WCF 21.5 WLC 10 (Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day)

PREFACE: We continue to define what are the key forms of religious worship is on the Sabbath day as we are gathered as church… Last week we discussed the importance of prayer for others. This week we cover the following:

5a. The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear(bullet# 1)(12); the sound preaching(bullet# 2)(13) and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience to God, with understanding, faith and reverence(bullet# 3)(14);

1 - godly fear: meaning the Scriptures read aloud every Sabbath for all assembled with intention for those who hear it obey & keep it—and not to take it lightly—because it is the Word our profoundly magnificent God. Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

And what does this look like on Sunday?

2 - the sound preaching: meaning based on accurate biblical truth—not subjective perceived truth.

In order to do that, our pastors, Pallen and Pastor Joshua, need to study the scriptures they are sharing and proclaiming deeply while relying on the Holy Spirit! By that they are able to do what Paul instructs in 2 Timothy 4:2 which is to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” It is not a matter to be taken lightly.

But that is only half the coin. The other half… (NEXT)

3 - and conscionable hearing(meaning ACTIVE HEARING) of the Word, in obedience to God, with understanding, faith and reverence:

This is of significant importance: to understand that you have a responsibility as saints of Christ’s church—His body—to James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Did you catch that? Coming to church to simply relax & listen to God’s Word being preached and perhaps judge (what a good or what a bad sermon)… without any intention to obey what we hear is DECEIVING (fooling) ourselves into thinking we are doing well as a church when in fact we are in grave danger of plain disobedience!

As God looks on those who are humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at His Word in reverent fear (Isaiah 66:2)

So may we be marked with humility and godly fear to listen for Jesus’ command as the Holy Spirit speaks by the preaching of His Word.

Religious worship also includes… (NEXT)

5b. singing of psalms(bullet# 1) with grace in the heart(bullet# 2)(15);

1 - psalms: songs & hymns devoted to God. And often expresses our emotions and faith to God… (NEXT)

2 - with grace in the heart: meaning a transformed heart from darkness of sin to light of Christ as the true gospel of Christ is revealed to you by His Spirit causing your heart to spring forth with thanksgiving and joy.

And what does this look like? Ephesians 5:19 “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” … (NEXT)

5c. as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ(bullet# 1); are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God(bullet# 2)(16):

1 - sacraments: baptism and Lord’s Supper as acknowledging and remembering Jesus’ promise to those that belong to Him by His death and resurrection… (NEXT)

2 - are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: although there is nothing ordinary about it in the eyes of the world which has no faith in Christ, but for those renewed in Christ, the expectation is a life of full devotion and prayers to the teachings of Christ by His Word in our fellowship… (NEXT)

5d. beside religious oaths(bullet# 1)(17), vows(bullet# 2)(18), solemn fastings(bullet# 3)(19), and thanksgivings upon special occasions(bullet# 4)(20), which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in a holy and religious manner(bullet#5)(21).

1 - oaths: binding promise between humans in swearing by God’s name, signifying God as witness.

2 - vows: a voluntary promise you make with God thereby binding you to keep it and serious if you were to break it as God will hold you accountable to keep it. Ecclesiastes 5:5 “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.” But the purpose is to show your deep devotion and commitment/loyalty to God.

3 - solemn fastings: fastings devoted for holy purpose. Eg., repentance (Joel 2:12 ““Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;” )

4 - and thanksgivings upon special occasions: e.g., like when there is a testimony of God’s deliverance from a desperate situation… (NEXT)

5 - which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in a holy and religious manner: meaning with a grateful heart in godly fear (reverent awe) that is acceptable worship to God (Hebrews 12:28)

12. Acts 15:21 “For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”” ; Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

13. 2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

14. James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” ; Acts 10:33 “So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”” ; Matthew 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” ; Hebrews 4:2 “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” ; Isaiah 66:2 “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

15. Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” ; Ephesians 5:19 “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” ; James 5:13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”

16. Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” ; 1 Corinthians 11:23–29 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” ; Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

17. Deuteronomy 6:13 “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.” ; Nehemiah 10:29 “join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes.”

18. Isaiah 19:21 “And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.” ; Ecclesiastes 5:4–5 “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”

19. Joel 2:12 ““Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;” ; Esther 4:16 ““Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”” ; Matthew 9:15 “And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” ; 1 Corinthians 7:5 “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

20. Psalm 107; Esther 9:22 “as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.”

21. Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,”

Q 10. What are the personal properties of the three persons in the Godhead?

a. It is proper to the Father to beget the Son(3),

To clarify, beget here does NOT mean that God the Father produced or created… God the Son. This would imply that Jesus had a beginning.

But this word is being used as a derivative of the Greek- “monogenes”:

mono: only one, solely unique

genes: kind or class… to say that the Only Begotten Son is uniquely the Son of God who shares the same kind(divine nature) as the Father as co-equal.

And the word beget is the present tense of “begotten” to imply that the divine essence of the Son of God is eternal and continuous with no beginning or end—not a past event.

So naturally as it is proper to the Father to beget the Son, it is equally proper… (NEXT)

b. and to the Son to be begotten of the Father(4),

But why say it another way. Isn’t is redundant?

It is to emphasize and distinguish the Father and the Son as uniquely different persons in the Trinity by their timeless and constant relationship—and not a person with multiple personality disorder… Meaning God the Father has ALWAYS been begetting the Son and the Son has ALWAYS been begotten by the Father.

As John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NEXT)

c. and to the Holy Spirit to proceed from the Father and the Son from all eternity(5).

Meaning that the Holy Spirit aka the Spirit of Christ aka the Spirit of Truth(which is God) has been eternally radiating from the Father and the Son by their eternal loving relationship.

This is what Christ declares the Spirit John 15:26 ““But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

One analogy(although not perfect) that has helped me understand the Trinity is with this is with the illustration of the Sun of our solar system, given by John of Damascus, a Syrian monk (7th century). I just modified it to “star” to make it less confusing since you have the “Sun” star, and then the “Son” of God.

If you think of the Father as the unchanging star, then God the Son is the light ray that has always been emitting from the star and the Holy Spirit is the heat that has always radiated from the Sun. You can’t turn the star on and off right? A star that no longer emits light or heat is a dead star. So you can’t have one exist without the other 2... unless you have a dead star. Yet the star, the light rays, and the radiant heat all have different functions while of the same entity—of a unified nature. I hope this illustration helps…

3. Hebrews 1:5–6 “For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”” , Hebrews 1:8 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”

4. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” , John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

5. John 15:26 ““But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” ; Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!””

Our Father God Who Art...Hallowed be Thy Name

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done...

Give us this day our daily bread...

And forgive us our sin...

As we forgive those who sin against us...

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen