God-honoring, Biblical, Spirit-Empowered Worship

Introduction: Returning After Ten Years

0:04 Before we turn to the Word of God, I want to take just a moment to express from my heart, on my behalf, and that of my wife as well, how thankful to God we are to be back amongst you after a hiatus of ten years. Someone met me at the door this morning. They had notes from one of the sermons I preached the last time I was here, and they would state under oath that it was ten years ago. Well, it hardly seems possible in many ways.

0:35 Much has happened in those ten years, but it's been a delight to be back among you, to sense your love, your hunger for the Word, your responsiveness to that Word. And a text I would leave with you is Acts 11 and verse 23. Barnabas was sent up to Antioch by the church in Jerusalem. Word had come to the church therein.

1:02 In Jerusalem that God had done a work of grace in the lives of many. And so the apostles sent Barnabas up to Antioch to check out this report. And this is what we read in verse 23 of Acts chapter 11. Who, when he was come, that is Barnabas, and had seen the grace of God, was glad.

1:28 And he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart. They would cleave unto the Lord. It's been a joy to come among you and to see the grace of God. We don't often think in terms of seeing grace.

1:45 We talk of experiencing grace. But when a people are dwelling together in love and harmony, hunger for the Word, their praise is vigorous, when they love their overseers, when deacons relish, and things go so smoothly. Women serve and all the church is mobilized as you were for this men's conference. It's the grace of God that produces all of those things.

2:17 And seeing the grace of God at work among you, you've made me a happy old man. And my word of exhortation is, continue to cleave to Christ, the great fountainhead of all grace, in Christ is the fullness out of which we draw that we might serve him, become more and more like him, and be useful in the work of his kingdom.

The Text and Series Overview

2:47 Now then, let's turn again tonight to the text that has been the basis and the framework of my ministry among you over this long weekend, Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse 16. Jeremiah 6. And verse 16.

3:07 Thus says the Lord, Stand in the ways, and see or look, and ask for the old paths wherein is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. We come tonight to consider for the fifth time in this weekend of ministry, the words of the young prophet, Jeremiah, calling us to stand and look, to ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and then by the grace and power of God to plant our feet in that way, to walk in it, and to experience the fulfillment of the promise, we shall find rest to our souls. And we've looked at some of those old paths that constitute the good, the good way, paved by the scriptures, validated in the great confessions of the church, illustrated in the history of the church, thundered from pulpits by men of God around the world for centuries. And we've considered three of those paths thus far. The first was the old paths, the good way of a heart and life transformed,

4:34 a transformation by a true conversion to God, a spirit wrought, turning to God from idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. And then two messages to take up the second of those old paths and the good way, and that is the way, the paths of a life of gospel holiness. And we consider together, over the course of the weekend, the absolute necessity for gospel holiness, the nature or elements of gospel holiness, and God's gracious provisions for a life of gospel holiness. And then this morning we looked at a third path, and that was the path, the good way, of a conscientious and joyful observance of the Lord's Word. And that was the path, the good way, of a conscientious and joyful observance of the Lord's Word. And that was the path, the good way, of a conscientious and joyful observance of the Lord's Word.

5:37 Now tonight we come to this fourth old path, part of the good way in which we shall find rest to our souls. And it's what I am trying to describe in these terms. It is the old path and the good way of God honoring, Christ exalting, Bible shaped, Spirit-empowered corporate worship of the living God. Now that's a mouthful, I know.

The Challenge and Stakes of the Subject

6:15 But I don't know which of the words I could omit and still have a good conscience that I'm calling you to those old paths and a good way with respect to the corporate worship of God. For the old paths and the good way is indeed God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-shaped, Spirit-empowered corporate worship. That is, not the individual worshiping in his prayer closet, not the family worshiping around the table, individual worship, family worship, blessed realities, but I'm speaking of the worship that we've offered to God in this place this morning. And again, this evening, as we have gathered as the new covenant living temple made up of living stones, as the new covenant priesthood who are gathered together within that very temple to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I'm conscious that to address the subject of corporate worship in our day, in the midst of the people of God, is to grab a theological and practical tiger by the tail.

7:40 And rarely can you grab that tiger without in some way hearing him snarl. And I hope I'll not hear any snarls tonight, but I would not be shocked because that's what happens because the moment you begin to consider this subject, what constitutes God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-shaped, spirit-empowered corporate worship, you're going to immediately challenge some people's tradition. And they don't like being challenged to rethink what they are doing or what they are not doing. In other cases, you're challenging people's personal subjective preferences with regard to their worship. Well, I like this in the worship. Well, I like this. Listen to worship.

8:33 Ah, but I... When in reality what you like is of no consequence with respect to rendering the kind of worship that is shaped by the Scriptures, that is God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, and spirit-empowered.

8:52 God has defined what that worship looks like. And your preferences are of no account whatsoever. I'm sorry? I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I have to be because that's the truth.

9:06 And on the other hand, there is what we would call a current consensus expectation, this passion in our day that we've got to be relevant. Relevance is the God before which everyone bows. And if we're going to have services of worship that will attract so-called postmoderns like they're some kind of special creature that the world has never known before, then we've got to alter this and change that and accommodate this. I'm very, very conscious for this old man to take up this subject is indeed taking a theological and practical tiger by the tail.

9:46 But I've grabbed more than one tiger in my life, and I'm still alive to talk about it. I've got a few scars from some of those tigers, but I'm still breathing. And I regard my scars as a badge of honor, because at the end of the day, dear brethren, no human being is worthy of such an honor. You are now, at the end of the day, all that matters, what says the Scriptures.

10:09 Let God be true, and every man a liar. Now, if we are indeed committed to God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-shaped, Spirit-empowered corporate worship, what will it look like? Well, I want to open up this subject under three headings. The first is this.

Three Marks Introduced: Purity, Dignity, Vivacity

10:32 It will be pure worship. We're going to consider the purity of such worship. Secondly, it will be dignified worship. So we're going to consider the dignity of such worship.

10:47 And it will be vivacious, full of life and energy and vibrancy, brought by the Spirit. So we're going to consider the vivacity of such worship. The purity. The dignity.

11:02 And the vivacity of God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-shaped, Spirit-empowered corporate worship. First of all, then, the purity of God's worship. When we speak of the purity of God's worship, we are in the realm that we often associate with the words, worship by the regulative principle. The regulative principle.

The Purity of Worship: The Regulative Principle Defined

11:31 The regulative principle. And what does that term, regulative principle, mean? Well, I know of no better way to answer the question than simply to read paragraph one in our own Confession of Faith, chapter 22, of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day. Here's what it reads.

11:54 The light of nature shows us that there is a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all, is just, good, and does good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and soul and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revelation. The stated and revealed will that He may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the holy scriptures. That's what we mean when we speak of the purity of God's worship. You see, once man...

13:02 sinned and was banished from the garden and from the tree of life, it was up to God and God alone to determine two very basic things. Number one, would God ever welcome man back into his presence? And number two, if so, in what way were they to approach him? Only God has a right to determine those two issues. And blessed be God, he has revealed his mind in that matter, that he does indeed welcome sinful men back into his presence. And he gives that great gospel seed, preached not to Adam, but to the devil. You know, the gospel was first preached to the devil. Genesis 3.15, God speaking to the serpent when he says,

13:59 I will put enmity between you and a woman, your seed, her seed. He was speaking those words to the devil, announcing a time is coming when your head will be crushed. Though in the process, you will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. And throughout the scriptures, God, by ever increasing clear revelatory data in the scriptures, tells us how to do that. Now, we have a warrant to approach him. And therefore, by speaking of and seeking purity of worship, we desire to have the confidence that when God asks this question, the question found in Isaiah chapter 1, who has required this at your hand? Whatever we bring to God, we want to be able to say, O God, I bring this in my worship because you have revealed that this is what you require of me. It's a wonderfully simple way to approach this whole thing. God is asking me every time I gather

15:19 with his people here. He says to you, to me, who has required this at your hand? Pastor Smith led us in prayer, and our hearts, entered in with him? We sang the praises of God to the Triune God. We had the reading of the scriptures. This man is now standing here, and he's going to preach the Scriptures. And Almighty God says, Who has required Pastor Smith's prayer at your hand. Who has required this reading of the scriptures at your hand? Who has required this singing of these hymns at your hand? Who has required this preaching at your hand? Tomato 없이 hulk let our aly это ayatəkeriques, נ怎麼了 to say, oh God, you have. We are rendering to you what you have revealed, is that what you desire us to bring to you. That's what we are referring to when we speak of the purity of the worship of God. God, we bring you what you have required of us. And one of the most

The New Covenant Temple and Priesthood

16:25 pivotal texts to help us to think biblically concerning the purity of God's worship is the text I've already quoted in part. I want you to turn to it with me. 1 Peter, 1 Peter and chapter 2. Peter exhorting the people of God in Asia Minor. We're going to break into the reading at verse 4. Unto whom coming, that is, coming to Christ, a living stone rejected in need of men, but with God elect and precious. You also, you who come to Christ, you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And here Peter takes imagery soaked

17:33 in Old Testament concepts, and he says, God's people, regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, gathered together in these communities, each one of them is a living temple having derived life from being brought into union with Christ, the living stone, united to him, I am a living stone, constituted with my other living stones, into, this spiritual sanctuary, this spiritual house. Now what's a house of worship without a company of priests to carry on the worship? He said, oh, you're not only the stones that constitute the place of worship, you are the priests who engage in the acts of worship. He says, you and I are a holy priesthood. Well, what's a priesthood? Well, what's a priesthood? Well, what's a priesthood? Well, what's a priesthood?

18:33 A priesthood without sacrifices. You've got a temple, you've got a priesthood, but what are the sacrifices? He said, you offer the sacrifices. They are spiritual sacrifices made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So the great passion of our heart should be to say, oh God, what are those spiritual sacrifices that you have required at our hand? We don't want to make a sacrifice. We want to make a sacrifice. We want to make a sacrifice.

19:03 We want to make up our own notion of what the sacrifices are. What are they? Well, again, our confession is very, very helpful and sticks so close to the scriptures where that very question is answered as well. Paragraph 4 of that same 22nd chapter, prayer is to be made for things lawful, for all sorts of men living or that shall live hereafter, but not for the dead, not for those of whom it is not.

19:33 And it may be known that they've sinned the sin unto death, the reading of scriptures, preaching, the hearing of the word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord, as also the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper are all parts of religious worship of God to be performed in obedience to Him. With understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear. And then it mentions special occasions where the church may be called to seasons of fasting and prayer, but I would not incorporate them into the generic concept of the corporate worship of God. They are mandated activities of the corporate fellowship of God's people, but I believe they are distinct from what we would call the worship of God. And I believe they are distinct from what we would call the ordinary patterns of our corporate worship. And so, when we think of the purity of God's worship, incorporating only that which God has required in our hand, only the spiritual sacrifices that He has identified, what are they? Well, first of all, the offering up

First Element: Much Prayer

20:55 of much prayer. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, and I want you to turn there with me, Paul tells Timothy why he left him at Ephesus. He gives him one indication of it in the first chapter, but a broader description is given in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15. These things I write unto you, hoping to come unto you shortly, but if I tarry long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.

21:33 of the pillar and ground of the truth. So he's been writing to Timothy about behavior and conduct in God's church, his living temple. And after the concerns of the first chapter, when he begins to focus in upon church behavior, what is his emphasis? Look at chapter 2 and verse 1. I exhort, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving, and prayer be done in the house of God. I exhort, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving, and prayer be done in the house for all men, for kings and those that are in high places, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity. All kinds of prayer for all kinds of people are to be offered up as spiritual sacrifices unto God. It's a crying shame that in many evangelical churches and in some reformed churches, there's a little mini-prayer here and a mini-prayer there. You would get no impression that God has said, when you gather

22:39 as my people, there should be much prayer. You're an assembly of people utterly dependent upon God for your own internal life and blessing, for the blessing of God upon your ministries and outreaches. And while some of this can be concentrated into a midweek service, there is no indication that our service can be concentrated into a midweek service. There is no indication that our service can be concentrated into a midweek service. There is no indication that our seasons of public worship should not be marked by much prayer. And then secondly, there ought to be the reading of substantial portions of the word of God. I'm amazed again, and we wrestled with this back when Trinity Church was birthed way back in the 60s. How much shall we incorporate into our stated seasons of worship of the reading of the word of God?

Second Element: Substantial Reading of Scripture

23:31 Look at 1 Timothy 4.13. Till I come, Timothy, give heed to, and the article ought to be there in the translation, give heed to the reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Timothy, pay attention to the public reading of the Scriptures. And then you find passages such as 1 Thessalonians 5.26. Turn there with me. 1 Thessalonians, got the wrong reference.

24:13 Oh, here it is, 27. I missed it by one. Now notice how solemn Paul is about this. I adjure you, an adjuration is a solemn charge in the presence of God. So Paul means business when he writes this.

24:39 I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren. How's that for a nice, modern, user-friendly service where people are told don't even bring Bibles because you get unconverted people present and they don't know Genesis from James or 2 Chronicles and you can't be having a long reading of Scripture. Paul says, I charge you that this epistle, not a verse every Lord's day until you get through it, this epistle, all five chapters. Now, does it mean that they should have all been read at the same time? Well, not necessarily, but one thing is clear. Read this epistle unto all the brethren. Oh, you mean even when the kids are there and they hear big words like in chapter 4. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.

25:42 We should possess our vessel in sanctification. Oh, the little kids won't understand. I charge you, read. This epistle. I get sick and tired of this nonsense that we've got to dumb everything down.

26:00 Read this epistle. That's pretty plain language, isn't it? And then when you come to Colossians 4, 16, look at the language here. Colossians 4 and verse 16. And when this epistle has been read among you, cause that it be read also. In the church of Laodicea, and you read the epistle from Laodicea, an epistle that God did not providentially preserve for us, but here it's plain as the nose on my face. It's the will of God that in the gathering of the saints of God in their corporate worship, there would be the reading of substantial portions of the word of God. And then when you come to Revelation, 1, and I've often puzzled over this, right in the introduction, chapter 1 and verse 3,

26:58 blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein. They didn't have copy machines, and when this went to the seven churches, within every church, there would be appointed readers, and it says, blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein. They didn't pass out individual copies so they could use the book of Revelation in their personal devotions. No, it was to be read in the public gathering of the people of God. And I commend you for your commitment to consecutive reading of substantial portions of the word of God. God requires this in our hand. But then thirdly, the preaching of the Word of God. The Word of God is also required in our hand. Paul writing to Timothy, who is ministering there

Third Element: Urgent Biblical Preaching

27:57 at Ephesus, telling him that things are not going to get easier. Things are going to get tougher and more difficult. People are going to turn away their ears from the truth. They're going to want to have their ears tickled, etc. Time will come, verse 3, men will not endure the sound doctrine, having itching ears. The ears will heap to themselves, teachers. In the midst of that situation, what's Timothy to do? 2 Timothy 4, 2. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Be urgent in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. Oh, you mean, Paul, Timothy's not to go wholly positive? Wholly encouraging? Just engage in constant stroking of God's people? I have seen in my days, I have seen in my days, I have seen in my days,

28:51 a cult of obsession with comfort. Every message is measured by how much comfort it gives. Well, that doesn't look like what Paul told Timothy. Preach the Word. Be urgent. Don't just be a talking head, Timothy. Make it plain that if nobody else believes what you're preaching, you do. Have the urgency of felt conviction. That's not something a true preacher paints on for the sake of effect.

29:21 It comes out of the depth of his gut, because he believes what he's preaching to you. And he says to Timothy, be urgent, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort. But do it with long-suffering as your disposition, and the objective truth of God, the teaching of the apostolic deposit, as the stuff with which you preach, you teach, you exhort, with all long-suffering. Well, then, fourthly, we are to engage in the singing of God's praise with scripturally soaked psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. You know the text, Colossians chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. 17, and here again, the word of God is explicit in its directives. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Fourth Element: Scripture-Soaked Singing

30:27 That is, the word of which Christ is both author and the focal point of its subject. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Let the spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts, now notice, unto God. Here is the Godward focus of our worship.

30:56 It's not people with unusually well-trained voices, or who think they have well-trained voices, accompanied with the musicians that feel they have some gift to contribute, giving a performance to you. No, it is the people of God in their corporate life and identity. Bringing the spiritual sacrifice of praise with Bible-soaked psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And then, of course, in the fifth place, we as the people of God are to come together to remember the Lord in His dying love for us.

Fifth and Sixth Elements: Lord's Supper and Offerings

31:38 1 Corinthians 11, all of the emphasis is, when you come together, when you come together, it is there in the having come together that we do what the Lord said, meant when He said, this do in remembrance of Me. We break and eat bread and drink the fruit of the vine in loving, believing, appropriating remembrance of our Lord Jesus and His dying love and the fact that we feed upon the crucified and now risen and exalted Christ. And then we are in the pattern of the apostolic church that gathered on the first day of the week to break bread. Acts 27, Acts 242, these all continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and the prayers. And then, number six, I personally believe there is a fairly strong case. It is not up to the level of these first five, but pretty close. It comes to it that part of our worship that God requires is the offering of our gifts to God as one of our spiritual sacrifices.

32:57 And on what basis do I say that? Well, look at Philippians 4 and verse 18. Philippians 4, 18. But I have all things and abound, I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you.

33:15 Now notice how he describes them. An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. Well, I thought the offering was given to Paul through the hand of Epaphroditus. Yes, but it was first of all given as a spiritual sacrifice to God.

33:42 And where did they do it? Well, most likely they did it when they were...

33:46 When they were gathered together. So I say it's not quite up to the level of the other, but I think there's enough Old Testament precedent in the whole concept of us expressing in tangible ways God's blessing to us in our returning back to Him. When you went up at the stated feast at Jerusalem, remember, you were to bring your offerings if you lived too far away and couldn't bring the offerings. You brought the cash.

34:16 When you came up to the temple, or in the temple, or outside the temple, there you purchased whatever thing you were going to bring as an offering unto God that part and parcel of that cultic worship, not cult as the cults, the Jehovah's Witnesses, but part of the prescribed worship was this matter of the offering of substance unto God. Well, those are the things God requires in our hand. What about this? Does God require it in our hand?

34:50 If not, then it ought not to enter into the worship of our God. I remember several years ago, I was reading a book on this matter of worship, and I came across the statement of, I think it was Ligon Duncan III. He said, At the end of the day, the regulative principle, the purity of God's worship, consists in these very simple things. We sing.

35:16 We sing the word. We pray the word. We read the word. We preach the word.

35:24 We see the word in baptism in the Lord's Supper. I got so blessed in my study, and when I get blessed, sometimes I'll tell you a secret. I actually raised my hands and praised God in my study, where it's the Lord in me. And I was so blessed, I said, I've got to get on the phone and call that man.

35:49 I can't tell him how much I've been blessed. So I called down to Mississippi and got information, found out the number, and I got hold of him. And I said, Dr. Duncan, I just want you to know, I've just read in your book that the regulative principle is, we sing the word, we pray the word, we read the word, we preach the word, we see the word.

36:10 I've been blessed to the gills, and I want to thank you. It's beautifully simple, isn't it? That's what we're talking about. This is what God requires.

36:19 It's what God requires at our hand that we might worship him acceptably. One of the old Puritans wrote a treatise on that whole incident in the Old Testament of what happened when Nadab and Abihu said, well, God wants fire in his worship. We'll bring our own fire. And God consumed them.

36:42 God was letting them know, don't you offer strange fire on my altars. You bring. At your hands, what I require at your hands. But not only, and we'll move more quickly through the other headings, not only is this old path in the good way, worship in the way of the purity of worship, but God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-shaped, spirit-empowered corporate worship will be characterized by dignity.

Transition and Introduction to Dignity

37:18 The dignity. The dignity of worship. Now, bear with me as I try to explain where I'm going with this word dignity. Part of the climate of our current society, among many other things, is this.

The Dignity of Worship: Against Crass Egalitarianism

37:34 There is a crass egalitarianism. And that's just a big word for, say, we level everybody to the same plane. The concept that there are structures in which some should be respected and others should be the respectors, in which some should be recognized as above us and beneath us, that's not politically correct. We level everybody.

38:00 And the way you see it is in many, many ways very tangible. It's expected now that everyone from the janitor in a corporation headquarters to the CEO will show up with jeans and a t-shirt.

38:18 We saw a picture the other day. of a CEO of some notable corporation leveled down to dress that looked like the janitor.

38:28 I've had a lot of medical concerns, so I've been to a lot of doctors' offices. And in recent years, it's almost been amusing, if it weren't so grievous. I go in, and some young twit who's probably 18 years old, just graduated from high school, she comes perking out into the office and says, Well, Al, the doctor's ready to see you.

38:52 That would have been unthinkable. 25, 30 years ago, there would have been a sense of respect for an old codger like me to at least say, Mr. Martin. No, not now.

39:02 Well, Al, she's silly enough to think that's going to flatter me.

39:08 And uninformed enough to think I will regard it as flattery. Clothing. How we address people. This egalitarian spirit.

39:20 Everybody's leveled. And when it enters into the church, God's leveled down to our plan. So that there is no sense that we are coming, as it were, as the writer to Ecclesiastes says, Keep your mouth when you go to the house of God. God is in heaven.

39:46 You are upon the earth. Therefore, let your words be few. Remember your place when you come into the presence, of the awesome God of heaven and earth. Timothy was to remember in all of his dealings that there are these categories of honor that God does not obliterate.

40:10 Look at 1 Timothy chapter 5.

40:15 Here Timothy is an apostolic representative with conferred apostolic authority. We might call second tier apostolic authority. And he has many things to say. He has many things to say and to do.

40:28 He is to command. He is to speak these things with authority. But now notice in chapter 5, 1 Timothy 5.1 Don't rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father.

40:44 The younger men as your brothers. The older women as mothers. The younger as sisters in all purity. In other words, 1 Timothy recognize your place.

41:00 And let the manner of your relating to people make it evident that you do recognize your place. You talk to younger men who are your peers in a different way from that with which you talk to the aged men. The aged men may have needs as great as or greater than the younger men, but in fulfilling your apostolic pastoral duty, don't forget to keep your place, Timothy. You're a relatively young man in the presence of older men.

41:35 Don't forget it. And let the manner of your dealing with them reflect it. Well, dear people, if that's God's will in human relationships, how much more between the creature and the creator, how much more between the sinful creature and the almighty, glorious, and the holy, this thrice-holy creator, God? There's an element of dignity that is appropriate to the worship of God.

42:09 And I don't just extrapolate it from the human concept of class and relationship, but it's clearly taught in these texts. Let's look at them together. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12.

Dignity Grounded in Scripture: Hebrews, Psalms, Revelation

42:27 Toward the end of this wonderful epistle, in which the privileges of believers under the new covenant is laid out along one line after another, I call the epistle to the Hebrews the drive and the draw epistle. Here are people tottering on whether or not to continue in the faith or go back to Judaism. And Paul, the writer to Hebrews, seeks to draw them back into the way of fidelity to the new covenant. So he says, He sets out the blessings of that covenant and urges them to continue in that way.

43:06 But then there are times he gets behind them and he drives them with warnings. He says, Beware, let's fear lest we have promises and we fail to enter in. It's the draw and the drive epistle. Well, here in chapter 12, he has one of the wonderful drawing sections.

43:25 And he contrasts the things to which you would have come, under the old covenant revealed on Sinai, and the blessings to which you now come under the new covenant. And at the end of that section, what does he say? Verse 28, Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence. Reverence and godly fear.

44:03 What kind of priestly new covenant service is acceptable and well-pleasing to God? Not that which is offered with a casual egalitarian spirit, but is offered with reverence and awe. Not the fear of the cringing criminal who wonders whether around every corner there's going to be an officer of the law to apprehend him. Not that kind.

44:33 But the recognition that the God who is my Father is the awesome God of heaven and earth. That's why Peter said, If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges each man's sojourn, pass the time here in fear. You call on him as Father, pass your time in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold. The consciousness of the great price of my redemption does not lead to a casual, laid-back, irreverent approach to God.

45:16 It heightens the reverence and the godly fear. And that's what I'm trying to capture in the word the dignity of God's worship. When we turn to the Psalms, we find it again and again in the summons to worship. Let's just look at several specimen passages.

45:37 Psalm 95, verse 1, verses 6 and 7. Psalm 95. O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

45:53 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, make a joyful noise unto him with songs. Verse 6. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.

46:12 Here is holy enthusiasm engaged in the worship of God, but it's from the posture of the subject before the sovereign. Let us kneel and bow down. Worship that is marked by, A chaste and Spirit-empowered dignity. Psalm 96, 1 and 2.

46:40 I'm sorry, I just... No, Psalm 96.

46:42 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name. Show forth His salvation from day to day.

46:52 Verses 9 and 10. Oh, worship the Lord in holy array. Tremble before Him. Sing unto the Lord all the earth.

47:01 Say unto the nations, the Lord reigns. The world is established that it cannot be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. You see, on the one hand, here is holy exuberance.

47:15 Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing all the earth. But remember who you are and who He is. Worship Him in holy array.

47:26 Tremble before Him. All the earth. And then when we come over into the book of the Revelation, probably the richest deposit of instruction as what it is to worship. You remember how the first chapter opens.

47:43 John has this vision of the ascended, glorified Christ in the midst of the lampstands, the churches. Here's the man who rested his head upon the bosom of his Lord. But when he sees Him in His present glorified exaltation, exalted splendor, what does he do? Does he look up and say, O Lord, You're just like a lovely, big, cuddly baby?

48:09 No, no. Look at Revelation chapter 1, verse 17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and I am the last.

48:29 All of this I'm trying to pack in. To the word dignity probably is some other word that's better. I don't know. But one thing is clear.

Dignity Applied: Dress, Posture, and Pulpit Demeanor

48:40 It's the opposite of casualness, flippancy, a laid-back, easy-going, casual mentality that so marks so much worship today. Now, I'm going to take the tiger's tail and pinch it. You know what I'm going to say by way of application? And this dignity will be manifested not only in your internal disposition, it'll be manifested in your posture, it'll be manifested in your dress.

49:18 In your dress? Mm-hmm. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Paul is concerned about behavior in the house of God.

49:28 And after saying that much prayer is to mark the gathered people of God, chapter 2, verses 1 to 7, he then says, the men are to take the lead in this praying. Verse 8, I desire, therefore, that the men pray in every praise, lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing. And the first explicit directive he gives to the women is not the condition of their hearts, but the condition of their clothing. Look at the text.

50:02 In like manner, that women, women adorn themselves in modest apparel.

50:12 It's interesting, isn't it? I've heard people say, oh, God doesn't give a hoot how we show up in worship. Is that so? How about this passage?

50:23 No, see, clothing does not make the man or the woman, but it does reflect the man or the woman. Let me illustrate this.

50:34 Suppose you had a neighbor that you'd been seeking to witness to, and you'd established, you'd established goodwill, and that neighbor lost her husband. She's become a widow. And you knew her funeral was going to be, say, next Thursday night. Would you show up at her funeral in shorts and flip-flops?

50:54 Why not?

50:59 Because how you appeared without ever opening your mouth would be sending a message to her. By showing up in shorts and flip-flops, you'd be saying, your grief and your pain mean, means very little to me. I was in the backyard having a barbecue. It didn't mean enough to me to come dressed in a way appropriate to enter into conversation with a grieving widow so that the manner of my appearance would say to you, I'm entering in to your grief and to your pain.

51:39 Suppose someone was having a wedding, and you show up at the wedding in jeans and a shirt, and you show up at the wedding in jeans, and a t-shirt. What are you saying to the couple? Your wedding's nothing special to me. You may feel it's the most special thing in the world inside, but your clothing is a contradiction of what you really feel.

52:00 When it shouldn't be a contradiction, the two should line up with one another.

52:06 When we gather to meet with the living God, do clothes mean anything to God? Doesn't the Bible say, God looks on the outward appearance, but man, I mean, God looks on the inward appearance, man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart. That's right. Man does look on the outward appearance.

52:26 And if all of us were blind, it wouldn't make any difference how you showed up in the house of God. But we're not all blind. Some of us are dead, but we're not blind. And how we appear is sending a message to others and to ourselves.

52:43 When I was a kid, you know what we called, our Sunday clothes? They were called our Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. Some of you are old enough to remember that. And if you showed up with your Sunday go-to-meeting clothes during the week, people would go, well, where are you going?

52:58 You've got your Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. Is that just a cultural thing that has...

53:03 No, it's more than a cultural thing. It has significance. It has significance. The significance is that when I have special clothing for special events, reserving them, for those events, in this way, when I put on that clothing, I'm saying to myself, when I'm putting on the tie and on the shirt, I'm going to do something special.

53:29 And what's more special than meeting with the living God? Am I prepared to say, every man ought to come with a shirt and a tie and a jacket? No. That would be totally stupid and irresponsible.

53:41 But I am saying there ought to be a conscious effort that my external appearance says to me when I look in the mirror, I'm not just going out with the guys, going out with the gals, I'm not just going next door for a barbecue, I'm going to meet with God. And to have clothing that reflects the special nature of that says something to me, it says something to others as well. Likewise with our posture. To be slouched and sitting down like this and not take a seat, making full lungs full of air, to sing with gusto and enthusiasm.

54:22 It's saying something. My very posture. The place of dignified leadership in the pulpit. You've got pastors who've gone crazy thinking that if they can come dressed in cargo pants and an open shirt and lean over the pulpit and instead of leading us with sanctified, warm, dignified words and demeanor, they think the way to glorify God is to stand up and say, hey, it's nice to see you.

54:52 Lovely day today, isn't it, folks? Hey, come on, have a look outside. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it good to come together with a God that just loves us?

55:02 Oh, come on, get the serious look off your faces, folks. This is happy time. And they think this laid-back, casual thing somehow glorifies God. It doesn't.

55:15 It's a silly accommodation to a shallow age.

55:20 And I trust it'll never mark the worship in this place. Sinners can come in here dressed in anything that they may be wearing as sinners. And you're not going to turn them away at the door and say, well, you're not dressed appropriately. But when they come in, it ought to be pretty evident to them after a while, hey, for these people, meeting to have dealings with God is something special.

55:45 I see the way they come in and sit quietly. I see the way they take the hymn books and they're engaged when they sing. They're not looking all around, slouched down in the chair, looking around, seeing people. And you're sending a message that meeting with God and engaging God in the worship of God is a very special and blessed reality.

56:07 And we've seen this even with the dress. We never go after people and say, hey, next time you show up here, put on a shirt and a tie. That's a caricature that some men are floating. It's a caricature.

56:18 It's probably not true.

56:20 But I've seen people, as they begin to get an idea that the worship is special, nobody says anything to them, it isn't long before they begin to catch on. Yes, it is something special. And it begins to show up in the external appearance.

The Vivacity of Worship: Spirit-Empowered Life

56:36 The dignity of the worship of God. But I suggest, my brothers and sisters, in the third place, that God honoring, Christ exalting, Bible-shaped corporate, worship will not only be marked by purity, by dignity, but I want to say a few words about its vivacity. I never used that word in preaching, I don't think, until I constructed this sermon. And it's the second time I've preached it.

57:08 What's the definition of vivacious? Here it is. A person filled with life, energy, animation, and enthusiasm. That's a vivacious person.

57:21 And I'm saying, our worship ought to be marked by vivacity. It ought to be marked by life, and energy, and animation, and enthusiasm. Born of the work of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts and minds, enabling us to engage the totality of our redeemed humanity in our worship. You remember what Jesus said?

57:46 It's an amazing thing. He evangelizes an immoral woman in the context of some of the richest teaching on worship to be found anywhere in the Bible. God is a spirit. And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

58:06 We must worship, that is, in the light of the full manifestation of truth in Him who said, I am the way, the truth. God-seeking worshipers who approach Him, in the only way He can be approached since the coming of the Son of God. No man comes to the Father but by Me. And the Father-seeking worshipers who having discovered their own sin and the glory of God in the face of Christ has embraced Him as their truth, their final truth, the truth through whom they approach God.

58:43 But He says the Father-seeking worshipers not only in truth, but in spirit. And that could be a reference either to the Holy Spirit or to the human spirit quickened and animated by the Holy Spirit. And no matter which way you take it, it is spiritual worship, not mere external worship, not just ho-hum ritualistic worship drawing near with the lips while the heart is far from God, but it is worship empowered by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 3.3, I believe, is the best commentary on that. Here these people were saying, you want to be a true Jew? You want to be God's true circumcision? Then get circumcised literally.

59:31 Paul says, no. We are the circumcision who worship God by the Spirit or who worship in the Spirit of God. Either rendering is correct and it's hard the exegetes go around on the matter. This is the mark of the true covenant people of God.

59:50 They worship in the context of the operation and power of the Holy Spirit. They worship God in the Spirit. They glory in Christ Jesus and they put no confidence in the flesh. In the context that would be fleshly rituals and fleshly things such as circumcision, their confidence is all in Christ and His righteousness as Paul goes on to say in that very chapter.

60:21 So, what is the mark of true worship? It is vivacious worship. It is worship in the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of life and the Spirit of power. And when we read through the Psalms, we find that again and again.

60:39 We read several of them. There is no indication that worship was considered this stodgy, plodding, lifeless, kind of an exercise. There is a holy enthusiasm. Clap your hands.

60:55 Shout unto the Lord. Vigorous.

