Father, thank you for the day which you've given to us and for time to come apart from the cares and the concerns that occupy us every day. We ask for your presence. We ask that we would be encouraged. We ask that our thinking would be shaped, formed as we consider your word. Would you take your word by your spirit and seal it to our hearts? We are your people, a treasured possession, the object of your affection. And we are to be so much in the midst of the world. And we recognize that we get confused and distracted and we're overwhelmed. But we do trust that as we think about your word and as we're reminded of the things that your word tells us about ourselves, that we might be encouraged and that we might see the high and the glorious calling that we have and the incredible standing which we have before you. Where we thank you that there is a great day coming when your church, this people gathered from every nation and tribe and tongue will be assembled before the feet of Jesus. And we will behold him in all of his glory and delight in him fully as he delights in us. And I pray that you would help us to keep that future day in our thinking as well. So again, Lord come, be with us, be in our midst by your spirit and cause this time to be a great encouragement to us. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, we're talking about the church and what we've talked about thus far, just by way of review, is the fact that the church is a people gathered for God. The church is the peculiar possession of the God of heaven and earth. Now, peculiar is a great word. You look around and you see a lot of peculiarity. You're a peculiar person, I'm a peculiar person, but in the biblical sense, it has to do with being a treasured possession, a special possession of God. And all of those images and pictures that you find in the scriptures illustrate this idea that we're a peculiar people in a treasured possession, that we are a bride, that we are the flock under his care, all of those kinds of things. Just speak volumes about the nature of our relationship to God. So we are a people gathered for God and we are a people gathered to God. God is not distant, but God is proximate. God is near to his people and his people are gathered to him that they might reflect his glory and declare his praise, sing his praise. We spent, I've spent, a good bit of time underscoring the idea that the church is to be singing in everything that she does. The church is doxological, the church has tasted and has seen that the Lord is good. So in everything that she is and everything that she does, there is this note of praise, there is this song which is to issue forth. As we are in the presence of God and near to God and behold his glory and reflect his glory, sing his praise. And then the church, as a people gathered for God and to God, is a people gathered by God alone, that he might be glorified. Salvation is of the Lord. Start to finish from faith to faith beginning to end. Salvation is of the Lord. And that is something which not only brings glory to God but brings gladness to us, but brings gladness to the hearts of God's people because it means the pressure is off. I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't have to contribute anything. I don't, I don't have to, I don't have to worry, you know, and I don't want to be misunderstood in this, you know, the great concern for centuries whenever you, whenever you encounter the gospel, the real gospel in all of its utter graciousness. The thing that you always encounter is this fear that people are going to be antinomian. You know what, what we mean by that, that to, to, to sort of put it in, in familiar or, or layman's terms, the great fear is that nobody's going to care, you know, it's the idea that just since Jesus has done everything, I don't have to do anything. Because Jesus has done everything, I don't have to do anything. Because Jesus cared, I don't have to. Because Jesus was committed, I don't have to be. That's the concern that, that you run into, that you encounter, you see it in Jesus. Who is Jesus always going after? The legalists. What were they always accusing Jesus of being antinomian in effect? What was Paul's, as Paul gave his most systematic explanation of the gospel? What were the questions that he anticipated? What shall we sin the grace might increase? That, you know, that, when, when the real gospel is preached, when the gospel in all of its fullness and graciousness is preached, that's the response you get. The response is always, golly, you mean we don't have to do anything, kind of thing. Now that, that just misses the point entirely, misses the point entirely. The point is, God is glorified because salvation is of the Lord. We are made glad because the pressure is off, salvation is of the Lord, but salvation results in righteousness, it results in holiness, that's the direction that it leads to. Unrighteousness is death, righteousness is life. Why would Christ save people only in order that they might die again? Why would Christ deliver them from sin only to deliver them over to sin? That makes no sense, there's no logic in that, right? Christ delivers people from sin and it is all of grace, it is all of the Lord, and because it is all of the Lord, he is glorified, and we are made glad. We have the assurance that Christ, whose idea this was in the first place, will accomplish what he has set out to accomplish. He will do it. It's not always a straight line between here and there, right? It hasn't been in my life, probably hasn't been in yours either. But the end for which we have been set apart by Christ and the end for which Christ has died, that we might be conformed to his image, Christ most certainly will accomplish in the lives of each of his people. He will do that. Start to finish beginning to end, it is of the Lord, and the pressure is off, okay? The pressure is off, no threat of judgment, no fear of wrath, but liberty and joy, okay? So there are lots of implications from this because we are a people gathered, for God, a people gathered, two God and a people gathered by God, the people of God are safe. The people of God are safe because you belong to the Lord. You belong to the king of the kings. You belong to the God of heaven and earth, okay? People of God are singing people, as they said, and God ends up being glorified in the midst of his people. He ends up being glorified in the midst of his people. Now, that is just all kind of by way of review, sort of quickly. Last week we talked about, introduced the idea that the church is a new community, a new community, and this week we want to talk about the fact that the church is a holy community. Now, I want to mention something again that we have talked about before as we talk about the idea that the church is a holy community, and that is the idea, and maybe this sounds like it's a rehashing of things we've already said, but I think it's just looking at some of the things that we've said from a slightly different angle. The church is an assembled community, okay? The church is a people gathered, four God, a people gathered, two God, a people gathered by God, but the church is an assembly. The church is called an assembly throughout the scriptures. You look at Psalm 22 as an example. This great messianic Psalm in which the work of Jesus is described, it begins my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, and you remember as you work your way through that Psalm, you have this incredible description of the work of Christ upon the cross, and verses 16, 17, 18, 19, dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones, they look and stare at me, they divide my garments among them, and form my clothing, they cast lots, all of that stuff was fulfilled, and you see it fulfilled in the gospel narratives. Well, after that work is done, after the Passion of Christ is finished, then verse 22, the one who has, as undergone this Passion, says this, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly, I will praise you, you who fear the Lord, praise him, all you descendants of Jacob glorify him, and fear him all you offspring of Israel. That's just one example of many, you could look at the Psalm 26, verse 12, Psalm 40, verses 9 and 10, Psalm 68, verse 26. But the idea is that the church isn't assembly. Again, we've said that the church is a people gathered for God, gathered to God, gathered by God, and that the church is a new community, but in all of this, there is the idea that the church is an assembly. Now, an assembly is different, a gathering, a congregation of people is different from a bunch of individuals who, like go to a basketball game, right? It's different from a bunch of people who go to a baseball game. This assembly is a gathering of people into the presence of God who are united to one another by the grace of God. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the God of heaven and earth whom they have in common. The idea of an assembly gets worked out, it gets fleshed out every week when we gather for worship. A basketball game is something that people are drawn to because they might have an interest in basketball, or they might be married to somebody who has an interest in basketball, or they might want to be married to somebody who has an interest in basketball. So they endure going to the basketball game because they have an interest in being married to this person who has the tickets, right? Who is that person? Who is this guy? Who's got these tickets? So, I mean, there's a voluntary sort of a dimension to this thing, and you go to the arena, you go to the ballpark, or you do whatever. But the assembly of God's people is very different. How do our worship services begin every Sunday morning? Now, people to prepare their hearts for worship, that kind of thing, but then what happens? What really is the first thing that goes on in a service of worship? It is the call to worship, okay? Now, I'm giving you a little bit of instruction here about worship, but who is it that speaks that call to worship? I say the words, but where do the words come from? They come from God, right? It is God who summons people together into his presence. It is God who calls this assembly together, right? Now, when we come together, we are acting out on a week-to-week basis what God has been doing throughout the centuries and the generations, where God has been summoning people out of the world to Himself and into relationship with one another, calling people out of the nations of the earth, and making of those people a nation of His own possessing, a treasured nation, okay? The assembly of God's people is an assembly which God summons, and there's a sense in which it's not a voluntary thing, right? Grace is an irresistible thing. The spirit of God who summons people to the Father and to the Son, summons irresistibly, and He calls this assembly together to be in His presence, right? And again, you know, we get up on sunny mornings and it's kind of force of habit for us now. We get up on sunny mornings and we go to church, right? That's what we say. I've said this a thousand times. Our language is bad language in some respects. We don't go to church, we are the church, and we are summoned out of the world into the presence of God to be the assembly and look at what the Psalm says, Psalm 22, thinking back to this passage. We are the assembly, and who is in the midst of the assembly? Look ahead to Hebrews 2. We looked at this passage just a couple of weeks ago. I think I referred to this. Hebrews 2, verse 10 and following, It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. Who is singing praise in the midst of the assembly? It is Christ. It is the risen and exalted Christ. It is God who summons us into His presence, who calls us to worship at His foot stool, and it is Christ who dwells in the midst of the assembled multitude, and who sings praises to God in the midst of the assembly. And it is Christ who