Worship: Its Priority, Principles, and Practice (continued)
11. In complete public worship there should be united public prayer. I can find no account of religious assemblies in the New Testament in which prayer and supplication do not form a principal business. I find Paul telling Timothy, "I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men" (1 Timothy 2:1). Such prayers should be plain and intelligible, that all the worshipers may know what is going on, and be able to go along with him who prays. They should as far as possible be the joint act of all the assembly and not the act of one man's mind alone. A congregation of professing Christians which only meets to hear a grand sermon, and takes no part or interest in the prayers, seems to me to fall far short of the standard of the New Testament. Public worship does not consist only of hearing.
12. In complete public worship there should be the public reading of the Holy Scriptures. This was evidently a part of the service of the Jewish synagogue, as we may learn from what happened at Nazareth, and at Antioch in Pisidia (Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15). We cannot doubt that the Christian church was intended to honor the Bible as much as the Jewish. To my eye Paul points to this when he says to Timothy, "Till I come give attention to reading" (1 Timothy 4:13). I do not believe that reading in that text means private study. Reason and common sense alike teach the usefulness of the practice of publicly reading the Scriptures. A visible church will always contain many professing members who either cannot read, or have no will or time to read at home. What safer plan can be devised for the instruction of such people than the regular reading of God's Word? A congregation which hears but little of the Bible is always in danger of becoming entirely dependent on its minister. God should always speak in the assembly of his people as well as man.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 11)
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Sowing Spiritual Seeds
Think about everything that contributed to the story of how you came to know Christ as your Lord and Savior. It's probably not possible to fully count all those spiritual seeds that God used to draw you to Him. And not all the people who sowed good seed into your life knew what the outcome would be.
We also have the opportunity and privilege--every single day--of sowing seeds into the lives of others, such as our friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren, or even strangers. God takes what you plant and adds to it. He leads others to sow further seed or "water" the ground. Little by little, truth gets cultivated in their lives. What greater thing could you do?
Conversely, you might focus on providing your kids with plenty of material security and send them to the best schools and colleges--and yet it would count nothing for eternity. But when you sow into their lives the things of God and the qualities of Jesus, you're feeding their spirits. The seeds that affect their hearts, view of God, and desire to make a difference for Him in the world are what will produce genuine, lasting fruit and a great harvest in their lives. Whether or not you ever see the results, the Lord is using you profoundly when you sow this kind of crop.
God sees all the little things you do; He's interested in more than just "big" things. The fruit of His Spirit--such as kindness, patience, and self-control--often manifests itself in quiet ways that others may never give you credit for. But such spiritual seeds accomplish powerful work in His kingdom.
~Charles Stanley~
Monday, April 14, 2014
Worship # 9
Worship: Its Priority, Principles, and Practice (continued)
To assemble in God's house on the Christian Sabbath has been the custom of all professing Christians for almost two millennia. The best and holiest of God's saints have always pressed on others most strongly the value of Sabbath worship, and born witness of its usefulness. It sounds very fine and spiritual, no doubt, to say that every day should be a Sabbath to a Christian, and that one day should not be kept more holy than another. But facts are stronger than theories. Experience proves that human nature requires such helps as fixed days, and hours, and seasons for carrying on spiritual business, and that public worship never prospers unless we observe God's order. "The Sabbath was made for man" by him who made man at the beginning, and knew what flesh and blood is. As a general rule, it will always be found that were there is no Sabbath there is no public worship.
10. In complete public worship there should be a ministry. I do not for a moment say that it is of absolute necessity that it must be an episcopal ministry. I am not so narrow-minded and uncharitable as to deny the validity of Presbyterian or Congregational orders. I only maintain that it is the mind of god that ministers of some kind should conduct the worship of Christian congregations, and be responsible for its decent and orderly conduct in approaching God. I am at a loss to understand how any one can read the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistles to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Timothy, and Titus, and deny that the ministry is an appointment of God. I say this with every feeling of respect for the Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, who have no ordained ministers: I simply say that I cannot understand their views on this subject. Reason itself appears to me to tell us that business which is left to nobody in particular to attend to, is a business which is soon entirely neglected. Order is said to be heaven's first law. Once let a people begin with no Sabbath and no ministry, and it would never surprise me if they ended with no public worship, no religion, and no God.
11. In complete public worship there should be the preaching of God's Word. I can find no record of church assemblies in the New Testament in which preaching and teaching orally does not occupy a most prominent position. It appears to me to be the chief instrument by which the Holy Spirit not only awakens sinners, but also leads on and establishes saints. I observe that in the very last words that Paul wrote to Timothy, as a young minister, he especially enjoins on him to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). I cannot, therefore, believe that any system of worship in which the sermon is made little of, or thrust into a corner, can be a scriptural system, or one likely to have the blessing of God. I have no faith in the general utility of services composed entirely of prayer-reading, hymn-singing, sacrament-receiving, and walking in procession. I hold firmly that Bishop Latimer, that it is one of satan's great aims to exalt ceremonies and put down preaching. There is a deep meaning in the words, "Despise not prophesying" (1 Thess. 5:20). A contempt for sermons is a pretty sure mark of a decline in spiritual religion.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 10)
To assemble in God's house on the Christian Sabbath has been the custom of all professing Christians for almost two millennia. The best and holiest of God's saints have always pressed on others most strongly the value of Sabbath worship, and born witness of its usefulness. It sounds very fine and spiritual, no doubt, to say that every day should be a Sabbath to a Christian, and that one day should not be kept more holy than another. But facts are stronger than theories. Experience proves that human nature requires such helps as fixed days, and hours, and seasons for carrying on spiritual business, and that public worship never prospers unless we observe God's order. "The Sabbath was made for man" by him who made man at the beginning, and knew what flesh and blood is. As a general rule, it will always be found that were there is no Sabbath there is no public worship.
10. In complete public worship there should be a ministry. I do not for a moment say that it is of absolute necessity that it must be an episcopal ministry. I am not so narrow-minded and uncharitable as to deny the validity of Presbyterian or Congregational orders. I only maintain that it is the mind of god that ministers of some kind should conduct the worship of Christian congregations, and be responsible for its decent and orderly conduct in approaching God. I am at a loss to understand how any one can read the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistles to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Timothy, and Titus, and deny that the ministry is an appointment of God. I say this with every feeling of respect for the Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, who have no ordained ministers: I simply say that I cannot understand their views on this subject. Reason itself appears to me to tell us that business which is left to nobody in particular to attend to, is a business which is soon entirely neglected. Order is said to be heaven's first law. Once let a people begin with no Sabbath and no ministry, and it would never surprise me if they ended with no public worship, no religion, and no God.
11. In complete public worship there should be the preaching of God's Word. I can find no record of church assemblies in the New Testament in which preaching and teaching orally does not occupy a most prominent position. It appears to me to be the chief instrument by which the Holy Spirit not only awakens sinners, but also leads on and establishes saints. I observe that in the very last words that Paul wrote to Timothy, as a young minister, he especially enjoins on him to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). I cannot, therefore, believe that any system of worship in which the sermon is made little of, or thrust into a corner, can be a scriptural system, or one likely to have the blessing of God. I have no faith in the general utility of services composed entirely of prayer-reading, hymn-singing, sacrament-receiving, and walking in procession. I hold firmly that Bishop Latimer, that it is one of satan's great aims to exalt ceremonies and put down preaching. There is a deep meaning in the words, "Despise not prophesying" (1 Thess. 5:20). A contempt for sermons is a pretty sure mark of a decline in spiritual religion.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 10)
In God - A Quiet Habitation
Psalm 91:9
Thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.
The Israelites in the wilderness were continually exposed to change. Whenever the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched; but tomorrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the ark was in motion, and the fiery, cloudy pillar was leading the way through the narrow defiles of the mountain, up the hillside, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had scarcely time to rest a little before they heard the sound of "Away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying towards Canaan!" They were never long in one place. Even wells and palm trees could not detain them. Yet they had an abiding home in their God, His cloudy pillar was their roof-tree, and its flame by night their household fire. They must go onward from place to place, continually changing, never having time to settle, and to say, "Now we are secure; in this place we shall dwell." "Yet," says Moses, "though we are always changing, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations." The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow; he may be sickly to-day and well to-morrow; he may be in happiness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed-but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God. If He loved me yesterday, He loves me to-day. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is "my strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort." I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Worship # 8
Worship: Its Priority, Principles, and Practice (continued)
I proceed, in the third place, to show the essential parts of Christian public worship.
I will suppose the case of a man who has never given the subject of religion any sincere attention, and has never gone to any place of worship at all. I will suppose such a man to be awakened to a sense of the value of his soul, and to be desirous of information about things in religion. He is puzzled by finding that all Christians do not worship God in the same way, and that one neighbor worships God in one fashion, and another in another. He hears one man saying that there is no road to heaven except through his Church, and another replying that all will go to hell who do not join his Chapel. Now what is he to think? Are there not certain things which are essential parts of Christian worship? I answer without hesitation that there are. It shall be my next business to exhibit them in order.
I freely grant that there is little said on the nature of public worship in the New Testament. There is a wide difference in this respect between the law of Moses and the law of Christ. The Jew's religion was full of strict and minute directions about worship: the Christian's contains very few directions, and those of the simplest and most general description. The Jew's religion was full of types, emblems, and figures: the Christian's only contains two: viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Jew's religion approached the worshiper chiefly through the eye: the New Testament religion appeals directly to the heart and conscience. The Jew's religion was confined to one particular nation: the Christian's was meant for the whole world. The Jew could turn t the writings of Moses, and see at a glance every item of his worship: the Christian can only point to a few isolated texts and passages, which are to be applied by every church according to circumstances. In a word, there is nothing answering to Exodus or Leviticus in the New Testament. Yet a careful reader of the Christian Scriptures can hardly fail to pick out of them the essential parts and principles of Christian worship. Where these essential parts are present, there is Christian worship. Where they are absent, the worship is, to say the least, defective, imperfect, and incomplete.
9. In complete public worship the Sabbath should always be honored. That blessed day was appointed for this very purpose, among others, to give men an opportunity of meeting together in God's service. A Sabbath was given to man even in Paradise. The observance of a Sabbath was made part of the Ten Commandments. The worship of God on the Sabbath was observed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. To meet together on one day in the week at least was a practice of the early Christians, though they met on the first day instead of the seventh (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 9)
I proceed, in the third place, to show the essential parts of Christian public worship.
I will suppose the case of a man who has never given the subject of religion any sincere attention, and has never gone to any place of worship at all. I will suppose such a man to be awakened to a sense of the value of his soul, and to be desirous of information about things in religion. He is puzzled by finding that all Christians do not worship God in the same way, and that one neighbor worships God in one fashion, and another in another. He hears one man saying that there is no road to heaven except through his Church, and another replying that all will go to hell who do not join his Chapel. Now what is he to think? Are there not certain things which are essential parts of Christian worship? I answer without hesitation that there are. It shall be my next business to exhibit them in order.
I freely grant that there is little said on the nature of public worship in the New Testament. There is a wide difference in this respect between the law of Moses and the law of Christ. The Jew's religion was full of strict and minute directions about worship: the Christian's contains very few directions, and those of the simplest and most general description. The Jew's religion was full of types, emblems, and figures: the Christian's only contains two: viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Jew's religion approached the worshiper chiefly through the eye: the New Testament religion appeals directly to the heart and conscience. The Jew's religion was confined to one particular nation: the Christian's was meant for the whole world. The Jew could turn t the writings of Moses, and see at a glance every item of his worship: the Christian can only point to a few isolated texts and passages, which are to be applied by every church according to circumstances. In a word, there is nothing answering to Exodus or Leviticus in the New Testament. Yet a careful reader of the Christian Scriptures can hardly fail to pick out of them the essential parts and principles of Christian worship. Where these essential parts are present, there is Christian worship. Where they are absent, the worship is, to say the least, defective, imperfect, and incomplete.
9. In complete public worship the Sabbath should always be honored. That blessed day was appointed for this very purpose, among others, to give men an opportunity of meeting together in God's service. A Sabbath was given to man even in Paradise. The observance of a Sabbath was made part of the Ten Commandments. The worship of God on the Sabbath was observed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. To meet together on one day in the week at least was a practice of the early Christians, though they met on the first day instead of the seventh (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 9)
God Anoints and Appoints
Now Korah…, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On…, took men and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?"Numbers 16:1-3 … Now it came to pass, as he [Moses] finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. - Numbers 16:31-32
Isn’t it amazing what envy can do? Korah was extremely jealous of Moses and Aaron. Even though Korah complained and judged Moses and Aaron, he was really criticizing God. God was the One who anointed and appointed Moses and Aaron. God was the one to also defend them. Korah’s jealousy planted seeds of dissension among brothers, causing an entire community to suffer consequences because of the rebellion.
We need to remember today that it is God who anoints and appoints certain people to accomplish certain tasks. Some of us are anointed with gifts that stand out while others receive gifts that are more private (like intercessory prayer). But the Spirit distributes different gifts for different callings to all types of people. For a variety of reasons, we become critical and jealous, leading to an attitude of arrogance and rebellion. Those bad seeds sow destructive fruit. People who eat that rotten fruit get sick and spread those destructive germs to many others.
I remember when the Lord first put on my heart the desire to teach. I would think thoughts like, “I would have taught that passage differently” and “I wonder why he/she didn’t teach this part of the passage.” I had a choice to sin with those thoughts or not. Those thoughts could have become critical, but I had to take those thoughts captive or my mind could have led my mouth to sin against them. God was just giving me a new desire and a new gift, stirring my heart to see and hear things differently. I didn’t know that at the time. My heart could have become like Korah’s during that transition. We need to be careful. God knows what He is doing. Be sure that you are found blameless before Him when it comes to your opinions about Christian leaders. God has placed them in those positions. If you are becoming critical or disrespectful in any way, you might miss out on a new and very special anointing. The test of time will tell…
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Worship # 7
Worship: Its Priority, Principles, and Practice" (continued)
6. In the last place, true public worship must be a "reverent" worship. It is written, "Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil" (Eccles. 5:1). It is recorded that our Lord Jesus Christ began and ended his ministry with two practical protests against irreverent worship. On two distinct occasions he cast out of the temple the buyers and sellers who were profaning its courts by their traffic, and justified his act by the weighty words, "It is written," "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13). People who call themselves Christians, and go to churches and chapels to stare about, whisper, fidget, yawn, or sleep, but not to pray, or praise, or listen, are not a whit better than the wicked Jews in the days of our Lord Jesus. They do not consider that God detests profaneness and carelessness in his presence, and that to behave before God as they would not dare to behave before their sovereign at a levee or in a drawing-room, is a very grave offence indeed. We must beware that we do not rush from one extreme into another. It does not follow, because "bodily service" alone is useless, that it does not matter how we behave ourselves in the congregation. Surely even nature, reason, and common sense should teach us that there is a manner and demeanor suitable to mortal man, when he draws near to his Mighty Maker. It is not for nothing that it is written, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around him" (Psalm 89:7). If it is worthwhile to attend public worship at all, it is worthwhile to do it carefully and well. God is in heaven, and we are on earth. Let us not be rash and hasty. Let us mind what we are about. "Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28-29).
I ask the reader's special attention to the five leading principles which I have just laid down. I fear they strike at their root of the worship of myriads in our own land, to say nothing of Roman Catholics, Muslims, and heathens in other parts of the world. Thousands of English people I fear, are regularly spending their Sundays in a worship which is utterly useless. It is a worship with Scripture, without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, without knowledge, without heart, and without the slightest benefit to the worshipers. For any good they get from it, they might just as well be sitting at home, and not worship at all. Let us take heed that this is not our condition. Let us remember, as long as we live, that it is not the quantity of worship, but the quality that God regards. The inward and spiritual character of the congregation is of far more importance in his sight than the number of the worshipers, or the outward and visible signs of devotion which they exhibit. Children and fools, who admire poppies more than corn, may think all is right when there is a great external show of religion. But it is not so with God. His all-seeing eye looks at the inner man.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 8)
6. In the last place, true public worship must be a "reverent" worship. It is written, "Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil" (Eccles. 5:1). It is recorded that our Lord Jesus Christ began and ended his ministry with two practical protests against irreverent worship. On two distinct occasions he cast out of the temple the buyers and sellers who were profaning its courts by their traffic, and justified his act by the weighty words, "It is written," "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13). People who call themselves Christians, and go to churches and chapels to stare about, whisper, fidget, yawn, or sleep, but not to pray, or praise, or listen, are not a whit better than the wicked Jews in the days of our Lord Jesus. They do not consider that God detests profaneness and carelessness in his presence, and that to behave before God as they would not dare to behave before their sovereign at a levee or in a drawing-room, is a very grave offence indeed. We must beware that we do not rush from one extreme into another. It does not follow, because "bodily service" alone is useless, that it does not matter how we behave ourselves in the congregation. Surely even nature, reason, and common sense should teach us that there is a manner and demeanor suitable to mortal man, when he draws near to his Mighty Maker. It is not for nothing that it is written, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around him" (Psalm 89:7). If it is worthwhile to attend public worship at all, it is worthwhile to do it carefully and well. God is in heaven, and we are on earth. Let us not be rash and hasty. Let us mind what we are about. "Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28-29).
I ask the reader's special attention to the five leading principles which I have just laid down. I fear they strike at their root of the worship of myriads in our own land, to say nothing of Roman Catholics, Muslims, and heathens in other parts of the world. Thousands of English people I fear, are regularly spending their Sundays in a worship which is utterly useless. It is a worship with Scripture, without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, without knowledge, without heart, and without the slightest benefit to the worshipers. For any good they get from it, they might just as well be sitting at home, and not worship at all. Let us take heed that this is not our condition. Let us remember, as long as we live, that it is not the quantity of worship, but the quality that God regards. The inward and spiritual character of the congregation is of far more importance in his sight than the number of the worshipers, or the outward and visible signs of devotion which they exhibit. Children and fools, who admire poppies more than corn, may think all is right when there is a great external show of religion. But it is not so with God. His all-seeing eye looks at the inner man.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 8)
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