smerickson.com the personal website of steven m. erickson

My good friend Josh is doing a great series called Covenantal Corporate Worship. He does a great job of explaining the “why” and the “how” of corporate worship from the perspective of Biblical Theology. Be sure to follow the whole series, I’m sure there will be plenty of gems there. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Worship is the primary matter of the universe, and life is a battle for worship.

Talking about worship is dangerous. Indeed, the first murder in human history took place between two brothers in a disagreement over worship!

Acceptable worship, then, is Israel's faithful response to, or continued expression of, their covenantal relationship with Yahweh that he initiated.

I recently finished reading David Peterson’s Engaging with God – A Biblical Theology of Worship. This book is strong on both theology and exegesis – a combination which is sadly lacking in most contemporary books on this subject. Peterson’s task is a formidable one. He sets out to trace the ways in which terms like worship and service are used throughout Scripture. His study is significant in that it seeks to ground our understanding and language of worship Biblically. I found his conclusions to be really helpful. On the whole, Peterson’s work shows that there is a significant shift in the location of language concerning worship after the incarnation. In the Old Testament, the language of worship and service are often found in connection with those activities which occur in and around the temple often in the context of sacrifices and rituals. With the life death and resurrection of Christ, this all changes. Jesus taught his disciples that his life, death and resurrection fulfill that to which the Jewish cultic practices pointed. Jesus is the true temple, the final and perfect sacrifice, and the only priest or mediator between man and God. As a result, terms like worship or service are used in new ways by the early church. They are transmuted to refer broadly to the entirety of one’s life and attitude. It is shocking to realize that the New Testament authors do not use the term worship in the way we do today. Very rarely, if at all, is the term worship used to refer to what the church does when it gathers together on the Lord’s Day, let alone to an extended time of singing. More often worship is used to refer to a life lived in response to God’s work in Christ on our behalf. The implications for this understanding are many. In the end, Peterson’s book is a helpful corrective to common conceptions about worship today. We often hear that we should worship God with our whole lives, but that takes on a greater significance after reading the exegesis of relevant passages offered in Engaging with God. Would that many in our churches better understood the language of worship in the Bible and were then better able to plan gatherings which glorify God and edify his people and who seek to worship God in all areas of their life.

Many of you know that I love hymns. While I do appriciate them being played on an organ, I also enjoy it when musicians, in an act of creativity, set them to new tunes. It should come as no surprise then that I have really been enjoying the new Jars of Clay cd, “Redemption Songs”. It is fully of great hymns all done in that great ‘Jars of Clay’ style.

Another resource I should mention is the Reformed University Fellowship. This group, based out of Nashville, has also put together some great hymn arrangements. They also make available their entire hymnal. Both are great. Enjoy.

LINK: Jars of Clay website Redeption Songs on iTunes Indelible Grace RUF Hymnal

A couple days ago, I posted a short collection of verses from the Bible explaining the reasons for God’s working in the stages of redemptive history. Those verses and the doctrine which is taught in them are to me some of the most all encompassing truths I know. The implications for believing them are deep and wide. In order to give you a taste for this and to encourage you to do the same in your own study of the word and its applications to your daily living, let me share some implications that I see this truth having for our times of corporate gathering.

Why do we as Christians gather together regularly, in chapel and on Sundays? We do so in order to magnify God together. Indeed we do this individually in all that we do (1 Cor 10:13), but we also set aside times to come together as the people of God 1) to publicly declare to each other and to the world that God is God and he is to be praised and 2) to receive from him his gifts of life and salvation.

I see the implications of this truth for corporate worship are at least twofold.

First, that God’s passion is for His glory means that our services ought to be radically God centered. There can be no Christian corporate gathering which does not have as its purpose, the proclamation of the glory of God. This must be kept as central in all that we do because it is central in all that God does. When Christians gather together the focus is to be on God; but not in the sense that we are giving something to him which he did not already have. Instead the focus is upon God and our receiving from him those things which only he can give. If we focus upon our act of “giving” in the service the focus shifts from being on the worthiness of God to the acceptability of our offering. While we should be concerned about what it is we are doing in our times of corporate gathering, we can all to easily get caught up in trying to figure out how to best give to God. We then get into fights and arguments with each other about what constitutes our best or that which is most worthwhile to bring before a holy God. Slowly but surely the focus turns from being on God to our own individual wants and preferences. When this happens services then begin to become catered to what the majority of people want to do and not ordered towards the end of seeking to glorify God by being satisfied in him. To keep God as central in our services is to affirm that He is God. We do this because he has commanded us to and because we delight to.

Second, that God is most glorified when his people are most satisfied in him means that our services, when focused upon declaring the glory of God, will be most edifying and encouraging to the believers present. We will not need to try and figure out what people’s felt needs are in order to better meet them with our own devises. We will not need to alter our preaching by telling silly stories or providing mass counseling in order to be relevant. We can trust that when the full council of God’s word, revealing the fullness of his glory, is rightly preached, it will be embraced and enjoyed by the believers. The twin truths that we are to do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:13) and that all elements of our corporate meetings should be for the edification of the believers (1 Cor 14:26) are not at odds. They are one end. Our joy is the glory of God and in this God is glorified.

So we must now ask the question: what does it mean to glorify God in our corporate gatherings?

First, we begin by contrasting the word glorify with that of beautify. When we beautify something we usually mean that we make it more beautiful than it was before. This is emphatically NOT what we mean when we say that we are to glorify God. God cannot be made more glorious; for there is nothing which we can give to God which he has not already given to us. Glorifying God does not mean that we add more glory to God.

Second, we might more positively define the word glorify by comparing it with another word, magnify. But in order to do so we must distinguish between the two meanings of magnify. There are two ways one can magnify an object. The first is like a microscope. When you magnify something using a microscope, you take something which is incredibly small and make it look bigger than it really is. If we take this as our definition of what it means to magnify/glorify God, then we make him out to be something less what who he is; this is evil. On the other hand, we can understand the word magnify like a telescope. When you magnify something using a telescope, you take something which might look tiny and begin to reveal its greatness. We look at the stars and they look very small, but through a telescope we begin to see them as they are; huge, fire burning balls of gas in the gigantic universe. To understand the term glorify in this sense is the essence of true worship. We are to declare God’s glory in such a way that others see him for who he truly is. [Taken from John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (Crossway, 2003), pg. 32.]

In our times of corporate gathering this takes a number of forms. We glorify God when we read His word to each other and preach it in such a way as to cause those in attendance to be more knowledgeable of God and to grow in their love for Him. We glorify God in our services when we sing of his mighty acts and our delight in Him. We glorify God by using our instruments to aid our fellow believers in singing in unison the praises of our King. We glorify God when we pray to him; thus affirming our deep need and his glorious providence and sufficiency. We glorify God when we acknowledge his work among us in continuing to regenerate sinners. This we in turn recognize by affirming them as part of the covenant community through the practice of baptism. We glorify God by recalling his wonderful work in salvation through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is in all these ways that we glorify God in our times of corporate gathering as Christians.

Especially when we are in positions of leadership, we must seek to glorify God like John the Baptist (see John 1:19-34). John was clear in his denial that he was not the messiah and clear in his affirmation that Jesus was the messiah. So too, we in leadership need to point others to our all-sufficient Savior. Perhaps the best way in which this is accomplished is when the leadership sees themselves as underneath the authority of Scripture. It is easy for those in leadership to think that they are the ones who determine the form and content of the services because they are the ones planning and guiding them; but if this is our understanding we will not glorify God like John the Baptist. The believers in attendance are not to be subject to the inventions of the men in leadership rather all those involved both in leadership and in participation need to be subservient to the authority of God’s Word. It is especially important that those in leadership seek to lead the congregation in ways which are in accordance with what God has revealed in his word about how he is to be worshipped. In this way it is the Scriptures which then give rise to the form and content of the services and the consciences of the gathered community are kept free from submitting to man’s ideas about how God is to be worshipped.

These are just some of the things that come to my mind as I think about the implications of God’s passion for his glory as it relates to Christian corporate worship. There is much more that could be said on this topic, but let this serve as an encouragement to you to think through the deep implications that this truth has for how you live your life.

Yesterday was a most interesting day at church. It was July 4th. What I would like to address is the relationship between the church and the state and the implications for Christian worship.

The Christian and the State

As Christians we live in two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven. The two kingdoms are distinct but have points of overlap. We would do well to distinguish between them. The kingdom of earth is where all humanity lives. We find ourselves living in a particular place in time and space. In this kingdom we are ruled by the government. The government is established by God. It’s purpose is to restrain evil and promote moral and ethical behavior. There is not any one form of government that can be called a “Christian form of government”. But all forms of government can be guided by Christian principles. The earthly government is not and was never intended to be a heaven on earth. Rather it is a part of God’s providential care for his creation.

This is in contrast to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is eternal. It is made up of all of God’s elect, the church universal. Here on earth it is often time hidden. Against the nationalistic hopes of the Israelite people, Christ did not come to establish an earthly rulership but a heavenly one. Because God’s kingdom is not of this world, the Christian’s ultimate allegiance is to our heavenly citizenship and not our earthly one, but we belong to both and have responsibilities in both.

Implications for Christian corporate worship

You may be asking, why in the world would this have any connection with Christian corporate worship? The reason is this: our worship is governed by our understanding of God and of his word. Furthermore, our worship ought to reflect a Biblical understanding God, of ourselves and of the world. We would do well to carefully think through the elements of our services and make sure the align with what we profess about God. This is most important on a day like the fourth of July.

This is an overview of today’s service at the church I attend during the summertime. The service began with the singing of America the Beautiful. We then proceeded to corporately say the pledge of allegiance. We acknowledged those in our midst who have served our country in the military. There was a reading concerning the song, “the battle hymn of the republic”. And during the offering the leader sang a song about the flag. Interspersed through all of this were common Christian songs that would normally be sung on any given Sunday; songs like Great is thy faithfulness, Amazing Grace, Forever and He is Exalted. The message then addressed the 3 principles for Christian interaction in society. (1. A biblical understanding of the two kingdoms; 2. Pray for our leaders; 3. Patient participation)

All of this caused me to think about the relationship between our understanding the Christian and the State and the practice of Christian corporate worship. Here are some of my thoughts:

First, our worship ought to be guided by our understanding of God, his attributes and deeds. These are revealed to us in His word, therefore his word is to have preeminence in the service. All elements of the service should come from God’s word, be done in accordance with his word and toward the end of glorifying Him and edifying his people. As such, there is no place for nationalistic patriotism in Christian corporate worship. This is because patriotism has as it focus, the nation or country and not God and his people. It confuses our identity as citizens of heaven with citizens of the earth. Again, we belong to both and have responsibilities in both, but the kingdom of this world is not the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, the singing of songs about God’s “special” grace to America or pledging allegiance to our country or other related practices should not be a part of Christian corporate worship. Primarily, this is because there is no positive warrant in God’s word for this practice. But also, this is because God has not promised his “special” grace to any specific nation, most assuredly not America, given our rampant pluralism and materialism. He has created for himself a people out of every tribe, nation and tongue. Furthermore, our allegiance is ultimately to Christ and to his kingdom. While it is appropriate to be grateful for living in a country such as America and we are to honor and serve our nations leaders, this should not overlap into corporate worship. The church does not show allegiance to any nation, the church pledges her allegiance solely to her Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. The one element of today’s service which I thought was appropriate was prayer for our nation and our leaders. This is exactly what Paul commands to Timothy in 1 Tim 2.

All that I will say about the content of specific patriotic songs is that most of them were probably written by deists and not Christians; therefore the content of those songs reflects deistic understandings of God and humanity which should be carefully weighed against the testimony of God’s Word.

Another thing that made me uncomfortable today was the blatant parallelism between Christ’s work on the cross and the men and women who serve our country in our armed forces. This is because of the unbiblical view of humanity that is promoted in most modern presentations of war. Most people think that war is fought in order to free good and otherwise helpless people from the evil powers which oppress them. If this is the paradigm we have for thinking about what Christ did at Calvary, then we have grossly misunderstood the Gospel. According to the Biblical Gospel, humanity lives in rebellion to God and his law. We act in accordance with our desires and the desires of our heart are continually evil. We are therefore responsible for the evil that we commit and deserving of just punishment. But God, in his mercy, sent Christ to redeem those who were dead in sin. God did not sacrifice his Son for the innocent so that they could be “free”. Rather he redeemed them from their bondage and slavery to sin and paid the penalty which they rightly deserved. The person who sacrifices their life for another human being does so, because that individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. But sinners deserve nothing from God except his just wrath and punishment. These two understandings, that of warfare and the Gospel could not be more antithetical and we ought not confuse people by loosely equating them on a day such as the fourth of July or memorial day.

Finally, the focus upon only our nation and God’s general providence over it serves to promote an unhealthy view of God’s work in the global church. To the degree that we emphasize God’s “special” work in America (as if there ever was such a thing, which there is not) we lose sight of the fact that God is the Lord of all the earth. His rule extends to the furthest reaches of the globe and his church consists of people from all nations. We would do well to consider God’s work around the world in contrast to thinking that America is what is going to change the world.

In summary, it takes great thought and effort to plan services which are honoring to God and edifying to his people. I offer these critiques simply because I long to see Christ’s church continue to reform its worship in accordance with his word. On a day like the fourth of July, when national pride runs high; we should take that time to focus upon God and his work around the world. The church’s mindset should not be that of the world. Our focus should not be upon our nation and how great it is, but upon God and how great he is. I hope that we as worship leaders will be thoughtful about these things and encourage the churches we are a part of to have their services reflect the Biblical distinction between the church and the world.

This is such a vital question for us today: Does God care what we sing? Here is a great lecture given by Albert Mohler (President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) on that very topic. I recommend you listen to it.

Does God Care What We Sing?: Albert Mohler (Real audio required)

Jesus Cast a Look on Me

Jesus cast a look on me,
Give me sweet simplicity
Make me poor and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know

All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet

Make me like a little child,
Of my strength and wisdom spoiled
Seeing only in Thy light,
Walking only in Thy might

Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Where a weary soul can rest
Feeling well the peace of God,
Flowing from His precious blood

In this posture let me live,
And hosannas daily give
In this temper let me die,
And hosannas ever cry!

Today I had to share some thoughts on a couple of songs that we sang in chapel. I thought I’d post my notes of what I said. Enjoy.

Here are the lyrics for the songs as well:

Before The Throne Jesus With Thy Church Abide

Hi and welcome to this day of song. [as Elizabeth mentioned] one of the things which we would like to take time to do today is explain some of the songs that we will sing. Perhaps, though, my reasoning for wanting to do this may be different than your understanding of it. For me, the reason that I explain songs is not to be able to better sing the song, but rather, to give the song something to point to. The message of the song is what’s key, not the song itself. The message would still exist without the song and it would be just as beautiful and glorious. So as you learn more about the songs we sing today reflect on the fact that those explanations are more important than the song. Learn something new about God and his word. With that in mind, we would like to begin today, not by singing a new song, per se, but instead by giving perhaps new meaning to a song which we have sung before in chapel. That song is

Before the Throne

This is a really powerful song, which is just rich with Biblical allusions. If I had to give you one word to explain this song it would be: intercession. Perhaps, intercession is not a word that we use very often when speaking about Christ as Savior. Yet the ministry of intercession is integral to who Christ is, what he did and how we are saved. It is for this reason that I would like to provide some comments on it and offer some passages from Scripture in support of those statements. These are profound truths and deserve much more time and thought than we will give them here today, but engage with me as we think about what it means for Christ to intercede for us.