makes the name of God known to the brethren in the midst of the assembly. See, a basketball game is a purely horizontal reality. It is entirely voluntary gathering of people who have this common interest. The assembly of the righteous is an assembly called and gathered by a spirit who moves irresistibly, who brings people together, united to Jesus Christ, and united to one another, and it is the risen and glorified Christ, who is in the midst of that assembly, speaking to the brethren and singing praises in behalf of the brethren to the Father. I mean, you know that story about Lim Barney when he was preaching the gospel in the prison. Have you ever heard this story? Lim Barney was an old football player and was a Christian and became an evangelist and was sharing his testimony in a prison. And he's looking out at a whole bunch of faces, and he just kind of interrupts his talk and says, if this doesn't turn you on, you don't have any switches. And I think about what it is that has transpired for 70 or 80 people already this morning and what will transpire for 300 or so or 400 or so people later this morning and it is simply staggering. It is simply staggering what we say we are doing when we go to worship. We are saying God has summoned us to Himself and we are saying that the risen and glorified Christ is in the midst of that assembly and leads the congregation as it sings praises to God and Himself as the risen and glorified Christ speaks to the brethren declares the name of the Lord to the brethren. That's the dynamic. That's the real dynamic of worship. That's why we say worship is a foretaste of heaven. Worship is an anticipation of the glory to come. There isn't any other experience that more typifies heaven than what goes on in that hour or so hour and five, ten, twenty, forty minutes, whatever. There isn't anything that more typifies or pictures or describes heaven than that gathering on Sunday mornings. Nothing. I mean, it is just simply staggering to contemplate. The church is an assembly, an assembly gathered by God, by His grace, Christ dwells in the midst of that assembly. And it's interesting. Yeah. I'm trying to make it your comparison of the church and assembly verses of your remarkable family's family. Right. So my question is, is it possible for Christians to gather and not be this assembly that we're talking about or is it just the nature of the thing when Christians get together, this is an assembly worship is going to take place because I mean, obviously there are lots of different churches, lots of different styles, lots of different perspectives of what church is. And so I'm wondering if this happens by default or if there has to be some type of intention involved because frankly I've been in churches where it seemed to me there was no difference than assembling it a basketball game. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not saying that to be critical then among genuine curious is, you know, as much understanding needs to be our part, for this, for this to take place and for us to appreciate the difference because I would like to ask the general personal street, do you think there's a difference between Christians meeting at church and magic fans meeting in the arena because you could see some similarities. Sure. People are all calling together because they're passionate for Christ. These people are all calling together because they're passionate for Christ. Right. Right. Right. I would say, yeah, there are similarities. They're they're formal similarities. I also say that there's a difference between the church at worship and the church in a Sunday school class. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's definitely an assembly. Um, you know, this, this is one of those things that I find the difference hard to describe. But when the church is summoned by God, which which I think worship is, the church summoned by God into the presence of God for the specific purpose of rendering to him the praise that is do his name and hearing from him as he dwells in their midst, there is something qualitatively different about that than about the other activities, legitimate activities, which Christians are engaged in together as the church. Okay. This thing, this, this worship thing is an intrusion of, of the future heavenly reality. The saints gathered about the throne, the, the, the final fulfilled consummated assembly of the righteous gathered together in the presence of Christ to sing his praises. There's, there's something qualitatively different about that than about the other things in which Christians are engaged. And, and worship is, is the expression of that in, in a way that's different from other kinds of things. Doesn't mean the other things aren't legitimate, doesn't mean that God isn't present in the midst of those things. And also, you only need two people in order for that heavenly reality to be expressed. So, I wouldn't want to say that the only time this takes place is on Sunday morning when the whole body is gathered together. Okay. When a group of people gather on a Wednesday night, six or eight or ten, and, and what is at the heart of their gathering is this idea of being assembled in the presence of God to render to God, pray, the praise that is due his name and that sort of thing. That's an expression of this too. And Jesus said, we're two or more gathered together, there I am in the midst of them. That's, you know, that's the intrusion of that, that future heavenly reality. It's even a present heavenly reality. Into, into this, into this present moment. Okay. So there's that worship. Yeah. And, and what I'm suggesting is that they're, that, that the, the nearest you get to a picture of heaven is the people of God assembled for that purpose. In that summoned by God into his presence and assembled for that purpose, for the purpose of worship. That's a, that is the closest picture you're going to get of what the heavenly glory will be like. Okay. Now, yeah, man.
Right. Right. Even more specially than he does, generally throughout all creation. And yet at the same time, he could in the midst of people in ancient Israel, in the temporal cell, localized himself. Right. You know, display of his glory. Right. And there were times when the his glory departed from the midst of people because of their disobedience. Right. It's not necessary that just because we assembled it. Yeah. Yeah. We should block it and send the no difference. The sacraments do not work unless we, even as we enter into them by faith, work by virtue of their, of the, the machinations that we run for. Right. Unless we enter into that assembly. Right. With spirit of attention and faith. Right. We have no presence. You know, you can't, you need to be a question. Right. Yeah. That's a good point. What I was going to use to illustrate this is the experience that that Israel had when the ark was being returned to the, to the city. You know, that, I mean, that was the localized presence of God. And you remember, as David was taking the ark, leading the ark, back up into Jerusalem, that it might be put back in the temple. You remember they had the experience where put his hands on the ark and, you know, he got next and, and they decided, this is dangerous business. And so we're going to leave this thing here. And they left it in the house of Obed Edam for three months. And you remember what happened in the, in the house of Obed Edam? He was blessed. He was blessed. I mean, now, the point there is, is not that there is some sort of mechanical
way in which the, the presence of God produces blessing. But it's that very point that while God is present everywhere, he is omnipresent. There are these localized expressions of his glory, these particular places and times where his glory is abundantly manifest. And the ark residing at the house of Obed Edam produced blessing. The blessing isn't the issue. That's not the concern. The blessing is to draw your attention back to the reality of the presence of God, the localized presence of God. When we gather together for worship, coming appropriately, coming in faith, coming as as repentant people, coming as sinners who know that they're sinners and in need of the grace of God, we come together like that. I think we have every reason to expect that that God will localize his presence, that God will come down and there will be a glory put on display in the midst of the assembly. I mean, I think that, I think that worship, in worship, we should have the expectation of this localized expression of the glory of God, the presence of God. Now, you ask, you asked an interesting question. And frankly, this is why I wanted to teach this class in the mystery of God's providence, in the mystery of God's dealing with us. There is a connection between what is true and our experience of what is true and the link is our knowing of what is true. Right? I mean, I just think that's the way God works. As our minds become better informed, better acquainted with these things which are true, our experience of these things, possibility that our experience of these things which are true increases and grows.
Just as an example of this kind of a dynamic, there's this exchange which Jesus has with his disciples in John 10. Where is it? Oh, I'm going to be able to find it. Where Jesus says, if you, where is it? If you, you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. John 8. I knew that. John 8.30. There we go. Now, this is interesting language to me. Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him. To the Jews who believed in him. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Now, that's interesting language. He is speaking to people who already knew some things about him, hence they believed in him at some level. But Jesus admonishes them in a sense to go still further, to cling to these things. That's the literal implication of the language. To abide is to cling to something, to hold fast to something. So it's something that they've known, but they're to cling to it. They're to hold fast to it. They're to keep knowing it. They're to abide in it. They're to dwell in these things. And then Jesus says, if you do that, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. There is some kind of connection between our knowing things and really knowing things and then being set free by them.
The whole nature of our relationship to Christ, this is eternal life, that they may know the, the only true God in Jesus Christ who now has sent. How do we possess eternal life? It is by knowing Christ. How do we know the benefits of eternal life? It is by knowing Christ ever more deeply. So, I think your question is a good one because as our thinking, as our minds are shaped by these kinds of categories, it has the effect of increasing our sense of anticipation, our sense of expectancy. It has the effect of increasing our capacity for the enjoyment of these things. Right? Does that make sense? I don't know, every bit. Yeah, okay. Yeah. I mean, as my knowledge of God's grace grows, say if you come from non-governmental, non-election thinking into the idea of election of predestination, your idea, your concept of God's grace, growth, and therefore your appreciation and appreciation of it grows. Right. I mean, you can illustrate my knowledge grows, the things that I've seen become more significant. Right. Just like the church, during the church is starting in Genesis and being the people of God through all time versus the church being in front of these and just popping up in the book. Well, yeah, right. And most, I mean, someone has said most people's view of the church is Pentecost and Billy Graham. You know, that's, or the church that they were that they grew up in, yeah. So yeah, I mean, I think you can liken this, you know, at any point you can liken this or illustrate it maybe by marriage. You know, I remember my best friend from high school was married six or seven years before Barb and I were married, and I remember talking to him after he had been married four or five years. And he talked about how much greater his relationship with his wife was after four or five years than it had been in the first year of their marriage. I mean, how much deeper and more substantial? Now, how do you define that? How do you quantify that? You know, it's hard to do, but you just, you know, you know that that is true. That as you grow in a relationship, as you deepen in a knowledge, you know, of somebody, there's a greater experience. There's a deeper joy. There's a deeper delight in intimacy. And that's what we're talking about here, I think. One other thing, I'm sorry. Sorry. There's an idea of Christ giving, and I'm trying to get a handle on this time, just to think of that. Are we talking about Christ in the personal experience? Yeah. Yes. Right. Right. You may, I can't, man, I get the Hebe Gebes sometimes when I think about some of this stuff. And I wonder what our expectations are when we come to worship. And sometimes this kind of makes the hair stand on the back of my neck.
But sometimes you may hear me pray when we have communion that the Holy Spirit would come and mediate the presence of Christ to His people at the sacrament of the Lord's table. Now, I think that's Calvinistic. I've read the institutes. I think Calvin says things about the sacraments that would alarm most of us, about the real presence of Christ, not in the elements, not over and under and around the elements, but the real presence of Christ at the table. I mean, it's startling. And I, you know, sometimes I think, you know, almost feel like Luther did when he conducted his first communion, you know, that story of Luther, that he realized he was holding the blood of Christ and it caused him to tremble. He was terrified at the prospect. I'm not terrified, but I think about the real presence of Christ at communion. And it is sometimes an overwhelming notion, you know.
Well, I forgot where I was going with this.
Oh, yes, yes, yes. How is Christ present? It is by the Spirit. The Spirit mediates the presence of Christ to the people of God. It is by the Spirit indwelling the church as she assembles for worship that Christ is in her midst, singing, leading the congregation and singing praise to God, and speaking the name of the Lord to the brethren, okay. It is this supernatural dynamic, this supernatural reality, Christ by his Spirit in the midst of his people. I've been struck by this this last week. Paul in writing, I mentioned this in the sermon last week. Paul writing the Ephesians, talking about Christ and the Christ is our Pizzer's, verse 14 of Ephesians 2. He himself is our peace who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity. That is the law of the commandments contained in ordinance so as to create in himself one new man from the two thus making peace and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Paul is talking about the work of Christ and what Christ has done to effect a union between Jews and Gentiles, this business of gathering one people from among the nations in the relationship with Christ. Then look at what he says in verse 17. And he, Christ, came and preached peace to you who were a far off and to those who were near. Who preached to the Ephesians? Paul did, right? But Paul understands the same kind of dynamic that really it is Christ who comes into the midst and who preaches himself to the people and who by the spirit's power constrains these people and lose these people. I know it's hard for you to get this in your mind sometimes but who preaches on Sunday mornings? It is, you know, the idea is that Christ comes and preaches in the midst of the assembly. He declares the name of the Lord to the people, okay? So, I mean, and that's the thing that we want to keep in mind is we think about the Church that it is this assembled community, okay? Yeah. I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but you know, you sometimes you think about that room over there and you think about crossing that threshold and you think, do I really want to go in here knowing what it is that transpires? Knowing what it is that worship is. That's why they fall in love. Exactly right. Why would they say that if they didn't have some sense that there was something strange going on? First Corinthians 14, too, what is it that the unbeliever says when the unbeliever comes into the midst of the assembly and here's people prophesying, they fall on their face, convict it of their sin, and declare truly God is in your midst. Yeah.
Right, right. You all know that little passage? I don't know where it's from, I read it in the other writings. It's in Tinker, I think it's in the Tinker of Pilgrimage Creek. Pilgrimage Tinker Creek. Tinker of Pilgrimage Creek, whichever. Pilgrimage Tinker Creek. I think it's in there. Where she, I think it's in there, where she just observes, we come to this gathering and the deacons are politely distributing hymns and bulletins and everybody is sitting in nice ordered rows and everything else and she says rather than distributing hymns and bulletins, they ought to be distributing crash helmets given what it is that transpires. Annie Dillard, yeah. She's pretty wacky.
Mark's pretty wacky, too.
