Sermon Cloud

The Regulative Principle III

2 Samuel 2:12-17

Grace Fellowship Church

June 22, 2008

Series 4 Sermon 3

On Proper Biblical Worship

Introduction

This morning I would like to take you to one more Old Testament example of worship gone awry and people receiving the judgment of God because of it. It will be a very familiar story to you because it surrounds the story of Samuel becoming a prophet and a priest. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 2 and we will begin reading in verse 12. My goal this morning is to finish this mini-series on the regulative principle of worship and and briefly discuss the remaining areas of worship that should be included in the worship of God. We could spend weeks on each of these areas of worship and may at some point come back to each one individually but for the sake of time and brevity I would like us to put a bow on this one this morning. 2 Samuel 2 and start reading in verse 12.

¹² Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.(They were also priests.) ¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, ¹⁴ and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵ Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” ¹⁷ Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

In this sacrifice, which most believe is describing the peace offering, the priests were indeed to be presented with meat from the animal. According to Leviticus 7:28-34 the priests were to be presented the breast and the right thigh of the animal. But this was not good enough for these two worthless men who did not know the Lord. They treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. The NASB says they despised the offering and the KJV translates it abhorred. It is the Hebrew word “na-atz.” The way this is used signifies a heart attitude of being disgusted with the things of God and doing what you do that is supposed to be scripturally regulated your own way. They treated the holy as the profane. They decided that they would take the portion that they wanted and overlook what the Law said about what they should take. So what does their father Eli do? He confronts them. Look at verses 22-25.

²² Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. ²⁴ No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. ²⁵ If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

If you remember back a couple of weeks ago I showed you that the second commandment which is the prohibition against false worship came with a curse. Remember that God promised to curse those that hate him and worship falsely to the 3^rd and 4^th generations? We see this coming to pass in the lives of Hopni and Phineas, the two sons of Eli the High Priest.

Eli’s rebuke amounted to nothing. His two sons despised his words and kept doing what was pleasing to them. Instead of putting a stop to this Eli allowed his sons to continue their atrocities and abominations. If Eli regarded the things of the Lord as holy and understood what his sons were doing was evil he should have been willing to die to prevent his sons from serving as priests again. No matter how old and frail he was he should have gathered some people together and said enough is enough boys. You are no longer priests before God. But his rebuke was not heard because it was empty. But the Lord had taken notice and I want you to look closely at verse 25.

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

Did you catch that? The reason they did not listen to their father was because it was the will of the Lord to do what? Surely God would give these men a second chance? Surely the Lord would not act in such a way that he would literally kill these two priests because they were offering worship their own way?

The words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:11 should ring loud and clear in your ears.

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

In the worship of God, when done according to our will and desire, we must understand that the judgment of God will come and when it does there may be no turning back. The New Covenant community in Christ is held to a higher standard than the Old Covenant community. We have more revelation than they had. We have the examples written down for our instruction. Therefore we should search the Scriptures diligently to ensure that we are worshipping in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

So the Lord takes action against the house of Eli for their lack of reverential worship. Look at verses 27-36.

²⁷ And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus the Lord has said, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ²⁸ Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. ²⁹ Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ ³⁰ Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.(Why the word qalal is translated here as lightly esteemed I do not know. But it means to have a curse brought upon you. And here is the curse. Look at verse 31.) ³¹ Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³² Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. ³³ The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. ³⁴ And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. ³⁵ And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.(Which priest do you think that is? The Great High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ.) ³⁶ And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”

What was their sin? It was disobedience and contempt for the prescribed pattern of worship laid down for them in Scripture that they were to be careful to do. And because they did not heed the Word of God or the warning of their father the curse of God was going to be brought down on them and their families. Because of their contempt for the things of God and because they were worthless men their children’s children would suffer poverty and spiritual hardships. Let’s see how it ends.

Look at chapter 3 starting in verse 11.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

The prophet or man of God that came to Eli told him that he would know all of this was coming to pass because his sons would die on the same day. Read chapter 4 with me. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. ² The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. ³ And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”(By the way, good luck charms were popular then too. A lot of people today just have figures of angels around their house and wear crosses around their necks.) ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵ As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, ⁷ the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. ⁹ Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” ¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹ And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. ¹² A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. ¹³ When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. ¹⁴ When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. ¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. ¹⁶ And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” ¹⁷ He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. ²⁰ And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. ²¹ And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

Keep in mind that all of this, the death of Hophni and Phineas and the death of Eli and the unnamed wife of Phineas all met their death because of the false worship that was being offered to God. For those engaged in false worship there is a curse from God. Not to mention this poor child who had to be known as “the glory has departed.” How would you like to take that name throughout your life?

Over the past few weeks we have been looking into the Word of God to find out what we as the people of God are to participate in regarding worship. God in His Word has regulated worship and the examples of what are to occur in worship are for us.

If you recall I gave you a good rule of thumb that I hope is easy to remember. Worship that is God centered and God focused will be Bible saturated. We worship God as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. As Christians our consciences are not bound to creeds or confessions but to the Word of God. The creeds and confession that we hold to as a church are only held because we understand them to be an accurate statement of what Scripture teaches. These creeds and confessions are man’s attempt to summarize the teaching of Scripture and are subject to error. God’s Word, the Bible is without error and the measure by which we do everything we do.

Back to the rule of thumb… If Scripture is our guide then we do only in worship what God has commanded us to do. We do nothing more and nothing less. We do nothing from our own imaginations in order to avoid the possibility that something could be a suggestion of Satan. Therefore in worship, and here is your rule of thumb, we read the Word, pray the Word, sing the Word, and preach the Word.

Last week we looked at the importance of reading the Word of God in the worship service. We saw that not only was it commanded but was for the edification of the church and the warding off of false teaching. If you remember from 1 Timothy 4 there were those in the church with Timothy who were devoting themselves to the doctrine of demons in worship that was unacceptable to God. Timothy was to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture in order to combat these false teachers.

Today I want us to look at three more important elements of Biblical worship. They are prayer, singing and the preaching of the Word.

Let me mention in passing, because at some point I would like to come back to these, that the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to be practiced as well and here is how; “obediently, intelligently, faithfully, reverently, and with godly fear.”

Also I would like to come back to the importance of Christian fellowship as a part of Biblically informed worship also. We do not have a meal together every Sunday just because we love one another and enjoy one another’s company, we do so because it is taken from the example of Scripture as a part of the worship of God. Listen to Acts 2:41 and 42.

⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls . ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The reason we are called Grace Fellowship is because we hold to and teach the doctrines of grace and we obey the biblical call of Christian fellowship. The ordinances are also there in Acts 2:41 and 42 in the mention of baptism in verse 41 and the breaking of bread in verse 42 which probably is a double entendre for the Lord’s Supper and the fellowship meal. More on that later. But let’s focus on the final three aspects of biblical worship. These are prayer, singing, and the preaching of the Word.

1. In the Bible we are instructed that we should pray. We are to pray privately and corporately. We have even been instructed how to pray. In essence all worship really boils down to prayer. The songs that we sing and the Scripture that is read and the sermon that is preached are all offerings to God in worship.

Within the Regulative Principle, all that we do should be done in a proper manner. All should be done obediently, intelligently, faithfully, reverently, and with godly fear. And this includes prayer. Prayer that is flippant, silly, or superficial should not be part of anyone’s prayer life and especially in the corporate worship of God. I want you to turn to 1 Timothy 2:1-3.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior…

First Timothy is all about setting the church at Ephesus to proper biblical order. There were false teachers there introducing destructive heresies and Timothy had the unenviable task of straightening all this out. So his first assignment was prayer and that included corporate prayer. Look down at verse 8.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

The lifting of holy hands is illustrative of praying obediently, intelligently, faithfully, reverently, and with godly fear. Going before the Lord together should produce unity and peace not anger and quarreling. In verse 1 Paul uses four words to describe the type of prayer that he wants the churches to be involved in. Look at verse 1 again.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

Supplications are prayers for our specific needs. The term “prayers” is a general term that emphasizes reverence and worship. Intercessions is a term that either means to throw ourselves into this prayer or to pray for the needs of those outside the community. I think it is both because of verse 2 through 4. And I think it is specifically for the salvation of the lost. Look at verse 2 through 4.

² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Thanksgiving of course is the attitude in which we pray. We are members of the new covenant community and have an abundance of things to be thankful for. And as a side note, it is very clear hear that all public prayer should be done by men. God has ordained the men to come before Him publicly. The ladies are to come before the Lord privately but silently in corporate prayer. Look at verses 9-12.

⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

The Church of God is to express the will and the ways of God and in the will and the ways of God there is submission and the outward expression of that internal reality. Submission is a freeing aspect of corporate worship. All Christian submission is rightly defined as submission to the Lord. The children are to be submissive to their parents in the Lord. The wife is to be submissive to her husband in the Lord. The husband is to be submissive to the elders of the church in the Lord. The elders are to be submissive to one another in the Lord and devote themselves to caring for the spiritual needs of the church. Plus the elders are submissive to the Lord and set the example for submission in their submission to God as they exemplify submission to the Word of God. Christ is the head of the church and He has given us His Word as her authority and we are all to be in submission to Christ.

To practice anything in worship other than what is subscribed in worship is to come out from under the proper biblical authority and live like a rebel. When churches decide to offer worship their way or even the world’s way then it is ultimately in rebellion to the revealed pattern of God’s Word.

Hence many of the movements of the church that has led to much harm are all due to the fact of churches deciding they can do things a better way. Often rebellion is presented to us packaged in evangelistic zeal. The church growth folks will say that they do what they do so more people will be saved. So they invent more and more programs to help people feel more comfortable at church. They babysit the kids for an hour or two so mom and dad can enjoy the service. Worship has devolved to entertainment and preaching to a 20 minute stand-up routine instead of instruction in righteousness.

The Bible, our authority, says nothing of Sunday school. It says nothing about youth groups. It says nothing about invitations. It says nothing of children’s church. Therefore we do not practice those things in our services as well as anything else that is not mentioned.

Back to prayer… We are to pray according to the will of God and the will of God is found in Scripture. So it’s a good idea to pray Scripture. As you read Scripture pray the themes found in the text back to God. We can deal with that later.

2. Let’s move on to singing the Word. I would like for you to turn in your Bibles to Colossians 3:16.

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.

There are here for the Christian three types of songs. First there is the singing of the Psalms. Paul is speaking specifically of the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament. Hymns, most believe, were compositions by Christians set to music aand so were the spiritual songs mentioned in the verse. These songs are words about Christ and for the edification of the people of God and the worship of God. This is why the songs that we sing should express God’s work, His attributes, and His ways. The songs should be about God not necessarily about our experience with God.

Here is where I will probably offend some of you. James Montgomery Boice wrote that many of today’s songs tend to use the personal pronoun “I” an awful lot. “I will celebrate, I will sing to you a new song.” “All that I need is You, Jesus.” Instead of extolling the Lord they talk about our needs and our desires and our worship. We are to adore the Lord in the songs that we sing. There is nothing wrong with the pronoun “I” in a song as long as the song exalts some aspect of God. The song “Amazing Grace” has the pronoun “I” but not in a way that takes away from what is being focused on.

Anything that we sing should be put under the theological microscope to decide whether or not it fits within the framework of what Scripture teaches. We can be very confident that the Psalms always do. Hymns and spiritual songs must be looked over to see if they do communicate the will and the ways of God in a way that worship is offered to God and we are focused on Him and not just our experience. These songs can be sung as a prayer to God or even a testimony to God of His work in our lives. They should always exalt Him and never us.

That is why we don’t sing hymns like, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” or “In the Garden” and many others. If a hymn focuses its attention on us and not on the Savior and His work then it is not worth singing. Songs just like prayer should be Scripture saturated with the themes of Scripture as well as the Scripture themselves.

And there is a way in which these songs should be sung in the worship of God. Turn over to the parallel passage of Ephesians 5:18-21.

¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (How do you know that you are filled with the Spirit? It comes out in the singing in this verse.)¹⁹ addressing(or proclaiming to) one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Paul outlines three ways we are to sing these Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. First we are to sing them with all our heart. That is verse 19. Verse 20 tells us that we are then to do so with an attitude of thanksgiving. And then those who want to argue and fuss over music need to read verse 21 and sing in submission to one another out of reverence for Christ.

In other words the singing is not for your entertainment is for mutual edification and the worship of God. Our forefathers in the faith often would not allow singing in the worship services precisely because they understood how quickly song can get out of hand. We are told to sing to the Lord and we should but we should also be very careful to do so in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

3. Finally this morning I would like to close with the preaching of the Word. I am not going to spend a lot of time on this because if you were against preaching you would not be here. Turn to 2 Timothy 3 and lets begin in verse 12.

¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,(who will be persecuting the one living a godly life?) ¹³ while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

(So as the battering ram of persecution keeps beating on the person striving to live a godly life, Paul instructs Timothy what to do for himself and then in chapter 4 what to do for the people under his watch care. Look at verse 14.)

¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

In the face of persecutors Timothy is called to keep his head and heart in the Scriptures. The God-breathed out Word is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. In other words the Scriptures are not only inerrant and infallible they are sufficient so that the man of God is competent and equipped for every good work. What good work is Paul speaking of here?

Now look at chapter 4 and start in verse 1.

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:

Get the picture here. Paul is calling Timothy to an oath. When you go to court you stand before the entire court and you raise your right hand to God and place your left hand on the Bible and you promise to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What Paul does is similar except he tells Timothy that as his son in the faith he is bringing him before the courtroom of Heaven in the very presence of God and of Christ Jesus and holding him to something based on the very appearing of Christ on earth and the Kingdom that is to come. What is it that Timothy must do or be faced with the judgment of God? Look at verse 2.

² preach the word;

Paul is speaking of what he just told Timothy in chapter 3 about Scripture. He says, “Timothy, here is what you are to have confidence in. Not your ability, not your talents, not even in the quality of people who come to your church. Your confidence is not in the flesh but in the Word of God so preach it.”

When is Timothy to preach the Word? Look at verse 2.

be ready in season and out of season;

In other words preach it when they want to hear it and preach it when they don’t want to hear it. And here is what is to happen in the preaching of the Word. Look at the rest of verse 2.

reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Why does he need to be ready in season and out of season and teach with complete patience? Verse 3 and 4.

³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

When preaching leaves the worship service verse 3 and verse 4 happen. We see that so clearly in our day where the pulpits are no longer aflame and the famine of the Word of God is upon many. How many myths parade themselves as truth in our day. Sincerity of heart has replaced repentance and faith because there is a famine. Church growth has replaced sincere concern about the glory of God and the exaltation of Christ because there is a famine. Yippy skippy and happy clappy have replaced the Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs because there is a famine. Prayer has been replaced by silliness because there is a famine. Scripture reading has been replaced by entertainment because there is a famine. True worship has been replaced by apostasy because of this same famine and the disease of the American church is infecting the church around the world.

So does a pastor just fold up the tent and go home? I mean no pastor that preaches the Word can compete with the Barnum and Bailey church of our day. There is no way that we can draw a crowd like the heretic down in south Florida or Osteen in Houston or Warren in California. Paul, tell Timothy what he is to do! Look at verse 5.

⁵ As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The words of a dying man to a young man called to ministry until it kills him ring clear today. Be sober minded by keeping your heart and head in the Word of God. Endure the suffering that comes your way. Be a herald of the good news of Christ even when nobody wants to hear it. And then the words that strike to my heart because it is impossible to do in the flesh when you have the type of commitment that Paul tells Timothy to have; “fulfill your ministry.”

I don’t know if you know this or not but when I preach it is an offering of worship to the Lord. I want all of you to grow from it and be glad you were here but ultimately God is the recipient of that sermon and it is an offering to Him.

Do you know that while the preaching is going on that you are to be worshipping as well? So how do you worship during the preaching? Turn over to James 1 and look in verse 19.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. ²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Your worship is in your reaction to the Word of God. The worshipper according to James 1:19 and 20 has some wonderful characteristics. First you are to be quick to hear. Then you are to be slow to speak. This implies a mulling over of what was said. In other words you are not quick to dismiss something just because you might not like it at first hearing. Then you are slow to anger. Verse 2o tells us that before we listen we are to be involved in some heart preparation. Look at verse 20.

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness

There needs to be a time of prayer and preparation of the heart before coming under the hearing of the Word. I think the truth of this has been downplayed in our day. We should be seeking the Lord about what will take place in the worship of God on the Lord’s day and that is as much a part of the worship as the prayer, singing, and Scripture reading and preaching. And then in the last part James tells us how to receive the Word. Look at the text.

and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Finally James also says not to deceive yourself as a mere hearer but obey what you have heard.

If we do all these things, the reading of the Word, the singing of the Word, the praying of the Word, and the preaching of the Word we will be doing what God has commanded us for worship and His blessings will be upon us. To go against this brings a curse.

Let me close with the reading from our confession.

5._____ The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and hearing 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;

Let us always worship in a way that pleases the Lord and His blessings will be upon us. I close by reading James 1:25.

²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Let’s pray.