{"id":73,"date":"2003-12-05T12:25:36","date_gmt":"2003-12-05T17:25:36","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-03-04T20:59:35","modified_gmt":"2008-03-05T01:59:35","slug":"corporate-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/corporate-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate Worship"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Burnett<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In traveling among the assemblies of God?s people, one has noted
\nthat there appears to be a growing loss of focus in many assembly worship meetings, with
\nmany not being aware of just why they are there, and what is expected from them, so
\nperhaps it would be helpful to review what we find in Scripture regarding worship and
\nworshippers. Let us examine a few distinctives, that may help us to appreciate what
\nworship is, and what is expected from us when we come together to function as a Holy
\nPriesthood.

Personal verses Collective<\/b><\/p>\n

There are two temples in existence today: The Temple of our Bodies; (1
\nCor. 6:19) and the Temple of the Corporate gathering of the Church, (1 Cor. 3:16) and
\nworship is associated with each, the former is Personal, the latter Collective.<\/p>\n

Personal Worship:<\/p>\n

Worship is an integral part of our entire lives. For example, the
\napostle Paul writing to the Romans exhorts them, ” I beseech you therefore brethren
\nby the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
\nGod, which is your reasonable service.” So we learn that Worship means putting our
\nlives on the Altar for God. Further, the writer to the Hebrews says ” By him
\ntherefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
\nour lips giving thanks to his name.” (Hebrews 13:15) So we learn that our praises are
\nconsidered to be offering worship to God. We may yield all of these sacrifices as
\nindividual priests on a continuous basis. These are but a few examples of the many aspects
\nof personal worship.<\/p>\n

Collective:<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2 describes us as a Holy Priesthood, and this introduces
\ncollective worship. We are all priests to God, but we can only function as a Priesthood
\nwhen we are together, and this is most clearly demonstrated when we come together to Break
\nBread. Considering the idea of priesthood, this means that the brother participating
\npublicly is acting in a representative capacity, and is leading the assembly in worship.
\nSo we do not come together to speak to God to engage in personal worship, but with the
\nwhole assembly in view.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

O.T. Priesthood verses N.T. Priesthood<\/b><\/p>\n

God?s original desire was that all of Israel should be priests
\nunto God, rather than the sons of Aaron. (Ex. 19:5) In the Church age, God has recovered
\nHis ideal, in that all believers without exception are Priests unto God. This is a great
\nprivilege and honor bestowed upon us, yet sadly the number of functioning priests is
\ndeclining year by year. Let?s get back to the vision of our early brethren who
\nrecovered this blessed truth, and paid the price to be able to practice it, and come along
\nexercised to offer worship.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Holy Priesthood verses Royal Priesthood<\/b><\/p>\n

1 Peter 2 tells us that there are two aspects to the priesthood of
\nbelievers. He first tells us that we are Holy Priests (v. 5) and later he tells us that we
\nare Royal Priests. (v. 9) The distinction between these two aspects of Priesthood has
\nbecome blurred, leading to confusion in our assembly worship. As Holy Priests we “OFFER
\nUP spiritual sacrifices?” <\/i>As Royal Priests we “SHOW FORTH the
\nvirtues of Him?”<\/i> The direction of the one is vertical, the other horizontal.
\nThe one is directed to God, the other to man. The one involves worship, the other
\ntestimony. Lack of understanding of this distinction means that many assembly worship
\nmeetings have come to be a time for sharing ministry from the word, or sharing our
\nexperiences of God.<\/font>1 <\/font> Brother Boyd Nicholson
\nused to say that as Holy Priests we minister to the Heart of God, whereas, as Royal
\nPriests we minister to the House of God. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Worship ? Spiritual verses Physical<\/b><\/p>\n

The worship of the Old Testament was physical in its expression. An
\nordained Priesthood, Vestments, Ornate Structures, Choirs, Orchestras, Incense, Sacrifices
\netc., and a great importance placed on the Geographical centre ? Jerusalem. In John
\n4, the Lord unveils some great truths about the great shift that was about to take place
\nwhere the whole basis of worship would move from the physical to the spiritual. The Lord
\nsaid “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
\nFather in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is [a]
\nSpirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. <\/i>(John 4:
\n21?24)<\/p>\n

This is an important principle to grasp, that our worship today is not
\nassociated with, or supported by, physical expressions, or organized programs, but it is
\nentirely spiritual in its nature. The early church was a very simple entity, shunning the
\nelaborate ceremonies and physical expressions of Judaism, to gather in simplicity to His
\nName. Let?s be careful that we do not lapse back into some modified form of Judaism
\nwith its emphasis on buildings and accompanying physical things. We worship the Father in
\nSpirit and in Truth, and our worship should be spiritual in it?s nature.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Worship verses Remembrance<\/b><\/p>\n

When we meet to Break Bread, our main purpose is to remember our Lord
\nJesus. This is also an important thing to keep in mind in our assembly worship ? that
\nwe should focus on remembrance rather than general matters of worship. Thanking God as the
\ngreat creator, or as the giver of daily blessings has its place and time, but we come to
\nRemember Him, our thoughts, our hymns, our expressions of worship to the Father must be
\nChrist centered. After all there is enough in Christ to occupy and thrill our hearts for
\nall of eternity, far less a short hour on a Lord?s Day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Table verses The Supper<\/b><\/p>\n

In 1 Corinthians 10 the apostle deals with what he calls the “
\nTable of the Lord,” And in chapter 11 he deals with the ” Lord?s
\nSupper.” These truths, though related to each other, are distinct. The apostle
\ncompares the Table to God?s provision for Israel in the manna and the water from the
\nrock, and how that now God still provides for us in our daily experience through what he
\ncalls the Table of the Lord. So the Lord?s Table has to do with our daily fellowship
\nwith God. The Supper is distinct in that it was given by the Lord, imparted to the apostle
\nby direct revelation, then delivered to the saints as an ordinance to be kept until He
\ncome, and this is the subject of 1 Corinthians 11.<\/p>\n

May these simple distinctives help us to recover those blessed times of
\nGod glorifying worship among us that were once the hallmark of our assemblies, when we
\ngather together as a Holy Priesthood to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. <\/p>\n

You can find even more Milk and Honey<\/a> articles on their homepage. There’s plenty of archives since it hasn’t been updated in a few months. We have been featuring many of their articles right here for convenience and exposure to the truths contained in them. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Burnett In traveling among the assemblies of God?s people, one has noted that there appears to be a growing loss of focus in many assembly worship meetings, with many not being aware of just why they are there, and what is expected from them, so perhaps it would be helpful to review what we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-human"],"yoast_head":"\nCorporate Worship - 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