Discipleship | A People for His Name

The Consummation of Public Worship

March 31, 2011

In any of its various forms, the word worship occurs only six times in the Pauline Epistles (Rom. 1:25; 1 Cor. 14:25; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:18, 23; 2 Thess. 2:4). Of these, only one passage (1 Cor. 14:25) specifically speaks of worship in a church setting. This reference is especially striking because we would have expected that if Paul had used the word only once in First Corinthians, it surely would have been in his teaching about the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34). Instead, he used it in the only explicit information given in Scripture about worship in an actual church service.

An examination of this passage (1 Cor. 14:23-25) brings out truth of great value for all churches. Paul begins by speaking of the whole church’s having come together into one place (14:23a). He argues with a rhetorical question that demands an affirmative answer that if all the believers were to speak with tongues, the resulting effect on unlearned or unbelieving people present in the service would be undesirable and unedifying (14:23b-c). Saying this, he makes clear that a proper church service is not one that is focused on speaking with tongues.

He then contrasts what would happen in that case with what would happen if all the believers were to prophesy (14:24). In that situation, he describes the very beneficial effects such activity in the church would have on unbelievers and unlearned people (14:24-25). Paul’s fivefold explanation of the effect on them provides crucial understanding about public worship.

First, he says that an unbelieving or unlearned person would be “convinced by all” (14:24c). Because of the congregation’s ministry, the person would be brought into conviction of sin.

Second, he would be “judged of all” (14:24d). The believers’ prophesying would bring conviction of judgment upon the person. Saying this, Paul made known that a church service is supposed to be a setting in which people become convicted of sin and judgment.

Third, his secrets would thus be made manifest (14:25a). Here Paul reveals that through the prophesying, God would make manifest to the sinner the secrets of his heart. In some unexplained manner, God would supernaturally confront the sinner with conviction of judgment to come upon him for his secret sins.

Fourth, he would therefore fall down on his face and worship God (14:25b). Recognizing that only God could have brought about such exposure of his secrets and convinced him that he deserves judgment for them, the person would publicly abase himself and worship God. Paul thus made known that the consummation of public worship includes sinful unbelievers’ and unlearned people’s publicly manifesting that God has convicted them of judgment and brought them to the place where they openly worship Him in acknowledgement of His supernatural working through the congregation.

Finally, he would report that God truly was in that body of believers (14:25c). Paul notes that the person thus brought to worship God openly would confess in some unexplained manner to the congregation that God was truly present among them.

Putting all these ideas together, we see that public worship is consummated fully when those whom God convicts of judgment for their secret sins openly acknowledge Him as God by publicly abasing themselves in some appropriate manner and then testifying of God’s working in their heart to that congregation. This passage therefore provides biblical justification for the use of some appropriate manner of public invitation in church services.

Moreover, Paul’s contrasting statements about the effects of the speaking with tongues versus prophesying strikingly show that speaking with tongues by all will not result in the desired worship of God by unbelieving and unlearned people. For them to be brought to worship God, they will have to hear prophesying by the congregation.

Furthermore, this passage teaches that unbelievers and unlearned people will only worship God aright in a service when they have been convicted of judgment to come for their secret sins. This teaching thus stresses that God desires to bring about that outcome in them through the believers’ prophesying to them. Those who minister publicly should consider these truths as they plan what the content of their prophesying will be.

Believers in all churches should be taught these important truths about the consummation of public worship. The Father desires that people worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23) according to the teaching of this important passage.

In Discipleship, Interpretation

God's Answer for Troubled Thoughts – Daniel 5

March 29, 2011

From Daniel 5, we learn that we must heed God’s answer for our troubled thoughts:

The Cause of Troubled Thoughts
The Answer for Troubled Thoughts
The Penalty for Not Dealing Properly with Troubled Thoughts

To learn more, listen to my message, “God’s Answer for Troubled Thoughts.”

In Discipleship, Evangelism

Is God My Judge?

March 28, 2011

From a study of Daniel (‘God is my Judge’), I compiled the points below that provide direction for you from the book to examine the extent to which you are understanding properly the truth that God is your Judge and living properly in light of that truth. For further help with this examination, hear the message that I preached on this subject, “God Is My Judge.”

Unwillingness to defile yourself with the king’s choice food or wine	1:8
Humility before God	1:9, 17, 20; 2:30
Unwillingness to bow down and worship any images and to serve pagan gods	3:12, 18
Knowing Whom alone to serve and worship	3:28
Not speaking against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego	3:29
Recognizing who is in charge	4:25
Acknowledging who has exalted you to whatever position you are in	4:25
Appealing to sinners to repent and making known the value of doing so	4:27
Breaking away now from your sins and your iniquities	4:27
Walking humbly before the King of heaven	4:37
Willingness to confront unrighteous authority if put in an appropriate setting	5:22
Obeying God rather than man when man’s laws conflict with God’s laws	6:10
Being innocent before God and committing no crimes toward civil authorities	6:22
Serving and obeying the Most High and the Son of Man	7:14, 27
Understanding prophecy and continuing to do your work	8:17, 27
Giving your attention to the Lord God to seek Him	9:3
Setting your heart on understanding and humbling yourself before your God	10:12
Not being afraid; taking courage and being courageous	10:19
Not acting wickedly toward God’s covenant	11:32
Displaying strength and taking action for the cause of God	11:32
Having insight and giving understanding to many	11:33
Showing regard for God by not magnifying yourself above Him	11:37
Having insight and leading many to righteousness	12:3
Keep waiting for and attaining to the kingdom of God	12:12

In Discipleship

A Parable Concerning Comissioned Messengers

March 27, 2011

During a war, a large group of soldiers under a lieutenant goes AWOL. All those soldiers who went AWOL are captured by the enemy and put in a concentration camp with no contact of any kind with the outside world. Many months go by. The king of the country whose soldiers were captured promotes that lieutenant to second in authority over his whole country and devises a plan for rescuing the captured soldiers. He gives the former lieutenant all authority to deal with any of the soldiers that he ends up rescuing.

The former lieutenant gathers some leaders of several rescue squads to go carry out the king’s plan. He gives the leaders specific instructions orally about what to do and what to say in carrying out their mission. The instructions include statements w and x, which include the terms of pardon, and statement y, which is essential information about how to access that pardon and how to make it safely out of the enemy country. He also instructs them to declare statement z to the captive soldiers, which consists of telling them that the king has promoted him to be the head over the whole country.

The leaders of the rescue squads give each of their squad members a written copy of the instructions. The rescue squads go on their mission and discover that the enemy has dispersed the captive soldiers to numerous locations. The leaders are only able to accompany a few of their squad members in carrying out the mission. Most of the rescuers in most of the squads discover that the mission will be much harder than they were expecting. In carrying out the rescue operation, the leaders and the squad members who are with them declare all the statements that they were commissioned to proclaim. All the leaders and the squad members who are with the leaders are killed while carrying out the mission.

Of the squad members who were separated from their squad leaders, some rescuers tell some of the soldiers in a few of the locations w, x, y, and z. Most of them do not tell any of the captives about z. Some do not do so because they were separated from their leaders and wonder exactly what the leaders may have ended up doing. Some do not do so because they simply forget to do so in the heat of the moment. Many do not do so because they never read the written instructions thoroughly. Others, while reading that they were supposed to say z, do not do so because they reason that it is not essential for the rescue of the captives.

Amazingly, some of the captives refuse the terms of rescue completely. Some refuse when they hear statement z, not believing that the former lieutenant is sincere in promising that he will not hold them accountable now that he is the head over all the country. Many of the captives are rescued, including many who did not hear statement z from rescuers who had been separated from their squad leaders.

When they are taken before the king and the lieutenant, what will be the evaluation of those in the rescue squads who did not proclaim statement z? Yes, many of the recipients of the truncated message were still rescued, even though they did not hear z. Was their head, however, given the honor in the mission that he was supposed to have received? If he was not honored as fully as he intended, will he hold them accountable for his not having received the full honor that he wanted to receive through the proclamation of all the statements, including statement z?

“And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and the dead. To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:42-43).

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Parables

"Convenient Food"

March 26, 2011

In his chapter, “Convenient Food,” William Arnot’s comments on Proverbs 23:1-3 about what to do when dining with a ruler challenge us all about an issue that we all need repeated reminders. Although the verses that he comments on pertain directly to that specific situation, the principles apply to all our eating and drinking:

It is of the Lord that hunger is painful, and food gives pleasure; between these two lines of defence the Creator has placed life, with a view to its preservation. If eating had been as painful as it is pleasant to our nature, the disagreeable duty would have been frequently forgotten or neglected, and the world, if peopled at all, would have been peopled by tribes of walking skeletons. The arrangement which provides that the necessary reception of aliment into the system gives pleasure to the senses, is wise and good; it is an ungrateful return for our Maker’s kindness when the creature turns his bounty into licentiousness. The due sustenance of the body is the Creator’s end; the pleasantness of food the means of attaining it. When men prosecute and cultivate that pleasure as an end, they thwart the very purposes of providence. When the pleasure is pursued as an object, it ceases to serve effectually as a means of healthfully maintaining the living frame.
When the appetite is strong, and the food enticing, the danger of sinning and suffering is great,—greater than most of us care to observe, and acknowledge to ourselves. The warning here is strongly expressed, and all its strength is needed. “Put a knife to thy throat,” is in form similar to the injunctions of the Great Teacher, to pluck out the offending right eye, and cut off the offending right hand. “Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat.” They are of a set purpose made deceitful: they are prepared by an artist of skill, whose whole life is devoted to the study. Resisting virtue in the guests must be strong indeed, for the temptation is as powerful as wealth and experience can make it (Studies in Proverbs, 464-65).

In Discipleship, Quotes

A Parable about Evangelism

March 25, 2011

A man hears about a photography contest that has a huge grand prize. He plans to go to a famous resort area in a third world country to try to photograph something distinctive that would win the prize.

He goes for two weeks and has a great time for the first week. At the end of the first week, he hears some native staff members tell him not to stray too far from the resort area because of reports of an albino lion that many of the natives claim to have seen in the area.

One evening, thinking of the grand prize, he wanders off into the wilderness to see if he can get a picture of the lion. While he is wandering around, suddenly he hears a roar from behind him and is knocked to the ground with such force that he is stunned and becomes semi-conscious.

Meanwhile, some members of the hotel staff who are searching for him come upon the scene with one of them carrying a high-powered flamethrower that could easily drive the lion away. Incredibly, while the lion begins to choke him, the staff members stand a safe distance away and berate him. They yell at him and say that they warned him not to wander off. Instead of using the flamethrower to rescue him, they chide him while the lion continues in its vicious attack.

If this scene were really to have happened, what would we think of the staff members? Yes, the vacationer was foolish and greedily did what he was not supposed to do. Still, how could the staff members do what they did, focusing on his foolishness instead of rescuing him from the lion?

Every lost person is like the foolish vacationer who greedily wandered off and was being devoured by the lion:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8; spoken to believers and shows the vicious nature of the devil; if he is this way towards believers, it surely implies that he is the same towards unbelievers).

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid from them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me (Acts 26:18).

In our dealings with lost people, we must not have a mindset or approach that in any way parallels the staff members above. People who are lost are lost in part because they are helplessly in the grip of an evil supernatural being for whom they are no match, as is pictured in the case of the “woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself . . . whom Satan hath bound . . . eighteen years” (Lk. 13:11, 16).

If we think that we are any better than lost people are and are saved because of something in ourselves, we are wrong. God’s mercy is the only reason that we have been delivered from the lion who wants to devour as many souls as possible:

And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy . . . hath quickened us (Eph. 2:1-5).

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13).

As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2:14-15).

We know that whosever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one touched him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life (1 John 5:18-19).

In our dealings with lost people, we should have a right mindset and approach towards them and their horrific plight. We must not strive with them:

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Parables

"The Attributes of God"

March 24, 2011

In his book The Attributes of God: A Journey into the Father’s Heart, A. W. Tozer writes,

A great old theologian once said, “Don’t reject a fact because you don’t know a method.” Don’t say it isn’t so because you don’t know how it’s so. There is much you can’t explain. If you come to me and ask the how of things, I’ll ask you twenty-five questions, one after the other, about yourself—your body, your mind, your hair, your skin, your eyes, your ears. You won’t be able to answer one question. Yet you use all those things even though you don’t understand them. I don’t know how God can suffer. That is a mystery I may never know.
A lot of hymn writers who should have been cutting the grass at the time have written songs instead. One of them says this: “I wonder why, I wonder why He loved me so. I will love and pray that I might know why He loved me so.” You will never know that. There is only one answer to why God loved you: because God is love. And there is only one answer to why God has mercy on you: because God is mercy, and mercy is an attribute of the Deity. Don’t ask God why, but thank Him for the vast wondrous how and fact of it.

As little children, we should receive all that God tells us, whether we can explain it or not. Not being able to understand how something that God says can be so is no reason to doubt, question, or reject what He says. Failure to obey God because we cannot explain why He wants us to do something will keep us from the fullness of His blessings in our lives.

In Discipleship, Quotes

A Parable about Music

March 23, 2011

A team of archaeologists makes a stunning discovery. While excavating a desolate site, they stumble upon a vast collection of documents that employs unfamiliar notation. The archaeologists reason that the collection must be of great importance because of the painstaking efforts that were taken to preserve it.

After months of secretive examination by leading scholars, the documents are finally deciphered as ancient music notation. A whirlwind of secretive activity ensues. A team of leading musicians from around the world is secretly chosen and collaborates for months to examine the documents.

Finally, all the documents are deciphered and analyzed fully. Upon rendering the music into modern notation and having it played by the world-class musicians in the team, everyone is stunned by the extraordinary beauty, majesty, and grandeur of the music. Practicing for months, they prepare for an international debut for the music that all the major networks in leading countries agree to carry.

They choose to debut only the instrumental music that they discovered. The rest of the music is kept under very tight security.

The worldwide response to the music is phenomenal. Music experts everywhere deem the music to be among the finest music ever produced. Somehow, the source of the instrumental music remains a tightly guarded secret throughout the entire process.

Many leading Christian musicians who hear the music write beautiful lyrics to accompany selections from the collection. Numerous churches worldwide use the music in their worship services.

A year later, in an international press conference, the team who produced the music then makes known its identity. They reveal that this was the music used when Nebuchadnezzar demanded worldwide worship of his image. They then release the rest of the music, which is immediately enthusiastically received all over the world.

Having accepted the music enthusiastically and used it in worship, what do the Christians who did so do now upon learning of the origin of the music? Do they reason that the music itself is still fine to use, in spite of its original ancient use?

Does the fact that the music was specifically used originally for the worship of a man forever taint this instrumental music that was of phenomenal musical quality? If it were known whether the pieces of music in the collection were composed specifically for that occasion or not, would that change anything?

In CCM, Discipleship, Music, Parables Music, Parable

The Oldest and Most Persistent Doctrinal Denial

March 19, 2011

Derek Kidner’s comments on the first doctrinal denial bring out truth that all generations of believers must make continual efforts to keep before God’s people:

After the query, the flat contradiction: Ye shall not surely die (AV, RV). It is the serpent’s word against God’s, and the first doctrine to be denied is judgment. If modern denials of it are very differently motivated, they are equally at odds with revelation: Jesus fully affirmed the doctrine (e.g. Matt. 7:13-27). (Genesis in TOTC, 72-73)

Ever since physical death first occurred, denial of death altogether has no longer been possible. Denial of eternal death, however, abounds and will do so until the Lord finally destroys the evil supernatural source of all such denials of the doctrine of judgment.

The doctrine of eternal judgment is a foundational truth of the doctrine of Christ (Heb. 6:1-2). Countering the attacks on this foundational truth has been one of the reasons that Jesus has commanded the preaching and testifying to all that He is the One appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; cf. Mk. 16:16). Proclaiming that message faithfully perpetuates the message that God Himself announced in His first declaration of judgment after the Fall of man:

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, ‘Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel (Gen 3:14-15).

By obeying Acts 10:42, we imitate God in announcing to all what He has ordained will surely happen one day through the woman’s Seed. Doing so, we do our part in countering the oldest and most persistent doctrinal denial.

In Discipleship, Quotes

God Made Jesus Both Lord and Christ

March 17, 2011

In my dissertation, I presented a close comparison in English and Greek between several verses in the Septuagint and Acts 2:36. Here is a somewhat expanded version of that comparison (highlighting used to help make the comparison clearer):

Gen 27:29 And let nations serve thee, and princes bow down to thee, and be thou lord of thy brother, and the sons of thy father shall do thee reverence; accursed is he that curses thee, and blessed is he that blesses thee.

Gen 27:29 καὶ δουλευσάτωσάν σοι ἔθνη καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι ἄρχοντες καὶ γίνου κύριος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρός σου ὁ καταρώμενός σε ἐπικατάρατος ὁ δὲ εὐλογῶν σε εὐλογημένος

Gen 27:37 And Isaac answered and said to Esau, If I have made him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants, and have strengthened him with corn and wine, what then shall I do for thee, son?

Gen 27:37 ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Ισαακ εἶπεν τῷ Ησαυ εἰ κύριον αὐτὸν ἐποίησά σου καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐποίησα αὐτοῦ οἰκέτας σίτῳ καὶ οἴνῳ ἐστήρισα αὐτόν σοὶ δὲ τί ποιήσω τέκνον

Gen 45:8 Now then ye did not send me hither, but God; and he hath made me as a father of Pharao, and lord of all his house, and ruler of all the land of Egypt.

Gen 45:8 νῦν οὖν οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἀπεστάλκατε ὧδε ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὁ θεός καὶ ἐποίησέν με ὡς πατέρα Φαραω καὶ κύριον παντὸς τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄρχοντα πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου

Gen 45:9 Hasten, therefore, and go up to my father, and say to him, These things saith thy son Joseph; God has made me lord of all the land of Egypt; come down therefore to me, and tarry not.

Gen 45:9 σπεύσαντες οὖν ἀνάβητε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ εἴπατε αὐτῷ τάδε λέγει ὁ υἱός σου Ιωσηφ ἐποίησέν με ὁ θεὸς κύριον πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου κατάβηθι οὖν πρός με καὶ μὴ μείνῃς

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Act 2:36 ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε.

Notice that Genesis 27:37, 45:8, and 45:9 all contain the same verb (ποιέω; “made”) as Acts 2:36 and the same word for Lord (κύριος). In particular, Genesis 45:8-9 compared with Acts 2:36 allows the Bible to interpret itself and helps us understand what Peter said: As God had exalted Joseph to a position of authority that he never had before, God has exalted Jesus to a position of authority as Lord and Christ that He as the God-man never had before.

This comparison shows that Peter’s statement does not primarily signify that God has announced to people that Jesus is the Lord and the Christ, that is, Jesus is both God and Messiah. Rather, Peter climaxed his gospel message at Pentecost by emphasizing that all the house of Israel must know that the Father has glorified Jesus to a position of supreme authority as Lord and Christ. We, therefore, should urge lost people to believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and acknowledge that God has exalted Him as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10; cf. 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 21).

In Biblical Greek, Interpretation Interpretation

Archives For Discipleship

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: