Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

22 September, 2006   comments: (0) Today's Worship   Today's Worship Lacks Reverence    Quoting Hart & Muether . . . Reverence is not obviously attractive or appealing. It is hard and uncomfortable. It doesn't create a relaxed or welcoming atmosphere. Above all it is not celebrative as that word has come to be used. Reverent worship is not an effective way of persuading the world that that Christians are capable of having a good time. That is because the modern culture can not see God as frightening. So seeker-sensitive worship has replaced a consuming fire with an affirming and empowering God, one who accepts whatever we do. It has substituted the meeting of felt needs for the demands of His law. From this it follows that we no longer need a mediator. ______ Of course, many say we still need Christ, but their attitude and posture in worship suggests otherwise. When we fail to gather on the Lord's Day to offer unconditional honor to the Savior, we are exchanging true for sham worship. Unfortunately, many contemporary innovations seem to do just that by reflecting an unwarranted confidence in those assembled. As a result, the work of Christ is silenced and pushed to the margins of our life. No longer is His sacrifice our only hope for access to the Father. By practicing reverence, Christian worship can subvert our therapeutic culture with the truth that God comes to us only on His terms, and never on ours. His terms are the sacrifice. Only in the death and resurrection of Christ do we meet God and escape His wrath and curse. In Christ we find both "the kindness and the severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). God accepts our worship because as a consuming fire He has consumed the sacrifice on our behalf. In the end, reverent worship cultivates the sense that the worshipers may offend God and will if they fail to come to Him in the ways he has prescribed. Worship should be characterized by godly fear and humility. It is done not lightly but with care and diligence. It is the natural response of creatures in the presence of the holy and sovereign God. And it is a worship that conforms to God's Word: "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire". (Hebrews 12:28-29) From:  With Reverence and Awe   Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.463   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism