We are in a crisis of worship. By that I mean that we live in an age of liturgical chaos. People have no idea what they should be doing in worship. They simply don’t know what to do to worship God. For this reason, they have come up with every manner of thing to do in a worship service. The Christian church is in a state of crisis regarding the nature of how we are to worship God. For many, there is no clear and definite principle on how we ought to worship God, which means that anything is permissible. For others, the clear teachings of Scripture present a definite guide for how we are to worship Him. How shall we navigate this chaos?
Much of the difficulty arises from the fact that most people believe that the Bible doesn’t say anything about how to worship. They believe that the Bible does not give us a liturgy or standard order of how we are to worship. If the Bible does not give it, then how can consciences be bound by it? If the Bible doesn’t tell us how to worship, then we can worship God however we want, right?
This is a profound misunderstanding. In truth, the Bible does teach us how to worship. It does teach us what we should do to worship Him as we gather together. The New Testament teaches many things very clearly about how to worship God. In the New Testament we read that the early Christians gathered together “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Act 2:42 KJV) In this we see an early Christian liturgy given by divine inspiration, as believers gathered together to hear the teaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and prayers. This is the core liturgy of the early church: the Word, the sacraments, and prayer.
We also read in the New Testament that we are to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col 3:16 KJV) This command is repeated in Ephesians 5:19. Thus Christians are not only given command to sing, but they are told precisely what to sing: Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Moreover, the day in which the Christian church gathered was commanded as well. In honor of the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the week, we see that the early church gathered together to worship on the first day of the week. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,” (Act 20:7 KJV) The apostle Paul commands that believers should give upon the first day of the week. “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” (1 Corinthians 16:2 KJV) Thus the first day of the week was recognized and commanded as the Lord’s Day Sabbath in which believers are to gather together to worship.
Thus Scripture gives clear teaching regarding the nature of Christian worship, both what should be done and when it should be done. But even more than this, we see a clear outline of the Christian liturgy in the Gospel. In the Gospel, we begin with the holiness of God, then move to human sinfulness, then come to salvation in Jesus Christ, which is then followed by thanksgiving and praise. This is the structure and the logic by which the Christian liturgy has historically been structured. We begin with an invocation of God’s holiness and majesty, which is then followed by a confession of our sin, then an assurance of pardon, which leads to the proclamation of the Gospel in the sermon and the Eucharist, which is then followed by hymns of praise and thankfulness. Thus what we see is an outline of the Gospel in the Christian liturgy.
And thus in Scripture, contrary to the opinion noted earlier, we see a profound foundation for the Christian liturgy. And this is where we must start as we seek to worship the Lord. Our worship must be Biblical and it must be faithful to God’s Word. Our worship should be reformed according to Scripture. The Reformers sought to reform the Christian service of worship according to God’s Word, removing everything that was not found in the Bible or was contrary to it. The Reformers John Calvin and Guillaume Farel noted that “First we declare that for the rule of our faith and religion, we wish to follow the Scripture alone, without mixing with it any other thing which might be fabricated by the interpretation of men apart from the Word of God. ” In other words, all of our worship should be done faithfully according to the Word of God, without any additions.
And so that is what our approach to worship should be: it should be reformed according to Scripture. This is our goal. Because it is in this way that we may glorify God most faithfully in our worship.
And the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished this salvation through His mediatorial office as the Prophet, Priest, and King of the church. Reformed theology emphasizes the role of Christ as the “one Mediator between God and man.” (I Timothy 2:5) As the Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 8 states,
Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation: Volume 1, 1523-1552, 395. Genevan confession of 1537, article 1
