Our Old Testament reading this evening is from the book of Psalms, the 96th Psalm, beginning to read at the first verse. Psalm number 96, one of the many Psalms of worship. Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord all the earth, sing to the Lord, praise his name. proclaim his salvation day after day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and glory are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. Bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. say among the nations, the Lord reigns. The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. They will sing before the Lord, for he comes. He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. Our New Testament reading is found in the letter to the Hebrews. Chapter 10 and verse 19. We read verses 19 to 25. We read a passage about Old Testament worship. Here is a passage about New Testament worship. Hebrews 10, 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. And since we have a great priest over a house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith. having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more, as you see the day approaching. Amen. May God bless the reading and the preaching of his word. I've been preaching in the congregation at our evening services a series of sermons entitled Reformed Presbyterianism Today, thinking about what is important to us as a church. And we come this evening to the seventh of our studies, which is entitled Created for Worship. created for worship. And I use that word created deliberately because that is why we were created. John Calvin wrote that the chief object of life is to acknowledge and worship God. And our shorter Catechism put the same truth memorably in its first question and answer. What is man's chief end or chief purpose? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. There is a sense in which all of our life is worship. Everything we do is done or should be done for God. and for his glory. Paul says whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. But this evening as we think of worship we think of it in its usual sense. as a specific conscious activity, then we gather together for the purpose of worshiping the Lord. As the psalmist says, worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. There's nothing more important that as Christians we can do on this earth than to worship God. It's going to be what we're doing in heaven to all eternity. And our worship on earth is a sort of a foretaste of heaven. But if it is so important, how much thought do we give to our worship? How much preparation do we make for it? How well do we do it? Half a century ago, the American writer A. W. Tozer called worship the missing zero in modern evangelicalism. Christians today, he says, have almost forgotten how to worship. And those words are more true today than when they were first written. Today much worship is superficial, and shoddy, and irreverent. Or else it's dead, and dull, and boring. And that's tragic, particularly for those of us who belong to the Reformed family of Christians. Because we have inherited an exceptionally rich teaching and tradition of worship. Ten days or so ago I finished reading this book by Dr. Hughes, Oliphant Old. It's called reformed according to scripture. I don't agree with everything Dr. Rhodes says but it's an absolutely fascinating book as it takes us right through from the early church, the middle ages, the reformation and down to the present and shows us how reformed Christians have worshipped and what they've written and what they've thought, and what they've taught about it, and the breadth, and the depth, and the richness, and the magnificence of it all. But as I read the book I thought we have lost so much. So this evening we want to think about the character of Reformed worship. And to base it around the idea, the simple biblical idea, that Reformed worship, biblical worship, is above all God-centered worship. That is its great quality and characteristic. It's focused on God. And I want, quite briefly, to mention six ways in which our worship is God-centered, or should be God-centered. Firstly, our worship is God-centered in the purpose we should aim at. In the purpose we should aim at. What is our purpose in gathering together like this this evening? Why have we come? Our main purpose is not to meet each other. Our main purpose is not to evangelize the unconverted. Our main purpose is not to receive a blessing from God. Now we hope and expect that all these things will happen. But as we gather, we enjoy meeting in fellowship. And as the gospel is preached, people hear it and they believe in Christ. And as we meet together, God blesses us. But none of these are the main, the primary purpose of worship. In the Bible, the word worship refers to serving, to bowing down before someone. And so the main purpose of worship is to praise God, to glorify God, to give God the offering of our love and gratitude and adoration. So often words by very familiarity lose their meaning. The minister says to the people, let us worship God. That's what he says. What the people often hear is, we are now going to sing a psalm. Reach for your psalm book and get ready to stand up. That's not actually what I said. I said, let us worship God. And yet often we can forget that. And I wonder how you came to this service this evening. What goal did you have in mind? What purpose did you want to fulfil? It should be our great desire to give to God our thanks and our praise, our trust and our confidence, to honour Him, to glorify Him. to bring pleasure to his heart. The Father seeks such worshipers, Jesus said. The psalmist said God takes pleasure in his people. Our worship, then, has a God-centered purpose. It is not primarily for our sake. It is not primarily for the sake of others. It is that we may praise our God. And that surely then becomes the test of an effective or valuable service of worship. Was God praised and honored in our voices and in our hearts this evening? God centered in the purpose we should aim out. Secondly, our worship is God-centered in the presence we should encounter. In the presence we should encounter. This follows on from our first point. There will be occasions when you weren't able to be at a church. You have to stay at home. And no doubt you've asked whoever in your family was out, was there anyone special out today? Quite often the answer is, no, nobody special out today. Just the usual people. Is that true? Is there someone special here as we gather together? someone supremely important. If by some bizarre happening, Queen Elizabeth was just to slip in through the doors there and pop into a pew towards the back and we were to see her at the end of the service, would you just go home as normal and have your supper and say nothing? Somebody at home would say, anybody special out today? No, not really, no. Queen is out, No, no, you'd be rushing home, you'd say, you know what happened today? You know there was a church? Queen was at church. You wouldn't say, well, a bit disappointing, admittedly the Queen was out, but there were a lot of people missing. Very small attendance. Wouldn't really matter. If someone so important was there, that would dwarf everything else. And the truth is that God is present in our midst. That is his promise. That is the astounding reality. It's hard for us to grasp because we can't see him. We can't reach him with our senses, but Jesus says that when you gather together, I am in the midst. And our Lord is here as really as if we could see him and touch him. He is here by his Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, whenever God came among his people, that was a major event. He always came in glory. In Exodus 24.16, we are told that the glory of the Lord settled among Sinai. In Exodus 40.34, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In 2 Chronicles 5.14, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God. Wherever God came to his people, there was glory. Mount Sinai, the tabernacle, the temple, it didn't matter. The glory of God was there. And in the New Testament, God's glory isn't seen in a crowd or a bright light. God's glory is seen in his Son. The Apostle John, writing of Jesus, says in John 1.14, we have seen his glory and Christ is present. Haven't you met Christ in this place many times? Hasn't God drawn near to you and spoken to you? Sometimes he has rebuked you. Sometimes you've come in here burdened and sad with the complexity and the brokenness of our imperfect human lives. And God has met with you in your need. And there was something in your life that the minister didn't know anything about. And perhaps nobody else in the congregation knew about it, but God knew of it. And God spoke to you about it, and you knew that he'd encourage you. Do you remember this as we should? We sang in our opening psalm, let us before his presence come. That truth is so awesome that we cannot grasp it as we should. but we should certainly remember it and reflect upon it. It doesn't really matter in that sense how many or how few are meeting for worship. It doesn't really matter so much whether the preacher is competent or not particularly competent. It doesn't matter really in the final analysis so much whether the singing is lively or heavy. What matters is to meet with God, to meet with Christ. God-centered in the presence we should encounter. Thirdly, our worship is God-centered in the privilege we should appreciate. and the privilege we should appreciate. Some people take worship for granted. Perhaps we all do to some extent. It's Sabbath day, the church is open, the people are there, it's what we always do. Some people even congratulate themselves and think that they're doing God a good turn or that they're supporting the church. I come along to worship week, they say, as if this was a good deed. But we need to realize that worship is an enormous privilege. And we are a very privileged people. And it isn't a right that it is something provided for us by God. And provided in two ways. Provided by God's revelation. Because we couldn't know God unless God had shown himself to us. Unless God had told us what he was like. Unless God had revealed himself in his word. If we didn't have the Bible. All we could know about God was that there was some great being who was powerful and wise and probably good. who had somehow made this world. Paul says, that's all the world of nature teaches us. We couldn't do anything else. We'd just be fumbling and struggling to some unknown God. But we're not. God has given us his word. He has revealed himself to us. In our next study we'll look at the preaching of the word of God. We need God to show himself and we only meet together here because God has revealed himself and shown himself to us and caused us to want to worship him. That's why when you come into this building, the first thing you see central to the architecture of the building is the pulpit. And on the pulpit, the Bible, the Word of God. And in every Reformed place of worship, the pulpit and the Bible are central. And the communion table and the baptismal bowl are under the Bible, under the pulpit. The sacraments are interpreted by the Word. The Word isn't pushed over to one side. The word is central. God's revelation of himself. That is what's important. But it's not only through revelation that we have this privilege. It's through redemption. Because we're not only human beings, we're sinful human beings. And God is holy. And how can we, in our sin, approach a holy God? We know the answer. We can only approach through the death of his beloved Son. Through the precious blood of Christ. Suppose there was some event that you wanted to attend. some sporting event, some concert, and tickets weren't to be obtained. And someone managed to pay an enormous price, a thousand pounds for a ticket and give it to you. You would feel it was a great privilege to be allowed to attend that event. But every time we come in through this door We come through the blood of the Son of God. Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you could sit here tonight and hear God's word and sing his praises. That's what it cost God for you and me to be able to worship. it is an immense privilege. Because God has revealed himself, and because God has redeemed his people, that's really the only basis on which we can worship. So it's God-centered in the privilege we should appreciate. It's God-centered in the pattern we should follow. In the pattern we should follow. For many people today, there is no pattern. The only question is, what do we want? What do we like? How do we think we should worship God? But if worship is a gift, then surely we must give to God something that is pleasing to him, something that he wants. Surely it's right for God, if worship is a privilege, surely it's right for God to tell us how he is to be worshipped. If he has revealed himself so that we can worship him, if he has sent his son to die so that we can worship him, surely then it's open to our Lord and God to say, this is how you will exercise this privilege. You will not come just as you please. You will not do as you want. You will worship as I tell you to worship. And this is what in fact has happened. God has done so in scripture. It's what we in the Reformed Presbyterian Church call the regulative principle. And that is not something that is confined to our denomination. That is something that to go no further is embodied in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is the subordinate standard, in theory at least, of every Presbyterian denomination in the world. Let me remind you of what the Confession says in chapter 21, section 1. The acceptable way of worshiping God is instituted by himself, and is so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of man, or any other way, not prescribed in Holy Scripture. God may not be worshipped in any way not prescribed in Holy Scripture. God sets the pattern, and we are to follow the pattern. John Calvin believed in the regulative principle. He wrote, it is not in the power of man to form any modes of worship they please. Nothing is more wicked than to continue various modes of worship without the authority of the Word of God. The right rule as to the worship of God is to adopt nothing but what He prescribes. So said Calvin, the concept is God-centered to the core. This is why our pattern of worship has developed as a class, no doubt many imperfections, but our forefathers were making a serious effort, which we maintain today, to worship God only as prescribed in his word. God-centered in the pattern we should follow. Fifthly, our worship is God-centered in the preparation we should make. In the preparation we should make. We prepare for important occasions. If you're going for a job interview, you prepare. If you're having an examination the next day, you prepare. If you're going on holiday, you prepare. And yet often for worship, which is the most important human activity in which we ever engage, there is all too little preparation. And I would suggest to you that that may be the real reason why there is little blessing sometimes in worship. There has been little preparation. Let me make three or four pastoral suggestions as to how you can prepare for worship. In the first place, we should think about Saturday evening and Sabbath morning. Let me quote from one of the old Puritan writers, one of the lesser known Puritans, a man called George Swinnock. He writes, He's talking about Saturday evening. Spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealousy and goodness of that God with whom thou hast to do. Why canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts? How pleasant and profitable a Lord's day would it be to thee after such a preparation. Here is a good phrase, when it says, If thou wouldst leave thy heart with God on a Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord's day morning. If our Saturday nights are rushed and harassed, if we get to bed too late, if we scramble out of bed too late on a Sabbath morning, and have no time to meditate, no time to pray, no time to prepare our hearts. If we come rushing in unprepared, we're not really ready to worship God. Sometimes on a Sabbath morning, I allow my mind mischievously to speculate. As I see you all sitting there immaculate in your beautiful Lord's Day clothes, and I allow myself to wonder, what did they look like an hour ago? Perhaps half an hour ago. Prepare to meet your God, said the prophet. He was using the words in a different sense. But are we not rebuked that often we come without any real preparation at all? Another suggestion. Come with a clear conscience. In the Old Testament, the priests had to wash their hands and feet before they went into the tabernacle. The man, said the psalmist, whose hands are clean. It is a symbol of the putting away of sin. Hebrews 10.22 says, Let us draw near with a sincere heart, in a full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. We can't worship God properly if our conscience is reproving us and rebuking us. If we come with our sins heavy upon us, we cannot worship God as we should. We need in the Lord's Day morning to take a few moments and to take our sins and to confess them to the Lord Jesus, and to receive his cleansing and forgiveness, so that you come into this building as a forgiven man or woman, boy or girl, that you come in saying with the O blessed is the man to whom has freely pardoned being all the transgression he has done. Could I suggest thirdly the value of a few moments of silent prayerful meditation before our service begins. It's like an athlete before a competition. She doesn't come out onto the track and immediately compete. She jogs up and down, she stretches, she makes exercises, she does short sprints. She makes her body supple and relaxed and ready to compete. And we're so constituted that it's very difficult for us to just switch into worship mode like that. to just have your head full of other things, to be sitting talking to people, concerned with this thought and the other, and then just in a second to be ready to worship. That's very hard to do. And if we would make a matter of conscience of practicing that, the last five minutes in our services, morning and evening, should be silent. Because if you don't want to meditate yourself, there are others who do. And if you're talking and making a noise, you're not only preventing yourself from getting ready, but you're preventing them from getting ready. And sometimes the hubbub that greets me when I come into the pulpit distresses me. I know that it's because we're glad to see each other, but it's not the way we should be preparing to meet with God. One of the ways in which our brothers and sisters in the Carrick Fergus Reformed Fellowship are continually reforming the Church, in the few moments before their service begins, as those of you who have been there will know, there is a profound silence. The people are preparing their hearts to worship God. It is important we should prepare for it. And then lastly in terms of preparation, perhaps the most important thing of all, is that our weekly worship will be affected by the quality of our daily worship. If worship is something that you are accustomed to do, you will find it easier to worship God on the Lord's Day. If the place of prayer is familiar to you, if every day you meet with God and compose your heart and concentrate your mind and focus on Christ and draw near, then you're accustomed to doing these things. They become second nature to you. And those who worship God through the week will find it much easier to worship God in the Lord's day. But if worship is almost a strange and natural exercise to you, it will be much more difficult for you. God-centered in the preparation we should make, in the purpose we should aim at, in the presence we should encounter, in the privilege we should appreciate, in the pattern we should follow. In the preparation we should make, and lastly and very briefly, our worship is to be God-centered in the profit we should expect. In the profit we should expect. What do we want to get out of our worship? This too is to be God-centered as always. It's not just that we want to leave a worship service feeling good. and saying we enjoyed that. It's not even just that we leave saying, well, I have learned certain things that I didn't know. My mind is now fuller of truth. That's important. What God wants above all is that we leave our worship service changed. Better men, better women, better boys and girls, change to fulfill the two greatest commandments, to love God and to love our neighbor. Jesus says in John 15.8, this is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit. And we should expect our worship to transform us to change us, to shape us, to make us more and more in the image of Christ. We should be thankful for it. But we shouldn't ever hide behind the form of worship. We shouldn't congratulate ourselves. We shouldn't say, well our form of worship is simple and scriptural. That may be so. I believe it is so. But far more important to God is what is going on in our hearts, inside us. And it's possible for the outer forms of worship to be thoroughly scriptural, and yet those engaging in worship, not to be scriptural at all. We have so much still to learn, so much improvement to make, that our worship becomes richer and deeper and more God glorifying. But the secret of it all, and this brings us back to the beginning, is seeking God. With the promise in James 4.8, come near to God and He will come near to you. Let us bow our heads in prayer. O Lord God, forgive us, we pray, if we have taken lightly the privilege of worship If we have been thoughtless and careless and unprepared, if we have been self-centered, for those times when we have been distracted, our hearts have been cold, our minds have been wandering, when we've been absorbed in other things, forgive us, O God, for those times when our words were not matched by our hearts, when we said things we didn't really feel or mean. Forgive us, O God, if we have ever prided ourselves in correct outer forms and been blind to the poverty of the inner reality of our worship. Above all, O God, Help us to seek You in worship, to seek to please You, to praise You, to glorify You and to meet with You and to be changed by You. Grant, O God, Your presence in our midst by Your Spirit. We pray that through Christ our worship may be truly glorifying to You. We ask it in His name. Amen.