I Went to Church Yesterday

The seventh of an undetermined number in a series on the character and need for corporate worship.

One of the joys we share in corporate worship is the singing of praise to our Triune God who commands his people to "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! " Ps 100:1-2. This we strive to do every time we assemble together. Yesterday was no exception.

As believers standing in covenant unity, continuity and solidarity with the Old Testament saints, we understand that we cannot and must not enter God's presence without a sacrifice. When our Old Testament brothers entered into God's presence, they never did so empty-handed. Such a concept was both unheard of and unthinkable to them. The worshiper would bring an animal, typically a domestic animal, one that was physically perfect, and depending on the nature of the sacrifice, after he had laid his hands on the animal’s head, either he or the officiating priest would sacrifice the animal and spread its blood on the sides of the altar, Lev 1:5, 11;
3:2; etc. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed animals in front and on the mercy seat, 16:14 - 15. However, today, our sacrifice has already been made. Jesus Christ, the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world, Jn 1:29, 36, is our once for all sacrifice satisfying the holy justice of God for sin and sinners. "… But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb 9:26. Christ our Savior is our final sacrifice for our sins who took our place on the cross of Calvary. Our sacrifice has already been made for us. It is his sprinkled blood that cleanses our hearts and purifies our consciences, 10:22; 9:13. However God has not repealed his command to always appear in his presence with a sacrifice. These great truths therefore beg the question, what kind of sacrifice must we now bring when we enter into God's presence for worship?

The writer to the Hebrews tells us in verse 15 of chapter 13 that through Christ alone we are to "… continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." Jesus Christ is our sacrifice through whom we come to God to offer the sacrifice of praise as we confess (this is the literal signification of the word acknowledge) his Name. The phrase is taken from Hos 14:1-2 in which Yahweh makes a major plea through his minor prophet for his people to return to him with an earnest plea for full repentance of their sins, accompanied by their offering of the calves or vows of their lips. To confess God's Name is to say the same things that he says about himself, to declare his attributes back to him.

Therefore yesterday, we the congregated covenant community, we the New Testament priesthood, entered into God's presence through our Mediator Jesus Christ and responded to the Lord of the covenant by joyfully, thankfully, and fervently singing his words back to him, that is, confessing his Name. Like the rest of our worship service, our praise centers on the Word, attributes and acts of God in history and time, particularly as these are pre-eminently portrayed and personified in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, is Christ not the very Word of God, Jn 1:1, through whom God the Father speaks perfectly, completely and finally in these last days, Heb 1:2? Further, is he not God in the flesh, Jn 1:1, 14, even as he has testified of himself, “I and the Father are one." Jn 10:30, and again, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father...”? 14:9. Yet further, is he not God's eternal Son who completes and perfects God’s work of redemption in history? Does not the Scripture speak of him in this way: “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,.”? Heb 1:3. Certainly it is he who fulfills all the Father’s purposes “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” 2 Cor 1:20. Lastly, the Scripture clearly teaches "… he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb 9:26


Undergirded therefore by these majestic and irrefutable truths, we affirm that, like the rest of our worship, our singing of praise is to be rooted in Christ's redeeming work, in the gospel which both forms and informs it. When I say that the gospel informs our praise I mean that God's redemptive work in Christ is the primary reason that he is the object of our worship. By saying that the gospel informs our worship I contend that Christ and his work are the content that we sing.

So, what exactly are our songs of praise? They are songs extolling the excellency of Christ – his birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and Second Coming- through which he attains redemption for his covenant people, songs which are at the same time, thank offerings to God for the sake of Christ.

What did we sing in church yesterday? Yesterday we sang the gospel of Jesus Christ. We sang the inspired Psalms and hymns of Scripture as well as spiritual songs composed by later Christians addressing and exulting in the incomparable majesty of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, Eph 5: 19 -20. We sang God's words back to him and the Holy Spirit used these very words to glorify him and to strengthen our hearts, sustain our faith and encourage our entire assembly as we anticipate (d) the eschatological victory of Christ over the powers of this world, the final establishment of his kingdom, and our full, unrestrained, unreserved, unrestricted joy in his presence, Rev 4-5. I went to church yesterday! Believe me, I did!

But precisely what did you sing in church yesterday? For our Hymn of Praise, that is, our opening hymn, we sang "All Glory, Laud and Honor," attributed in part to St. Theodulph of Orleans, 760-821. After the reading of the law and corporate confession, our Hymn of Thanksgiving was Horatius Bonar’s (1808-1889) "I Lay My Sins on Jesus" and our Hymn of Preparation, taken from the Trinity Hymnal, was Psalm 11:1-5, 7. For our Communion Hymn we sang a medley of songs comprising C. H. Spurgeon's (1834-1892) "Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands" and "I Know It Was the Blood." Our Hymn of Parting was John Fawcett’s (?) "Lord Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing."


So, yesterday, in response to God's immeasurable blessings to us in Christ Jesus, we assembled together coram Deo to hear from him in Word and sacrament and in return, to offer the sacrifice of praise to him for His Name's sake, for indeed "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" Rev 5:13 However, as Christians we know that our praise of God is not limited to a weekly assembly but that, according to the abundant mercies of God in Christ, our whole life is to be a sacrifice of worship, a song of adulation and and adoration, offered to God and our neighbor, demonstrated by our loving and selfless words and works, attitudes and actions. Rom 12:1-2. I went to church yesterday.