|
|
What is the Reformed
Faith? Private and family worship of God, particularly prayer and the reading of and meditating upon his Word, have been recognized by Reformed people as both proper and necessary. "God is to be worshiped everywhere, in spirit and truth; as, in private families daily, and in secret, each one by himself" (WCF, XXI:6; cf. Matt. 6:6; Deut. 6:6-7). The private exercise of worship is an activity particularly appropriate on the Sabbath day (WCF, XXI:8). The believer's sanctification is effected "really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them" (XIII:1). The exercise of private prayer is so essential to the converted life that a rehearsal of its biblical basis should be required by none. Nevertheless, for our encouragement in obedience, the following should be noted: Pss. 32:5-6; 51:1-14; Matt. 6:6, 11. Family worship is closely related to catechetical instruction. Psalm 78:1-8 lays a solemn obligation upon parents to teach their children the deeds and commands of their covenant God. The Westminster Assembly produced, along with its Confession of Faith and Catechisms, a Directory for Family Worship, recognizing the essential place of this discipline in covenant life. At the "family altar," believing families not only learn the Word of God in the quiet of their own homes, but also engage in particular and pointed prayer, and raise songs of thankfulness to their Savior. Today there is a sense of uncertainty about worship. What really is pleasing to God, and what should be rejected? When people innovate in worship, how should we react? It is clear, from the great Reformed confessions, that the Reformed churches--in the fervor characterizing them in the beginning--were determined to worship God only as he prescribed, without any additions or subtractions. Consider this statement of the principle: "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 imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture" (WCF, XXI:1). Not a few today are questioning how we should worship God. Is not the answer already implied when we say the Bible is the only infallible rule of our faith and practice? The principle--taught in both the Old and New Testaments--is summed up in these words of Moses: "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you" (Deut. 4:2). This applies to all of life, of course, and not only to worship. But nowhere else is it as vital to exclude every human invention as it is in this sphere. Some churches today are returning to ceremonial worship. They call it liturgical revival. If they were serious in their claim to be biblical, they would go all the way, adopting the whole Old Testament system. They would even advocate rebuilding the Jerusalem temple. And, if they did, we could at least respect them for consistency. But, of course, these "weak and miserable" (Gal. 4:9) elements of Old Testament worship have no legitimate place in the new covenant church. We need no purple robes, candles, incense, dancing, or dramatic performance. Why? Because these shadowy representations only get in the way of the reality: the privilege of going each Lord's Day--in faithful, commanded worship--right into the heavenly places (Heb. 12:18-29). Are we, then, to do as we please--fashioning our own style of worship (while the Old Testament saints had to be careful)? No, we above all should abhor and shun all human inventions. Is this not what underlies the following warning? "See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused ... how much less will we....? Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire' " (Heb. 12: 25, 28-29). Worship under the new covenant has been instituted by Jesus. Admittedly, there are few commands regarding, or examples of, corporate worship in the New Testament. The closest thing we have to a formal worship service is found in 1 Corinthians 14, and it focuses on speaking in tongues and prophecy, elements that were appropriate only in the apostolic age (cf. WCF, I:1). Nevertheless, we are able to identify prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, preaching, the singing of praise, the gathering of offerings, and the administration of the sacraments as "all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God" (WCF, XXI:5). Worshipers praise their God and Savior in song. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly ... as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16). Our Directory for Worship states (3:6): "Since the metrical versions of the Psalms are based upon the Word of God, they ought to be used frequently in public worship"--but not exclusively. Hymns, both older and contemporary, are properly used in Orthodox Presbyterian congregations, but the session is responsible to select such carefully, for "great care must be taken that all the materials of song are in perfect accord with the teaching of Holy Scripture." Orthodox Presbyterians not only preach, but pray and praise God in song, in the light of the entirety of God's special revelation--both the dispensation of promise (the Old Testament) and that of fulfillment (the New Testament). The Word of God, which (together with the sacraments and prayer) are "the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption" (WSC, Q. 88), is indispensable to corporate worship. It must be read, for through it God speaks most directly to the congregation. It must be preached, being "an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation" (Q. 89). Preaching is the proclamation of the Word of God, and the preacher, ordinarily a minister (teaching elder), is the herald of the gospel (2 Tim. 4:2; 1:11). His task is to proclaim Christ (Col. 1:28). He is concerned not with the approval of men, but with serving the Bread of Life to sinners. The preaching of the Word of God is a specialized form of discourse, not to be confused with any other. It is, strictly speaking, neither a theological lecture nor a speech that seeks to persuade by moral suggestion, although it resembles both at certain points. Preaching begins with a "what." It must proclaim Christ in order to be called preaching. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27) is what to preach. Here preaching is properly third-person discourse--the preacher points his listeners to Christ--who he is, and especially what great transactions of grace God the Father performed in him in order to save sinners. Preachers are to preach Christ. But which Christ? Sometimes we hear people request "no creed but Christ." Now, that may sound pious and even helpful, but it is not. The apostle continues, "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom" (Col. 1:28). Christ is not a mantra or some other mindless feeling; he is the one who asked the disciples, "Who do you say I am?" (Matt. 16:15). Their answer to that question would be their creed--it is inescapable. But preaching is more than the "what." It includes a "so what," as well. The apostle says, "I labor, struggling with all his [Christ's] energy, which so powerfully works in me" (Col. 1:29)--to what end? To "present everyone perfect in Christ" (vs. 28). He does that by admonishing--the verb means "to confront with a view to producing obedience"--his hearers. Knowledge of, and even belief in, the preached Word is absolutely indispensable, but a life of obedience to the commands of Christ is also indispensable. Preachers must press a "so what" upon their listeners, or they aren't preaching. And here is where preaching is properly second-person discourse--the preacher calls forth a response to the heralded message: you must do what it says! The preacher needs to lay both the doctrinal foundation and the ethical structure in every sermon. He is a herald; he has a message. But that message is not a compilation of interesting data; it is the heralding of wonderful, blessed, good news that must be both believed and acted upon. The Reformed view of the Lord's Supper needs to be distinguished from (1) the Roman Catholic Mass and (2) the memorial-only view held by many broadly evangelical churches. The Lord's Supper is not a Mass. "In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to his Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins ...; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all" (WCF, XXIX:2). The Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, which maintains that the bread and wine of Communion are changed into the substance of Christ's body and blood, is to be rejected entirely. Likewise to be rejected is the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation, which teaches the actual presence of Christ's body "in, with, and under" the bread and wine of Communion. The Lord's Supper is not merely a memorial feast, either. "Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death" (WCF, XXIX:7). Christ is really present in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper--not physically, but spiritually. Believers feed upon, commune with, and receive grace from him in the sacrament. That is to say, they would deprive themselves of such blessing if they should absent themselves from the Lord's Supper, even though they should seek him through other means, such as by the Word and prayer. The Lord's Supper is not for every covenant member, but is to be administered "only to such as are of years and ability to examine themselves" (Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 177; cf. 1 Cor. 11:28). Covenant children are urged to make public profession of faith in Christ, and thus be admitted to the Supper, as soon as they are so able. The session is charged with maintaining the purity of the sacrament by admitting only worthy participants to it (1 Cor. 11:27-32). Members must not be permitted to commune if their membership privileges have been suspended or they refuse to be reconciled to a brother. Likewise, the Lord's Supper must be fenced so as to exclude notorious sinners or casual visitors who make no profession of faith in Christ. Reformed worship is beautiful, but it does not have the beauty of sensual things. Rather, it has the beauty mentioned in several of the psalms. "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness" (Ps. 29:2). It is for this reason that Reformed worship has always been marked by what some have called "a stark simplicity." The beauty is found in the faithful preaching of the Word of God, in the simple, unadorned, but faithful administration of the sacraments, and in the maintenance of faithful discipline. Reformed people find their delight in truth and in the spiritual things that Christ spoke of when he said that we must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Abraham Kuyper spoke of "the serious danger with which symbolism menaces the future of our Calvinistic Church life." When "symbolism replaces revelation," he said, it "makes us fall back from conscious to unconscious religion. The Reformed faith always places revelation in the foreground, and tolerates no other performances than such as are able to echo it and remain carefully under its sway." This simplicity is a hallmark of the worship conducted in Reformed churches. |