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“They Will Reverence My Son”

February 23, 2022 / Leave a comment

In a story told by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, He said in Mark 12:6:

Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.

In the story, obviously this son is a representation of Jesus Christ Himself and so communicates the purpose of God the Father sending His Son to the earth: “They will reverence my son.” They don’t reverence the son in the story and this is why they deserve punishment. Jesus says in verse 9:

What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.

The “lord of the vineyard” in the story represents God the Father. I understand this to be a message to Israel, but it is one to anyone does not respond to the God the Son with reverence. Should not all of us assume “reverence” is a necessary aspect of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

.The Greek word translated “reverence,” a verb, is entrepo, which according to BDAG means “to show deference to a person in recognition of special status,” including with that the following references: Mattthew 21:37, Mark 12:6, Luke 18:2, 4, 20:13,m and Hebrews 12:9. BDAG provides another translation of the word in other contexts, which means “to cause to turn (in shame), to shame.” Examples given are 1 Corinthians 4:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:14, and Titus 2:8.

In the story Jesus told, the husbandmen should have been ashamed of themselves for what they did to the representatives of the lord, whom we know represent the Old Testament prophets. Feeling shame can be a part of this reverence unto the Son. Not reverencing the Son is not reverencing the Father. This is how someone could take believing in God. If someone does not believe in the Son, He does not believe in God.

How can someone reverence if there isn’t such a thing as reverence or no way to reverence? Going along with the BDAG meaning “recognition of special status.” How does someone recognize someone for having special status? Is there a way to do that? Is there a way not to do that? A culture where nothing is sacred anymore won’t know how to reverence anything, let alone God. This, of course, completely messes up its people’s values, because they won’t know how or whom to give special status.

Churches today very often do not reverence the Son with their music. Their music isn’t sacred. It is worldly, fleshly, and lustful. The husbandmen thought the lord, the vineyard, the representatives in the story, and the Son were all about themselves. Because of how important they thought they were, they couldn’t reverence the Son.

This reverence of the Son relates to repentance. It relates to true faith in Jesus Christ. When churches won’t reverence the Son, they are also undermining the gospel. People cannot imagine or know the true Son of God, when churches do not treat Him with reverence.

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 8 of 8

October 3, 2014 / 3 Comments on Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 8 of 8

Fifth,
some further musical styles and sounds are not appropriate because they are not
reverent and solemn. The worship of the
sanctuary is specified constantly as solemn and reverent praise of God, and
never once designated as entertainment of men, children, or any other group.

M. R. DeHann wrote:

Remember also
that the bread on the table with the frankincense was the only thing placed
upon the table [in the Tabernacle] as the food of the priests. . . . [A]ll that
is necessary for faith and life . . . [t]he sustaining food of the believer . .
. is the Word of God, both the living Wor[d] and the written Word . . . [with]
the frankincense, the Holy Spirit. . . . There were no sauces and spices and
pickles and olives and fancy salads or pie à la mode; just bread. We have
drifted far, far away from this simple formula today. Instead of believers
coming together to fellowship around the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life,
without all the extraneous paraphernalia, and just to feed on His Word, we have
too often turned our services into a carnival. The Word has been pushed aside
into a secondary place. Instead, we have an hour and a half of preliminaries, with
singing of silly choruses and empty spirituals, and joking and laughing and
horseplay. Entertainment has taken the place of worship . . . [and]
preaching[.] . . . [Finally we have] a fifteen-minute sermonette, highly spiced
and sensational, in order to keep people awake after all of the wearying
entertainment. And then we wonder at the worldliness and the shallowness of
Christians today. We have added pickles, olives, radishes, and highly seasoned
extras, and have relegated the Word of Life to a side dish, which few will
touch. . . . The assembly of the saints should be first of all a time of
worship and devotion and feeding and feasting upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and
not a matter of shallow entertainment. (pg. 94, The Tabernacle, M. R. DeHaan.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
1955)

Bozo the Clown
playing a kazoo may be entertaining, but it is not solemn or reverent. Nor are the many songs written to entertain
the young or the spiritually immature, rather than to offer God holy worship,
solemn or reverent. Scripture never
specifies a special category of “children’s music” which, allegedly exempt from
the qualities of reverence and solemnity that accurately represent Jehovah, can
simply be fun and frothy. Nor can
honesty conclude that the solemn and majestic heavenly praise of Revelation 4-5
sounds like a country-western, Southern Gospel, or bluegrass hoedown. The overwhelmingly rural, simple, and country
people that filled the land of Israel offered God in worship the profound,
deep, and rich words of the Psalter with the “solemn sound” (Ps 92:3) that He
commanded. Both the lyrics and style of
music must accurately represent God—whether or not the holy worship of the
sanctuary fits in with popular culture, or is attractive to the majority of the
population, is an indication of whether a land is ripe for judgment or
blessing, but not an indication of what God’s people should bring before the
Holy One who rules in heaven. Is the
music you offer to the Lord solemn and reverent?

Sixth,
the worship of the house of God is formal, not informal, in keeping with the
holiness of He whose house it is. The
garments worn were modest, for the exposure of nakedness in the dwelling of the
King could lead to immediate death (Ex 20:26; 28:42). Furthermore, the garments
worn by the priests when they entered Jehovah’s presence were costly and
formal, designed “for glory and for beauty”—they were the best that Israel had
(Ex 28). Their apparel properly represented
the reverend and holy One into whose presence they were coming. They did not wear the apparel appropriate for
toiling in the fields (cf. Zech 3:5) when they appeared in the house of God. In the like manner the royal priesthood of
the Lord’s blood-bought people should wear garments that are clean, modest, and
formal in the sanctuary. Unkempt, dirty,
or casual garments may be appropriate when repairing one’s car or cleaning a
pigpen, but the reverence and solemnity appropriate for appearing in the presence
of the dread King of heaven requires otherwise.
The members of the Lord’s church make a statement of what they think
about God when men come into His presence in neat suits and ties and women come
in formal and modest dresses. When they
do not fear to come into His presence dressed like hippies or hillbillies they
likewise make a statement—one of lightness and irreverence. Do your clothes represent the reverence God
requires of you both inwardly and outwardly?

Seventh, those who truly delight themselves
in the Lord (Is 58:14) will consider the principles in Isaiah 58:13 on the
Lord’s Day. The Master commands His
people, “turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a
delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and . . . honour him, not doing
thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.” Those who revere their holy Redeemer will set
apart the entire Lord’s Day for His glory, not only one hour every Sunday
morning. As they will honor the entire
Lord’s Day, they will be especially careful to guard themselves when they enter
the house of God, recognizing that they are entering a holy place (Ecc 5:1).[1] They will get to church on time—indeed, they
will arrive early. Because they long to
come into the presence of God, they will do whatever is in their power to never
miss services (Ps 42:1-2), that they might see His power and glory in His
sanctuary (Ps 63:1-2). They will be very
quick to hear and obey the preached Word (Jam 1:19-24), knowing that Jehovah
looks to the believer who has a poor and contrite spirit and who trembles at
His Word (Is 66:2). They will sing with
reverence and grace in their hearts to the Lord. They will approach the Lord in corporate
prayer with the solemn gravity due to His exalted majesty and with a deep
awareness of and humble repentance for their own sinfulness—a practice that
they will maintain also in private and in family prayer. They will not say Amen flippantly, but say it solemnly and reverently, considering
its signification as an address to God.[2] They will speak words of godly edification
one to another instead of discussing the vanities of the world, as people who
know that the Lord hearkens and hears them, and records their words in His book
of remembrance (Heb 10:24-25; Mal 3:16).
They will take with extreme seriousness their identification in baptism
with the name or character of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Mt 28:19) and be
scrupulous and careful to participate in the communion ordinance worthily,
recognizing it for what it is—the holy memorial and remembrance of their Lord,
Jesus Christ (1 Cor 11:29). They will
honor Him by treating His Person, Word, and worship with weightiness instead of
flippancy and lightness.[3] Those who delight in the Lord in this manner
show Him solemn reverence. Do you do so?

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
The
idea behind the command, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God”
(Ecc 5:1), is “[i]n going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect,
reverent feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in
entering a temple” (JFB) as a place that is holy ground (Ex 3:5; Josh 5:15).

[2]
Brakel
explains:

Amen is a Hebrew word which
means truth. Sometimes it is used singularly, and sometimes it is
repeated: Amen and Amen. At times it is used singularly and at
times with an addition: Amen, Hallelujah; Amen, Oh Lord; Amen, the Lord do
thus.

(1) Sometimes
it is approbation and a subscribing to what has been said. . . . Deut 27:15 . .
. Neh 8:6. This approbation indicates that we comprehend the matter, as well as
that we wish and desire it. . . . 1 Cor 14:16. (2) Sometimes it is expressive
of a strong desire for a matter, and a desire that it be thus and come about as
such . . . Jer 11:5. (3) Sometimes it signifies veracity, certainty, and
steadfastness—upon which one can rely and trust in . . . 2 Cor 1:20.

The believing
supplicant who has prayed everything with both his understanding and his heart,
acknowledges the veracity and certainty of God’s promises, that He will hear
prayer[.] . . . The supplicant has prayed with his heart, knows that the
matters he has prayed for are according to God’s will, believes the goodness,
omnipotence, and veracity of God, expects the fulfillment of his desire
(subjecting himself to its time, manner, and measure), and longingly adds to
this: ―Amen, so be it; it shall most certainly be true [Rev 22:20]. (pgs.
588-589, The Christian’s Reasonable
Service, vol. 3, Wilhelmus á Brakel. trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R.
Beeke. [Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation
Heritage Books, 2007])

[3]
For,
after all, the word group for honor
in the Old Testament (dEb;Dk) is that of weightiness
or heaviness, while to treat someone lightly (llq/hlq) is to dishonor
him (cf. 1 Sam 2:30; Ex 20:12; Deut 27:16; Pr 12:9).

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 7 of 8

September 26, 2014 / Leave a comment

Fourth,
the lyrics of all songs offered to the Lord in His worship must be “the word of
Christ” (Col 3:16). They must either be
the perfect songs of the Psalter—every psalm, and every line of every psalm of
which ought to be sung in the church of God—or hymns that are God’s Word in the
same sense that proper preaching is the preaching of the Word.[1] Every uninspired hymn must accurately
represent the content of Scripture. Singing false doctrine is nothing less than
to lie to God, and to do so in worship that has access into heaven itself. That every word of every hymn offered to God
accurately represents the teachings of Scripture is no little matter. It is the difference between pleasing the
holy and reverend King of glory and misrepresenting His nature, blaspheming His
name, profaning His worship, and thus breaking the first four of the Ten
Commandments. It is the difference
between accurately representing the “honour of his name,” “mak[ing] his praise
glorious,” and so bringing a blessing from heaven (Ps 66:2), and dishonoring
His name or character, turning His praise into sacrilege, and bringing from
heaven Jehovah’s wrath and curse. Do you
offer God psalms and hymns that accurately represent who He is and so make His
praise glorious?

Classic Baptist hymn writers were
extremely careful to ground the statements of their hymns in Scripture. For example, Benjamin Wallin (1711-1782) in
his Evangelical Songs and Hymns of
1750 annotated every stanza and virtually every line with copious references to
Scripture, believing that “Care should be taken that they [the hymns] be
perfectly agreeable to the Holy Testaments” (pg. 47, Arnold, The English Hymn). He followed, in this method of annotation,
Baptist Joseph Stennett (1663-1713), who had acted similarly in his hymnal,
although not as profusely. The New Baptist Psalmist and Tune Book
edited by the famous Landmark Baptist J. R. Graves stated: “Particular attention has been paid to the doctrinal sentiments of the Hymns[.] . .
. In this collection there will be found no hymns that teach the doctrine of
baptismal remission or ritual efficacy, no praises to be sung to dead relatives
or friends, nor are children taught to pray to the angels, or to desire to be
angels. . . . What we sing in our worship should agree with the doctrine we
preach and profess” (pg. 3).

Furthermore,
while hymns with choruses are not wrong, as Psalm 136 has a refrain, the vast
majority of the psalms—like the vast majority of old hymns—have no chorus. The introduction of hymns with consistently
repeated refrains around the second half of the 19^th century grew,
not out of a careful study of Scripture on worship, but out of a desire to make
songs that children would easily find attractive. These children’s songs then found their way
into the corporate worship of the whole church body:

The material that accomplished that purpose we call gospel
songs, sometimes “gospel hymns” . . . grew out of Sunday School music . . . a
new type of song . . . with a catchy, easily remembered melody, simple harmony
and rhythm, and always a refrain. It should not surprise us that when those
Sunday School children reached adulthood, they were ready listeners for more
songs with much the same musical characteristics[.] . . . preacher Dwight Moody
(1837–99) and singer Ira Sankey (1840–1908) popularized [such music for
adults]. (pgs. 111-112, Mr Moody and the
Evangelical Tradition, Timothy George.
New York, NY: T & T Clark,
2004)

Whenever singing a song with a regular refrain, extra
effort must be made to be sure that one is closely paying attention to,
wholeheartedly meaning, and offering to the Lord the words every time they are
sung.

What is more, since the psalms not only
glory in the Lord’s salvation (Ps 9:14; 13:5) but also regularly warn of hell
and judgment (Ps 9:17; 11:6; 55:15), and the imprecatory psalms prophesy of the
awful judgments which will fall upon the ungodly (Ps 69:22-28; 137:7-9), so
modern hymnals likewise must sing not only of heaven but also of hell and
judgment. A hymnal such as Asahel
Nettleton’s Village Hymns for Social
Worship does well to have extensive numbers of hymns not on heaven alone,
but also on judgment and the eternal damnation of the wicked. Hymns such as the following ought to be sung:

All ye who laugh and sport with death,

And say, there is no hell;

The gasp of your expiring breath

Will send you there to dwell.

When iron slumbers bind your flesh,

With strange surprise you’ll find

Immortal vigor spring afresh,

And tortures wake the mind!

Then you’ll confess, the frightful names

Of plagues, you scorn’d before,

No more shall look like idle dreams,

Like foolish tales no more.

Then shall ye curse that fatal day,

With flames upon your tongues,

When you exchang’d your souls away

For vanity and songs. (Village Hymns, #30)

When the unconverted heard the “new song” of the Psalter
their reaction was not enjoyment, but “fear” (Ps 40:3d), and only as a result
of such fear do they come to trust in the Lord (Ps 40:3e). Ungodly men are not converted because they
enjoy hearing Christian music—they are converted because of a miraculous Divine
work has been done in their hearts by the Sovereign God through the hearing of
the Word (Rom 10:17). If the
unregenerate are not afraid and convicted of their sin when they attend the
worship of the saints, but instead find a relish for it in their carnal hearts,
something is very wrong.

Finally, since the psalter has no special
section of dumbed-down psalms for children, little ones ought to be taught to
sing hymns that have the rich content that the youth in Israel sang in their
inspired songbook.

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
Note
the resources on psalm-singing and traditional hymn-singing at
http://faithsaves.net/ecclesiology.

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 6 of 8

September 20, 2014 / 4 Comments on Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 6 of 8

Furthermore, the
Biblical requirements of regeneration and uprightness limit who is to be set up
as an example in public worship.
Pastors, song leaders, choir members, and all others involved in any
leadership capacity in the corporate worship of the holy Trinity must be
regenerate and holy people, as both the song writers and worship leaders in the
psalter were godly men such as David and Asaph. Vocal or musical skill is certainly
valuable—to “play skilfully”[1] is a command alongside of
“sing” (Ps 33:3; cf. 1 Chr 15:22; 2 Chr 34:12)[2]—but it is by no means
sufficient. Holy and skilled men—not
merely skilled men—are to lead the congregation of the saints in their worship.[3]

All of the
psalms were written by “holy men of God” (2 Pet 1:21). Does this fact teach the church that she
should not sing hymns composed by unregenerate and wicked men, any more than
churches should have the sermons of such men read from their pulpits? David Cloud notes:

All of . . . [the] influential
contemporary worship musicians are radically ecumenical and the vast majority
are charismatic in theology. . . . All are enemies of a separatist Biblicist
stance. . . . Contemporary Christian Music is a jungle of end-time apostasy . .
. led by “another spirit” (2 Cor. 11:4). . . . There is something deeply and
inherently wrong with music that is comfortable in the midst of the most wretched
heresy and apostasy. And that is exactly
where Contemporary Christian Worship is most at home. (pgs. 1-2, Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians,
David Cloud. Port Huron, MI: Way of Life, 2014)

Indeed, if choir or individual “special music” cannot be
done skillfully, it ought not to be done at all. In any case, congregational singing in the
church—which is far easier to justify from the commands of Scripture than
having one or a few sing and the rest listen—is at the very least equally “special
music” to such solos, duets, and choral singing. Indeed, in light of the ease with which one
can fail to personally offer the words of such music to the Lord while
listening to it, the argument can with much greater ease be made that
congregational song is definitively more special than “special music.” Simply playing music without words in
worship, even if the sound itself meets Biblical criteria, cannot be justified
in the assemblies of the Lord—none of the psalms, and nothing else in
Scripture, provides warrant for instrumentation without words in the worship of
God (short musical interludes between sections of a song with words being a
justifiable exception with exegetical support from the signification of Selah, [LXX, diapsalma, “musical interlude” (LSJ)] Ps 3, 4, 7, 9, etc.)

It is
important to note that the singing of solos in the church of God is a recent
practice popularized by D. L. Moody’s associate Mr. Sankey:

Mr. Sankey’s . . . solo singing in public worship is
quite a new thing . . . The words are plain and pleasant, but nothing
extraordinary; often not to be compared
to those of our well-known church hymns.
The music is generally pretty and pleasant, but little more” (pgs.
475-476, A Century of Gospel-Work: A History of the Growth of Evangelical
Religion in the United States, W. F. P. Noble. [Philadelphia, PA: H. C. Watts, 1876])

The innovations of Moody and Sankey were not received
without opposition; for example, the great Southern theologian R. L. Dabney,
discussing both the newness of solo singing in the evangelical church and the
reduction in theological content in Sankey, noted:

We conclude with a word touching the office of Mr.
Sankey, “singing the gospel.” The Jewish temple service had its chief singer.
It will be a curious result if [Moody and Sankey’s] modern movement should
develop this function into a new and prominent branch of the ministry
unauthorized by the New Testament. Singing is unquestionably a scriptural means
of grace, and good singing is a very efficient one. But in order that the
church may retain the blessing of good singing, the privilege which Mr. Sankey
and his imitators claim, of importing their own lyrics into God’s worship, must
be closely watched. . . . The most that can be said of Mr. Sankey’s developments
. . . is . . . that they exhibit no worse traits than a marked inferiority of
matter and style to the established hymnals of the leading churches. The most
danger thus far apparent is that of habituating the taste of Christians to a
very vapid species of pious doggerel, containing the most diluted possible
traces of saving truth, in portions suitable to the most infantile faculties
supplemented with a jingle of “vain repetitions.” What shall we gain by giving
our people these ephemeral rhymes in place of the immortal lyrics of Moses,
David, Isaiah, Watts, and Cowper, so grand in their rhythm and melody, so pure
in taste, and above all, so freighted with compact and luminous truth? “The old
wine is better.” (Pgs. 94-95, Discussions
by Robert Lewis Dabney: Evangelical, Robert L. Dabney, ed. C. R. Vaughan,
vol. 2. [Richmond, VA: Presbyterian
Committee of Publication, 1891].)

Third, it is clear that worship is not to conform to
culture or to men’s desires, but is to be distinctly different, set apart, or
holy.[4] Believers must regulate their praise by
Scripture alone (Deut 12:32) and recognize that “strange fire” in worship is
everything “which He commanded . . . not” (Lev 10:1)—whatever is not commanded
in worship is forbidden.[5] The Lord warns His people not to be snared
into looking at what the wicked do, and then saying, “even so will I do
likewise” (Deut 12:30) in worship. On
the contrary, Scriptural worship is to be distinctly set apart and different
from that of heathen, unbelieving culture.
Consequently, the “contemporary worship” philosophy—which is nothing
less than taking the sound and style of this world system, which is under the
control of Satan (Eph 2:1-3), and offering it to God—is an abomination in His
holy sight. Musical styles created by
the world to glorify the devil, lust, and every sort of wickedness—such as rock,
jazz, blues, country-western, pop, and rap[6]—can
by no means be acceptable to that holy King who demands purity, solemnity, and
reverence in His worship. True church
growth does not come by offering the Head of the church false worship, nor by
turning the Father’s house into a house of merchandise through marketing and
promotion techniques (Jn 2:16), but through the miraculous power of the Holy
Spirit working through the Word as unified, holy, self-sacrificial disciples
boldly preach the gospel to every creature.
Consequently, pleasing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so that
heavenly fire and supernatural efficacy attend the proclamation of the gospel,
will lead to far more genuine church growth than will blaspheming the Father
and grieving the Spirit through false worship and man-made marketing
techniques. Godly music will drive
demons away and please the Holy Spirit, while ungodly music will summon demons
and cause God the Holy Ghost to depart (1 Sam 16:23; cf. 1 Chr 25:3). Do you regulate your worship by Scripture
alone, and consequently reject all worldly and fleshly worship?

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
NG´…gÅnŒ …wby¶IfyEh, “Do well in playing a stringed instrument.”

[2]
It
is noteworthy that the specific commands for skill are for those leading in
singing (1 Chr 15:22) and those playing instruments (2 Chr 34:12; Ps
33:3). In congregational song every
person is to sing, whether he has a good voice and vocal talent or not.

[3]
What
place, then, can unconverted and ungodly children have in a “children’s choir”
that is set before the church? How can
those who are not holy because they are yet unconverted—and who are not skilled
because they are children—lead the church in worship? Such children may be cute and funny as they
sing out of tune, and having them sing before the congregation may get parents
who themselves hate the Lord Jesus but care about their children to visit
services. But are cuteness and funniness
a substitute for obedience to the regulations of worship set forth by the holy
Head of the church?

[4]
After
all, the root idea of the sanctify/holy
(vdq/a‚gioß) word groups in the Old and New Testaments is to be set apart, to be distinctly different.

[5]
That
is, the Regulative Principle of worship, concerning which see
http://faithsaves.net/ecclesiology.

[6]
Musicians, marketers, and students of
these types of music know that their songs are ungodly and against Jesus Christ
and the Bible. Rock stars and those who
study such music openly declare that its goal is “to change one set of values
to another … free minds … free dope … free bodies … free music” (The Rolling Stone Interviews,
1971). “Rock music . . . is
anti-religious, anti-nationalistic and anti-morality” (John Lennon). “‘Rock-and-roll,’ itself a blues-music term
for sex, suggested rebellion and abandon as much as it did a new style of music
when it first jarred adult sensibilities in the 1950s” (U.S. News & World Report, October 28, 1985). “If any music has been guilty by association,
it is rock music. It would be impossible to make a complete list, but here are
a few of the ‘associates’ of rock: drug addicts, revolutionaries, rioters,
Satan worshippers, drop-outs, draft-dodgers, homosexuals and other sex
deviates, rebels, juvenile criminals, Black Panthers and White Panthers,
motorcycle gangs, blasphemers, suicides, heathenism, voodooism, phallixism,
Communism in the United States (Communist Russia outlawed rock music around
1960), paganism, lesbianism, immorality, demonology, promiscuity, free love,
free sex, disobedience (civil and uncivil), sodomy, venereal disease, discotheques,
brothels, orgies of all kinds, night clubs, dives, strip joints, filthy
musicals such as ‘Hair’ and ‘Uncle Meat’; and on and on the list could go
almost indefinitely” (Frank Garlock, The
Big Beat). “Sex, violence, rebellion—it’s all part of rock ‘n’ roll” (John
Mellencamp, Larson’s Book of Rock). “Rock ‘n’ Roll . . . is . . . demonic. . . .
A lot of the beats in music today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo drums.
If you study music in rhythms, like I have, you’ll see that is true . . . I believe
that kind of music is driving people from Christ. It is contagious” (Little
Richard). “[T]he sudden mingling of so many different tribes produced new
variations [of music] like candomble, santeria, and vodun [demonic religion] .
. . and out of this severing came jazz, the blues, the backbeat, rhythm and
blues, and rock and roll—some of the most powerful rhythms on the planet. . . .
It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when I awoke to the fact that my
tradition—rock and roll—did have a spirit side, that there was a branch of the
family that had maintained the ancient connection between the drum and the gods
[demons]” (Mickey Hart, drummer for The
Grateful Dead). “Pop music revolves around sexuality. I believe that if
there is anarchy, let’s make it sexual anarchy rather than political” (Adam
Ant, From Rock to Rock). “Many rock performers grew up with country
and western music, and its characteristic forms and sounds are close to the
ensemble sound of rock—instrumental combinations and techniques are closely
parallel. . . . The division between country-and-western and urban pop has now
blurred almost to vanishing” (William J. Schafer, Rock Music). “As a country
artist, I’m not proud of a lot of things in my field. There is no doubt in my
mind that we are contributing to the moral decline in America” (Jacob Aranza, More Rock Country). “The overwhelming theme of country music is
triangle relationships. In addition, lost loves, broken homes, and the
glorification of liquor frequently pervade the lyrics of the songs” (David
Cloud). “The origin of the word ‘jazz’
is most often traced back to a vulgar term used for sexual acts. Some of the
early sounds of jazz were associated with whore houses and ‘ladies of ill repute’”
(http://www.jazzhistory/introduction).
“‘Jazz’ (also called ‘jass’ in its early days), like ‘rock and roll’ a
couple of generations later, had its origins as a slang term for sex; the
word’s risqué roots no doubt boosted its popularity in that age-old search by
hormonal, rebellious young people looking for edgy, exciting new ways to
express themselves and, if at all possible, worry their parents as well” (Larry
Nager, Memphis Beat). For more information, and original sources
for these quotations, see “The Character of Rock and Roll Music,” “Country
Music,” “Is There a Connection Between Rock Music and Voodoo or African
Paganism?” “Jazz,” and other articles on music in the database at http://wayoflife.org, published by Way of Life
Literature. Quotes above are taken from
the Fundamental Baptist CD-ROM Library,
ed. David Cloud. London, Ontario: Bethel
Baptist Church/Way of Life Literature, 2003).

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 5 of 8

September 12, 2014 / 17 Comments on Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 5 of 8

V.
Applications of the Fact that Reverence and Solemnity

Are
Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship

The fact
that reverence and solemnity are essential aspects of Biblical worship has
tremendous consequences for the practices of Christ’s earthly
congregations. First, it is evident that
“worship” that is not solemn and reverent, but is superficial, foolish,
thoughtless, vapid, flippant, trivial, and irreverent is in the highest degree
offensive to God. The Father seeks for
true worshippers, and “they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:23-24). Jehovah delights in His true children crying
“Hosanna to the Son of David” in His temple (Mt 21:15), but those who do not
worship Him in spirit and truth, but instead profane and defile His worship, He
destroys (1 Cor 3:17). False worship is
idolatry, and idolaters will be tormented with fire and brimstone forever and
ever (Rev 21:8). The Lord Jesus hated
false worship so much that at both the beginning and end of His earthly
ministry He violently drove out from the temple those that profaned the pure
worship of the Father (Jn 2:13-17; Mt 21:12-17; Mr 11:15-18), so that “his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up” (Jn 2:17).
The Lord Jesus was so zealous for pure worship that He made a whip and
beat out of His Father’s house those that defiled it (Jn 2:15), In this
jealously for holy worship Christ was in full agreement with His Father, who
sent fire from heaven to burn up those that failed to worship properly (Lev
10:1-2) dealt in pitiless fury to slay utterly those that profaned His temple
(Eze 8), and eternally torments in hell those who offer Him false worship (1
Cor 6:9-11; Rev 14:9-11; 21:8).

The
facts above are most relevant for those who are members of true churches—the
kind the Lord Jesus started in the first century—historic Baptist churches.[1] Only such churches have the special presence
of the holy Trinity in their midst (cf. Mt 18:17, 20). What fearful judgment such churches should
expect from He whose eyes are as a flame of fire if they corrupt pure worship
(cf. Rev 2:5, 16, 20-23; 3:1-4, 14-18)! However,
other religious organizations in Christendom, from the liturgical and
hierarchical to the worldly megachurch, even if they do not possess the special
presence of Christ found in His true congregations, nevertheless will face the
judgment Christ will pour out on all idolaters.
Therefore let all the world take heed to the Biblical mandate for
reverent and solemn worship, and flee with horror from everything that deviates
in the least from such worship.

Second, note
that it is absolutely essential to have grace
if you are to worship or serve God acceptably.
Only through grace can you serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear—consequently, God commands you to have grace (Heb 12:28).[2] Your prayers and praise must be with grace in
your heart if they are to be acceptable (Col 3:16). The only way of true access
to the Father is through the Son and by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18; Col 3:17; 1
Tim 2:5; Jn 14:6), so if you are unconverted, you are utterly unable to worship
God and offer Him true service. Only
regenerate people will enter into the New Jerusalem to worship God forever and
ever, and only regenerate people are those true worshippers that can worship
the Father in spirit and truth now (Jn 4:23-24). They only have fellowship with the Father and
the Son through the Spirit (1 Jn 1:3; 2 Cor 13:14). If you are unconverted, you cannot please God
in any way, you have no Mediator to bring you into the Father’s presence, no
Spirit to assist you in your coming, and consequently you face the awful and
immeasurable wrath of God against you for your sin in Adam, your sin nature,
and your innumerable personal transgressions (cf. Rom 8:8-9; Tit 1:15-16). Ought you not immediately turn from your sin
and flee to Christ, that you might receive mercy through His blood, the
imputation of His own perfect and everlasting righteousness to your account so
that you can stand perfect before the legal tribunal of God, and the freedom
from the bondage of sin under which you so awfully lie (Mr 1:15; Jn 3:16; Rom
5:1)?

Are
you regenerate? Then sensibly recognize,
and all the more because your formerly blind eyes have been opened, and your
formerly insensible heart of adamant has been softened, how necessary grace is
for your to worship your Triune Redeemer acceptably! Do you not know by experience the truth of
Paul’s statement: “I find then a law,
that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Rom 7:21)? Do you not see your indwelling sin the more
awfully active the more you seek to approach the Lord in true reverence and
godly fear? Is it not especially active
when you engage in your especially holy duties?
How, then, can you worship the Lord in solemnity and reverence, when sin
clings to even your most zealous and holy thoughts and deeds, so that you
deserve nothing more than to be thrust into the depths of hell for the most
holy act of worship you have ever done in your life? “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O
Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps 130:3). What, then, is the answer? Grace—“But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” (Ps
130:4). You have in the Lord Jesus a
perfect High Priest who bears the iniquity of your holy things, that you may be
accepted before Jehovah (Ex 28:38).[3] Then let grace
be of infinite sweetness to your soul, the rejoicing of your renewed heart, and
your constant dependence in all your acts of personal and corporate worship
before your Lord.

What
is more, you must not only be regenerate, but also have an upright heart, for
if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear your prayers or
accept your worship (Ps 66:18). As a
believer, you are individually the temple of God (1 Cor 6:19-20), even as the
corporate assembly is His temple also (1 Cor 3:15-20; 1 Tim 3:15). You must be a clean and holy temple if your
individual worship is to be acceptable.
You must individually be a clean and holy temple the whole week if your
part of corporate worship on the Lord’s Day is to be acceptable (Is
1:13-15). If you cannot lift up holy
hands (1 Tim 2:8) because your hands are stained with sin, or stained with the
blood of the unconverted to whom you refused to give the gospel (Ac 20:26-27;
Eze 33:8), do you think the Lord will be pleased with your worship? Can you pray reverently to the King of heaven
because you have a regenerate and upright heart?

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
See
“Bible Study #7: The Church of Jesus
Christ” at faithsaves.net/Bible-studies/, and also the resources at
faithsaves.net/ecclesiology/ for the identifying marks of true churches.

[2]
That
is, “let us have grace” is a hortatory subjective, which “is used to urge someone
to unite with the speaker in a course of action upon which he has already
decided” (pg. 464, Greek Grammar Beyond
the Basics, Wallace), and which consequently bears an imperatival
notion—for only through grace can men worship acceptably with reverence and
godly fear: e¶cwmen ca¿rin, di∆ h∞ß latreu/wmen
eujare÷stwß twˆ◊ Qewˆ◊ meta» ai˙douvß kai« eujlabei÷aß.

[3]
Cf.
“Christ our High Priest, Bearing the Iniquity of our Holy Things,” Horatius
Bonar (http://faithsaves.net/soteriology).

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 4 of 8

September 5, 2014 / 7 Comments on Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 4 of 8

IV.
Reverent and Solemn Worship Befits the Character of the Church as God’s Earthly
Temple and Befits the Access Saints Have Into Heaven Itself

Reverence
and solemnity are also essential aspects of Biblical worship because the
church, the assembly of baptized believers,[1]
is the very temple of the living God. As
God dwelt in the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament
tabernacle and temple, so does He dwell in each of His congregations now.[2] Each true church is “an holy temple in the
Lord” and “the house of God,” each church member being a living stone in the special
dwelling place of the Triune God (Eph 2:19; 1 Tim 3:15; 1 Pet 2:5; 1 Cor
3:11-15).[3] “Tremble, thou
earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob” (Ps
114:7); “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD:
will ye not tremble at my presence[?] (Jer 5:22). The Lord is a great King—He must be
worshipped with reverence in His holy temple, the church. Those who fail to do so should fear, because
God will destroy them: “If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy”
(1 Cor 3:17). “Be wise now therefore . .
. be instructed[.] . . . Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his
wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust
in him” (Ps 2:10-12).

Not only
is the church the earthly dwelling place and sacred temple of the living God,
but also both the individual Christian and the corporate Christian assembly
have access into heaven itself.[4] Heaven is a place of infinite holiness and
reverence, and so the worship of the saints on earth must be solemn and
reverent, a worship that befits their union with the worship of the saints in
heaven. New
Testament believers in their worship have “boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus,” that is, into “heaven itself” (Heb 10:19; 9:24). They “draw near . . . the holiest” (Heb
10:19, 22; cf. 12:22-23) through Christ and “have
access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph 2:18), entrance into the very
heavenly presence of their holy and heavenly God and Father. Consider carefully the description of worship
in Revelation 4-5:

¹ After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be
hereafter. ² And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a
throne was set in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. ³ And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and
a sardine stone: and there was a
rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. ⁴ And
round about the throne were four and
twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed
in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. ⁵ And
out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. ⁶ And before
the throne there was a sea of glass
like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind. ⁷ And the first beast
was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had
a face as a man, and the fourth beast was
like a flying eagle. ⁸ And the four beasts had each of them six
wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they
rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come. ⁹ And when those beasts give glory and
honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, ¹⁰
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and
worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, ¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they
are and were created. ¹ And I saw in the right hand of him that sat
on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven
seals. ² And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who
is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? ³ And no
man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon. ⁴ And I wept much, because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. ⁵
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of
Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the
seven seals thereof. ⁶ And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. ⁷ And he came and took
the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. ⁸
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. ⁹
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open
the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; ¹⁰
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
earth. ¹¹ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; ¹² Saying
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. ¹³
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing,
and honour, and glory, and power, be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ¹⁴
And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four
and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and
ever.

Is not this inspired description of heavenly worship
ineffably and immeasurably solemn, reverent, and holy? But the astonishing truth is that Revelation
4-5 depicts not the worship of heaven only, but that of earth also![5] When the saints open their mouths in praise
and prayer, they are uniting with this holy and heavenly chorus of worship
before Jehovah’s throne! How necessary,
then, is the highest solemnity and reverence in the earthly worship of the
people of God!

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
The
texts that refer to the church as the Lord’s Temple do not refer to a
universal, invisible “church” but to the visible congregation of the
saints; cf. “A Word Study Demonstrating
the Meaning of the Word Church, Ekklesia, and Consequently the Nature of
the New Testament Church” at http://faithsaves.net/ekklesia-church/.

[2]
That
is, each assembly is not just the hieron,
but the naos of God:

Naos, naou, ho (naioœ to dwell), the Septuagint for he®kaœl, used of the temple at Jerusalem,
but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy
place and the Holy of holies (in classical Greek used of the sanctuary or cell
of a temple, where the image of the god was placed, called also domos, seœkos, which is to be
distinguished from to hieron, the whole temple,
the entire consecrated enclosure; this distinction is observed also in the
Bible; see hieron, p. 299a) . . . used
specifically of the Holy place, where the priests officiated: Luke 1:9,21f; of
the Holy of holies . . . Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; in the visions of
the Revelation used of the temple of the “New Jerusalem”: Rev. 3:12; 7:15;
11:19; 14:15,17; 15:5f,8; 16:1,17; . . .
metaphorically, of a company of Christians, a Christian church, as dwelt in by
the Spirit of God: 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; for the same reason, of
the bodies of Christians, 1 Cor. 6:19. [O]f the body of Christ . . . John 2:21,
and according to the Evangelist’s interpretation in 19 also. . . . [T]o
hieron and ho naos differ, in that the former designates the whole
compass of the sacred enclosure, embracing the entire aggregate of buildings,
balconies, porticos, courts (viz., that of the men or Israelites, that of the
women, that of the priests), belonging to the temple; the latter designates the
sacred edifice properly so called, consisting of two parts, the “sanctuary” or
“Holy place” (which no one except the priests was allowed to enter), and the
“Holy of holies” or “most holy place” . . . which was entered only on the great
day of atonement by the high priest alone. (Thayer on nao/ß and i˚ero/n)

ÔIero/n (=templum) is the whole compass of the sacred
enclosure, the te÷menoß, including the
outer courts, the porches, porticoes, and other buildings subordinated to the
temple itself; ai˚oi˙kodomai«
touv i˚erouv (Matt. xxiv. 1.) But nao/ß (=‘aedes’), from nai÷w, ‘habito,’ as the proper habitation of
God (Acts vii. 48; xvii. 24; 1 Cor. vi. 19); the oi•koß touv qeouv (Matt. xii. 4; cf. Exod. xxiii. 19), the German
“duom” or “domus,” is the temple itself, that by especial right so called,
being the heart and centre of the whole; the Holy, and the Holy of Holies,
called often aJgi÷asma (1 Macc. i. 37;
45). This distinction, one that existed and was acknowledged in profane Greek
and with reference to heathen temples, quite as much as in sacred Greek and
with relation to the temple of the true God (see Herodotus. i. 183; Thucydides,
iv. 90 [ta¿fon me«n ku/klwˆ peri« to
i˚eron kai« ton new»n e¶skapton]; v.18; Acts xxix. 24, 27), is, I
believe, always assumed in all passages relating to the temple at Jerusalem,
alike by Josephus, by Philo, by the Septuagint translators, and in the N. T.
(Trench on i˚ero/n, nao/ß)

[3]
The
“house of God” is terminology for the special dwelling place of God in His
place of corporate worship, and is overwhelmingly temple terminology (Gen
28:17; Jud 18:31; 20:18, 26, 31; 21:2; 1 Chr 6:48; 9:11, 13, 26–27; 22:2;
23:28; 24:5; 25:6; 26:20; 28:12, 21; 29:7; 2 Chr 3:3; 4:11, 19; 5:1, 14; 7:5;
15:18; 22:12; 23:3, 9; 24:7, 13, 27; 25:24; 28:24; 31:13, 21; 33:7; 34:9; 35:8;
36:18–19; Ezra 1:4; 2:68; 3:8–9; 4:24; 5:2, 13–17; 6:3, 5, 7–8, 12, 16–17, 22;
7:24; 8:36; 10:1, 6, 9; Neh 6:10; 8:16; 11:11, 16, 22; 12:40; 13:7, 9, 11; Ps
42:4; 52:8; 55:14; Eccl 5:1; Dan 1:2; 5:3; Zech 7:2; Matt 12:4; Mark 2:26; Luke
6:4; 1 Tim 3:15; Heb 10:21; 1 Pet 4:17).

[4]
Note
the tremendous presentation of this Biblical truth by John Owen in “The Nature
and Beauty of Gospel Worship,” elec. acc. http://faithsaves.net/ecclesiology.

[5]
Without
getting into a detailed exposition of Revelation 4-5, the unity of Old and New
Testament saints pictured in the 24 elders, the specific references in the
chapters to the unity of this heavenly worship with that on the earth
(5:13-14), and the agreement of the rest of Scripture that the saints on earth
enter into heaven itself in their worship (Eph 2:18; Heb 9-10) make the unity
of heavenly and earthly worship indubitable.

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 3 of 8

August 29, 2014 / Leave a comment

III.
Where Does Scripture Speak of Solemnity?

The
relevant texts[1]
in the King James Bible on solemn
worship are found in several groups. The
first[2]
refers to the public gathering for worship as a “solemn assembly”:

Lev. 23:36
Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth
day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made
by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye
shall do no servile work therein.

Num. 29:35
On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no
servile work therein:

Deut. 16:8
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be
a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.

2Kings 10:20
And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed
it.

2Chr. 7:9
And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the
dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

Neh. 8:18
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of
the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day
was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

Is. 1:13
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons
and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is
iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

Joel 1:14
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and
all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and
cry unto the LORD,

Joel 2:15
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

Amos 5:21 I
hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn
assemblies.

The second[3]
refers to “solemn feasts,” “solemn assemblies,” or specific gatherings for
worship as “solemnities”:

Num. 10:10
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the
beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt
offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to
you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

Num. 15:3
And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a
sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts,
to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock:

Deut. 31:10
And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in
the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

2Chr. 2:4
Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it
to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual
shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths,
and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This
is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

2Chr. 8:13
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of
Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts,
three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in
the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

Is. 33:20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see
Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down;
not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the
cords thereof be broken.

Lam. 1:4 The
ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her
gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is
in bitterness.

Lam. 2:6 And
he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden:
he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn
feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the
indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

Lam. 2:7 The
Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up
into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in
the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.

Lam. 2:22
Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in
the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have
swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

Ezek. 36:38
As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so
shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I
am the LORD.

Ezek. 45:17
And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat
offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the
sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare
the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace
offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.

Ezek. 46:9
But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts,
he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the
way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall
go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the
gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.

Ezek. 46:11
And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an
ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give,
and an hin of oil to an ephah.

Hos. 2:11 I
will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her
sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

Hos. 9:5
What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the
LORD?

Hos. 12:9
And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee
to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.

Zeph. 3:18 I
will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who
are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

The third[4]
similarly refers to “solemn feasts” or “solemnit[ies]”:

Deut. 16:15
Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the
place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in
all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt
surely rejoice.

Psa. 81:3
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast
day.

Is. 30:29 Ye
shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept;
and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain
of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

Nah. 1:15
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for
the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Mal. 2:3
Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even
the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with
it.

Finally, Psalm 92:1-3 indicates that it is a good thing to
praise the Lord, not in public worship only, but also in private, with a
“solemn sound”[5]:
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing
praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the
morning, and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings,
and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.” A “solemn sound” befits both the public
worship of “the Sabbath day” for Israel (Ps 92 title) and the Lord’s Day for
the church, and also the individual believer’s worship every morning and night
(Ps 92:2).

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
In
Genesis 43:3 the verb “to protest,” intensified with the infinitive absolute,
is rendered “solemnly protest” (·dIoEh
d∞EoDh);
the KJV margin reads “protesting protested.” A similar use appears in 1 Samuel 8:9’s
“protest solemnly” (‹dyIoD;t
d§EoDh).
These two texts are the only ones other than those referenced below that
employ a form of solemn in the KJV.

[2]
The
Hebrew noun h∂rDxSo is employed in these verses. The word occurs in the Hebrew OT in Lev
23:36; Num 29:35; Deut 16:8; 2 Kings 10:20; Is 1:13; Jer 9:1; Joel 1:14; 2:15;
Amos 5:21; Neh 8:18; 2 Chr 7:9. TWOT,
pg. 691, supports and provides a possible explanation for the development of
the meaning of “solemn, sacred assembly” for h∂rDxSo.

Note also that in 2 Kings 10:20
the assembly Jehu proclaimed for the purpose of exterminating the worshippers
of Baal employed the “solemn assembly” language in allusion to the Scripture
language employed of the feasts of Jehovah.
On the days of solemn assemblies to the true God work was not to be
done, so proclaiming a day of solemn assembly to Baal would give the
worshippers of the idol the leisure to attend to Jehu’s command and
consequently be exterminated. To assume
that the worship of Baal was genuinely solemn, as the worship of Jehovah truly
was, would be an invalid assumption.
However, it is nonetheless true that false worship can have a kind of
solemnity to it while rejecting other essential features of true worship—such
as, for worshippers of Baal, recognizing the true God as the One who must
receive worship.

[3]
The
Hebrew noun dEowøm is employed in these verses. The word occurs in the Hebrew OT in Gen 1:14;
17:21; 18:14; 21:2; Ex 9:5; 13:10; 23:15; 27:21; 28:43; 29:4, 10–11, 30, 32,
42, 44; 30:16, 18, 20, 26, 36; 31:7; 33:7; 34:18; 35:21; 38:8, 30; 39:32, 40;
40:2, 6–7, 12, 22, 24, 26, 29–30, 32, 34–35; Lev 1:1, 3, 5; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:4–5,
7, 14, 16, 18; 6:16, 26, 30; 8:3–4, 31, 33, 35; 9:5, 23; 10:7, 9; 12:6; 14:11,
23; 15:14, 29; 16:7, 16–17, 20, 23, 33; 17:4–6, 9; 19:21; 23:2, 4, 37, 44;
24:3; Num 1:1; 2:2, 17; 3:7–8, 25, 38; 4:3–4, 15, 23, 25, 28, 30–31, 33, 35,
37, 39, 41, 43, 47; 6:10, 13, 18; 7:5, 89; 8:9, 15, 19, 22, 24, 26; 9:2–3, 7,
13; 10:3, 10; 11:16; 12:4; 14:10; 15:3; 16:2, 18–19, 42–43, 50; 17:4; 18:4, 6,
21–23, 31; 19:4; 20:6; 25:6; 27:2; 28:2; 29:39; 31:54; Deut 16:6; 31:10, 14;
Josh 8:14; 18:1; 19:51; Jud 20:38; 1 Sam 2:22; 9:24; 13:8, 11; 20:35; 2 Sam
20:5; 24:15; 1 Kings 8:4; 2 Kings 4:16–17; Is 1:14; 14:13; 33:20; Jer 8:7;
46:17; Eze 36:38; 44:24; 45:17; 46:9, 11; Hos 2:9, 11; 9:5; 12:9; Hab 2:3; Zech
3:18; Zech 8:19; Ps 74:4, 8; 75:2; 102:13; 104:19; Job 30:23; Lam 1:4, 15;
2:6–7, 22; Dan 8:19; 11:27, 29, 35; 12:7; Ezra 3:5; Neh 10:33; 1 Chr 6:32;
9:21; 23:31–32; 2 Chr 1:3, 6, 13; 2:4; 5:5; 8:13; 30:22; 31:3.

Note the rendering of dEowøm in
various texts in the Vulgate; e. g., in
2 Chr 2:4 the “solemn feasts of the LORD our God” is rendered as solemnitatibus Domini Dei nostri, in Is
33:20 “the city of our solemnities” is civitatem
solemnitatis nostræ, in Lam 1:4, “solemn feasts” is solemnitatem; in Lam 2:7 “solemn feast” is solemni; in Eze 36:38 “solemn feasts” is solemnitatibus; in Eze 45:17, “solemnities of the house of Israel”
is solemnitatibus domus Israël; see also Eze 46:9, 11, Hos 9:5, etc.

Note also that dEowøm,
because of its fundamental meaning of “appointed time, place, or meeting” (BDB)
and its derivation from dAoDy, “to appoint,” supports the Regulative Principle of
worship, namely, that whatever is not commanded in Scriptural worship is
forbidden. See
http://faithsaves.net/ecclesiology for further information on the Regulative
Principle as a crucial Biblical teaching.

[4]
Deut
16:15 employs the verb gÅgDj, while Ps 81:3; Is 30:29; Nah 1:15; Mal 2:3 employ
the noun gAj. The verb
occurs in the Hebrew OT in Ex 5:1; 12:14; 23:14; Lev 23:39, 41; Num 29:12; Deut
16:15; 1 Sam 30:16; Nah 1:15; Zech 14:16, 18–19; Ps 42:4; 107:27. The noun occurs in the Hebrew OT in Ex 10:9;
12:14; 13:6; 23:15–16, 18; 32:5; 34:18, 22, 25; Lev 23:6, 34, 39, 41; Num
28:17; 29:12; Deut 16:10, 13–14, 16; 31:10; Jud 21:19; 1 Kings 8:2, 65;
12:32–33; Is 29:1; 30:29; Eze 45:17, 21, 23, 25; 46:11; Hos 2:11; 9:5; Amos
5:21; 8:10; Nah 1:15; Zech 14:16, 18–19; Mal 2:3; Ps 81:3; 118:27; Ezra 3:4;
6:22; Neh 8:14, 18; 2 Chr 5:3; 7:8–9; 8:13; 30:13, 21; 35:17. The Latin Vulgate
renders gAj as “solemnity,” solemnitas,
in texts such as 2 Chr 7:9; Neh 8:18; Ps 81:3 (Lat. 80:4); Is 30:29; Eze 45:17;
Hos 2:11; Mal 2:3, etc.

[5]
NwøyÎ…gIh. The noun occurs in the OT in Ps 9:16; 19:14;
92:3; Lam 3:62. The idea of
“meditation,” not in the Eastern mystical sense but in the Biblical sense of
active thinking about God, is also found in the word (cf. Ps 9:16; 19:14; Lam
3:62). Biblical music is both solemn in
sound and of a sort that encourages active use of the mind in thinking on the
character of the Lord. Concerning the
solemnity idea in NwøyÎ…gIh here, note: “NwøyÎ…gIh . .
. a musical notation (prob. similar to the modern affettuoso to indicate solemnity of movement) . . . solemn sound”
(pg. 32, A Concise Dictionary of the
Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible, James Strong. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software,
2009). “Kimchi . . . explains higgâyôn to be ‘the melody of the hymn
when played on the harp’” (pg. 44, The
Psalms, with Introductions and Critical Notes, vol. 1, 2^nd ed., A.
C. Jennings and W. H. Lowe. (London:
Macmillan and Co., 1884)). “Higgaion . . . means ‘meditation,’ and,
combined with Selah, seems to denote
a pause of unusual solemnity and emphasis” (Commentary
Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Robert Jamieson, A. R.
Fausset, and David Brown. (Oak Harbor,
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), on Ps 9:16). “Higgaion
. . . befits the solemn theme” (pg. 116, Psalms
1-50, Peter C. Craigie & Marvin E. Tate. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1983)). “Higgaion,
a call to deep reflection or solemn musing . . . [in Psalm 92:3] הִגָּיוֹן [is] ‘solemn
heart-musing’ to accompany the harp. For this seems the only plain sense of
NwâøyÎ…gIh y™ElSo. It is upon the heart-strings,
so to speak, as well as harp-strings”
(pgs. 33, 278-279, Christ and His Church
in the Book of Psalms, Andrew A. Bonar.
(New York, NY: Robert Carter
& Brothers, 1860)).

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 2 of 8

August 22, 2014 / Leave a comment

The New
Testament renders three different Greek words with forms of reverence. The Gospels indicate that the Son of God must
receive “reverence” (Matt 21:37; Mr 12:6; Lu 20:13), and Hebrews 12:9 indicates
that if human fathers deserve “reverence,” God the Father is so much the more
worthy of reverent submission. The word
employed in these verses[1]
means “to cause to turn (in shame),
to shame” or “to show
deference to a person in recognition of special status, turn toward
something [or] someone, have regard for, respect.”[2] It is to “give heed or regard to,
respect, reverence,”[3]
“to show respect to a person on the basis of his high status.”[4] Elsewhere in the New Testament the verb is
employed of showing “regard” for and connected with “fearing” (Lu 18:2, 4), is
rendered “shame” (1 Cor 4:14) or “ashamed” (2 Thess 3:14; Tit 2:8). The related noun is rendered “shame” (1 Cor
6:5; 15:34), and means “the state of being ashamed, shame, humiliation”
or “deference to a person in recognition of special status, respect, regard,”[5]
that is, “respect, reverence.”[6] The word indicates “a state of embarrassment
resulting from what one has done or failed to do,” focusing “upon the
embarrassment which is involved in the feeling of shame”[7]
and which is associated with a “change of conduct, that return of a man upon
himself, which a wholesome shame brings with it in him who is its subject”
(Trench). The Father and the Son are
shown reverence when believers, conscious of and ashamed of their sin,
approach God with deference, deep humility, abased subjection, and profound
respect, recognizing that this One with whom they have to do is the omniscient
and infinitely holy King. Such reverence
is not optional—those who show God reverence live (Heb 12:9)—those who do not
die.

Hebrews
12:28-29 indicates that God must be served
or worshipped[8] with “acceptably with reverence and
godly fear: for our God is a
consuming fire.” The only other text in
the New Testament with this word for reverence[9]
translates the word as “shamefacedness” (1 Tim 2:9). This word for reverence signifies “modesty, with . . . resulting respect.”[10]
It is man’s “attitude in face of . . .
the awful, wherever and however manifested. It is dread . . . of the violation
of the [standard]. Its opposite is hubris.
It is thus ‘reverence’ before God . . . respect for the one visited by the
[grace] of God.”[11]
Hebrews 12 associates reverence with “godly fear.”[12] One can compare Ephesians 5:33, where
“reverence” is the standard New Testament verb for “fear,”[13]
signifying “to have a profound measure
of respect for, (have)
reverence, respect, with special reference to fear of offending.”[14] The “godly fear” of Hebrews 12:28 is employed
of the prayers of Christ in Hebrews 5:7, where the Father accepted the Lord
Jesus’ prayer “in that he feared.” The
noun is related to the adjective meaning God-fearing,
devout, reverent, or pious[15]
found in Luke 2:25 and Acts 2:5; 8:2.
“Godly fear” involves “that mingled fear and love which together
constitute the piety of man toward God”;
the devout man:

[Is] accurately and scrupulously performing that which
is prescribed with the consciousness of the danger of slipping into a careless
negligent performance of God’s service, and of the need therefore of anxiously
watching against the adding to or diminishing from or in any other way altering,
that which has been by Him commanded[.] . . . [T]he [one with “godly fear” is
the] anxious and scrupulous worshipper, who makes a conscience of changing
anything, of omitting anything, being above all things fearful to offend [God].[16]

Noah had such piety when he was “moved with fear”[17]
to build the ark (Heb 11:7), acting out of anxious “concer[n] [and] reverent
regard.”[18] Such reverence and godly fear are necessary
if believers are to “serve” or worship God “acceptably”[19]
(Heb 12:28), that is, in a way that is “wellpleasing” and thus “acceptable” to
Him (Rom 12:1–2; 14:18; 2 Cor 5:9; Eph 5:10; Phil 4:18; Col 3:20; Titus 2:9;
Heb 13:21).[20] Reverence and godly fear are the necessary
attitude for acceptance before a God who is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29).

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
e˙ntre÷pw. It appears in
the NT in: Matt 21:37; Mark 12:6; Luke
18:2, 4; 20:13; 1 Cor 4:14; 2 Th 3:14; Titus 2:8; Heb 12:9. The related noun e˙ntroph/ appears in 1 Cor 6:5; 15:34.

[2]
BDAG.

[3]
Greek-English Lexicon, 9^th
ed., G. H. Liddell & R. Scott. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996 (LSJ).

[4]
Louw-Nida.

[5]
BDAG.

[6]
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament,
Henry Thayer. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978 (reprint ed.) (Thayer).

[7]
Louw-Nida.

[8]
latreu/w.

[9]
ai˙dw¿ß.

[10]
Louw-Nida.

[11]
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
Kittel, Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, & Gerhard Friedrich,
eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964– (TDNT).

[12]
eujla¿beia, found only in Hebrews 5:7; 12:28.

[13]
fobe÷w.

[14]
BDAG.

[15]
eujlabh/ß. See BDAG,
LSJ.

[16]
Synonyms of the New Testament, Richard
Chenevix Trench. London: Macmillan and
Co., 1880 (Trench).

[17]
eujlabe÷omai. The word is
found elsewhere in the NT only in Acts 23:10.

[18]
BDAG.

[19]
eujare÷stwß.

[20]
See
BDAG on the related adjective euja¿restoß, the references to
which are listed above. In Hebrews 12:28
eujare÷stwß is a hapax
legomenon. Note also the verb eujareste÷w, found in Heb 11:5-6; 13:16.

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 1 of 8

August 15, 2014 / Leave a comment

I.
Where Does Scripture Speak of Reverence?

The relevant
texts on reverence[1]
in the Authorized Version are:

Lev. 19:30
Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the
LORD.

Lev. 26:2 Ye
shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the
LORD.

Psa. 89:7
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him.

Psa. 111:9
He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever:
holy and reverend is his name.

Matt. 21:37
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence
my son.

Mark 12:6
Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them,
saying, They will reverence my son.

Luke 20:13
Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved
son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

Eph. 5:33
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as
himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Heb. 12:9
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we
gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Heb. 12:28
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

These texts demonstrate that God[2]
is reverend—and consequently His
worship, which is to reflect His character, is to be characterized by reverence. Hebrews 12:28 commands that God’s service involves reverence, and service is one of the standard Greek
words for worship.[3]
The assemblies, services, or worship of the
Lord’s church must be characterized by reverence and godly fear if they are to
be acceptable or well pleasing[4]
to the Lord. In “the assembly of the
saints . . . God is greatly to be feared . . . and to be had in reverence” (Ps
89:7). His “sanctuary,”[5]
His holy place where His holy worship takes place, the tabernacle and temple in
the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament, is to be a place of
“reverence” (Lev 19:30; 26:2). Reverence
is contrasted with idolatry (Lev 26:1-2).
Reverence is not optional—it is essential if worship is to please the
infinitely holy God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

II.
What is Reverence?

The
Authorized Version renders a number of Hebrew and Greek words as reverence. In Leviticus 19:30;[6]
26:2[7]
& Ps 89:7 reverence is the
standard Hebrew word for fear.[8] God’s name is holy and reverend because He is to be feared on account of His glorious
redemption and covenant (Ps 111:9), His majestic creation (Ps 139:14), and His
terrible judgments (Ps 145:6). He is
separate from and infinitely superior to all false gods, as One who is “glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders” (Ex 15:11). “[G]reat is the LORD, and greatly to
be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods” (1 Chr 16:25). The “LORD your God is God of gods, and
Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible” (Deut 10:17; 7:21). “For the LORD most high is terrible; he
is a great King over all the earth” (Ps 47:2). Jehovah
thy God is a “glorious and fearful name” (Deut 28:58), and “with God is
terrible majesty” (Job 37:22); “I am
a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the
heathen” (Mal 1:14). The people of God
ought consequently to address Him as: “LORD
God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for
them that love him and observe his commandments” (Neh 1:5; 9:32; Dan 9:4). “Let them praise thy great and terrible name;
for it is holy” (Ps 99:3). The Lord and His Messiah (Ps 45:4) do
“great and terrible things” and “terrible things in righteousness” for the
redemption and salvation of their people (Deut 10:21; Ps 65:5; 2 Sam 7:23; Neh
4:14; Ps 106:22; Is 64:3). The Lord’s
redemption makes Him “a name of greatness and terribleness” (1 Chr 17:21). “[T]here is forgiveness with thee, that
thou mayest be feared” (Ps 130:4). He
likewise executes fearful judgments on the wicked in the “great and terrible
day of the LORD” (Joel 2:11, 31; Zeph 2:11; Mal 4:5). He is to be adored and worshipped because of
His reverend and holy terribleness and fearfulness (Ps 66:3, 5; 68:35; 76:7,
12; 96:4). The saint’s reverence for Jehovah and His Messiah is
a sacred fear of Him flowing from the glory and majesty of the Holy One’s
awe-inspiring redemption of His blood-bought people and righteous and
retributive wrath upon the unholy.

Indeed, Psalm 89:7 connects “reverence”
with “greatly fearing” God, employing a verb for trembling with fear or awe.[9] The word is rendered elsewhere as “terrified”
(Deut 20:3) and “shake terribly” (Is 2:21).
The persistent warnings in the Pentateuch that any improper approach
into the presence of God could lead to instant death (Ex 28:35, 43; 30:20, 21;
Lev 15:31; 16:2, 13; Num 4:15-20, etc.)—warnings that were not mere idle
threats, but were actually carried out (Lev 10:1-2)—illuminate the sort of
reverential fear and awe that befits worship that enters into the presence of
Jehovah, Sovereign of heaven and earth. Sanctifying
or setting apart God as holy is connected with this reverent fear: “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let
him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Is 8:13). “[S]anctify the Holy One of Jacob, and . . .
fear the God of Israel” (Is 29:23). Biblical
worship sets apart and exalts God as the high, holy, and sanctified One by approaching
His awful majesty with reverence. On the
other hand, irreverence is an idolatrous perversion of the character of
God. He will not tolerate irreverence,
but will punish those who profane or make common His holy name with awful
temporal and eternal punishments.

TDR

This entire study can be accessed here.

[1]
In
the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 9:6; 1 Ki 1:31 & Esth 3:2, 5 also contain the
English word reverence, in each case
containing a form of the verb hÎwSjA;tVvIh, meaning “to worship” God or “to bow down” with
reference to men, a sign of respect given especially those in authority such as
kings.

[2]
Pastors
and other mere mortals should not have “rev.” by their name, for God’s Name is
reverend, while the name of Parson Jones, Bishop John, or Pastor Jim is not.

[3]
latreu/w, “to perform religious rites as a part of worship —
‘to perform religious rites, to worship, to venerate, worship’” (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament:
Based on Semantic Domains, Louw, Johannes P. Louw & Albert Nida. New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1996
[Louw-Nida]). The complete list of NT
texts is: Matt 4:10; Luke 1:74; 2:37; 4:8; Acts 7:7, 42; 24:14; 26:7; 27:23;
Rom 1:9, 25; Phil 3:3; 2 Tim 1:3; Heb 8:5; 9:9, 14; 10:2; 12:28; 13:10; Rev
7:15; 22:3.

[4]
eujare÷stwß, “in a manner well-pleasing to one, acceptably” (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament,
Henry Thayer. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978 (reprint ed.); [Thayer]), an
adverb related to euja¿restoß, “pleasing, acceptable” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature, 3^rd ed. (BDAG).
Walter Bauer, Frederick W. Danker & William Arndt. Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 2000); see Rom 12:1–2; 14:18; 2 Cor 5:9;
Eph 5:10; Phil 4:18; Col 3:20; Titus 2:9; Heb 13:21) and the verb eujareste÷w, “1. to do someth[ing] or act in a manner that is
pleasing or satisfactory, please,
be pleasing . . . 2. to experience pleasure, be pleased, take delight” (BDAG; see Heb
11:5–6; 13:16). Compare eujare÷sthsiß,
“the experience of being pleased because of what another does, being pleased”
(BDAG). Note the significant frequency
of the eujareste÷w
word group in connection to worship.

[5]
v∂;dVqIm,
from, våd∂q, hence “holy place.”

[6]
:h`DOwh◊y
y™InSa …waó∂ryI;t y™Iv∂;dVqIm…w …wr$OmVvI;t y∞AtOtV;bAv_tRa

[7]
Leviticus
19:30 and 26:2 are identical in Hebrew.

[8]
aérÎy, “to
fear God . . . to tremble for, to honor” (Brown-Driver-Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon, Francis Brown, Samuel R. Driver, & Augustus
Charles. Oxford: Clarendon, 1906. [BDB]). The Niphal, found in Psalm 89:7, means “to be
feared, be honoured (God) . . . dreaded . . . awesome, terrible” (BDB). The rest of the paragraph in the text above
lists the other instances of the Niphal of the Hebrew verb Psalm 89:7 renders
as reverend; it is usually translated with some form of fear, terror, or dread.

[9]
XårDo, “cause
to tremble, tremble (in terror, or awe)” (BDB).
The verb is found in: Deut 1:29;
7:21; 20:3; 31:6; Josh 1:9; Is 2:19, 21; 8:12–13; 29:23; 47:12; Ps 10:18; 89:8;
Job 13:25; 31:34.

The Validity and Potential Value of a Liturgical Calendar (Part Three)

January 1, 2024 / 8 Comments on The Validity and Potential Value of a Liturgical Calendar (Part Three)

Part One Part Two

Regulative Principle of Worship

Over a period of time, professing Christians formulated from scripture what was termed, “the regulative principle of worship.” I believe in that. This took awhile in the history of Christianity to develop. I believe it because it is scriptural and, therefore, I want to follow it. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 expresses it:

The acceptable way of worshiping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.

One example of the seriousness of regulating worship by scripture is that of Nadab and Abihu, when they offered strange fire to the Lord (Leviticus 10). Offering strange fire meant changing the recipe for the incense for the altar of incense in the holy place. Silence was not permission for them to offer a different recipe.

God prescribed a specific recipe, spelling out percentages of the ingredients. Scripture regulated the recipe. That was an element of Old Testament worship. Since God spelled it out, that’s all you could do. Nadab and Abihu changed it. God killed them for that. This indicates the seriousness of it.

What changes with observing Christ’s birth around December 25th? Next year Sunday is actually December 28. Emphasizing Christ’s birth changes nothing that God prescribed. It’s not like changing the recipe for the altar of incense. I contend it does not violate the regulative principle of worship.

Application of the Regulative Principle

Canon of Dort

Like one Reformation group, the Puritans, another, the Dutch Reformed Church, whom like the Puritans I’m not endorsing, committed to the Regulative Principle of Worship. In 1618-19, that group held their Second Synod of Dort, the Dutch term for the town of Dordrecht. This council explained its decisions in a document, The Canons of Dort. In Article 67 of the Canon, the council says:

The Churches shall observe, in addition to Sunday, also Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, with the following day, and whereas in most of the cities and provinces of the Netherlands the day of Circumcision and of Ascension of Christ are also observed, Ministers in every place where this is not yet done shall take steps with the Government to have them conform with the others.

Earlier in Article 63, it writes:

The Lordly Supper shall be administered once every two months, wherever possible, and it will be edifying that it take place at Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas where the circumstances of the Church permit. However, in those places where the Church has not yet been instituted, first of all Elders and Deacons shall be provided.

Helvetic Confession of 1564

Another Reformation group in Switzerland wrote Helvetic Confessions in 1536 and 1564. The second of these writes:

THE FESTIVALS OF CHRIST AND THE SAINTS. Moreover, if in Christian liberty the churches religiously celebrate the memory of the Lord’s nativity, circumcision, passion, resurrection, and of his ascension into heaven, and the sending of the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, we approve of it highly. but we do not approve of feasts instituted for men and for saints. Holy days have to do with the first Table of the Law and belong to God alone.

Finally, holy days which have been instituted for the saints and which we have abolished, have much that is absurd and useless, and are not to be tolerated. In the meantime, we confess that the remembrance of saints, at a suitable time and place, is to be profitably commended to the people in sermons, and the holy examples of the saints set forth to be imitated by all.

Variations of Applications

All of these varied groups, including the Puritans, claimed the Bible as their final authority. They disagreed on the application of the regulative principle. Some said “no” on the organ. Certain ones said only psalms and no hymns. Groups differed on a liturgical calendar. They had their unique reasons for all of these variations, but all believed and practiced the regulative principle of worship.

Puritans sprinkled infants. How many infants do we see baptized in scripture, let alone sprinkled? Sure, Pilgrims and Baptists separated from the Church of England. Many Puritans, however, saw no problem with a state church as seen in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Puritans heavily involved and led the English Civil War. Most Puritans would not use musical instruments and sang only Psalms (total Psalmody).

Word Meanings

“Christmas” derives from “Christ’s Mass.” “Sunday” derives from “Day of the Sun” and Hellenistic astrology. If I called you “gay” in the not too distant past, that was considered a compliment. Not anymore. The word “mass” comes from the Latin missa, which means “to send or dismiss.” You could argue that “Christmas” literally means “Christ sent,” like John 17:18, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

If I say, “Merry Christmas” to you, I’m not saying, “Go have a merry time at Roman Catholic Mass.” No. This is a joyous time, like when the ark returns to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6. This symbolizes God’s presence back in Jerusalem and David celebrates with all his might. Christmas means “Christ’s birth” to most. Be gone the idea that every word must revert to its original etymology. It’s one reason we revise our dictionaries — words change in meaning based on usage. Here’s a definition you might read: “the annual commemoration by Christians of the birth of Jesus Christ on Dec 25.”

Special Occasions

Philadelphia Confession

A liturgical calendar acknowledges special occasions. The Philadelphia Confession of 1742 says:

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; moreover, solemn humiliation, with fastings, and thanksgiving, upon special occasions, ought to be used in a holy and religious manner.

Jesus and the Feast of Dedication

I call to your attention the words, “special occasions.” Churches advocated for special occasions. Regarding this, Stephen Doe writes concerning the regulative principle of worship:

God commands us to worship him once weekly in a corporate manner, but allows us to apply biblical principles to worship him at other times. The church under the new covenant does not have less liberty than the church under the old covenant; we are not the underage church, but the church which has been baptized in the Spirit of Christ. If we were to apply the regulative principle without clearly understanding these things, then we would have to condemn the apostolic church for meeting daily, since God had never commanded such meetings. Instead, they understood that what God was commanding was for them to worship him acceptably (cf. John 4:24; Rom. 12:2; Heb. 10:25; 13:15).

This balance is seen in the example of our Savior, who exercised his liberty of conscience, while not violating the regulative principle, when he attended the Feast of Dedication (that is, Hanukkah; cf. John 10:22). That was an extra-biblical feast not commanded by God in Scripture, but begun by the Jews to commemorate the rededication of the temple after the close of the Old Testament. Jesus was free to go up to Jerusalem or not to go up. God commands us to worship, and Jesus was using that occasion to obey the command of God.

The events on a liturgical calendar are not special occasions because a church sets them apart for observation. No, they are special because they are events in the life of Jesus Christ. If a church adds Thanksgiving, Mothers Day, and Fathers Day, those are justifiable. These do not violate a regulative principle.

Keeping Holy

The term holiday has diminished in its meaning. If I say, Happy Holiday, today, I might mean something akin to a Hallmark card greeting. It probably is the opposite of holy, the meaning of “Holy Day” or “holiday.” When we observe it, set apart for special emphasis, then it is holy, like the ground around the burning bush with Moses.

Exodus 20:8 says, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” I could say, “Remember the birth of Christ, to keep it holy.” “Remember the resurrection of Christ, to keep it holy.” If we can keep something holy, then we can sanctify something. We can set something apart to keep it holy, rather than just being a worldly item during the year. Churches can and should do that. This is the value aspect, I’m advocating, for a liturgical calendar.

(More to Come)

WHAT IS TRUTH

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INDEX FOR WHAT IS TRUTH

“They Will Reverence My Son”

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 8 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 7 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 6 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 5 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 4 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 3 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 2 of 8

Reverence and Solemnity: Essential Aspects of Biblical Worship, part 1 of 8

The Validity and Potential Value of a Liturgical Calendar (Part Three)

Regulative Principle of Worship

Application of the Regulative Principle

Canon of Dort

Helvetic Confession of 1564

Variations of Applications

Word Meanings

Special Occasions

Philadelphia Confession

Jesus and the Feast of Dedication

Keeping Holy

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