Escential Worship- Part 1

Intro:

There is an interesting story in the book of Haggai where the people are chastised by the prophet for their failure to complete the work on the temple. We find that after the exile they had returned to the land and had rebuilt the alter and had laid the foundations of the temple and had begun keeping the feasts but that they had stopped then that work and had seemingly contented themselves with what they were doing in worship, presumably thinking that because they were being moe faithful in worship than the people had been for some time that they were doing good.

Well, they question we find isn't, how good do we think we are doing in our worship but rather how faithful are we being to all that God has called us to in our worship of Him.

The people seem to have thought something like “Hey we are doing pretty good, we are offering the regular sacrifices and we are celebrating the feasts” but God says, “No, you must pursue worship as I have commanded it and in all the ways that I have commanded it.”

In other words, God commands His people how to worship Him and He expects that they will worship Him in that way and in all and only that way.

Another thing that becomes apparent as you view the overarching narrative of the OT is that worship forms a central element of what God is seeking to do with His people. I think we know this but we need to be reminded of it, God is seeking a people to worship Him as He has called them to do and in doing so glorify His name in the earth!

As God rescues His people from Egypt and turns them into a nation we see that central to this endeavor is worship. The first major undertaking that is given to the people is the construction of the tabernacle and we even find that the plundering of the Egyptians that took place at the exile was primarily about providing the people with the needed supplies for an ornate and beautiful tabernacle not just enriching them as a nation.

We also see in the story of Nadab and Abihu the fact that when God’s people set out to worship Him they are to do it as He commands and are not given what we might call freedom of expression in worship. This is not to say that there weren't those who were given creative gifts to aid in the worship of God but rather that the creativity given to those responsible for leading the people in worship was to be channeled into the right and proper avenues of worship that God had prescribed.

We must worship God as He has commanded that He is to be worshipped! This is one of the central thematic elements of the OT.

Now one of the projects that I have wanted to do for some time then is to pick up the worship that we see in the NT and trace it back to its roots in the Old. This is what I want to endeavor to do with you all over these next few weeks.

You see when we realize the essential role that worship plays at the center of what God is calling His people too we ought to give a great deal of our time and energy to making sure that we understand what God is calling is to as we gather together for worship.

The God of the OT is the same God as the God of the NT and yet it seems many people don't connect what we see and learn about worship in the Old to what we pursue in the New. Many, like the people of Israel after the exile seem to content themselves with what ever expression of worship is working for them without ever asking the question, “am I worshipping God as He has commanded that He be worshipped” “Is my worship being conformed to God’s command?” No, many people in our day are more content to ask themselves what they would like to get out of the weekly gathering for worship rather than what God desires from us.

I am convinced that a big part of this is because many believe that there was a fundamental shift in what worship is after the death and resurrection of Christ and the establishment of the church. The temple is done away with, it is in fact destroyed, the sacrifices are no longer offered and we even see that the keeping of the feast days is no longer an expectation. Can we say then that there is any essential connection between the worship of the OT and the worship of the new?

I will maintain that there is and that we will see that rather than being a new thing that comes as a result of Christ that the worship that we are now to pursue in accordance with the commands of Christ in scripture is actually a continuation and fulfilment of that which is offered in the old.

Now our primary text for these messages is going to be Acts 2:42

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Here, as Luke records the growth and expansion of the early church immediately following the events of Pentecost we find that upon giving this first evangelistic sermon that there were added to the number of the disciples about 3000 souls who were baptized and joined to the fledgling church. Immediately after recording this event Luke gives us this little section of text that describes what this initial body of believers, the first New Testament assembly looked like, what it was that characterized this group of believers and to sum it up he says that they had devoted themselves to these 4 things: the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers.

Now we are going to take each of those headings in turn starting with the devotion to the apostles teaching and then in the next couple of weeks seeing how each of these elements develops in the early church and more importantly how each of these elements is really a continuation and fulfilment of the worship that had been commanded for the people of God in the OT.

Before we move into the apostles teaching though there are two important points that I think need to be made about how the church developed and how it is that we are to understand these elements of worship within the church.

Development

The first point is that the church did indeed develop much in those early days. I remember an adventures in Oddesy episode in which the characters were transported by the imagination station into those early days of the church because the characters had been experiencing some difficulties with their own church and had been talking with Mr. Whittaker about how they longed to be a part of that early church because they had sort of romanticized and idealized that period.

Now it is true that we ought to seek to establish our worship on the word of God and that we ought to look to the early church for patterns and precepts that we put into practice in our day, this is one of the things that I appreciate so much about the assembly commitment to being New Testament assemblies, we don't drift from the New Testament principles just because culture would press us to change the way we worship to make it more relevant to a contemporary audience. We acknowledge that God is the only one with the authority to establish how it is we are to approach him in worship and so we are to seek to be obedient to Him alone in our worship!

We must take care, however, to also be honest with what we see in the early church and realize that for the first decades of the church there was a lot of development as these faithful men and women worked out how they ought to apply the teaching of Christ and His apostles to their gathered worship.

We need to strike a balance between realizing that we must take the entirety scripture into mind when seeking to establish our worship including seeking to understand how it was that the early church developed while also not assuming that because we see development in the early church that we are somehow given creative license to incorporate elements into our worship that would have been foreign to these early believers and are never commended or commanded in scripture.

The Local Church

The second point that I want us to consider briefly and it is a point we will come back to with each of these elements that we consider is that when we are seeking to be faithful in applying these texts about worship and the church we must see that the church develops locally!

Here is what I mean. I believe that many people excuse a failure to seek faithful local fellowship in all of the ways that scripture teaches because of a misapplication of the truth of a universal church.

Now, let me explain that because I don't want you to miss understand what I am saying.

In the New Testament and throughout Church History what we see develop is an understanding that what was commanded and taught about the church was to be recieved and implemented at the local church level. All of these elements that we see mentioned in Acts 2:42 were to be implemented and administered at the level of the local church.

The langue that we find in the NT about the body of Christ, while it is true that every member of the church Universal is a member of that body, it is understood that the language of the body finds its main expression as local bodies of believers develop and live out the reality of what it means to be the body of Christ.

However, in our day, as a result of the ability first to travel large distances quickly and then the development of the radio and TV and internet which gives folks quick and even immediate access to these elements far outside of the local gathered assembly of believers there has been a sharp decline in the priority placed on maintaining a healthy relationship with a local body as an individuals primary church family.

You don't have to look any farther than the epistles themselves to see that each is often written directly to a local church to seek to teach and correct that local body and that as Paul moved around and planted churches it was his pattern to preach the gospel and then organize the newly minted believers in a local body with Elders who were responsible for their care, feeding, and leadership.

Now I am not saying that there is no such thing as the church universal and that we shouldn't seek to have fellowship with those outside of the local assembly to which we have joined ourselves but I am saying that we ought to give priority to that local body and that what we learn about the right and proper worship of God is always organized around the local body and thus it ought to be given priority in our lives.

The Apostles Teaching

Now though we do need to actually get into our text and develop the first “devoted to” that we see here. That the church was devoted to the Apostles teaching.

This first element we find is foundational to all of the others and is what the church is organized around.

While there is much that can be understood about the function of the apostles teaching and the preaching that developed in the gathered worship of God’s people as an outflow of that apostolic ministry my primary aim this morning is to show that what these people devoted themselves too is not something new; that one of the long standing elements of the worship of God is to gladly and joyfully submit one’s self to the preaching of the Word.

If we do a little scanning of scripture we will see that the ministry of the Word has long held a position of prominence in the gathering of God’s people.

As we consider the ministry of the Word in the OT I want us to see three primary points of continuity, we will see continuity in the function of the ministry, the warnings associated with failures in this ministry, and in the intended results of this ministry.

The Function

First, to consider the function of the ministry of the Word in the OT we need to stop in Acts 15:21 here we find the early church wrestling with questions about what parts of God’s law applied to the new gentile converts and James the brother of Jesus says:

Acts 15:21 ESV

For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

We see here that James acknowledges that when the people of Israel met in their synagogues every Sabbath they heard the Law, that is the OT scriptures read to them and we can also gather from other passages that this law wasn't just read but that something similar to our preaching ministry had developed because, for example, we find Jesus when He reads from the Isaiah scroll in the synagogue giving teaching on it and we also find Paul going into the synagogues and teaching as he went from city to city on his missionary journeys.

Now you would be hard pressed to find a clear path that was followed in the OT to arrive at what would become the synagogue, there aren't specific laws given about how to set up and develop these things but we can gather from the scriptural evidence that they did indeed form an that they formed around the tribe of Levi.

Have you ever thought about how interesting it is that God not only set aside one family in Israel to be the high priestly family but He also set aside a whole tribe to be dedicated to the Lord and His work. Now there were only so many tasks in the tabernacle and there were only so many things that needed carried, what were all of the other Levites to do?

Well, we find that they were to be the ones who taught the people!

When Moses gives his final blessing to the people in Deuteronomy 33 he says of the tribe of Levi:

English Standard Version Chapter 33

10  They shall teach Jacob your rules

and Israel your law;

The Levites were dispersed among the tribes of Israel specifically so that they could be the ones who taught the people the Law of God and lead them in obedience to it.

We read in the book of Nehemiah when Ezra read the law to the people who had returned from exile that while he was reading:

English Standard Version Chapter 8

the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

The ministry of the word among the people of God is intended to speak the word with clarity and give the sense, in other words to interpret the word to the people specifically so that they can understand it and to help them apply it to their lives!

In this we find the functional nature of the ministry of the word. Those who have charge of this area of ministry are charged with learning and understanding the scriptures themselves and then explaining those scriptures to those over whom God has given them ecclesiastical authority.

We see this same function carried over into the NT ministry of the word and highlighted in 2 Timothy.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Teach the truth, preach the truth, rebuke, reprove, exhort, these are what is to be the function of the Ministry of the word.

Warnings

We also can briefly consider that the ministry of the word is accompanied by warnings should the minister fail to do his job properly or should the hearers fail to heed the word that is spoken.

I am getting ready to preach through Malachi in our church in Unalaska and it is in this book in chapter 2 that we find this warning and curse upon the priests and Levites who were to have charge of the teaching and instruction of the people:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

This is from the period of time following the exile but if you read through the OT you will find a constant drum beat of the failure of the Levites to properly instruct the people in the Law of the Lord and as a result we find that the people are often prone to drifting into error.

We see similar warnings in the NT:

James 3:1 ESV

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

1 Timothy 4:16 ESV

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

There is a sober mindedness that needs to attend those who have responsibility for the teaching of the word and a care to observe both their own way of life and their doctrine to ensure that they are teaching the people what is right and true.

There is also a responsibility placed on the people to hold their elders accountable to teaching well. We see this in the fact that in the NT the local congregation is given the responsibility to make sure that their leaders are conforming to the standards set forth by the apostles and we, for example, see the Bereans praised for their seeking to make sure that what Paul preached to them was in line with scripture.

The point is that the ministry of the word is essential in the worship of the people of God and a failure on the part of the minister and on the part of the people to be devoted to it in the way the Bible commands will lead to disastrous results for the people of God.

Results

Lastly we see that the ministry of the word in both testaments is intended to produce the same results.

Quickly we see the results of being a people saturated in the word in the Old Testament when we read in Deuteronomy 6:

English Standard Version Chapter 6

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As we have already seen God never intended for these people to do all of this on their own, God had provided them with an entire tribe in Israel who was to be devoted to ensuring that the law of God, that the holy scriptures were taught correctly among them. This teaching ministry would then become the basis for talking about the word when they were sitting in their houses and when they were walking along the way and for the teaching of the word to their children.

It really brings a whole new light to these verses when we realize that behind all of this is a divinely initiated preaching and teaching ministry that would, if it had been done correctly, would have been the driving force for all of these.

I would maintain that nothing has changed. God still intends that we do these things, we are to be saturated in His word and His word ought to occupy a significant space in our conversation with others, even more so now that we have the blessing of seeing what for these people were yet types and shadows as we see the fullness of the OT revealed in the person and saving work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

We ought to pursue a high view then of the ministry of the word in our corporate gatherings for worship. Often times today the sermon portion of the worship service is skimped over and you will find plenty of folks tapping their toes because they have other things to get to on their Sunday.

Now speaking of that we are nearly at a close ourselves but I have a few admonitions to close with today:

Closing

As we close I want you to think about that term that Luke uses to describe the church’s commitment to these elements of worship; devoted!

The question as we examine each of these elements of the life and worship of the early church is, can you be described this way? Are you as an individual devoted to these things and perhaps just as importantly are you corporately, as a gathered body of believers devoted to pursuing these things together?

This first element, the devotion to the apostles teaching, to the ministry of the word is foundational to all of the others because it was this ministry in the word that both brought the gospel to these believers and brought them into the kingdom and people of God and it was the continued ministry of the word that instructed them how to live faithful to God and how to be formed into the body of Christ in each place in which they had been called.

For those responsible for the ministry of the word there is a call here to take seriously this commitment to exposit the word, to providing the plain sense to the people so that they can seek to live these truths out.

To the people there is an equal challenge set that you come to the local gathering expecting just this; to the taught the Word! This is not an element of worship to be sped through and minimized. Come expecting to be taught the Word!

And lastly, as we will continue to see there is an expectation that you will seek to see these elements develop most prominally in your life together as a local assembly of God’s people. We can certainly grow in our understanding of God’s word in our own reading and study, I would never seek to minimize that at all, however the primary place in which we are to be growing in our knowledge and understanding of the word is in the local assembly and this growing together in your knowledge and understanding of the word will form the foundation for all of your growing together as the body of Christ in this place.