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There can be no doubt that the Word of God plays a central role in the life of the believer. Each step in the ordo salutis and every aspect of the Christian life is governed by the Scripture. We are born again by the “living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23); justifying faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Rom. 10:17); we grow by the “pure milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2, NASB); we are sanctified by the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17). We live not “by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). “The word of his grace” is what “is able to build [us] up and to give [us] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
We should not be surprised if that same “living and active” Word of God (Heb. 4:12), if that same God-breathed Word of God that teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16), if those same words of Christ that are the rock upon which He says we must build our lives (Matt. 7:24–27) should play a central role when the church assembles for worship. We can see this in two ways: Scripture provides the elements of worship, and Scripture provides the content of worship.
elements
When the church assembles, what is it supposed to do? It is supposed to worship, we all agree. Yet what are the proper elements of worship? What are the valid activities of a congregation gathered on the Lord’s Day for public worship? We are able to find in Scripture six basic elements:
- Reading: “Devote yourself to the public reading” (1 Tim. 4:13)
- Preaching: “exhortation” and “teaching” (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:1–5)
- Singing: “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)
- Praying: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1–2)
- Administration of the sacraments: “Go . . . , baptizing . . .”; “Do this in remembrance of me” (Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Cor 11:23–32)
- Oaths: membership and baptismal vows, creedal affirmations, covenantal sacraments (1 Cor. 11:26; 1 Tim. 3:16)
We find no authorization in Scripture for dance, video clips, light shows, pyrotechnics, or drama as elements of new covenant worship. Neither do we find authorization in Scripture for offering eucharistic sacrifices. Jesus fulfilled the typological temple and the entire apparatus of sacrifice by the shedding of His own blood (John 4:21–24).
This box may provide a summary of the implications of suffering of “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29):
Communion: supper, not sacrifice
Clergy: preachers, not priests
Furniture: table, not altar
Building: house, not temple
What is left once we remove the trappings of entertainment on the one hand and the elements of sacrifice on the other is a simple service in a simple structure consisting of prayer, preaching, singing, reading, and an unembellished administration of the sacraments. We are to worship “according to Scripture,” as regulated by the Word of God.
content
What is to be read, preached, sung, prayed, and displayed? What is to supply the content for the elements? Scripture. This has been a central concern of Reformed Protestants going all the way back to 1524 when Martin Bucer published Ground and Reason, the first defense of Protestantism’s reforms of worship. The Word of God must supply the content for the entire service of worship. Let’s go back over the elements:
- Reading: “of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13, emphasis added)
- Preaching: “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2, emphasis added)
- Prayer: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7, emphasis added, emphasis added)
- Singing: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16, emphasis added)
- Sacraments: “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you”; “Go . . . , baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus gave us the words of institution that precede the “visible words,” as the sacraments are known (1 Cor. 11:23–26; Matt. 28:18–20)
We are not to read Greek myths or Roman legends in our services, or preach current events or political ideals, or give book or movie reviews. We read and preach God’s Word. Our songs are like the Psalms—indeed, regularly they are the Psalms—which means that they are full of God, full of Christ, and rich in biblical and theological context, with minimal repetitions. When we administer the sacraments, they are always accompanied by Scripture and exposition because, as J.A. Motyer frequently explained, “There are no dumb [i.e., silent] sacraments” in the Bible.
The importance of the Word of God’s supplying the content for worship is especially critical in the prayers of the church. All of the church’s prayers are meant to be rich in biblical terminology. The disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” because they didn’t know how to pray (Luke 11:1). We don’t know either; we must be taught. This means gleaning from Scripture the content and categories of prayer if our prayers are to be effective and God-honoring.
Consequently, our prayers are to praise God, confess sins, give thanks, and petition Him in the terms in which He reveals Himself and according to the priorities that He establishes. This means that we pray the ideals, the commands, the warnings, and the promises of Scripture, all with the language that God Himself provides.
This brings us to a consideration of the categories of prayer. Based on the study of Scripture and the church fathers, the Reformers identified six basic prayer genres: praise, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, illumination, and benediction. They also identified what we may call the fivefold intercessions:
- The sanctification of saints
- The church and its ministry
- The sick
- Civil authorities
- Christian mission
The Reformers revived what Hughes Oliphant Old called a “full diet” of biblical prayer.
Today, Christianity in general, and Protestantism in particular, is divided during the hour of worship. Many church leaders seem to determine the format for their services based on what they perceive will be liked by contemporary audiences. Popular appeal often drives their musical choices, the various elements that they include, and the relative weight that they give to each item. Yet we will see the great mass of evangelical Christians sanctified and matured only when decisions regarding life and worship are based not on taste, style, personal preferences, personalities, popularity, or pragmatics. We will see multitudes of sinners saved and saints sanctified only when our services of worship are governed by the Word of God and filled with the Word of God.