Turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. You'll know, of course, we're going through the epistle to the Galatians in our evening worship. Last Sunday night, we considered the works of the flesh. The Sunday night before that, the command that we walk in the Spirit.
God willing, we're going to look at the fruits of the Spirit next Sunday night and how they apply in our individual lives. I thought, however, it would be helpful and instructive for us to see what it looks like when a church, corporately gathered, walks in the Spirit. What it looks like when a church of Jesus Christ is, in fact, Spirit-filled. Now, Acts is a wonderful book.
It's a historical narrative of God's work in terms of disciple-making and church planting. Now, it is descriptive in nature. That means Luke, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as he writes, as he narrates, he is describing what's going on. It's a little bit different than a prescriptive or a prescribing.
In other words, not everything in the book of Acts is prescribed or commanded for us to go and do likewise. However, tonight, the description that Luke gives of the spirit filled church at worship is what we find prescribed in the remainder of the New Testament. So it serves to illustrate for us. It serves to picture for us what this church will look like if, in fact, we are filled with the spirit.
So I just want to read beginning in Acts chapter 2 at verse 36. I know that's sort of an interesting place to drop into, but I just want to start there and read to the end of the chapter. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were caught to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off. as many as the Lord our God will call, and with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to that, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Amen. Well, let us pray again.
Father, we just come to you now and we pray that you would lead us into an understanding of this passage. We pray, Father, that we would appreciate the work of God, the power of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit when he comes upon the church. We pray, Father, for conversions. We pray that sinners would pass from death to life, from darkness to light, that you would be well pleased, Lord God, in this place and elsewhere, to save by your powerful grace.
And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction: Pentecost in Redemptive History
Well, the day of Pentecost was a very unique day in the history of redemption. You'll remember back in Chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came in a powerful way. Men began to speak in other languages, not gibberish, not things that people were not able to understand, but rather people were able to understand in their own language The wonderful works of God.
And then there was some wonder, some curiosity, if you will, about this phenomena of the Holy Spirit. So the apostle Peter stands up to explain what is going on with reference to the outpouring of the Spirit. We see his sermon in verses 14 to 36. And basically what he does is he highlights that this is consistent with what the prophet spoke.
In fact, he says this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel, that in it shall come to pass rather in the last days, says God that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. So Peter says this is fulfillment. This is the time. This is what Joel was writing about.
And then Peter embarks in a sermon expounding, explaining, expositing the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He highlights Jesus' life and ministry in verse 22. He points to his death in verse 23. He then sets forth the resurrection of Christ in verses 24 to 32, and then his exaltation to the right hand of the Father in verses 33 to 36.
That's why we read beginning in verse thirty six. That's the end. That's the conclusion. This is Peter bringing it on now.
Notice, he says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He wants A response. He wants them to believe. He wants them to not just nod their head and say, yes, this is what the prophet Joel spoke.
Yes, Jesus was a noble man, but rather with that data, having that truth, he wants them to come to the Lord of glory. So we're going to look at two things this evening. First, the response of the people on the day of Pentecost. And then secondly, the worship of the church.
In some, verse 42 describes for us what a spirit-filled church looks like. They are a worshiping body. They take seriously the injunction to come before God with praise, with thanksgiving, with adoration. And so that's what we'll look at this evening.
Response on the Day of Pentecost
But let's first look at the response on the day of Pentecost, beginning in verse 37.
Conviction of Sin
There is, first of all, conviction. They are convicted of their sin. Notice in verse thirty seven. Now, when they heard this, they were caught to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do later on in the book of Acts and Acts seven?
It says that there was a similar response. They were caught to the heart when Stephen preached. But instead of crying out, men and brethren or Stephen, what shall we do? They gnashed at him with their teeth, they drove him out of the city, and they stoned him to death.
There is a marked difference between these two responses. They had come under the conviction of sin.
Culpability and the Call to Repentance
Notice in verse 23, Peter does not let them forget their responsibility, their culpability, their liability in the death of the Lord Jesus. He says, whom you crucify. In order for the Spirit to bring conviction, we have to make known sin. We're not some sick, obsessed weirdos here that like to talk about sin for its own, just as a matter of course.
But rather, it is that which the Spirit uses to bring conviction to people. You need to come under conviction. They were cut to the heart. Notice, the conviction then follows this call to repentance and faith.
When they say, men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter has the answer for that. Peter tells them what they should do. Very intriguing what he doesn't say.
He doesn't say, well, just keep seeking. He doesn't say, pray the Lord for a new heart. He says, repent. Remember, John the Baptist began his ministry with that emphasis.
The Lord Jesus began his ministry with that emphasis. Remember that repentance is a change of mind. You're caught to the heart. You're convicted of sin.
The answer is repentance. Get rid of it. Stop thinking about it. Stop engaging in it.
Repent from it, turn from it, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the emphasis. So upon the heels of conviction, Peter is right there to tell them how to deal with their sin. Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
The idea, again, is believe on Him, repent from your sins, go through water baptism, which is a picture or a sign or an illustration or the means of grace that God has ordained to demonstrate what has happened to you on the inside. This remission of sins is the thing needful. This is what the gospel brings you. If you've not come to Christ, there is a sense where you have no understanding of this blessed phrase.
It says repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. That means the washing away of sins, the forgiveness of sins. We have a lot of sin. All of us have come short of the glory of God.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. What will we do with this sin if we don't deal with it? If it isn't dealt with by God, we will die in our sin and we will go off to everlasting punishment. So Peter here highlights that one thing needful.
Close with Christ. Believe the gospel. Turn from your sin. Cast your soul upon Him.
The language of the hymn. Venture on Him. Venture holy. He will receive all those who draw nigh unto Him or unto God through Him.
And then Peter highlights the promise that is to be received when they believe. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not the gift Like you'll be able to teach people, you'll be a liberal in your giving, or you'll be a nice person. The gift of the Holy Spirit.
When we believe the gospel, we are justified freely by God's grace, and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then he highlights the graciousness of God, the extensiveness of his promise. It says for the promise, this gift of the Holy Spirit is to you and to your children and to all are all who are far off. Now, notice it's modified as many as the Lord our God will call.
Not to everybody, without exception, but from each of those categories, you, your children, those who are afar off, the ones whom God calls, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 39 does not teach paedo-baptism. It does not teach paedo-sprinkling. It teaches the blessed reality. that all those who are called by God's sovereign grace, all those who believe the gospel, all those who repent from their sins receive the spirit of the living God.
So that's the response on the day of Pentecost, in terms of conviction, call to repentance and faith, and then notice the specific conversion. We see in verse 40, and with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Isn't that a beautiful picture?
Notice the order, it's conspicuous. It wasn't that they were baptized first. They gladly received the word and they were baptized. They gladly believed on the Lord Jesus and they were baptized.
Baptism is a sign of the new covenant. Unto the party baptized. of his death, of his burial, of his resurrection with Christ. It is for the person who, by God's grace, is a participant in the new covenant.
The Worship of the Church
So that's the response. Let's move on, secondly, to their worship. Notice in verse 42, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. That's a pretty simple picture of worship, isn't it?
They updated the website. They had the media files ready for anybody that wanted them. They got the band in there. They got the tubas.
They got the guitars. They got everything set up. They got the contemporary leader coming in to do his thing. This is a picture of very simple worship.
Very simple worship. Notice, however, how they respond to it. This idea of continuing steadfastly. The verb indicates, or the participle rather means, to be firm, to persevere, to remain faithful to a person or a task.
They continued steadfastly in each of these four elements. They didn't do them haphazardly, they didn't do them once in a while, they didn't do them as they had felt need, it was a matter of course. God saved them, God filled them with the Spirit, and this is how they responded in worship to the living God. In regard to prayer specifically, the idea is constant diligence, effort that never lets up, confident waiting for results.
So, that disposition framed the worship of God with reference to their spirit-filled lives as a local church. Let's just pull out each of these elements and inspect them.
The Apostles' Doctrine
Notice first, they continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. They wanted preaching. They wanted teaching. They wanted the Word of God.
They wanted to understand Scripture. They knew that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. They would not have an altar in the center of their place of worship. They would have a pulpit in the center of their place of worship.
Remember, at the Reformation, that was precisely one of the emphases was to get the altar off of the off of the stage of the front or whatever you want to call this area platform. I don't know what it's actually called this place. Get the altar out of there. Get the pulpit from the side and put it in the center.
Why? Because we want the doctrine. We want teaching. We want to know what God has to say.
We want sound truth. They were not looking for experience. They were not looking for entertainment. They were not looking for ecstasy, but they were looking to sound doctrine.
This is crucial. You know, God knows what we need better than we know. Who's supposed to define what goes on in worship, we the worshipper, we know, like a little this, I'd like a little bit of that. I'd like a little bit of this.
I'd like a little bit of that. No, God has designed what we need specifically to bring him glory, to bring him honor, to bring him praise. And lo and behold, it brings great benefit to our hearts and joy and blessing to us. They wanted the truth of God's word.
They had just witnessed a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the visible manifestation of tongues. Now, what they want, or what they steadfastly continue in, is not a class on how to speak in tongues. They didn't have little focus groups on how you can speak in tongues. No, they wanted the exposition and the application of God's holy word.
They were converted to Christ, and the response of the worshiper of Christ is give me the truth of God's holy word.
Fellowship
Secondly, it says the fellowship of the fellowship. They continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. Point O'Neill. I'm sure you've heard that word before.
We all know a certain amount of Greek words, and I'm sure point O'Neill is one of those great words. It means fellowship. Calvin defines it this way, excuse me. He says, I do rather refer it, koinonia, unto mutual society and fellowship, unto all's giving in worship, and unto other duties of brotherly fellowship.
In other words, when we come to worship our triune God, we come corporately. We don't come as a bunch of individuals. We're not here to express ourselves. We're not here to display or demonstrate our creativity.
We are here to bow before the triune God as the corporate body that he has saved. He wants us to gather before him in unison. He wants us to praise him and to edify one another. Fellowship is a marked part of New Covenant worship.
We are not Christians in isolation. This is why very often you'll get admonished and encouraged to come to church. As good as the Internet may be and we live stream, I could say hello to all the people that are listening right now to my voice through their computer. It's no substitution for being with the people of God.
Fellowship. I guess everybody, I'm not picking on them, I know there's providential reasons why people can't be here at night. I guess they could email one another or have some live chat too to encourage one another while we're, you know, listening. There's something about the corporate gathered body.
There's such an emphasis on individualism in North America. What do we do? We build great big fences in our backyard so nobody can see in. On the West, it seems even more like that.
In the East, they've got big porches and sometimes people sit on their front porch and they talk to their neighbors. Not us, man. Let me have a wall that's so high I'll never even know my neighbors there. That spills over into the life of the church.
We don't want anybody to know us. We don't want to know anybody. We want to just come and do our thing and we want to leave. I had a friend who mentioned one time at a big church that he went to.
After the sermon was over and the prayer was offered and the amen was rendered, he said it was like a football player. They get their Bibles and run right out the door. That's not the way it's supposed to be. We can talk to each other about the things of the Lord.
We can fellowship. We can encourage. We can try and exhort. We can look for that brother or that sister that may be hurting and try to minister unto them.
This is what new covenant worship looks like.
Breaking of Bread
Notice, thirdly, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. I don't believe this refers simply to the taking of meals together, but rather it is the Lord's Supper. Having been baptized upon their entry into the life of the church, the brethren then participated in the Lord's Supper. It is a time where we commune, first and foremost, with God.
We participate with Jesus Christ. But again, we don't do this solo. We don't do this in isolation. We do this corporately, the gathered body of Christ's church.
First Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle speaks of this. He says, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread." It's that time when, by the power of the Spirit, He brings us into a lively contact through these tangible elements with the risen and exalted and glorified Lord Jesus.
It is a time for remembrance. It is a time to ponder. It is a time to think in terms of gospel. And it is a time to do so corporately, the gathered church, the people of God.
Prayer
We've got doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and then fourthly, prayer. Does anything surprise you in this list? Wow, imagine that. I mean, it may surprise us that we don't continue as steadfastly in these things, right?
I don't feel like going to prayer meetings. I don't feel like going to worship. That's not continuing steadfastly in something. I just don't get anything out of it.
Prayer meetings are kind of dull. Prayer meetings aren't the most exciting times in the world. Wednesday night, I mean, I just don't want to be there for an hour and a half or whatever it may be. Is that to continue steadfastly in something?
I'm not trying to bind anybody's conscience. I'm simply trying to open up a view, a window, if you will, onto the life of the early church. They continued steadfastly. Prayer was a priority among the early church, and it must be today.
The context indicates that corporate prayer is in view, not private, personal prayer. Yes, you should be praying in your closet. Yes, you should be coming before the Lord as families. But the Church of Christ must pray.
Paul, when he writes to Timothy on how he ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, says, first of all, I exhort that prayer, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. That's the first order of business that Paul addresses with reference to the gathered church. Pray. Pray.
There's a man up here leading prayer. That doesn't mean you're wholly passive. You enter into the life of the prayer. The man up here is praying.
He is our spokesman, collectively, corporately. You need to engage the mind. You need to work at it. You need to labor.
You don't use that time to think about what you're going to do on Wednesday. You don't think mentally about how you're scheduling your particular week. Worship takes effort, brethren. Worship takes commitment.
Worship takes active involvement. And prayer was something that marked the early church. Notice in Acts 4 at verse 23. Acts chapter 4 at verse 23.
And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said. Now, I doubt that everybody raised their voice at the same time, and they all happened to pray the same thing. I really doubt that's what's in view there.
I think one of the brothers began to address God thus. The other brothers entered in with him. They actively engaged. They sided with him.
They were apart with him. So that it could be described that they lifted up their voice with one accord and said, Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David hath said, Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done." Isn't that amazing?
They are striving absolute sovereignty of God. Instead of killing prayer, it finds its way to vent in their prayer. People say, why pray if you believe in predestination? Why pray if you don't believe in predestination?
How could you possibly pray to a feeble God who has not executed all things according to the power of his own will? It goes on. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. It's a God-centered petition.
That's what they want, is the boldness to speak the word of truth by stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Going back to Acts 242, and they continue steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and in prayers. That was their activity.
Gordon Ketty, in his excellent little commentary in the Well-Went Bible series commentary, says this. He says, these add up to an experiential reference for every Christian's involvement in church life. The Christian wants solid teaching and more of it, wants to share the wholehearted fellowship with brothers and sisters in the church. He wants to sit at the Lord's table in celebration of his salvation in Christ.
He wants to pray in secret in the family and with the church. These are every Christian's basic personal spiritual goals. If they are not your goals, you need a change of outlook. We need to align ourselves with God's word.
We don't manipulate God's word to align itself with us. That's a fundamental problem in the church today. Notice, not only their attitude, but their disposition. The fear of God was pervasive in their midst.
Verse 43, then fear came upon every soul. It's a great description. Two types of fear in the Bible. There's the fear where you run and you hide underneath the piano.
I don't think that's the kind of fear that's in view. It is that reverence. It is that awe. It is that recognition of who God is and probably a little bit wanting to run and hide underneath the piano.
Recognizing God as glorious, as awesome, as majestic, as the one from everlasting to everlasting, sovereign in creation, sovereign in providence, sovereign in salvation. How better to respond to him than with fear. trembling, rejoicing, praise, adoration. So, fear of God, love to one another. Verses 44 and 45.
Now, all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. And then Luke gives us a summary description in verses 46 and 47. He says, so continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Application
Brief exposition, couple applications and then we'll close.
Elements and Regulation of Worship
First thing I want to point out is what our confession refers to as the elements of worship. Those things that are commanded activities in the house of God for the worship of God. The elements in this particular instance are doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. The Confession of Faith, Chapter 22, Paragraph 5, says, The reading of the Scriptures, preaching and hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord, as also the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, are all parts of religious worship to God, to be performed in obedience to Him with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear.
So, not only describe those elements, they also prescribe a form. We ought to do them in obedience to him, with understanding, with faith, with reverence and godly fear. The confession then goes on to speak, or prior to that, speaks of who regulates worship. It's a big debate today in what they call the worship wars.
People would call our church traditional worship as opposed to contemporary worship. Now, traditional worship itself could be wrong. We should prefer the term regulated worship. Confession of faith speaks of what's called the regulative principle of worship.
That means God prescribes what we do in worship. We would all say, yeah, that's right. Think about you as the household owner, the owner, the manager, the one who's in charge in your house. You don't generally let people come in and dictate what they're going to do in your house.
When somebody comes over to visit and says, hey, I'm going to put this CD on, I like death metal. You say, wait a minute, I don't like death metal. But you didn't say I couldn't do it, but I didn't tell you you could. That's what it's about in the house of God.
Something has happened in the history of the church where we think that we're smarter or wiser or more innovative or more creative and we get to dictate to God how it is we'll worship him. I think if we get the wisdom of the confession here will understand its beauty and its biblical consistency. It says 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 worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. In other words, we do what God says.
We do nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else than what God has commanded us to do. John Calvin comments on this particular idea of the regulative principle of worship. He says, first, it tends greatly to establish God's authority that we do not follow our own pleasure, but depend entirely on his sovereignty. And, secondly, such is our folly that when we are left at liberty, all we are able to do is go astray.
And then, once we have turned aside from the right path, there is no end to our wanderings until we get buried under a multitude of superstitions. You say, wow, that's really overdoing it, Brother John. No, I don't think it is. We introduce a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and soon we look like the northern kingdom after the Assyrians resettled other peoples in that land.
