayer is that of the holy hands. Now, some may differ. If they are committed to the fact that we lift holy hands because we have warrant,

16:34 then I really have no complaint. I may have a complaint with someone who says, and I believe unless you lift holy hands, you're not rendering all that God says. I say no, I have reasons to believe that is circumstantial and not of the essence. So, Cunningham recognizes there will be some difference when the scripture says, as we've already read in Colossians 3.16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

16:58 teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Shall we do it with a five-note scale, as in some societies, an eight-note scale, as in our own, or a ten-note scale? That has to do with the circumstances, not the essence. Shall we sing Gregorian chant-wise and not try to put scripture and scriptural thoughts into meter and into rhyme? After you read what Milton says, about rhyme, not meter, but rhyme, you'd say, I don't want to have anything to do with any attempts at rhyme. He had a very low view of expressing thought in rhyme, though he obviously had a high view of expressing thought in perfect meter. Well, those are circumstances, you see. Circumstances, not the essence. And these men of God recognize that distinction. Well, then,

Scriptural Grounds for the Regulative Principle

17:51 when we ask the question, on what scriptural grounds does it rest? Here, I turn to Bannerman for a vital principle. And, brethren, with this matter, beware of being pushed into an isolated proof-text method. This is one of those issues where there are such sweeping principles that once you grasp those principles, then you see the specific elements of it and expressions and applications and illustrations of it all throughout the Word of God. Let me direct you to the thoughts of Bannerman, and I've listed in your notes, page 324 to 326. In what manner man, as the creature of God, is to hold intercourse with him for the purpose of worship? In what form or by what methods he is to express his natural duty of adoring his Maker? By what positive institutions or in what appointed way he is to draw near in religious service to God? All this has not been left to the wisdom or invention of men to regulate, but has been

18:57 determined and ruled by God. And, brethren, in what manner man, as the creature of God, is to hold intercourse with him for the purpose of worship? In what form or by what methods he is to express his natural duty of adoring his Maker? By what positive institutions or in what methods he is to draw near in religious service to God? All this has not been left to the wisdom or invention of men to regulate, but has been determined and ruled by God himself. And he goes on to say what other writers say, and he himself says elsewhere, that though natural revelation demands social worship, we go beyond that. And he amplifies this in many ways, but underscores that it's God himself who has continually, from every period from creation onward, revealed the manner in which he will be worshipped individually and corporately. And here is his classic statement.

19:59 And two, if so, it remained for God and for him alone to prescribe the terms and to regulate the manner of that approach. Two things, once man is banished and brought unto the curse of God, God alone can say whether any one of us as fallen sons of Adam will ever be privileged to approach him again in worship, and if we are, by what means he will be worshipped. In regard to such a matter as either the conditions or the way of a sinner's approach to God in accepted worship, it was not for the sinner to devise his own method, but to receive submissively God's method. And hence, not only the duty of church worship, but the express manner of it, have been dictated by God in every age. And the way in which a sinner might worship him acceptably has been prescribed. It has been prescribed and regulated by positive, divine institution. There are the arbitrary rules and observations of a church state enjoined according to a divine directory for worship, in addition to what the religion of nature might dictate.

21:15 In short, in no one age since the first have sinners been left to their own devices or option in regard either to the duty or to the way of God. Nor to the manner of social worship. Nor could it be so. The sinner may not dare to approach to God even for the purpose of worshipping Him, except according to the express manner which God has laid.

21:48 And you see, he rested not upon an isolated text here or there, but upon the whole sweep of revelatory data. And surely you have that highlighted in the incident recorded in those early chapters of Genesis, of the social public worship of Cain and of Abel, God respecting and receiving the worship of the one and not receiving the other. Implicit in that is that one conformed in his person and activities to the revelatory data that God had given and the other did not. And we know that from New Testament comments upon that incident, that God's displeasure was with the offerer, and his offering, that neither conformed to the divine standard in the case of Cain, whereas in the case of Abel, both the offering and the offerer were acceptable unto God. From the beginning, God made it clear in the passages we've already looked at under heading number one, that to defy His revealed way of approaching Him, was to incur His intense disfavor. All intrusions and perversions were severely judged. The golden calf which Aaron made, Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah and the ark.

23:14 And in the new covenant, when the Corinthians profane the supper of the Lord for this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and not a few sleep. So that God takes seriously, whether or not His people regard the regulative principle in worship. And then I've indicated in your notes, see the previously cited, that should be C-I-T-E-D instead of S, the previously cited sections in the London Baptist Confession, with the scripture references. And so, as we consider this matter of the regulative principle, it's crucial, brethren, that when we stand to lead God's way, as people, in acts of public worship, we hear the Lord speaking in our ears, the question of Isaiah 1-12. Who hath required this at your hand? And we better be able to say before God in the theater of our own consciences, and as we seek to lead our people, O Lord, we bring You that which You, Yourself, have required at our hands. And if we cannot do that, whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

24:33 We cannot bring it in faith, or we bring it in mistaken will-worship, which Paul says in Colossians, is utterly unacceptable to God. Who has required this at Your hand? When You say to the people, let us now seek the face of God in prayer, let us lift up our voices in praise to God, in the language of this psalm, in this hymn. If you cannot do that in the conviction, that the living God, in whose presence you meet, has required this at your hand, then you cannot do it in faith.

25:07 And if you cannot do it in faith, you sin in the very act of leading God's people in worship. Brethren, this is serious business. And in an age where people have a totally man-centered view, I come to church in order to be entertained, or merely informed. The whole thought that we gather in the special presence of God, that we might render to God, that we might render to Him the things that He requires of us, is foreign to the mindset of most people.

The Precise Nature of Corporate Worship: Reciprocal Dealings with a Present God

25:36 We need much grace from God that we are well grounded and established concerning the regulative principle as it relates to the corporate worship of God. Now we press on to number three. You must have a well grounded conviction concerning the precise nature of the corporate worship of God. You see the progress in our perspectives?

25:59 God has instituted it. God has revealed what it is and how it ought to be conducted. Now I'm saying you must have a well grounded conviction concerning the precise nature of corporate worship. What precisely are we the people of God doing in our exercises of corporate worship?

26:19 And what precisely is God doing in the context of the worship that we render to Him? Now I've attempted to address this question, in some detail, in a series of sermons entitled, Public Worship. You may want to write that down in your notes. The code number is T-O, Thomas T-O-W, one through seven.

26:41 And there are seven messages dealing with this very subject. Suffice it to say, for our purposes this morning, that the most foundational issue has to do with the fact that in our public or corporate worship, God Himself is present in a special way. And His gathered people are engaged in real reciprocal dealings with a present God. There are real reciprocal dealings with a present God.

27:12 Now by reciprocal dealings I mean this. The people of God are bringing spiritual sacrifices to God of His own appointment and God is present to receive them. And in that setting, God is conveying His special presence and grace according to His own promise and by the means of His own appointment. That's what I mean by reciprocal dealings with a present God.

27:41 The Lord has promised to be present in the midst of His gathered people. Matthew 18 and verse 20, where two or three are gathered in My name. And all the pregnancy of that phrase, in My name, there am I in the midst of them. The Apostle notes that we are the temple of God inhabited by the Spirit of God in our corporate identity.

28:08 1 Corinthians 3.16 and Ephesians 2 and verse 22. And Paul assumes that when even the unbeliever, the uninstructed comes into an assembly of God's people worshiping as they ought that he will recognize this reality. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 25.

28:30 That in that setting, he says, this unbeliever or uninstructed one shall fall down upon his face saying, God is of a truth among you. You claim when you gather in your non-ornate places of gathering in this home or this rented building, whatever it is, that you have the living God in your midst. And He comes. And in that special presence of God, manifesting His presence through in that context, the proper exercise of prophetic utterance, this man comes to the conviction God is indeed in your midst.

29:05 He's the living God. And He falls down before that God who is present. In a marvelous sermon by Professor Murray on Christ in all the assemblies of His people, he captures this truth so beautifully. Let me quote from the last couple of paragraphs of that sermon found in the works of Professor Murray.

29:25 They're in the bibliography. This is page 197. Christ's presence with His assembled people is a precious reality, but one that surpasses understanding. Yet it is to be apprehended and experienced and enjoyed with a joy that is unspeakable.

29:46 Sounds like a charismatic, doesn't it? Well, He is. Biblically charismatic. Believing in the charisma of Christ's special presence, the grace of His special presence.

29:58 And because so, we can say certain things about it. Christ is present by His word and spirit and these in necessary conjunction. We do well to remember the words of the two whom Jesus met on the way to Emmaus on the day of His resurrection. Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way and while He opened to us the Scriptures?

30:20 Christ is as really present when His word is read and preached in the unction of the Holy Spirit as He was with the two on the way to Emmaus on that first Lord's day. Tremendous statement. We may not forget what Jesus said to His disciples. I will pray the Father.

30:38 He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. He shall be in you. The Holy Spirit is the advocate with the church on earth, and it is His prerogative and function to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us. Oh, my friends, do not despise the assembly as of few, two or three.

31:00 Christ did not refrain from speaking to the woman of Samaria at the well. It was His meat and drink. Heaven will resound with the praises that took their origin from that meeting. The reverberations will be eternal.

31:13 He did not despise the night meeting with Nicodemus, and the repercussions will be everlasting. From these meetings there began the ripples which have continued ever since in endless circles, and they break on the shores of eternity. Christ will assuredly be present in the assemblies gathered in His name. So do not miss an opportunity to meet with the firstborn from the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth.

31:38 The veracity of Him who is the truth is pledged to the fulfillment of this promise, where there are two or three, and the third is the faithful witness. Where there are two, there are always three, and the third is the faithful witness. There are three of kings and the Lord of lords. And where there are two, there are always five, that they may all be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in them, I in them, thou in me, that they may be perfect in one.

32:12 If there's two, there's five. The triune God is present. I will pray the Father. He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever.

32:22 Yes, beloved, as we meet His word, as we pray for the unction of His Spirit and prostrate ourselves in adoration of His name, our heart will burn within us and the bells will begin to ring in the deepest depths of our spirit. We shall sing. There is a river. The streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

Practical Problems in Leading Corporate Worship

32:48 God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her. You must have a well-grounded conviction concerning the precise nature of corporate worship. And then, very briefly, principle number four. We move from the terminology of well-grounded conviction to you must have a realistic appreciation of the practical problems of the corporate worship of God. And here are just four categories of those problems. Don't lower your standards.

33:22 Don't lower your sanctified idealism. But here is something to put it into a context of gutsy realism. There are the problems arising from your own spiritual, emotional and physical state. If it is true that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks on any given Lord's day when you are to lead the people of God in worship, the state of your own heart is going to affect what comes out of your mouth.

33:47 That's reality. Furthermore, your own spiritual condition. Ephesians 4.30 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

33:57 You may have had sharp words with one of your kids or your wife on the very way to church. And though you may have quickly sought to deal with it, something of the disruption of the sin of your tongue still reverberates in your soul and you sense that you have to stand and minister to some degree with a grieved Holy Spirit. The spirit of utterance, the spirit of grace and supplication, the spirit of praise is grieved. The positive side, Ephesians 5.18 and 19, be filled with the spirit, speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Proverbs 18.14 says the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity but a broken spirit who can bear? There are times you have to come and lead God's people in worship and you've got a broken spirit.

34:44 Not through self-pity. Through an event that God has brought into your life in his chastening and in his pruning. And there will be problems when you seek to lead God's people and then your very physical condition will enter in to this matter. So these are some of the situations that we must reckon with. Now that Proverbs 5.18 and 19 I believe is, Ann made a misprint in the notes and I should have picked it up when I proofed them and I did not. I reworked. I think that's supposed to be in Ephesians 5.18 and 19, yes. Yeah, this certainly isn't the one for worship. This is for some other times. This is for happy nappy time but let's strike that out brethren. I don't want this heresy

35:32 circling the globe. Been charged with a lot of things. That we do not need. Put Ephesians 5.18 and 19.

35:40 Alright? Good. So you see problems arising from your misprint in your notes. One reason you don't want to hand out printed notes. Imagine what would happen if that were a Lord's Day morning and people looking up that text and you were in the pulpit trying to sort all that out. Oh, be thankful we're here. Alright, B. Problems arising from an honest effort to sort out the differences between the essence and circumstances of God honoring worship. Once you place yourself under the regulative principle, you'll spend your lifetime seeking to sort out the differences between the essence and the circumstances. We've been speaking about this as it applies to our ministry in more urban city settings. Is it right to impose upon people who've had no previous acquaintance with the history of Christian hymnody, the tunes and the musical forms of two to three hundred years ago? Is that right? That has

36:40 to do with the circumstances, not the substance of praise. The substance of praise is established by the regulative principle. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. The circumstances of that praise.

36:51 And you're going to have to wrestle with those things. And that will create problems. And you ought to know that. Then thirdly, problems arising from the immediate circumstances of the congregation.

37:01 The weather. The congregation may be in a present grip of grief that has come through a shocking declension and grievous sin of one of its members or one of its leaders. Or perhaps a prince has fallen in Israel and the people's hearts are heavy. The meeting place may have all kinds of distractions.

37:24 Well, these are problems arising from the immediate circumstances of the congregation. And you've got to recognize that. And then problems arising from the spiritual nature of worship and the spiritual state of the worshipers. If true worship is carried on in spirit and in truth, and the true circumcision of those who worship in the spirit or worship God by the spirit, and we have no backup of a carnal worship that can be effective without the present dynamics of the Holy Spirit. Do you see the implications of this? If the spirit of God is grieved from the congregation at large, and yet the forms of worship assume his living presence to make them meaningful and edifying, we have no backup system. If God doesn't come and fill up his own institutions, the barrenness will be evident to all. And that will create a problem.

38:17 It'll test your faith. Will I create a carnal backup system that whether God is present or not, the people will still feel they've got something? Or will you bounce on the deck and the whole world will hear your thud? Well, as I've said through the years, we've got no backup system. If God doesn't fill up his own institutions with his own blessing and presence, we bounce on the deck and the whole world knows it. And that'll drive us to say, Lord, what is the cause? And to cry to God. But that's a problem.

38:47 And there will be among your people those that want to have a comfortable backup system. And you must stand and say, No! No! No backup systems!

38:59 For it's an insult to the living God. And far better to be shamed and say, Brethren, for some reason, any of any discernment, no. God was not with us today. Let us cry that we may know the cause. Let us humble ourselves and seek his face. Well, those are some of the problems. Hope it doesn't scare you, but that's reality. And you'll wrestle with them all the days of your life. Now, very quickly, let me just mention this bibliography on worship. And just make a comment or two and then we'll be done. Standard commentaries on the second commandment. As you're thinking through the issue, if you're thinking of preaching on it, don't, don't bypass standard commentaries on the second commandment. Some wonderful, there's a veritable goldmine of material there to help you. And the 1689 Confession and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The Directory for Public Worship. That's in the blue bound, green bound edition of the Confession of Faith of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Recommended Bibliography on Worship

40:01 This is a helpful little workbook on discovering the fullness of worship published by a great commission publication and some good material in here. The kind of things that has drawings, has questions. It's a good study guide. I don't endorse everything, but you would have discernment to know what things to cull out of it. But it's a good little workbook.

40:25 And then the chapter on Packer, Knowing God, an excellent section on the whole matter of visual helps in worship. Some of you may go into situations where you'll have to instruct your people. That chapter in Packer, I speed read much of it in preparation for this lecture. It's excellent. And then Williamson, his Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes. Excellent material on the relevant passages on the Regulative Principle. Then this section from which I've quoted in Bannerman, The Church of Christ, Volume 1. That's not Douglas Bannerman.

40:57 That's the one-volume work. This is James Bannerman, two volumes. And then the parts in Professor Murray. And then I cannot commend too highly John Owen, the sections mentioned and then relevant materials found in other places throughout Volumes 15 and 16, which are his two great volumes on church matters. And then Brian Edwards, Shall We Dance? Addressing the whole current craze with dancing in worship. And then David Clarkson has been reprinted by the Banner. His works, Volume 3, pages 187 to 2809.

41:33 Marvelous sermon on public worship of greater value than private worship. First time I saw the title, I inwardly said, that's heresy. I read it and I said, that's truth. But good stuff.

41:47 I didn't say heresy. I just inwardly said, I think, I'm not so sure. Sounds like error, but very helpful material. And then this is a Brethren author, A.P. Gibbs.

42:00 What a wonderful book on worship. If you can find this anywhere, it's done by Walteric Publishers. And I don't often commend Brethren materials, but this is a tremendous biblical theological study of worship. Very helpful material. If you can come across that anywhere, I would encourage you to try to get hold of it. And then the other is straightforward. Brooks, his works, Volume 4, and Vaughan, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, produced by the Banner. He has a marvelous chapter on the Holy Spirit in conjunction with public worship. I read a page to the men in the elders meeting last night and they were just riveted by it. But it's tremendous on this aspect of the absolute necessity of the presence of the Spirit of God and the certainty of His presence and the implications of it for the worshipers. And I commend that to you for your serious reading. And then Charnock, his sermon on John 4, 24. And then

42:58 a very excellent work published by Baker, Come Let Us Worship, Corporate Worship in the Evangelical Church by Robert Rayburn. Again, I don't endorse everything, but much in this book is tremendously helpful and it's written against the backdrop of the impoverishment of worship in our present day. And he does a biblical theological study, corporate worship in the Old Testament, New Testament, nature and manner of true worship, considerations concerning the order of worship, some very, very helpful materials. And then Steele, A Remedy for the Wandering Thoughts in the Worship of God, put down, Sprinkle did a reprint of that some years ago.

43:38 And then Jareth should be Jeremiah Burroughs, I believe. Is it Jeremiah Burroughs? Yeah, not Jeremy, Jeremiah. Gospel Worship. He builds his whole thesis on the incident there in Leviticus 11 on Nadab and Abihu. Tremendous stuff in there. And then my friend Bill Harrell from the PCA work down in Norfolk. This is a transcription of a sermon dash lecture brought to some ministers. I called him yesterday to see if this were still in print and I was unable to get hold of him, but if it is in print, I'm ordering a copy for each of you men. If not, we're going to have it reprinted by hook or by crook with his consent. It is a marvelous little distillation of some of the key issues that I've touched upon today dealt with in terms of approach in terms of contemporary problems. So I hope, brethren, when you come to think this through and do some studies on it, you will at least have a good working, proven bibliography in your hands.

44:40 Thank you for your patience, but I did feel we need to get through this material today if we're going to keep on course. Alright, let's pray and ask God's help. Our Father, if with all of our remaining sin and all of the potential for carnality in our own hearts, if we can feel something of grief and pain in the face of what goes on in the name of public worship in evangelical churches, what must your heart feel as you see your word despised and your institution of worship treated in such a cavalier way? O Lord Jesus, will you not rise up and come again and cleanse your new covenant temple of all that displeases you? Come, we pray, and be gracious to us, even in our opportunities for corporate worship in the coming weekend. May your name be praised and may your people delight to give to you the things you require at their hands. Hear our prayer and receive our thanks for your presence with us this day.

45:48 We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.