But you remember when Richard Roberts would, I'm confessing that I do channel search sometimes, and I got oral Robert's son, Richard, you know, something good is going to happen to you that they, you know, where he kind of get in the screen and he'd say something good is going to happen to you, we should not hesitate. We should not hesitate, not in a manipulative way, but we should not hesitate to say to people when they come to worship, something good is going to happen to you. You should come with the expectation that something good is going to happen to you. It may be painful, it may be a severe mercy, but it will be a mercy, okay? It may give great joy. You know, who knows, but something we should have that expectation because this is an assembly which God calls, he calls the people together, and by his spirit Christ comes to be the sweet song singer of Israel in the midst of the people declaring the name of the Lord to the brethren, okay? That's what goes on, Stephen.
Brother, if you've been thinking about it for a few years, I would say now's the time to ask.
And so, maybe, showing light, but I just, you know, when I think of what's going to be a worship, I think of words like silence, prostration, fear, godly fear, you know, the images of revelation, and then when I think of praise, I sometimes get the images coming to my mind in my day. Right. So I'm just wondering, are there times for one and times for the other, are they usually exclusive or they? Interest penetrated, you know, what would happen? Yeah, I'd say they're constituent parts of worship. Sometimes one may dominate more than the other, there are lots of components of worship. I mean, worship in the technical, etymological sense has to do with ascribing to God the worth that is do his name, worth ship.
But as we use it as a term describing what it is that goes on when the assembly comes together, there are lots of different things that go on in the context of worship, praise being one of them, penitence is another, song, prayer, the word of God being communicated, the covenant meal, which I think ought to be in every service of worship. But, you know, our time tolerance is don't allow for that. But you don't think there are two separate prayers in worship? I wouldn't say they're exactly synonymous, you know, praise is an element of worship. Yeah, yeah.
Different day lives as worship. And I know that we've formed a tradition of beliefs that all of our lives are worshiped. You know, the way we rule our family, the way we work, wouldn't it? All right, yeah, see I'm going to, well, go ahead. Yeah, I know there's got to be a difference. There's going to be some special thing with the assembly in worship person, the individual as they worship God, both thing worship. There is. There's a difference. There's a difference.
I'm more comfortable with saying that all of life is lived under the Lordship of Christ.
I get confused when people say all of life is worship. I know John Frame uses that kind of language. And I'm uncomfortable, I don't know what that means. Because that seems to me not to differentiate things that ought to be differentiated. I'm real comfortable with with the language that all of life is to be lived under the Lordship of Christ. All of life is to be an expression of the sovereignty of God and the Lordship of God as he rules over me and rules in me and even extends his rule through me. But I get confused when I hear that all of life is worship.
Well, it's like people saying here maybe it's a good illustration, helpful to me anyway. It's like people who will say all of life is sacred.
Well, what do you mean by that? Is an unborn child on a level with an earthworm? You know, they're both living things. Is there an equal sacredness about an earthworm in an unborn child or a born child or an 88-year-old man has lost his mind?
There is a sense in which all of life is sacred. If we understand that all of life is connected to God, derives from God and is to be respected. But there are some distinctions and differentiations that have to be made. So that's what I would say if somebody says all of life is worship. Well, what do you mean by that? Yeah, Mark.
As an act of worship. A living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Right. Yeah, they would point to that because so could you comment further on that? Because that's a question that I haven't got clear either.
You're going to be here next week?
Well, I think I, I mean, Mark, I would just, I would respond in the way that I've just responded. The reason I asked that is because I'd need to look at the, the word, there are different translations, different ways in which that is rendered. The New King James has acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. It's, I think it's the Greek word not to get bogged down in, but the Torah. Latria, yeah, yeah, which, which does describe in some contexts worship, a service in which, I don't mean a formal worship service, but a serving of God in which it takes up all of that Old Testament imagery of the priestly service, those who led the congregation of the assembly in the worship of God, all right. But it's not used uniformly that way. Okay. So it's, it's a word that has, that does have different meanings in different contexts.
