Worship Explained
By George “Chip” Hammond
Worship at Bethel looks a little different than what many people have experienced in modern American Evangelical Churches. Why is this?
The English word “worship” comes from a word that means “to ascribe worth to” (see Psalm 145:3, Revelation 4:11, 5:12). But how are we to worship God? May we do whatever we want as worship if it is done with sincerity? Are there limits? May people scream out in worship? May they throw fireworks? May they engage in public intimate displays of affection if done as worship?
All people place limits on what is acceptable for worship. All have a sense of propriety and appropriateness for worship. But no two people will have exactly the same sense of propriety and appropriateness for what can be done in worship.
True Reformed churches like Bethel are committed to what sometimes has been called “the regulative principle of worship,” which is stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith this way: “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 worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture” (Chapter 21.1).
Where does the Bible prescribe what worship should look like? We don’t find any such prescriptions in the New Testament. We find few in the Old Testament. The only place in the Bible that we find any prescription for what formal, gathered worship looks like surrounds the instructions given for the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus 25 and following.
God told Moses, “Make the Tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly as I will show you” (Exodus 25:9), and the book of Hebrews tells us why: “They [are] a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to make the Tabernacle, he was instructed by God, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain’” (Hebrews 8:5). Worship on earth is to picture as closely as possible what God’s worship in heaven looks like, and this is the principle that guides our worship service.
There are a few things to note surrounding this principle. The first is that certain practices of the Tabernacle worship pointed to Christ and have been fulfilled in Christ. For example, we no longer offer animal sacrifices for atonement for sin because these pointed to Christ in his perfect, final, and once-for-all sacrifice (see Hebrews 10). The Tabernacle incense represented the prayers of God’s redeemed people (see Revelation 5:8). Under the old covenant this symbol of the prayers of God’s people was necessary because only the priest had access to the Holy Place where the prayers were to be offered. Now because of the sacrifice of Christ all of God’s people have access to the Holy Place (see Hebrews 10:19), and the symbolism of the incense is no longer necessary.
The second thing to notice is that details of the elements may differ from congregation to congregation that are committed to the regulative principle. The descriptions given of the Ark of the Covenant with its requirement of a depiction of Cherubim on top may be artistically interpreted differently by different people. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1.6) wisely notes, “There are some circumstances concerning the worship of God . . . 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.”
The important elements of the worship that God prescribes are reflected in the Tabernacle architecture. The form follows the function. In the “holy convocation” (calling together; see Leviticus 23, Numbers 28 and 29), the people are called to the entrance for worship. At the altar of burnt offering sacrifices are slain and sin is atoned for (see Exodus 27). At the bronze laver the priests were to symbolically wash their hands and feet after the sacrifice before proceeding further (see Exodus 30:18-21). The Holy Place was an inner sanctum containing the altar of incense symbolizing the people’s prayers, the lamp stand indicating God’s light, and the table of the Bread of the Presence indicating the presence of God’s people with him (see Exodus 26). Lastly, the Holy of Holies was the place of God’s direct and immediate presence where atonement made at the altar was presented (see Exodus 26).
Divine worship (worship prescribed by God) contains all these movements. We are called to worship (convocation) by God using his Word. Because Christ has been sacrificed for us, we do not need to make sacrifice, but we plead and appropriate His sacrifice made for our sins once for all. With the declaration of God’s pardon, we are assured that we are washed clean and may acceptably present ourselves to God through Christ. We come into His direct presence through his Word (see Romans 10:14), and we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God made holy and acceptable to him through Jesus Christ (see Romans 12:1-2).
At Bethel, the congregation carries out and participates in worship, rather than acting like an audience, or the mere observers of worship. The whole congregation sings. The whole congregation prays some of the prayers in unison. The whole congregation reads portions of God’s Word aloud together. All this underscores that we are not merely individuals but are collectively the people of God and are members of Christ’s body (see 1 Corinthians 12:13-27).
The Historic Creeds of the Christian Faith
One very important aspect of Christian worship that goes back to the earliest times of the church is the confession of our faith by use of the historic creeds (from the Latin credo, “I believe”). We do this for several reasons.
The Christian faith is not something we invented or own, but something that we have inherited and temporarily hold in custody. God will judge each generation of the church by how faithfully it has preserved and passed on the message (see 1 Timothy 6:20, 2 Timothy 1:14).
The historic creeds remind of us this fact. They tell us in concise manner what the “faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3) is. This is particularly important because in 19th century Britain and the U.S. several aberrant groups arose that replicated early heresies that the church in its history had dealt with and condemned based on the teaching of Scripture. But they are heresies to which people are repeatedly prone without guidance. The Creeds give us a concise guidance.
The Creeds bind us together with all Christians in all ages the world over, not only in their content, but in the very act of confessing them. They are therefore an important part of our worship.
The two great historic creeds are the Apostles’ (c. A.D. 180) and the Nicene (c. A.D. 325), both of which were embraced by the “catholic” (universal, throughout the world) church before its unfortunate fracture in A.D. 1050. These Creeds thus set the baseline for what it means to be a Christian. All those who embrace the teaching of the Creeds de fide (as a matter of faith) should be regarded as brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of what other differences we may have with them. Those who reject the teachings of the Creeds, for whatever other commonality we may have with them, socially or morally, must be regarded as being outside of Christ and outside of the Christian faith.
Misunderstood statements
Both the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds are Trinitarian in their structure, the Nicene making explicit the deity of Christ, as well as that of the Holy Spirit.
Originally written in Greek, nearly all the phrases and clauses of the Creeds are direct quotations from the New Testament (usually; but sometimes the Greek translation of the Old Testament is quoted). Their purpose is to reflect the teachings of Scripture vital to the historical facts that one must grasp and believe in order to truly be a Christian.
In some cases, the creeds characterize the teaching of Scripture, and in some cases the meaning of Scripture has been twisted in such a way as to make the Creeds difficult to understand (see 2 Peter 3:16).
What follows is an explanation of some of the misunderstood statements of the Creeds.
The Apostles’ Creed
“He descended into hell.” “Hell” here does not mean the place of the damned (see Luke 23:43, 46). In the original text of the Creed, the Greek word we translate “hell” is the word hades. It is the word used in the Greek translation of Psalm 15:10: “For you will not abandon my soul to _____.” The King James translates the word here as “hell.” Newer translations render the word with the phrase “realm of the dead.” Bibles like the NASB and ESV simply transliterate the Hebrew word used here, sheol. This Hebrew word refers to the place beyond the realm of the living without any distinction made, and perhaps “realm of the dead” best captures the sense. This statement of Psalm 15 is explicitly applied to Christ in Acts 2:27, 31; 13:34-37. The Creed’s statement is reference to Psalm 15 and its application in the book of Acts.
“I believe in . . . the holy catholic church.” Of course, the church is holy, that is set apart from the world for God. But what does it mean to say that the church is “catholic”? The word “catholic” is not found in the Bible. It was first used by Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans” (c. A.D. 110). The word is a compound of two Greek words kata (according to) and holos (whole), “according to the whole” meaning the entire church, not just a single sect or congregation. To confess belief in the church catholic is simply to acknowledge that the church is an entity that exists throughout the world and throughout time and is not limited to just our own communion.
The Nicene Creed
“We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” This is to acknowledge that the church of God throughout the ages is a united body throughout all time and location (one), that it is set apart from the world by and for God (holy), that is a whole (catholic), and that it is built on the foundation of the teaching of the apostles (see Ephesians 2:20; “apostolic”).
“We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.” This is a combination of two direct quotations from the Scripture: “There is one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5), and “be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Act 2:38).
