Admonitions on Corporate Worship

Introduction

Corporate Worship is designed to humble you by pointing out the depth of your need and enthrall you by pointing to the glory of God’s provision.

—Paul David Tripp

“We all work to convince ourselves that we are better off than we are. We all want to believe that we are not that sinful after all. . . We evaluate ourselves by looking into mirrors other than the one truly accurate mirror, the mirror of the Word of God.”

The foundation to approach God is the remission of our sins.

Hebrews 10:18–19 AV 1873

18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Hebrews A. Let Us Draw near to God, 10:19–22

The decisive factor that enables us to approach God is expressed through the phrase, by the blood of Jesus. This recalls the means by which Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary, that is, his obedient sacrificial death (9:12, 14, 25). And he has obtained the right of entry for his people on the same basis.

Hebrews 10:18-19

Hebrews 10:18–21 AV 1873

18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; 21 and having a high priest over the house of God;

The author of Hebrews is telling these Christians that because of Christ’s payment for sin, they not only have access, that access is unrestricted.

Hebrews 10:20–21 AV 1873

20 by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; 21 and having a high priest over the house of God;

In verses 20-21 the Bible is showing that Christ is the high priest, before God, pleading our case and offering intercession for us. He is not speaking of being over this building or the building of the temple but over the house of God found among the corporate gathering of the children of God.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Hebrews A. Let Us Draw near to God, 10:19–22

The intimate connection between Christ’s entrance into God’s presence and ours (4:14–16; 6:19–20) is underscored as our author further describes this blessing of free access into the heavenly sanctuary. This entrance is a way that Christ himself has ‘inaugurated’ or ‘opened’ for us.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Hebrews A. Let Us Draw near to God, 10:19–22

V. 19

V. 20

A

for free access

A′

a way which is new and leads to life

B

to the heavenly sanctuary

B′

through the curtain

C

by means of the blood of Jesus

C′

that is, through (= by means of) his flesh.

The call to approach God in purity.

Hebrews 10:22 AV 1873

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:19–22

each New-Covenant worshiper should approach God in the conscious enjoyment of freedom from guilt (having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience) and with a sense of the personal holiness that Christ’s sacrifice makes possible (having our bodies washed with pure water). The writer’s words are probably an exhortation to lay hold consciously of the cleansing benefits of Christ’s Cross and to draw near to God in enjoying them, putting away inward guilt and outward impurity.

1 John 1:9 AV 1873

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So God designed a means for us to be confronted again and again with the depth of our sin and the expansive glory of his provision in the person and work of the Lamb, the Savior, the Redeemer—the Lord Jesus Christ. He Ordained that we gather again and again in services of corporate worship and confronted with our true identity as both sinners and children of grace. —Paul David Tripp

We do not have access to the throne by self atonement, but by the precious blood of Christ and our worship should reflect that.

Worshipping God should:

Worshipping God should make us humble

2 Corinthians 3:18 AV 1873

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

A debtor to mercy alone,

Of covenant mercy I sing.

I come with Your righteousness on,

My humble offering I bring.

The judgements of Your holy law

With me can have nothing to do;

My Savior’s obedience and blood

Hide all my transgressions from view.

1998 Sovereign Grace Music

Worshipping God Should make us secure

Romans 8:39 AV 1873

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So God we trust in you;

O God, we trust in you;

When tears are great and comforts few

We hope in mercies ever new;

We trust in you.

2005 Sovereign Grace Music— “God Moves”

Worshipping God should make us grateful

‘God Moves”

Psalm 100:4–5 AV 1873

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.

Worshipping God should make us holy

1 Peter 1:16 AV 1873

16 because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In the presence of a holy God

I’m so small and frail and weak

When I see your pow’r and wisdom, Lord

I have no words left to speak

in the presence of a holy God

There’s new meaning now to grace;

You took all my sins upon Yourself

And I can only stand amazed.

Sovereign Grace Music “In the Presence”

Worshiping God should make us Loving

1 John 4:20 AV 1873

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

John 15:12 AV 1873

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

:20

Worshiping God should make us Mission-Minded

1 Timothy 2:4 AV 1873

4 who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2 Peter 3:9 AV 1873

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Genuine Worship Changes Lives

2 Corinthians 3:18 AV 1873

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Philippians 2:13 AV 1873

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The command to approach God together.

Hebrews 10:23 AV 1873

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:23–25

This kind of confident access to God necessarily entails that believers hold unswervingly to the hope we profess with full confidence in the reliability of God’s promises. The writer revealed in these verses that his concern for fidelity to the faith is not an abstraction, but a confrontation with real danger.

Hebrews 10:24 AV 1873

24 and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:23–25

There was an urgent need for mutual concern and exhortation (toward love and good deeds) within the church he wrote to.

Corporate worship really does confront us with the fact that we are worse off than we thought and that God’s grace is more amazing than we ever could have imagined. —Paul David Tripp

Hebrews 10:25 AV 1873

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:23–25

His readers were not to abandon meeting together, as some were doing. Already there seemed to have been defections from their ranks, though his words might have applied to other churches where such desertions had occurred. In any case their mutual efforts to spur one another on should increase as they see the Day approaching (cf. v. 37; a well-known NT trilogy is included in these vv.: faith, v. 22; hope, v. 23; love, v. 24).

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:23–25

In referring again to the Second Advent, the writer left the impression he was concerned that genuine believers might cease to hope for the Lord’s coming and be tempted to defect from their professions of faith in Christ (cf. comments on 1:13–2:4; 6:9). They must treat their future expectations as certainties (since He who promised is faithful). If they would only lift up their eyes, they could “see the Day approaching.”

Corporate worship is not a thankless duty for the religiously committed. No, it’s another gift of mercy from a God of glorious grace. —Paul David Tripp.