The
Wellspring. No.69
Our website address is www.oxleigh.freeserve.co.uk
Understanding is a Wellspring of Life to him that has it. (Proverbs. 16:22)
The Final Part of a four-part series. That which is "dead" is inert, inoperative, and lifeless.
Dead Worship
The expression "Dead Worship" doesn't occur in the New Testament. However, from a careful reading of the N.T. text, one soon realises that when the form (or should I say, lack of form) of worship in Apostolic Christianity is compared with that which pertains to Churches today, the word "dead" is frequently applicable to the modern setting. I should like to start this number by quoting from two sources from a century ago.
"For
"The only worship that our Lord expressly required was private worship, as when He warned His disciples against the Pharisaic ostentation of praying 'in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,' and bade them enter into their 'inner chamber' and pray to their 'Father which is in secret.' (Matt.6:6) . . . .
The incident of the woman of Samaria contains His most
significant utterance on the subject of worship, in which He denies the
peculiar efficacy of sacred places, (Jerusalem claimed by the Jews, Gerizim by the Samaritans) and affirms that, for the
future, worship must be 'in spirit' i.e.internal, not
merely in external functions, and 'in truth', i.e. in accordance with the
nature of God and our true relations with Him as at once 'Spirit' and 'Father'.
That this teaching influenced the Church, rendering the dedication of buildings
superfluous, is apparent from Justin Martyr's answer to Rusticus
(c165 AD) who had enquired, 'Where do you assemble?' Justin said, 'Where each
one chooses . . . because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by
place, but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is
worshipped and glorified by the faithful.' . . . . There were no
buildings for Christian worship before the end of the 2nd century. (See Schaff, Ante-Nicene Christianity, i., p.199)
Our own comments on this subject may best be presented by looking at Exodus
20:24-26, just after the giving of the 10 commandments. "An
altar of earth shall you make unto me, and shall sacrifice thereon your burnt
offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in all places
where I record my name, I will come unto you and bless you. And if you will
make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you
lift up your tool upon it, you have polluted it. Neither shall you go up by
steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not discovered thereon."
How important is this
symbolism. Notice that the Lord said it was HIS altar, not ours. "If you will build ME an altar." "You shall
not go up by steps to MY altar." Burnt offerings were praise
offerings, and peace offerings were thanksgiving offerings. Neither of them
were sin offerings. Hence they represented aspects of worship. The 'sweet
smelling savours' would rise acceptably to the Lord when performed according to
His instructions (in Lev. 1 & 3).
In this passage we are
shown two laws. We may call them the 'laws of the altar', and we need to understand what God
was saying by these laws. But first of all, let us be sure that we understand
what the 'altar' is. Many churches still have an altar. In point of fact, this
is now quite unnecessary. The altar in the O.T. was the PLACE where sacrificial
worship was offered. Wherever the children of God now meet together for
worship, is the equivalent of the altar. What then are these 'laws of the
altar'?
1. NO HUMAN
WORKMANSHIP WAS ALLOWED. No tools were to be used in fashioning the stones. Only those rocks
which could be found lying around were allowed in the building of the altar.
Why was this? Because those who looked at the altar had to be
conscious of GOD ALONE, and not the workmanship and the beautification of man.
In the true worship of God, we may only take those things which belong to the
Lord for the offering up of acceptable praise. Our eyes should not be aware of
man's work, but of God's mercy and goodness.
Distractions abound in many
places of Christian worship. There is often much for the eye to see that
plainly points to the workmanship of man. Church buildings are often constructed
to give the appearance of ecclesiastical beauty. On entry, one may pause to
wonder at the time, patience, and extraordinary skills of the craftsmen. But in
respect of worship, it is disallowed by this first law. God says that it is
'polluted'. This is a strong word, and we may be offended by it, especially if
we have an ' eye for beauty' in the great cathedrals of the world. But the
DIVINE ORDERS are far more important than human evaluation. Does a blind man
offer less praise to God in a cathedral than one who sees man's splendour?
Clearly the Bible favours the blind man's worship MORE than that of the one who
sees, for he is not distracted by man's workmanship. To disobey the law, and
beautify our churches, is classed as POLLUTION. Polluted worship, rather than
being a 'sweet smelling savour,' is more in the nature of a stink. We should
not be doing it.
If we are to have a church building
what then should it be like? Clearly we are not
advocating that which is UGLY. This would be just as much a distraction. The
natural stones that were gathered for the altar were primarily FUNCTIONAL in
their purpose. The eye was focussed upon its USE. Hence a church building
should be FUNCTIONAL, of simple design, and restful interior decoration.
Seating, a table, and a lectern, are the basic necessities.
So much for the eyes; what
about the ears? All Christian worship includes the singing of hymns and
choruses. Paul said in Eph.5:18 "psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
Notice how Paul complies exactly with the spirit of this first law of the
altar. He says that the singing should be FROM THE HEART, and it should be
DIRECTED TOWARDS THE LORD. This should cause us to ask ourselves just how much
of our own worship is FROM THE MOUTH, and directed TOWARDS THE CONGREGATION!
And in these innovative days, we are surrounded by musical instruments by the
score, coupled to electronic gadgetry, together with choirs and soloists for
the enjoyment of the congregation. We should stop and ask ourselves whether we
do these things for the glory of God, and if so, does it comply with the first
'law of the altar' .God will not accept man's workmanship in worship.