First of all, intercession is necessary because humanity, by virtue of being united with Adam in the fall, are all dead in sin, alienated from God and live in rebellion to Him. We could put this in the form of a question, as Psalm 130:3 does: “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” The obvious answer is none of us. Therefore, we see our need for one to go before the Father and intercede on our behalf for the salvation of our souls. This is one of the roles of Christ. Yet, God the Father is a just and righteous God and so he cannot simply disregard our sin. Our sin must be atoned for and we must also obtain some more positive active righteousness whereby we can then be seen as worthy to be in God’s presence. Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God came to this earth and lived the perfect life which met the righteous demands of God. Not only this but he suffered, died and rose to life in order to make atonement for our sin. It is then these two things, Christ’s life of righteousness and his substitutionary death which become the basis for his intercession before the Father on our behalf. So we see then how Christ’s life, death and resurrection are intimately connected with his role as intercessor. Those for whom Christ lived and died are those for whom he intercedes before the Father. Let me share with you two passages from Hebrews which clearly bring out this point.

HEB 7:22-28 22This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

If we continue to read in Hebrews, we see that Christ lives to make intercession for us on the basis of his perfect life of righteousness and his substitionary death in our place. Chapter 9:12-28 reads,

HEB 9:12-28 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

24For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Our school thinks that this message is extremely important, it is one of the beliefs which defines us as an institution. Listen to how the statement of faith words these precious words: To effect salvation He lived a sinless life and died on the cross as the sinner’s substitute, shedding His blood for the remission of sins. On the third day He rose again in the body which had been laid in the tomb. He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He performs the ministry of intercession. He will come once again, personally and visibly, to complete His saving work and to consummate the eternal plan of God.

Turning more specifically to the song, we see the emphasis upon Christ as intercessor from the very first line, “before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me.” The second and third verses beautifully fill out the understanding of Christ bearing on his body the penalty for our sin and also achieving for us a righteousness which we then obtain only by faith.

One final thing about this song is the line, “my name is graven on His hands, my name is written on His heart”. This line comes from Isaiah 49:16, where God says of Israel, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” This is a profound statement in light of the Ancient Near East culture. The pagan religions of that day would carve the names of their gods into their flesh. This is similar to what we find with the prophets of Baal when they confront Elijah in the contest they had. The ironic thing is that this grotesque picture of utter devotion for the pagan religions is exactly the thing which our God says he has done with those whom he loves. He has quite literally, engraven our names upon the palms of his hands. This is the message of the Gospel and the reason why we sing. So as we now sing, may the words of this song point to back to Scripture and cause you to praise our God who lived, died and was raised from the dead that we would be his people. Please stand and join us in singing Before the Throne of God Above.

Jesus With Thy Church Abide

This semester in chapel, we have been studying the church. We have heard from many people on it and maybe it has caused you to think more about her than you had previously done. Although, at times, I have been kind of saddened by the apparent low view of the church which has sometimes come across. There has been a lot of pointing out the Church’s faults and at times that has felt like it has come at the expense of loving the Church and holding her in high regard. The church is mighty and powerful; She is the glorious bride of Christ. She is the way that God works in the world. She is his chosen people. I am one who deeply cares for and loves the Church. She is very precious to me. Does that mean that I naively disregard her short comings? No, instead I am moved by that deep love which causes me to go before the Lord in prayer for her.

This song, I think, beautifully upholds the uniqueness of the Church and also pleads with God to continue his work in and through her, as he has promised to do. It upholds the place of the Church as God’s ordained means of reaching the world with His love and of building up those whom He has called out of this world and redeemed for Himself. It is a deep heartfelt prayer that all who call themselves Christian’s should pray. I find that it beautifully recognizes the need for doctrinal unity based on God’s Word. It does not settle for a false and trite unity which is based on a tolerance of all things but a strong binding of believers in Spirit and Truth. It is only because Christ is the head of the church and maintains her by His Word that she then can have hope as she goes out to minister to a lost and broken world. It is to these ends that we pray and may the words of this song truly be your prayer for the Church.