The 4 Pillars: Worship
The 4 Pillars of the Church : Worship
Last week we began a new series called “The 4 Pillars of the Church”. We are examining the structure and function of the church based on the New Testament. Here is the illustration to help clarify the picture.
The 4 Pillars
These pillars make up the walls of the church in that these are what the church is all about. Without one of these pillars, the local church does not fulfill its purpose. Notice again, though, the pillars rest on the foundation of Christ. Because of who Christ is, what Christ has accomplished, and what Christ promises to do for eternity, our existence and purpose rest on Him.
And it is the centrality of Christ which brings us to the first pillar. Let’s read the Great Commission again as we explore the nature of worship in the local church.
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The Main Point today is:
True worship acknowledges both the absolute authority of Christ on His throne and His love and grace to indwell believers through the Holy Spirit
“All authority has been given to Me”
All authority has been given to Christ because He is worthy. Because salvation has been bought by Christ, He is worthy of all worship. Like the old hymn says,
Worthy of worship, worthy of praise,
Worthy of honor and glory;
Worthy of all the glad songs we sing,
Worthy of all the offerings we bring.
Last week I mentioned that true worship acknowledges both the absolute authority of Christ on His throne and His love and grace to indwell believers through the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 5, we see the first aspect of this truth. Our worship is tied to Christ and His work, because He is worthy of worship.
Turn with me to Revelation 5.
We Worship Because He is Worthy of Worship : Revelation 5:1-14
5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
We see the elder tell John to not cry because the Lamb is worthy to open the seals. Now, why is He worthy? Because, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has conquered.” Now, how did the Lamb conquer? He conquered sin and death by going to the cross and being raised on the third day. It is the Resurrection of Christ that makes Him worthy of worship. Look down at verses 9 and 10. The creatures and elders sing a song of worship to the Lamb which describes His atoning sacrifice that ransomed people for God.
Christ is worthy of worship because His sacrifice ransomed people for God.
When Jesus said in Matthew 28, “All authority has been given to Me”, He is referring to the authority of heaven. Because Jesus came to us, walked among us, sacrificed His life for us, and was raised on the third day, He has conquered sin and death and now is worthy to open up the seals of Heaven. These seals are the decrees of God set at the foundation of the earth.
Some time back we discussed the use of seals in the ancient world. When laws or decrees were recorded, the scribe would make two copies. The first would be sealed with a wax seal and placed in the archive. Only the king or some high official would be allowed to open it. The second would be placed somewhere for reference and could also be copied to be advertised. If someone wanted to question the authenticity of a copy, they could ask the king to open the original. Or, if some appointed time came, the seals would be opened. The reason for opening varied, but the authority to open them remained with the king, or his appointed one.
Here, we see Heaven operating in much the same way. The Lord had set decrees for what would become of the Earth and His Creation, but no one was found worthy to open the scrolls and fulfill the decrees of God until the Lamb had conquered.
Christ is worthy of worship because He has restored God’s plan of Creation.
Last, look again at verses 13 & 14. All of Creation sings out “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb”. The One who is on the throne is the Lord Almighty, and the Lamb is His Messiah, Christ Jesus. The two are both given the blessing, honor, glory and might forever and ever. The Messiah was both fully human and fully divine, and here we see the human Jesus given the worship of the divine. It is a heavenly vision of the Incarnation mystery.
Remember Philippians 2:5-7 where Paul describes the humility of Christ.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Christ has always been equal with God, because He is God come to us. But, Christ did not exalt himself. He humbled Himself in order to serve the Divine Plan decreed in Heaven. It was through His humility that Christ was able to conquer, and now, He is an example of James 4:10:
James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Christ is worthy of worship because He is Immanuel—God with us.
We Worship Because We are being built for Worship : Ephesians 2:19-22
The second aspect of true worship is that it acknowledged the indwelling Spirit of God’s people. God is not just seated On High awaiting His people to come to Him. He is here among us and in us. Let’s read again Ephesians 2:19-22 as we did last week.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
The Temple of God is not a building. It is God’s people. We are being built into His Temple with Christ as the cornerstone of the foundation. His work is the fulfillment of the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. Upon that foundation, each of us is a single stone shaped and placed in the walls of the Temple God is building on this earth. We are the dwelling place for God.
There is a second century story that became widely popular among Christians similar to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. For the 18th century, most Christians had the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress sitting next to each other on the shelf. In the second and third century, it was the Bible and The Shepherd of Hermas. Local churches would read from the Old Testament and what became the New Testament, but there was also The Shepherd of Hermas which almost made it into the New Testament. The Shepherd is a story about Hermas who lived in Rome and had a visit by an angel who took the form of a shepherd. The story tells of a series of visions he had, but one of the central visions goes with our verse in Ephesians. The angel explains how each believer is a stone that is being shaped for the Tower of God. What makes the story a useful tool for discipleship is the different reasons why a stone may be rejected as first but made useful later.
My point here is simply this: we are being fashioned into God’s dwelling place on earth, and so, our worship must include this truth as well. We are drawn from outside of God’s presence and into the Temple. Then, upon confession of faith and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, we are transformed into a new creation which God indwells. The act of sanctification and discipleship is simply an outworking of this transformation. But, each time we engage in worship, we are doing so because God is within us.
When the Holy Spirit indwells us, we become a place of worship.
If we ourselves are the Temple of God, then the idea of arguing over styles on Sunday morning becomes absolute foolishness. The Sunday morning worship is a reflection of our collective response to God. The question is always “How is God calling us to worship?” It is never “How do I want to worship?”
So, if we worship Christ because of His authority.
And, we worship Christ because of His indwelling presence,
Then, what is our most reasonable act of worship?
Turn with me to Romans 12:1-8.
Romans 12:1-5
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Our reasonable act of worship is to offer our whole selves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Our lives become the act of worship, and worship drives us to become more holy to God. As we consider the indwelling Spirit of God, it should prompt us toward holiness. At this point is where discipleship and worship overlap. Corporate worship becomes a tool for discipleship as we encourage one another towards holiness. Just as Hebrews 10:24 says, “Let us spur one another toward love and good deeds.”
Corporate worship is a time of gathering to encourage one another towards holiness.
When we plan for a worship service, the goal for the service is to point people toward holiness. For the lost, it is a call to repentance and salvation. For the people of God, it is a time of renewal and encouragement to live the next week closer to God and holier than the week before. Worship is an on-going process in our life that coincides with the ongoing process of sanctification. Each of us have different gifts, and each gift is for the betterment of the body of Christ.
Corporate worship is a time to use the gifts God has given us.
The Holy Spirit provides gifts when we are saved. Now, we have physical gifts thanks to genetics and environment, but we also are given spiritual gifts which aid the body of Christ. When we gather on Sunday (or whatever other day we may gather), it should be a time where people can use those gifts for the glory of God. If it is singing, then sing. If it is playing an instrument, then play. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is serving, then serve. If it is giving, then give. Whatever God has gifted you in doing, do it with your whole heart and in service to Him.
As we close today, let us consider the authority of Christ who sits upon the throne of Heaven and is worthy of all worship and praise. And this King of Kings has come down to us, laid down His life for our sins and was raised again conquering sin and death. Now, whomsoever calls upon His Name shall be saved and transformed into a new creation—a new creation in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells. He is seated On High and In Here. He gifts each us our own set of skills and talents that we use for His glory and for the betterment of those around us.
Today, if you have not taken that first step of faith, surrender your heart to the King of Kings. Turn from your rebellion and seek His Eternal Kingdom rather than the passing corruption of this world. Then, look to the Savior to discover your own gifts and talents that He gives you to serve and worship.