Worship in Spirit and in Truth
Philippians 3:3 – “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh“
Terry took up his first pastorate in Seaford on the proviso that they would be open to a Spirit-led mode of worship service that subverted the (then prevalent) formulaic and front-led ‘hymn sandwich’ format.
“I explained to the church the concept of ‘open worship’ and waited in increasingly oppressive silence. After the pause, one of the elderly ladies, grasping the idea that we could now sing ‘choruses’ in our morning worship, searched her childhood memories and asked if we could now sing ‘a little talk with Jesus makes it right, all right’! My heart sank. My co-elder’s head sank into his hands.”
The church eventually came round to the participation of the ‘whole body’ of the congregation participating in worship and ministering to one another in the Spirit, being taught about the primacy of love and edification of one another in worship (see 1 Corinthians 13).
“The doctrinal content of our songs of worship will determine to a greater or lesser degree their real spiritual value. That is why the scriptures set to music are so edifying. It is not enough that the melody is sweet and the lyrics sentimental. What an anticlimax to find that when we sing ‘kings and kingdoms shall all pass away’ we only add ‘but there’s something about that name’. What do we mean? What are we singing?” Terry quotes from Bill Gaither’s ‘There’s something about that name’, but his comments are pertinent to any number of contemporary church songs that one could cite, perhaps even more so in the present day.
“A time of worship is a fresh opportunity to get to know God. We can grow in faith as we declare glorious truths about him and to him. Often there will be a breaking free from sin as we touch his holiness and experience his love melting our hearts afresh… Worship must be in spirit as well as truth and we should expect our emotions to be roused.”
Terry quotes D M Lloyd-Jones describing the reality of the gathered worship described in the New Testament “Here is a gathering of men and women who are filled with the Spirit of God, and each one of them has got something; one a psalm, one a doctrine, one a revelation, one an interpretation, one a tongue. When one gave his contribution, the others rejoiced and they praised God together; and they were all in a state of great joy and glory and happiness” (Westminster Record Vol 43, No 9) Lloyd-Jones readily admits that that is not the church experience that they have and says “The really important question for us to face is, are we like the early church, are we like the early Christians, rejoicing and praising God, filled with gladness and joy so that we amaze the world and make them think at times that we are filled with new wine?” (ibid.)
“New wine in new wineskins. New songs from new creatures enjoying a new covenant. God deliver us from staleness at any point. He makes all things new”