New Testament Worship is Reverent

The matter of the attitude and the approach of the people of God to the Triune God in worship, needs to be raised. Too often those leading in worship are flippant, jokey and crowd pleasing. This behavior has no place in the house of God. Why? It is because God's inerrant word demands reverence and awe during public and family worship and our personal devotions. Let us look at Hebrews 12: 28-29:

Thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

This single verse is worthy of meditation and enquiry. Here are five points:

1. Here the Bible teaches us that we are to offer (the people of God together) acceptable worship. In sum, there is a regulative principle in the New Testament scriptures for the church to follow.

2. If there is an acceptable way to worship God, then by deduction there is therefore an unacceptable way to worship the Triune God.

3. This means that, just because worship is labelled as Christian, it does not automatically follow that is is acceptable in the sight of God.

4. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews marks out two aspects of worship which must be adhered to. Our worship must be conducted with 'reverence and awe'.

5. A failure to conduct worship with 'reverence and awe' reveals a serious problem. Namely, it is a failure to understand the true character of the true God who is a 'consuming fire'. Therefore, flippant and irreverent worship breaks the Third Commandment. God will not bless that which is in rebellion to him.

If you are ever responsible for leading worship for the people of God, please consider your attitude and words in worship very carefully. The people of God need to have their minds filled with the majesty of their mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of the Triune God and the attributes of God. Let us examine ourselves to ensure that we are faithful ambassadors of the sovereign God: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (For further reading on this matter, study the Book of Hebrews).