I mean, I, I think this is a good, this renders the sense, I think, of what Paul's talking about here. This is your reasonable service that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy acceptable God. That is the reasonable thing for you to do in view of the mercies of God, okay. Now, even if you want to render it worship, I would still, I'd still ask the question, what does that mean? Okay. All of life is sacred. Well, what does that mean? You know, all of life is not equally sacred, not all things which can maybe be described as worshipful responses are in the same way worship, okay. And I'm, all I'm all I'm arguing for and suggesting is that we understand the church as an assembled community. We are an assembled community and that that the assembly at worship is, is the, is the best picture, the nearest thing to heaven, the clearest picture that we're going to have of what the glory of heaven is like, and that there is this remarkable dynamic that goes on in the midst of that assembly when she gathers together and that what we play out here every week, this is the first point in me, what we play out in gathering together here is like, is like a weekly reminder and rehearsal of what it is that God is doing in every generation across the centuries, that he is assembling a people together into his presence, that they might worship and adore and delight in him. And I just think, you know, and I think I do think that as we become better informed as we think about these things and meditate on these things, I think it heightens our sense of anticipation and it deepens our experience of the thing when we're doing it, when we're doing it, when we're engaged in it. Okay, so much for the church is a holy community this week. Well, let me, and let me, let me point out what is an implication of this and that is this point B on your, on your outline, the church as an assembled community by definition is a witness to the world. Okay, and I think that's important too. The church as an assembled community is a witness to the world. You know, we tend to think of witnessing as this thing that we do out there in our places of work and neighborhoods and that sort of thing and that is certainly an element of our witness. The church is a witness to Christ by what the individuals who make up the church say and do as they live in the world but the church by definition as she is constituted as an assembly at the feet of Christ is a witness to the world. Okay, this gathering out here, or in there speaks to the world of the truths we embrace just by virtue of the fact that we are assembled in this way. And again, thinking about the 1 Corinthians 14 passage, you know that passage I'm talking about just flip there for just a minute we'll conclude with this and then we'll pick all of this up next week. You know, the context of chapter 14 is order within the church and particularly in worship. What should go on when the people assemble? What is the right thing to happen? And you know, something about the church of Corinth that it was kind of a disordered chaotic, you know, people who say I want to be like the New Testament church, haven't read the New Testament letters very well. The church of Corinth was a mess in every respect and there was a lot of mess in their corporate gatherings and Paul at this particular point is trying to clarify for them how their corporate gatherings should be conducted. And in verses 22 and following, he's talking about tongues and prophesying and the purpose that there is in each. And then in verse 24, he writes this, if all prophesied and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all and thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. Now there is the church gathered together an assembly of God's people where there is this invasion of the heavenly reality into the presence, into the present. And Paul says, when the prophetic word is uttered, when the word thus sayeth the Lord is spoken, the unbeliever in the midst of that assembly will be convicted of his or her sin, will acknowledge his or her sin, will fall down in worship God and will declare God is truly in the midst of you. Now that is the church assembled together in the presence of God witnessing to the world, testifying to the world even when the world comes into remits. There is a declaration to the world in the midst of the assembly of the truths that the church embraces. So when an unbeliever comes to the worship service and says something silly like, I am surprised the roof didn't cave in given that I was here. There is a sense in which that unbeliever is saying, I am convicted of my own sin and God is truly in the midst of you. I know there is something different about this place and about this assembly and that says it should be. Since we have only got a minute remaining, I will tell you that I think we make a grave mistake when if in our churches we attempt to define what goes on in our worship services by what the unbelieving world finds palatable. I think we are compromising our greatest capital. I think we are giving away the store. I think we are giving up what it is that makes the church distinctive and what it is in the end that draws unbelievers to the place where they fall on their faces before God acknowledged that they are sinners and declare God is truly in the midst of you. We are giving away our capital at that point. When we allow what goes on in the midst of our sacred assemblies to be defined by what the unbelieving world finds acceptable and palatable, that is dangerous stuff. Now we don't do our services in Latin so we have already made adjustments to the surrounding culture. We try to speak and preach and do things in a language that can be understood but not giving away the store. I think church should be fun too.
And I will tell you some. Ain't going to be no fun like heaven and the more of heaven I can get in the midst of the earth the happier I am. Let's pray. Next week we will look at the churches a holy assembly. This has been good by the way. I like this input and some opportunity to interact about these things. So thanks for your questions and comments. Lord I pray that these things would be reinforced for us. Father I need myself and I believe that we need as Christians in this day to think very differently about ourselves than we typically do. I pray that you would help us to see ourselves as a people set apart. People gathered for you to you, by you. A people who are assembled in your presence. And I pray that we would see worship as this wonderful invasion of the heavenly realities into the present. And I pray that we would taste of these things over and over and over again and find them to be supremely satisfying and delightful to our souls. Lord give us an appetite for them and give us the taste buds that we need in order to save for them. Be with us now as we come to worship. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.