WORSHIP
[p. 31] WORSHIP
Philippians 3: 3; Exodus 4: 27 - 31; Exodus 12: 21 - 27; 1 Chronicles 29: 20
My subject is worship. Although a very great one, and extensive in its bearing, one can only hope to present it under these four scriptures briefly, but I hope, by the Lord’s help, concisely. The epistle to the Philippians is an appropriate one to begin with, although there is very much more detail in the epistle to the Hebrews as to this great matter. The state of the assembly at Philippi furnished an excellent setting for such a verse as I read in chapter 3. The apostle writes that letter with great feeling. It is peculiarly a love letter, and in his allusion to the worship of God, we can understand how his heart entered into it. We may safely say that in the heart of no one on earth at that time had God such a place, and so he would be full of holy feeling in speaking of himself and others as the circumcision who worshipped God by the Spirit; alluding by way of contrast to those who worshipped nominally, but by earthly means and methods and not by the Spirit of God. The word used here for “worship”, is one which relates rather to the public service of God; what God had in mind when He said, “Let my son go, that he may serve me”. God had in mind that He should be served by persons in the liberty of sons, not in slavish fear or in a mere fleshly way by human means and devices, but from the heart, as indeed the Lord Jesus, who is the great Leader in all this, the Minister of the sanctuary, said, “God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth”; “the Father”, He says, “seeks such as his worshippers”. Mark you, it is the persons that He seeks — the worship of course, but the persons are before Him. The apostle Paul has this in mind, that he was amongst those persons; and all true christians characteristically belong to those persons who are the true circumcision,
[p. 32] that is, those who accept the death of Christ “in the putting off of the body of the flesh”, Colossians 2: 11, the totality of whatever character it may wear. It is put off judicially and drastically in the death of Christ, viewed as circumcision, so that the soul is clear of flesh, especially religious flesh, for the apostle here is dealing with persons called the concision, persons who attempted something in the way of circumcision, but who failed to go the whole way — that is, persons who are marked by coming short so as to lose everything from this point of view. As indeed is said in Romans, “come short of the glory”, for God will not lower His standard at all. What has happened in the history of God’s people is the lowering of standards, especially in regard to worship, and in lowering the standard they legalise it by professed teaching, so that men’s consciences regard it as according to God. But it is rejected by Him, it is not according to God.
Now that is what the apostle has in mind, and I have before me to bring out the thought of how worship is induced and maintained here on earth until the coming of the Lord, because the word in Philippians implies that it is the public thing, what is due to God — the real service, of course, but still what can be seen by others. God intends this to go on, with however few or however many, and the thing is, can I include myself in this “we”? “We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God”, those who have turned their backs on man-made religion, however antiquated or honoured according to man, and turned their faces to God as His sons, who have accepted the death of His beloved Son as bringing to an end the flesh even in its religious character. They worship according to the prescribed way and the Spirit of God is the sole power for that worship. There is of course outward order. Luke in his gospel and treatise in Acts has in mind what is seemly, what is according to God in public service. So he tells us, for instance, that the Lord Jesus placed Himself at table. You may say that [p. 33] is a small matter, but it is not mentioned by chance. The word “placed” indicates order. One can cite many instances of this kind. God is not a God of disorder. He has nothing to do with all this that is current abroad in christendom, man-made forms in the supposed worship of God. He is not the God of that. He is said to be the God of many things, and amongst them He is said to be a God of order, and the God of peace in all the assemblies. That word “all” does not include the myriad religious bodies in christendom today. The Holy Spirit of God is here in relation to divine order, so that the worship of God should continue. The Supper is the public expression of it in its initial character. It is not done in a corner — it is a public thing, it is a testimony to the death of the Lord Jesus until He come. That is, as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup it is a testimony to His death until He come; but that is not all, it is initiatory to this matter of which I am speaking — the public service of God. It is calculated to move us towards Christ, the Mediator of the covenant, and towards God, the Author of it. As thus moved, we serve God in spirit and in truth. We begin by saying, by the Spirit, “Lord Jesus”, that is service towards the Lord Jesus. It is not the mere use of the words or the appellation “Lord Jesus”, but it is by the Spirit, meaning that the Spirit actuates our minds in addressing the Lord Jesus in that way. Then He has another character, that is the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of God’s Son. He is in the christian, that is the remarkable thing, giving us the consciousness of being God’s sons, so that we can cry “Abba, Father”. That likewise is the service of God. The apostle has this in mind, that that service which has been inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and maintained by Him, is to go on to the end of the dispensation, so that the true tabernacle which God pitched and not man is able to go on. It will be taken up in another way in the future. The book of Ezekiel shows with remarkable detail how there will be a house and a service maintained through priesthood, “the sons of Zadok”, as it is said. So that God’s service will be continued on earth, and it will be taken up by Israel and carried on through the millennial day, and, in some sense, go on through eternity. The more we know and love the Lord, the more we want to have part in it, and desire that others should have part in it.
Everything that hath breath is to praise Jehovah. The last book of Psalms has this great subject in view. It is the great hallel book, ending up with the great hallelujah psalms. The consideration of this ought to stimulate our hearts, for in truth we are on the very verge of the ending of this dispensation, and the beginning of our service in God’s presence, and the introduction of God’s ancient people on earth.
This service is induced particularly by ministry, and the first thing I would dwell upon is practical unity amongst the ministers. The two passages in Exodus refer to the ministry, what we call ministry; such as I am attempting tonight, and such as others attempt and are helped in throughout the world. What the first passage includes, amongst other things, is practical brotherly love amongst the ministers, and hence practical unity — what one says the others say. There is no contradictory thought or spirit between Moses and Aaron, they represent the ministry. The book of Genesis is patriarchal — the other four books of the Pentateuch are ministerial. They are books which ministers should study, and one thing stands out peculiarly and meets us at the outset — love amongst the ministers. Aaron is particularly called by the Lord Himself, “the Levite”, not ‘a Levite’, but “the Levite”; that is, he represents the great levitical thought. We do not hear of him earlier. He is eighty-three years old when this occurs; he is an old man, not a novice. The introduction of him by the Lord shows that he must have had experience with the Lord. Jehovah says, “I know him”. It is a great thing to be known of God. All are, in one sense, but the word says, “if any man love God, the same is known of him”, 1 Corinthians 8: 3.. It is a distinction that belongs only to a few, but it is a distinction that Aaron had, and it is fully exemplified in him. Jehovah knew Aaron’s heart; He said to Moses, “when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart”, Exodus 4: 14. Among other things, what qualifies a man to be a minister is that he loves his brethren. And then He says, “he can speak well”. It is not only the thoughts we have, but the ability to convey them. Let us remember that. Then He sends him to meet Moses. The Lord had had a very long and profound conversation with Moses and Moses with Him, and this is the issue of it. God gives him a companion in service — no less than this great Levite — the Levite with such love in his soul. What companions they were, both having such relations with God, and particularly Aaron, who had love in his heart! Not that Moses did not have love in his heart, but it is said particularly of Aaron, “when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart” not merely in ordinary civility, but in his heart. They were going to be public ministers in Israel for forty years, and in the main they were held in this holy bond of brotherly love, hence the perfection, so far as it went, of the ministry.
Now it says, Aaron “met him in the mount of God”. That is important, too — not any place, but in the mount of Jehovah, where the resources of God were provided. God sets His ministers up in entire independence of human support. The bane of current Christianity is that it is supported by the world. Men are earning salaries to serve the Lord, some going out into the streets with musical instruments to get money — it is all disgraceful and discreditable. Divine resources are the resources to sustain the ministry. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have”. They had spiritual resources.
Moses was kissed. It would seem that love predominated in Aaron. He was the elder by a few years and may have given a lead in this way. It is a very fine [p. 36] picture, one of the finest things among the many wonderful things that happened at that time. It was in the mount of Jehovah — the place of divine resources and counsel — and genuine mutual affection adorns it. So they both came and gathered the elders together, and Moses told Aaron — a ready recipient — of all the communications that Jehovah had made to him. They came from a heart and a mouth anointed. Then Aaron spoke these words and did signs, there was real power in his ministry. What a beautiful spectacle in presence of the elders, the communication of God’s mind! and what happened was the people bowed their heads and worshipped. That is sure to be the result of such ministry — ministry impregnated with love and intelligence and with words suitable. The mind of God conveyed to them was that He would deliver them, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. Not heads bowed like bulrushes — that is, just their heads bowed, no heart matter — but here their hearts are moved, too. Worship implies a reaching forward to the object of the affections, a prostrating of one’s self in reverential affection. It is a real heart matter here.
In chapter 12 Aaron is not in view. It is now Moses. It is more directly the authority of the Lord that is in mind in this particular ministry in chapter 12, and it is to be noted that while the communications of Jehovah to Moses about the passover include twenty verses of the chapter, Moses in delivering the message to the people only gives us the seven verses I have read. Now I think we ought to pay attention to this, especially in regard to ministry, that we do not need to say everything we know. The idea is that intelligence and instinct would lead the minister to present what is needed at the moment. Saints are not able to take in very much at one time, and the skill of the minister is necessary to discern what is the need and what the capacity, and to make the thing as concise and yet as spiritual as possible, so that saints can assimilate it. The apostle pursued this method of [p. 37] ministry to the saints. At times, as in Ephesians 1, his heart was so full of the great things of God that he spoke on without a full stop; but because of their small capacity he says to the Corinthians, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. One marvels at his restraint. They were only babes in Christ, with a very small capacity. Hence he says, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat”. He kept at it, whatever they thought, because he knew what was needed. “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. That was his skill. The Israelites in like manner could not take in very much, they were still in bondage. Look at the long discourses in Deuteronomy. It contemplates the Spirit and the state He forms, but here they are still in Egypt, and the great minister discerns what they can take in, and presents this great matter to them in seven verses. He uses about a third of the space that Jehovah used to tell him, and moreover he introduces thoughts that Jehovah did not mention according to the record. He mentions the bunch of hyssop. He is a minister who is applying the truth. They were like the hyssop that grew out of the wall — small — not like the cedar as possessed of the Spirit and growing up. And, moreover, he used the word “bason” twice here. The blood is to be preserved; it is in a vessel, it is to make the thing practical to these Israelites, and he says it is a household matter. Where the truth of the passover is needed most is in our houses, or our households will not be saved. Moses speaks about the deliverance, and instructs them to tell their children by and by that Jehovah delivered their houses. When he finished, as he does with that great thought, it says “the people bowed the head and worshipped”. Moses reached their hearts. Every levite ought to be able to do that, to reach the heart of the people as speaking through the Spirit.
What is in view in this chapter in Chronicles, and indeed, in all the chapters from the end of chapter 21 [p. 38] of this book, is headship — not simply lordship. Although David was the king, the Lord in type, headship is in mind. David here is an old man. If we compare this with the first chapter of 1 Kings, we shall see a great contrast, and yet it is the same person. In 1 Kings he is a weak, old man having lost all his vigour and warmth and about to die in weakness, but there is no suggestion of that here. It is David viewed as the subject of the work of God, standing on his feet, no need of support or of being carried on a platform. I do not think much of an address given otherwise. He stands on his feet and speaks most pungently and beautifully to his captains and princes, and then to Solomon, his tender son, speaking in beautiful terms reverting back to the sovereignty of God. How good to refer in your later years to the sovereign operations of God. That is David in this book. He tells Solomon one thing after another. He tells him he had the pattern of the temple by the Spirit. We are in the presence of the greatest things here. And so he goes on and tells him that riches had been provided, meeting every need in the temple, and as it proceeds it says, “And the people rejoiced because they offered willingly”. David tells us how much he gave of his own personal property in his affection for the house of Jehovah, and the people all gave and began to rejoice because of the giving. Every man giving was rejoicing, he did not feel as if he had parted with something — he was rejoicing in the giving. And David rejoiced; the old man, as we see him in 1 Kings, was here jubilant in presence of such an evidence of the work of God in himself and the people, and he blessed the Lord.
Beginning at verse 10, we have David’s outpouring of praise to Jehovah. He is the great leader in this matter of public service to God, he is typical of Christ in this, “Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever”. So he comes on down to the verse I read (verse 20), “Now bless the Lord your God”. That is what I apprehend is the idea of Christ as Minister of the sanctuary. David does it first before the congregation, and then he says to the people, “Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king”. This is the last feature I had in mind of what induces and maintains worship. It is a command, not in the sense of lordship, but of headship. It is an appeal; he says as it were, I have shown you or given you a lead in the service of God. He addresses Jehovah as Head. He calls upon the people to bless God, and is the Lord not calling upon us now, dear brethren, in the same sense? He says to the people, “Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king”. Worshipping the king here is intelligible, it is a question of what Christ is as having part in the Deity. But the great point here is “Bless now Jehovah”. For us it is to worship the Father, for “the Father seeks such as his worshippers”, and our David would say to us, “Bless now Jehovah”. It is praise to the Father. You know how Christ did it Himself. When the time was darkest it says, He “rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes”, that is, our day. He is worshipping, as it were. He is praising, and Luke says that He told His disciples, so to speak, not to rejoice in the support they had in their ministry (for they had been telling Him that the demons had been subject to them), but rather to rejoice that their names were written in heaven; and then He rejoices in spirit and praises the Father; and He turns to His disciples and says, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”. Did it ever occur to you that your eyes are blessed as seeing the holy things relating to the Father and the Son which are opened up to us?
[p. 40] I think, dear brethren, you will see how the things of which I have spoken induce worship, especially the great thought of headship in Christ, involving His office as the Minister of the true sanctuary which the Lord pitched and not man.