WCF 21: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day

 By Rev. William Boekestein - Posted at Place for Truth:

Modern worship, even by some definitions, has more to do with feelings than form. What matters, it seems, is not the quality of the offering but the affection of the worshiper. Actually, both are important. We must worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23). But attitudes do not trump actions. However sincere you are, if you invite a polka band to my birthday party it was for you not me.

What we offer in worship matters. And, as much as we prefer personal expression over rigid rules, there are actually regulations and limits in the right worship of God. To understand the propriety of rules in worship we must grasp our fundamental calling to worship the triune God.

The Duty of Biblical Worship

We don’t need the Bible to reveal a God who is worthy of worship. We know it from nature. The reason people worship idols or feel an unexplainable reverence in the presence of beauty is because nature reveals God’s invisible attributes (Rom. 1:19, 20). The best human characteristics—like love, trust, service, and honor—tell us that there is a God from whom these impulses flow. The yearning to worship God can only be suppressed with difficulty.

But natural reason doesn’t tell us the acceptable way to worship; this is why worship practices differ so wildly among humans. To worship God worthily we need the Bible. Our imaginations are eager to “improve” biblical worship to our own credit. So God warned against making a “visible representation” of himself. “God did not offer himself to the artists.”[i] Sadly, many churches look at worship as an opportunity for self-expression and unsuspecting people are drawn in. But God sets the rules for worship. We must worship only the Triune God, through his appointed mediator Jesus Christ, in the ways he has outlined in his word.

The good news is we can worship anywhere. We don’t need an earthly holy place. So it isn’t quite right to “view our church buildings as sanctuaries;” our sanctuary “is no longer on earth, but in heaven.”[ii] That is no an inconsequential truth. “Christ having entered into the upper sanctuary, he alone continues to the end of the world to present the prayers of his people, who are standing far off in the outer court.[iii] We have no earthly sanctuary. But we come in Christ to a heavenly sanctuary. This is why true worship can happen outside of a church building. And it must. While corporate worship is essential for setting the rhythms of our lives we should also worship “daily in families, and privately [as] individuals.”

God is. So we must worship him. And not according to our imaginations but according to his unchanging word. So what should worship look like?

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