We're to do what God says in this in this matter. As well, the confession speaks to the circumstances of worship. Circumstances are those things that the Bible doesn't specifically legislate and that the church agrees upon. Do we meet at nine thirty for worship or eleven o'clock?
Confession speaks to that the light. There are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, government of the church, comedy, human actions and societies which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed. You see certain things like that in the scriptures. Again, not necessarily prescriptive, but descriptive.
They met daily. Are we supposed to meet daily? Might have been a circumstance. We are specifically commanded on the Lord's Day Sabbath to meet.
We cannot alter that. We cannot change that. We cannot corporately decide. We like Tuesday better.
You know, there's good TV on on Sunday, and I want to make sure that I'm home then. So we want to meet on Tuesday. No, we're not free to do that. God the Lord has spoken and instituted a particular day as the context for the worship of God.
So the elements of worship, the circumstances of worship, but again, the form of worship. This idea here of fear. Fear. And it's not the fear again where we hide under the piano, but that fear mingled with joy.
That fear mingled with trembling and rejoicing at what God has done in our lives. The Prophet Jeremiah asked this question, who would not fear you, O King of the Nations, for indeed it is your do. John Newton wrote, was grace that taught my heart to fear. Fear of God is a good thing.
This isn't only associated with old covenant worship. Remember, in the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews, chapter twelve, verse twenty eight, we saw that in our one of our last studies in the book of Hebrews. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably, acceptably with reverence and godly fear, reverence, godly fear. That is how we are supposed to approach this God.
One man commented on contemporary worship. He says that often times, not always, it often times creates a tone that is casual, comfortable, chatty, busy, humorous, pleasant, and at times even cute. This man goes on to suggest that if the seraphim assumed this Sunday morning mood, they would be addressing God not as holy, holy, holy, but as nice, nice. Nice.
Our God is a consuming fire. That's New Covenant worship. We don't come in with less reverence. We come in with as much or more reverence as the worshipper in the Old Covenant.
You hear often times of a style of worship. Well, that's not my style. That's not the style that I prefer. Worship has a style, it's God's.
And it's about reverence, it's about awe, it's about praise, it's about worship, it's about adoration, it's about recognizing who we are in his sight and coming through the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pentecost as the Benchmark
And finally, I want to direct our attention to the occasion of worship in this particular chapter. Arguably the most spirit-filled church congregation ever. Pentecost. That's the benchmark for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
A whole denomination calls themselves Pentecostal as a result of this particular chapter. The Spirit comes mightily. The Spirit comes powerfully. The Spirit comes in revival, awakening, blessing, saves 3,000 people.
And what do they do? They continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. What's God saying to us? that the means that he has instituted is for our good. They didn't break off and have special seasons of whatever.
They didn't have drama. They didn't have mime. They didn't have skit. They didn't have production quality stage shows.
They went on simple or they went and applied themselves to simple means, to simple application, to growing in the grace and in the knowledge of God in the manner in which he has ordained. Reformed doctrine of the regulative principle is often said to stifle genuine worship, to restrain genuine worship, to limit genuine worship and the creativity of man. It is precisely a simple use of simple means that characterizes the most spirit filled church ever in the book of Acts. I think we need to realign our priorities.
I think we need to understand what worship is about. And I think we need to worship by the book. The Lord God Almighty is not looking for our creativity and worship. He is calling us to worship him in spirit and in truth.
He has ordained it. He has prescribed it. We need to obey. And if you don't know the Lord Jesus, you've never worshiped in your life.
You may go through the motions. You may come to church. You may sing the hymns. Do you ever think of what a hypocritical statement it is to sing some of these hymns of redemption by the blood when you know nothing of that blood?
Let me call upon you to believe the gospel, to worship God aright. There is nothing better than to enter into the presence of the high and holy God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to come with boldness beforehand, and to know that he accepts you in the beloved. There is no greater privilege on this side of heaven than to worship God. in spirit and in truth, and that by the blood. You come to Christ, believe on him, and then continue steadfastly in these four things that the Bible sets forth before us.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the truth. We thank you for the simple worship that we find in our Bibles. We just pray now, Lord God, that you would cause us to rejoice in you, cause us to see what a spirit-filled church looks like, and cause us, Lord God, to appreciate those things that you've ordained for the growth of our souls.
We just pray now that you would go with us again for the physical needs in our congregation. We pray that you would undertake on behalf of your people, that you would bless your people with peace, with strength, with great grace, and cause us to effectively shine as lights in this community and to hold forth your word of truth. And we pray through Christ the Lord. Amen.