Let no one say that we
decry the singing of praises to God, even with the use of instruments, but
rather that we shall have a season of heart searching first to discover our
real MOTIVES for all that we do, and determine whether or not it complies with
God's laws. Worship is not for SELF-GRATIFICATION but for DIVINE
SATISFACTION. We dare not do things our own way. In the flesh we
cannot please God, and we cannot know what pleases God. Only by the revelation
of the Holy Spirit can we truly discern what pleases God. And the Holy Spirit
reveals the mind of God to us through the Holy Bible.
What then constitutes
worship? First of all, the words of our hymns must be addressed TO God, and not
ABOUT God. Quite the majority of Christian hymns and choruses are hymns
of fellowship, and we are at liberty to sing them and enjoy them ourselves.
But few are aware of this fact. Pastors and leaders should instruct their
flocks to differentiate between fellowship hymns and worship
hymns. At a suitable juncture in a service it might be announced,
"Brethren, we have enjoyed singing our songs of fellowship. Now it is time
for us to focus our attention entirely on the Lord Himself in corporate worship.
The words of the next hymn are addressed to God Himself. Let us sing them
reverently, with all due gravity, and from the heart, bearing in mind the great
privilege we have in being able to approach the Throne of God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Let us remember the words of the Psalmist who said, 'Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth' and 'Come
let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.'" (Psalm
29:2, 96:6, and 95:6)
2. STEPS TO THE
ALTAR ARE FORBIDDEN. This law is quite distinct from the first law. The man who ascends
steps to an altar is said to 'expose his nakedness'. What does
this mean? It is a Hebrew expression describing the fallen condition of man
born in Adam. So then, the first law reveals that which 'pollutes the
divine' and the second law reveals that which 'exposes the
human'.
In the passage quoted from
Exodus 20, we read the words, "I will come unto you and bless
you". Herein is the key. The Lord comes down to us. We cannot
in any sense rise to meet him. We do not possess any latent righteousness,
whereby we can ascend towards the Lord to meet Him at some point midway.
Always, and at all times, we must seek the divine condescension of God's
presence. To use a modern expression, man must always stay 'at grass roots
level'. The Lord Jesus then promises that where two or three are thus gathered
in His name, He will be in the midst.
In Lev.1 & 3, where the
regulations concerning the burnt offering and peace offering are given, after
the sacrificial animal is slain, the priest took the blood and dashed it upon
the altar, 'to make atonement' for the offerer. Only then could he be
considered 'suitably attired' to bring gifts of praise and thanksgiving to the
Lord. Symbolically, this means that today none of us can approach the Lord and
bring Him praise and thanksgiving, unless we first of all accept the cleansing of
the precious blood of Christ. In practice, this means that believers should
come together for worship, and first of all gather around His table to break
bread and drink wine in thankful remembrance of
(As an aside here, the MANNER in which we break bread should comply with the first law of the altar. There is no place for sung eucharists, special anthems, and long prayers. It is most improper to do more than the Lord did Himself at the last supper. Our purpose is not to make a 'service' out of the act of remembrance, but simply to say "Thank you" to the Lord Jesus. Our Lord gave thanks, broke the bread, stated its significance, and passed it round to share. Likewise with the cup. Afterwards they sang a hymn. Anything additional is superfluous, and pollutes our worship.)
So much
then for the "laws of the altar". What about this Greek word
PROSKUNEO? Adeney was correct when he spoke
about "physical prostration." Throughout the Bible we meet examples
of where someone falls down before man or God, as a way of accepting his own
inferiority, and complying with the need for reverence and fear of the one thus
worshipped. When David wrote Psalm 72, it was all about his son Solomon.
In verse 11 he said, "all kings shall fall
down before him. All nations shall serve him." And so it
came to pass. But long before his day Joseph was elevated to second place in
the
It would not be wholly
exact to say that men "worshipped" their superiors. A more fitting
word would be "paid homage", as with the foreign kings who appeared
before the Infant Jesus. Even today, if we were privileged to meet the
Queen, men will bow, and ladies curtsey. It is symbolic, but if we
fail to do it we give offence, and insult her majesty. The Lord Jesus said to
the overcomers of the
In what form does
"physical prostration" take place? Wherever it is mentioned
throughout the pages of Scripture it is the same. "Falling on his
face", "bowing the knee", "falling down", are three
expressions found. Never do we find falling backwards, as is the
custom these days in many Toronto-style assemblies. Isaiah had the word for
that. He said that such people "falling backwards will be taken and
snared." (Isa.28:13) In Revelation
There may be times when we prostrate ourselves literally. I can remember such an occasion, and why it happened. But for the most part I feel that the true prostration God is looking for as a continual act is the prostration of our heart. This He sees and accepts. All other genuflexions and bowing in church buildings is superfluous. Kneeling to pray is, of course, always acceptable.
Let us say in summing up that forms of worship that do not comply with the two "laws of the altar", and are not performed "in spirit and in truth", may be classed as dead worship. We have a serious duty to analyse the forms of worship in our churches, and throw out everything that does not meet with the Master's approval. But know that He will have His way with all mankind in the ages to come, when "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil.2:10, Rom.14:11, Eph.3:14, from Isa.45:23)
"Till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise."