Reverence in Worship | Biblical Expositions

Dave Chanski

Please turn to Hebrews 12:28-29.

The apostle writes:

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.

Our text here tells us that our worship should be marked by reverence, or godly fear, and awe. We live in a day in which, generally speaking, Christian worship is not marked by these characteristics. In fact, we could say the trend is in the opposite direction. It’s a day in which people have talked about worship wars, that is, there is much discussion and even argumentation about how we should worship God. In the midst of these so-called worship wars it seems that this vital point of reverence and awe in worship is being lost.

Furthermore, in addition to telling us that we should worship God with reverence and awe, or godly fear, another thing this text tells us is that there’s a connection between what we believe about God and the way we worship. In other words, what we believe will—or at least, should—inform and govern us in terms of the way we worship God; it should determine it. It says we are to worship Him with reverence and godly fear because our God is a consuming fire. Rightly understanding who God is is going to help us to know how we ought to worship Him. But, it’s not that simple, is it? Just a few moments ago from this pulpit, our brother told us about one man in his congregation who loved the things he was teaching about God but didn’t make the connection that therefore we need to worship Him in a certain way, with reverence and awe. He said, “I love what you’re saying about God, but I still like these elements of worship that are more popular.” My point is, if we want people to worship God in a right way and we ourselves want to know how to worship God, we should not simply teach on the attributes of God; we have to teach what the Scriptures say about how God should be worshiped.

Brethren, my goal is not to remind you of the God we serve, who He is. My goal is to encourage you to remember that because He is a consuming fire, because He is holy and almighty and sovereign and righteous and awesome, therefore He is to be worshiped with reverence and awe.

Three Present-day Problems

I want to address the subject of reverence in worship. The way I’m going to do it is by speaking about three present-day trends or problems. I’m going to mention three things that I want to urge you to avoid, things which I presume most of you are already aiming to avoid. And you’re doing it for a good reason, but I want to urge you to think about these things and to press on in your faithfulness.

An Emphasis on Joy and Uplifting Experiences

As I think about this subject of reverence in worship, the first present-day problem is this: an emphasis on joy and on having an uplifting experience in worship. Joy, certainly in the worship of God, is an important and desirable feature. In fact, you could say, so is having an uplifting experience in worship. We want our people to be edified, to be built up. There’s a sense in which this is a Scriptural idea, but there’s an emphasis on these things to the point of there being an overemphasis. They are not the essence of worship. They are not what we could call the sine qua non of worship, that is, the thing without which there is not true worship. But, that’s the way these things are presented, that’s the way they are spoken about in our day and age. In fact, when we think about worship nowadays, and when you enter into conversations with people there’s almost an assumption that if there’s going to be true worship it has to be especially characterized by joy. I don’t believe that that’s what the Scriptures teach.

One of the reasons I say this is because the main Greek word used in the Bible for worship is the word proskuneo. We very often simply translate that word as “worship.” But there’s also another way that it’s legitimately translated. It’s a very literal translation. It is “to fall down,” or it could be translated, “to bow low” or “to fall at someone’s feet.” That’s a literal translation of this word for worship. Listening to some people discuss the subject of worship nowadays you wouldn’t think that would be the case. You would think that perhaps the New Testament word for worship meant “sing,” or “to have a happy time,” or perhaps “to be emotionally moved.” But that’s not what the word means. It means “to fall down, to bow low.” That is one reason I say, when we think of the essence of worship, we must not simply think of being happy or having an uplifting experience.

Another reason I say this is because of some of the biblical pictures of worship in heaven. In heaven there is pure worship. In heaven there is sinless worship. In heaven, we could say, there is ideal worship, and if I were to ask you for the passages where we have some of these pictures, you would readily come up with them. Let’s turn to Isaiah chapter 6:1-4.

It’s the familiar account of the vision that Isaiah had. Isaiah begins with a time reference. He says, “In the year that King Uzziah died.” Then he tells us about his vision:

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one, had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

No doubt, because these were perfectly holy beings, to be in the presence of God was an uplifting experience for them. No doubt it was a matter of joy for them to be in the presence of the holy God. They were holy themselves, so they loved what God loved. They loved God Himself. They delighted in His presence. But you see, what they focus on is the holiness of God. They focus on the fact that even though they were sinless, God was such a distant being from them. He is the Creator; they are mere creatures. In that sense, therefore, God was something utterly different from them. They don’t have the problem that we have in coming into the presence of God—the greatest of problems. However, He is so far above them that they had the response of covering their faces and feet because of His glory, which would, in a sense, indicate some kind of shame to be in the presence of the living God Himself.

Do you see my point about this first biblical picture of worship? The emphasis is completely in keeping with what we have in the end of chapter 12 of Hebrews—to worship with reverence and awe—and not the emphasis that we especially have in our day and age about what worship ought to be.

Another picture comes in the book of Revelation, chapter 4, verses 8 to 11. It’s another picture of worship in heaven. It’s one of the scenes that the Apostle John beheld, as God opened up to him some of the scenes in heaven. Beginning in verse 8 of chapter 4 he says: “And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”

Once again, they focus on the holiness of God, and then also the might of God, the power of God, the omnipotence of God: “Lord God Almighty”. Then they focus on the eternity of God, His vastness, His greatness, His infinity: “who was and is and is to come”. It continues on to say:

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Once again, we see this picture of obedience, and we could say obeisance. We see humility, reverence, and awe. What do the twenty-four elders do as they’re before the throne? It says that they fall down before Him and worship Him. That is not to say that no worship in heaven could be characterized as lifting up the face, lifting up the hands, singing with joy and thanksgiving to God. No doubt those things characterize worship in heaven, but the point is that when we are given brief pictures of worship of God in heaven what is emphasized, whether it be angels or whether it be these twenty-four elders who are redeemed and bow, and are worshiping God, is that they are bowing down; they are worshiping with reverence and awe. My point is this: at the heart of what the true worship of God is is this matter of reverence and awe.

The third thing I would say, in terms of the danger of an overemphasis on joy and having an uplifting experience, is that the present emphasis we see on joy in worship often comes at the expense of reverence. I choose my word “often” on purpose. It is very often, it is too often. I’m not saying that everyone who talks about joy in worship has a wrong emphasis. We should speak about joy in worship. We should be joyful in the house of God. The problem, however, is that as a result of this overemphasis, there is a party atmosphere in the house of God in many places.

I’ve visited some churches were people walk in with their coffee, shouting to people on the other side of the auditorium, walking over, waving—two minutes of the first hymn being sung. Those are the kinds of atmospheres that are found even in more conservative church settings today.

Many people think that if you have reverence you can’t have joy. But we need to remind them and teach them that reverence is not the opposite of joy. What is the opposite of joy? It’s not reverence; it’s sadness. The Word of God does not teach that we are to worship God in sadness, though even sadness is a legitimate emotion for the worship of God. The point is that reverence is not the opposite of joy. So when people set up this distinction that we should either have joy or reverence, it is not a one or the other. That is not what the Word of God teaches, and we must say to our people and teach them that joyless worship is something that needs to be remedied.

I hope you’re dissatisfied if a man stands and holds his hymnal down here like this and at best mumbles through one of the wonderful hymns that we sing about the glory of God, the grace of God, and about Jesus Christ. That is not acceptable worship. It’s not acceptable for someone not to enter in with all his heart, with all his being, to lift up his voice, to rejoice before the living God. That is worship that characterizes unbelievers: people who have nothing to rejoice and glory in. Substituting another kind of worship, irreverent worship that characterizes unbelievers, is not the remedy.

The Bible makes it emphatically clear, as I said, that worship is to be marked by joy. Let me give you these brief examples from the Psalms. You can take your concordance and look up joy, joyful noise, shouting, music, and so on. Psalm 66:1-2 says, “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.” Psalm 81:1 says, “Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.” Then Psalm 95:1-2 says, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” Also, Psalm 100:1-2 states, “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.”

We were going through a book by one of the fellow pastors up here in the states that we know, Brian Borgman, entitled Feelings and Faith. He was making the point that our worship should be characterized by joy. He was talking about emotions in worship, and he was saying that when we think about our singing one of the primary emotions that should come into view, and does come into view, is joy in our worship. I was leading the class that week and someone questioned that, because I think they sensed this same point that I’m making here. There is this danger of overemphasizing joy. They wondered, “Is that an overstatement? Is that the main emotion that we should especially associate with singing?”

I said, “No, I agree with that assertion”, and I took part of the next class period to read a whole list of psalms in which there’s this connection between joy and singing. Singing is considered a joyful shout. It’s not that I miss out on the importance of joy at all, but we cannot say that joy is the essence of worship the way we must say about reverence. It is not. Reverence is at the very heart of what worship is.

Please turn to a couple of passages. Turn to Judges 20:23. Here we have the strange incident regarding the rape and murder of this Levite’s concubine, then you have all of Israel drawing up battle lines against the children of Benjamin, and finally you have this first day of battle in which the Israelites are routed by the Benjamites. But then, right in the midst of this, after this first day of battle, we read this: “Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?’ And the Lord said, ‘Go up against him.’” Now after that first day of battle in which 22,000 of their men were killed, it would not have been fitting for them to come before the Lord with gladness, thanksgiving, and joyful shouts. They did come before the Lord. They were crying out to the Lord, praying to the Lord, pouring out their hearts to the Lord, and it says that when they did that, they went up and they wept before the Lord until evening.

No one would look at that situation and say that because there was no joy primarily—or even because there was by and large a complete absence of joy—that therefore it was not an act of worship. However, we could say that if their activity before God was not marked by reverence, it was not a proper act of worship. Do you see my point? It is not to speak negatively about joy in worship; it’s simply to say that the essence of worship is not joy as many people evidently believe in our day and age. The essence of it is reverence before God.

Another example that makes the same point is Joel 2:12-17. This point is elementary, but in our day and age it is a point that needs to be emphasized and I would also say this, even though we know these things, because of the pressure that is constantly coming upon us, we do need to remind ourselves of these things and stand upon them. The setting is the locust plague, the judgment of God.

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and he relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

God says this is going to be a sacred assembly. It is an assembly that God Himself is calling for. But, He says it is going to be marked by weeping, mourning, rending of people’s hearts, falling down before Him, and crying out to Him for mercy. This is God-ordained worship. Joy not only is not a dominant note of it, it really is not a note of it at all. Again, to say that there is no joy does not mean it’s not worship. But, if it were not marked by reverence, it would not be God-honoring worship at all.

One other text is in the New Testament, James 4:7-10. Yes, these are unusual circumstances, but they make the point that the essence of worship is reverence. I take the time for us to turn to it because it’s not in the Old Testament, it’s in the New. Of course, there are many in our day and age who want to tell us, “Well, of course things are different in the New Testament.” But James 4, verses 7 and following reads this way:

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Evidently there were people with some of the same wrong ways of thinking as we have in our day and age. No matter what our circumstances, no matter how sinful we might be, when we go into the house of God, we want to simply laugh and rejoice. James says, “Because of your circumstances, because of your sins which cry out for repentance, I want you to stop your laughter and I want you to start mourning. I do not want you to have a mood of joy, but of gloom. You need to lament and mourn and weep; that is going to be proper and fitting worship to God. Do you see the point? There can be true, God-honoring worship that is not particularly marked by joy, but there cannot be true God-honoring worship that is not particularly marked by reverence. Your joy—and that means your joy in worship—must always be tempered with reverence and dignity.

Look at Psalm 2:11, a good text that epitomizes this point. It doesn’t directly address the subject of worship. This Psalm is talking about the rulers of the earth and how they ought to think about God and their rebellion against Him, and how they ought to stop and repent of their sins. Then it says in verse 11 both to them as well as to God’s people, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” Even our rejoicing should be marked and tempered by trembling. There must be dignity.

Listen to Payson on this point. He says, “With what profound admiration does it become us to enter the presence and to receive the favors of the awful Majesty of heaven and earth.” In other words, when we think about who God is and His terrible majesty, that ought to instruct us about how we come into His presence. Then he goes on, “and how ought we to dread grieving or offending goodness so great, so glorious, so venerable.” So, as we think of reverence in worship, this is the first thing we must avoid: an overemphasis on joy and on having an uplifting experience.

A Casual Atmosphere in Worship

The second thing is similar to it, but it’s something that should be mentioned separately. I already alluded to this before. It is that of a casual atmosphere in worship. A man writing in the Christian Century Magazine, generally a liberal Christian publication, was describing the tone of contemporary worship, and here’s how he described it. He says, “it is casual, comfortable, chatty, busy, humorous, pleasant, and at times even cute.”

I can say, thankfully, I haven’t seen this all that often because usually I go and worship at the church where I pastor. I’m thankful that this has not characterized the worship of those churches. Yet, every now and then, on a vacation and visiting a church with a family member, I end up in a situation similar to this, and his remarks are not inaccurate. They’re not over the top. Contemporary worship is casual, comfortable, chatty, busy, humorous, and so on; and, the sad thing is, there is an effort to make sure that everyone who comes in is comfortable.

I remember back when I was pastoring in the Twin Cities over twenty years ago a fellow came up and gave me a part of the religious news section of the local paper. I have to believe the editor who wrote this section was not even a Christian himself, but he was commenting on a book and about the way worship goes on in churches. He was agreeing with the whole thrust of the book. He says that the concern of the author was to impress upon us that church should be the one place where people can go and not have their emotional eggshell cracked.

Do you see the point? The point of his book was that church should be a pleasant and comfortable environment for everyone who comes in, and so this casual atmosphere is promoted. It’s part of what people are aiming for. I simply say, when there is a din in worship, when people are walking in with lattes in their hand and are waving at people across the auditorium, carrying on conversations, you’d think you were in a political convention or something like that when you walk into some of these places. You’d think you might be at a party. When I walk into a situation like that, I don’t feel the need to do a quick Bible study to try to figure out if this is good or not. I think I can blow my whistle like a referee and say, “Hold it!” I don’t do this, but I say, there’s something wrong going on here when we think of what the Bible teaches about God and the way He should be worshiped.

Our reformed fathers looked at worship as having two main components, two main parts. One part is: we speak to God. We do that when we sing, we do that when we pray. The other part is: God speaks to us. He does that through the reading and preaching of the Word of God. It’s like the beginning of James 4:8. “Draw near to God”—that’s what we do—“and He will draw near to you.” Those are the two parts of worship. We draw near to God, God draws near to us. That’s all there is to worship. I think you can look at it and make it that simple. I ask you, brethren, if it’s really that simple, which one of those two things does not call aloud for reverence? That’s what it is. You can look at it one of two ways. God is coming down to meet with us. How should we behave ourselves? Or, we are coming into the presence of the God of heaven, how should we conduct ourselves?

Turn back to Exodus 3:4-5. This is another text that ought shape our thinking, our mindset, our attitude, and our conduct when it comes to the worship of God. This is the passage where Moses beheld the burning bush and came up close to see what was going on.

So when the LORD saw that Moses turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

Now, you could say, “Alright, I can see a lot of practical applications jumping out even in terms of the way we clothe ourselves in the presence of God.” That’s not what I’m concerned with at this point, but what I am concerned with is this: what does the removal of the shoes emphasize? This whole point of reverence and godly fear. “Moses, you are coming into the presence of God Himself. Get the shoes off your feet. Realize whom you are coming before.”

My dad had a way of expressing this when I was a kid. My favorite friend at the time was a kid who lived at the other end of the block. I lived at one end, he lived at the other. He was an Italian kid named Steve Biondo. I was not in a Christian home, we were Roman Catholics. There was at least some sense of this whole matter of reverence. I had godly fear instilled in me that kept me from a lot of sins even though I never knew the gospel. This was back fifty years ago, so there was a lot more common sense, and it was a whole different world here in the United States in this regard. So when my dad sensed that I wasn’t giving him the honor that was due to him, he would say, “Hey, who do you think you’re talking to? Steve Biondo?” In other words, “Hold it, son. When you’re talking to your dad you gotta come with a different attitude and a different way.” That’s the point. You’re coming into the presence of God. You are not coming simply into the presence of your friends. You’re coming to worship God, not to celebrate somebody’s birthday.

We need to remember the third commandment. We don’t take God’s name in vain. There are certain ways that we approach people, and then there are ways that we approach God. There must be a difference. I know the Jews overdid it when they wouldn’t even say “Jehovah” or “Yahweh.” They wouldn’t take the name on their lips. But brethren, better to overdo things when it comes to the way we approach God in terms of our carefulness, than to not be careful enough.

Let’s go back to Hebrews 12:28. Remember the context. This is an important point that we must never forget. When it says at the end of Hebrews 12, beginning at verse 28, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire”, once again, remember that this is the New Testament. It is not the Old Testament. People cannot make the argument, “Well, those kind of things were just for the Old Testament.” This is the New Testament, and not only is this the New Testament, but this is a section of the New Testament that is emphasizing the fact that it is the New Testament.

In chapter 12 and verse 18 the apostolic writer starts drawing this contrast between the old covenant and the new. “You have not come to that mountain that was burning and could not be touched,” and so on. Verse 22: “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” etc. Verse 24: “to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

One of the proper responses to that is: “That’s right. Amen. We don’t worship God the same way they did in the Old Testament. We do have greater freedom, we do have greater joy.” But the conclusion that therefore we don’t have the same degree of reverence and awe that should mark our worship is wrong, because the writer says, “Your liabilities are greater now because you know more. If they feared and trembled, you should much more.” That’s his argument. He says in verse 25, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven.” That’s the note sounded throughout the whole book, isn’t it? Beginning with chapter 2—“Your liabilities are greater. There is greater cause for you to fear and tremble than for those people in the old covenant.” Isn’t that why he concludes, “Therefore, we should serve God with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire”?

This applies to the two things I’ve said so far about the overemphasis on joy and the casual atmosphere. It’s from the book written by Hart and Muether, With Reverence and Awe, which is a good book on this subject. Here’s what they say in one place: “We do not believe that it is putting it too strongly to suggest that Christians come to worship with the same attitude and demeanor they take to a funeral service for a professing Christian.” Their explanation is: such funerals are times of reverence and joy. If it’s a Christian who died, you do have joy. They’ve gone to a better place, but you have reverence because death is the end of all men and a reminder of what the wages of sin is. We need to take that to heart.

Frankly there are contexts in which I wouldn’t want to say that because people don’t understand it, and they would mock it and you’re not going to make any progress in making your case, but this is true, this is true.

Entertainment in Worship

The third thing we need to avoid, which is even worse, is the whole matter of entertainment in worship. I know many people would say, “Well, we’re just trying to create the best possible worship experience.” I would ask the question, “But why then such a production?” When we come to the New Testament, what is the great difference between the New and the Old? The New Testament is so much more simple. Why do we need a several piece orchestra or choir? Why do we need so much to be done to bring the people in before God? It’s so simple in the New Testament.

Or, I ask this question, why does the entertainment industry set the standard? Why is that? Why is it that the way that things sell determine what’s going to be flashed up on the board or the wall behind the music leader rather than what the men of God determine should be used in the worship of God as a general rule?

Spurgeon said this:

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view of winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

It’s hard to imagine that was written a hundred and fifty years ago, isn’t it? But, it was. Brethren, I am a man who does not like change. I admit it. But it is more than that which causes me concern and fear in this whole area of worship. I don’t like change for change’s sake and I don’t like change because people want to be more seeker-sensitive. Everybody can quote 1 Corinthians 9. We want to be all things to all men, but we need to remind them of 1 Corinthians 14. We need to do things decently and in order, and we need to do things the way God says to do them. I don’t like change for the sake of entertaining people, and I don’t like change because we let the marketplace drive what is done in the church.

I remember some years ago at a Pastors’ Conference, we had talked about music. One man who was there said, “Brethren, we’re in a day and age when there is a lot of change in this area. If I thought it would be good for me to get down on my knees and plead with you, I would.” He said, “I urge you to think deeply in terms of how you’re going to order your worship, your public worship. Think deeply. Read widely. Pray earnestly. Act slowly.” One of our problems is that people are not acting slowly. They’re doing what people want rather than what they believe the Scriptures clearly teach. There are times when we need to change, when we should change things. We should be willing at least to consider it, but we need to ask, is this the time and are these the people who are giving us the advice that we should be listening to?

Listen to Pastor Edward Donnelly. He wrote, “The developments in evangelical worship in the last twenty years have not taken place in a context of spiritual renewal. They seem rather to be partly the product and partly the cause of an increasing shallowness and worldliness among the professing people of God.” I think that’s true. The Puritans understood it. They said in the Shorter Catechism, question 100, in the preface “Our Father”, on the subject of the Lord’s Prayer: “It teaches us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence.” They said in their directory for public worship, “Let all enter, not irreverently, but in a grave and seemly manner.” Brethren, here is the question we should be asking when we read things like this: was what they said good because they lived in the 17th century, or was it because there is something about the majesty and holiness and power of God that made it fitting to come into His presence that way? That’s the question we should be asking.

Final Exhortations

I’ll simply close with three exhortations. The first is this, brethren: let these principles of the Word of God about reverence in worship inform and influence the way you order and conduct every part of your public worship. God has put you in a place of influence and authority in the church of Jesus Christ. Don’t cave in to things, desires, requests, etc., that you are not convinced are biblical. Some of the things where people might recommend change—that you don’t feel comfortable about—might come from biblical motivation. They might. I’m simply saying don’t cave in when you doubt that. Peter said, “let it be,” your preaching be, “as someone who speaks the very oracles of God,” whether it is the observance of the sacraments, the Lord’s supper and baptism. Listen to Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 11 about not being godless when it comes to those things. Remember Paul’s words from the end of 1 Corinthians 14: “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

The second exhortation is this: don’t make it your aim to make the ungodly comfortable. Now I hope, if you do things decently and in order, you won’t be making them uncomfortable in the sense that you’re not unnecessarily offending them. However, you cannot have God-honoring, biblical worship without offending them.

Let’s look 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. Here you have this one incident of an ungodly person coming into New Testament worship. Notice what Paul says:

Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or are unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is judged by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

In other words, the first situation is when people are not doing what the Word of God says. The person comes in and he makes the comment, “You people are out of your mind.” He doesn’t feel threatened. He feels comfortable enough to make such a comment. But if things are done decently and in order, it says he’s convicted and he’s judged, and the secrets of his heart are revealed. He falls down on his face, he worships God, and says, “God is truly among you.” He doesn’t feel comfortable. His emotional eggshell is cracked.

I’m not saying that we try to aim to make people feel judged. We preach the Word of God and God will bring that to pass by His Holy Spirit. The key is to do things in a biblical way and let the chips fall where they may. That’s our goal, brethren. That’s what God has called us to do. Think of it this way. When you think about making unbelievers feel comfortable, ask this question: will this person feel comfortable if he were put in the midst of heaven and the heavenly host, and worshiping God? He wouldn’t. And we should not congratulate ourselves because people—unbelievers even—walk out of our congregations yawning, scratching their heads, and thinking, “I just went to church.” I’m not saying we need to change the way we worship. We need to get on our knees and cry out to God that His Spirit would come and bless His Word and humble and save sinners.

Finally, don’t aim to primarily make people feel uplifted. Think of the time in Luke 5 when it dawns on Peter who Jesus is. What did he say? “Oh, God has come to be with us,” and then he runs up and hugs Jesus? No. He says, “Lord, depart from me because I’m a sinful man.” It was like Isaiah’s response in Isaiah 6. Also, think of John’s response when he sees that vision of Jesus, what did he do? He didn’t get up and start laughing and high-fiving Jesus because Jesus was in front of him. He fell down on his face like a dead man. It was reverence and awe, brethren.

We want to encounter Christ, and that includes the Christ of the cross. We can say the cross is the supreme display of the glory of God and the love of God in Jesus Christ. That includes both this response: “my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought that Christ has taken it away”, and also, the thought of why He had to hang there: “Because of me and because of my sin—He faced what my sins deserve. How holy He is and how unholy I am.”

Reverence, brethren, is what we will have when we combine the joy of our salvation with those sobering and humbling realities. We want people to come into contact with Christ and have fellowship with that Christ; that glorious Christ who John saw that caused him to fall down as someone dead. That’s why I come to the house of God every week. May God help us and bless us.

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