60:59 It's hard to put it all together and I wonder, I wonder how seriously we take that emphasis found throughout the Psalms. Now, I'm not advocating somebody standing up and starting to holler and say, well, the Bible says shout to the Lord. But all I'm saying is whatever that stuff means, it's a far cry from worship that is lifeless and stodgy and heavy and burdensome. There is a vivacity in the worship envisioned.

61:30 And likewise, and this is why I requested that Pastor Smith read Revelation 4 and 5. Those two chapters, they'd say this one and that one and this group fell down and worshiped. There's nothing lifeless in that worship. Blessing and glory and honor and power and they fall down and they worship.

61:53 The whole picture is that they are wrapped up in God. And as they render to God the sacrifice of praise as Hebrews 13, 15 describes it, it is whole-souled, whole-body engagement in that worship. I had an interesting incident at the door this morning. One of the sisters approached me and said, Pastor Mark, and you remember so many years ago, it was 20-something years ago when you were in this area, you preached a sermon that had to do something with worship.

Vivacity Illustrated: Paul's Passion and the Singing Woman

62:29 And she said, I remember something you said. You said that if you're really worshiping, your stomach muscles ought to hurt when you're done singing a hymn. She said, I took that seriously. And she said, I sing until my tummy muscles hurt.

62:44 That's what we're talking about, dear people. A lively, vivacious worship of God. Not something whipped up and stirred up by somebody up there whipping up the troops, but stirred up by the very truths that are engaging our minds and our hearts. The majesty and the glory of God.

63:05 The wonder of the salvation of Christ. The blessings that are ours in Christ. When you read that eulogy in Ephesians 1 where Paul is composing a hymn of praise to the triune God, I wonder at times if he felt that the quill on his pen, if he were writing it, or the quill on the pen of his secretary was going to melt. If you ask Paul, Paul, read Ephesians 1, 3 and following to us.

63:35 Do you think he would have read it this way? Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, according as, He has chosen us in Him before the...

63:53 Ridiculous! Ridiculous! I try to read the Scriptures out loud and imagine how the one who wrote them would say them. And I can't do it.

64:04 When I come to Ephesians 1, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, according as, He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.

64:28 Peter does a similar thing in the opening chapter of the Epistle. There they are, as it were, engaged in an individual act of worship in these holy soliloquies. But when you get a whole group of people together with that disposition, surely the worship will be vivacious worship. So, I charge you, dear people, to come into this posture of once again listening to the prophet Jeremiah.

Conclusion: Repentance, Not Innovation; Closing Prayer

65:04 Stand. Look. Ask for the old way, wherein is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest to your souls in one of the precious old paths, an integral part, of the good way that leads to rest is that path and that way of the worship of God that can be described as God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Bible-framed, Spirit-empowered, corporate worship. And if it is, it will be marked by purity,

65:52 dignity, and vivacity. But you say, Pastor, what do we do if we don't have those things? Many would say, well, what we've got to do is innovate, create new forms of worship. We've got to establish things that will perk things up.

66:10 No, no. If God doesn't come and empower His own institutions, it's not a call to innovation. It's a call to searching of heart, a call to repentance, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to faith, a call to flee to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. It's a call to cry for a fresh infilling and empowering of the Holy Spirit.

66:35 It is never a call to be innovated. Never a call to think we have the right to concoct things to bring to God which He has not required at our hand. May God grant until the return of Christ that we may be in the presence of the Father and in the presence of the Son and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This congregation will be marked by that worship which is pure, dignified, and full of the life-giving presence of the power of the Holy Spirit.

67:04 Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You've not left us in the dark, that we do not need to grope about and invent and concoct ways of worship that are not in our control. We thank You that You've not left us in the dark, that we do not need to grope about ways to approach You, but Your Word has spoken, and we desire to honor You when we bring to You the things You have required at our hands.

67:45 We're grieved that this night in many places called Christian churches, all kinds of nonsense is being conducted in the name of worship. Lord, break our hearts and come in reviving power upon Your church, that there would be a return to biblical simplicity in the worship of Your people. We look to You to seal Your Word to our hearts by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You now again for all the blessing we've known from Your hand.

68:25 In this weekend together, I thank You again for Your dear people in this place. Bless the shepherds of this place. We pray, Lord, give them ever-increasing measures of wisdom as they seek to guide the flock, ever-increasing measures of unction and power. Bless Pastor Smith as he leaves for this labor in Colombia.

68:51 Watch over his family in his absence. Watch over the flock. Bless the other elders as they pick up the slack in his absence. Bless Your dear people O God, keep them dwelling together in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

69:08 May none give vent to carnal divisiveness and nitpickingness and all of the other sins that can fracture the precious unity that You have given. Lord, bless Your people in this place. Make them a mighty force for the advancement of Your kingdom in this area in which You have placed them. May they become an instrument to dismantle the kingdom of darkness and to establish the kingdom of Your dear Son.

69:42 Hear then our prayers and receive our thanks, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.