"One
thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple."
by Terry Johnson
At
Taylors,
South
Carolina
on
March
l2,
2OO3
Terry
Johnson,
Senior
Minister
at
Independent
Presbyterian
Church
in
Savannah,
spoke
during
the
closing
session
on
Wednesday
night
at
the
Greenville
Seminary
Conference
on
Worship
on
the
topic
of
heart
worship.
Continuing
where
he
left
off
in
his
previous
lecture
on
the
Regulative
Principle
of
Worship,
Mr.
Johnson
introduced
his
topic
by
referring
to
John
4:7-24. "We
left
off
looking
at
truth
in
worship,
understanding
that
the
Regulative
Principle
requires
that
we
look
to
scripture
for
the
elements
and
content
of
our
worship.
Tonight's
topic
is
'heart
worship,'
which
I'm
understanding
to
be
spirit
worship,
the
spirit
part
of
worship
in
spirit
and
truth."
Referring
to
Dr.
Joseph
Pipa's
recommendation
of
a book,
the
fellow
Presbyterian
Church
in
America
(PCA)
minister
quipped, "I
was
going
to
say,
too,
Joey,
that
I would
have
really
appreciated
knowing
that
the
book
to
read
on
heart
worship
was
Jeremiah
Burroughs'
before
I arrived
here
to
speak
on
that
subject."
Pastor
Johnson
said
he
does
not
believe
it
is
overstating
to
say
that
with
Jesus'
answer
to
the
Samaritan
woman
in
John
4,
Old
Testament
temple
worship
is
utterly
abolished.
Jesus
is
telling
her
that
the
externals
of
worship
defined
for
the
Jews
in
the
Old
Testament
are
no
longer,
and
that
a
new
system
has
come.
Worship
now,
Jesus
says,
is
in
spirit
and
truth,
the
internals
of
motive,
intensity,
and
sincerity
replacing
the
external
symbols
and
typology
that
previously
existed.
Mr.
Johnson
urged
his
listeners
to
understand
that
Old
Testament
worship
was
certainly
not
devoid
of
a spiritual
nature
or
a call
to
sincerity,
but
that
the
emphasis
has
changed.
Although
the
heart
was
important
in
the
Old
Testament,
it
becomes
even
more
so
once
the
props
are
abolished.
"
It
seems
to
me
that
those
in
our
camp
really
need
this
emphasis," said
Mr.
Johnson. "Having
the
correct
form,
with
our
hearts
far
away,
is
worshipping
in
vain.
We
who
are
Reformed
in
our
worship
are
keenly
interested
in
doing
things
right,
worshipping
God
according
to
His
word.
We
want
to
honor
Reformed
traditions
in
worship
because
we
believe
the
Reformed
way
is
the
biblical
way." Given
that
emphasis
and
given
human
nature,
we
would
have
to
concede,
he
urged,
that
there's
a
vulnerability
there
to
doing
things
correctly
while
neglecting
the
heart.
So,
it's
good
that
in
this
conference,
both
things
are
being
emphasized.
We
must
never
settle
simply
for
getting
the
forms
right;
our
hearts
must
be
right
as
well.
Worship
in
spirit,
the
speaker
explained,
means
that
our
worship
must
be
internal
or
of
the
heart.
Old
Testament
worship
was
typological.
There
was
this
anticipatory,
visual,
symbolic,
sensual
dimension
to
Old
Testament
worship.
There
were
lambs
and
altars
and
sacrifices
and
priests,
all
of
which
were
symbols
and
pictures
of
Christ,
meant
to
portray
Christ
visibly
to
the
people
of
God.
These "types" that
pointed
to
Christ
allowed
the
people
to
have
enough
of
a
glimpse
of
Him
that
they
could
have
faith
in
Him,
the
lamb
of
God
offered
up
by
the
high
priest,
rather
than
in
the
blood
of
bulls
and
goats.
This
visual,
typological,
anticipatory,
symbolic,
sensual
dimension
was
crucial
to
God's
people
before
Christ
had
come,
because
God
was
giving
them
pictures
through
which
they
would
understand
the
gospel.
New
Testament
worship
is
not
typological;
the
antitype
has
come.
In
contrast
to
symbolic,
visual
worship,
we
have
but
two
sacraments,
the
Lord's
Supper
and
Baptism,
and
beyond
that
we
are
directed
to
worship
not
through
anticipatory
symbols
and
the
visual,
but
in
the
Spirit
through
the
word.
Again,
this
is
a
difference
in
emphasis
and
proportion,
Mr.
Johnson
reminded
his
listeners.
It
is
right
to
point
out
that
the
New
Testament
has
its
symbols
in
its
sacraments.
Likewise,
it
is
right
to
point
out
that
the
Old
Testament
had
spirit
and
truth,
but
not
to
the
height
and
as
illuminated
as
what
we
have
in
the
New
Testament
-
the
grace
and
truth
that
we
have
in
Christ
Jesus
himself
So,
there
is
law
in
the
New
Testament,
but
not
like
there
was
in
the
Old
Testament;
the
civil
and
ceremonial
law
has
been
abolished.
Likewise,
there
was
grace
and
truth
in
the
Old
Testament,
but
not
the
full
expression
of
them
that
came
with
Christ.
The
truth
is
now
clearer.
Grace
is
greater.
The
difference
is
of
emphasis
and
proportion.
In
the
New
Testament,
we
do
not
apprehend
Christ
through
symbols
and
types.
We
apprehend
Him
by
faith
through
the
Word.
Romans
10:17
tells
us
that
faith
comes
by
hearing,
and
Hebrews
12:1
that
faith
is
the
conviction
of
things
not
seen.
Hebrews
3:1
speaks
of
Christ
being
publicly
portrayed
as
crucified. "That
could
only
be
a reference
to
preaching," Mr.
Johnson
said.
The
point
here
is
that
it
isn't
visual
anymore,
he
explained.
Faith
comes
by
hearing.
If
you
want
a
picture
of
Christ,
it
comes
to
us
through
preaching. "That's
as
visual
as
it
gets
in
the
New
Testament," said
the
Savannah
minister.
There
is
no
statue,
there
is
no
symbol,
there
is
no
picture. "There
is
the
Word,
and
the
Word
paints
a picture
before
your
spiritual
eyes."
"
There's
always
going
to
be
this
temptation
to
go
back
to
this
carnal,
visual,
sensual, symbolic
form of
worship, especially
in light
of the
trivialities
of our
day," he
continued. "There's
a pendulum
swinging
in
the
PCA
[Presbyterian Church
in America]." In
response
to
what
he
called
the
silly
trivialities of
worship, he
contended that
the pendulum
is in
some
churches
swinging back,
past Reformed
worship all
the way
over to
extreme
liturgical
or ritualistic
forms. There
is a
temptation to
see ministers
as
priests
and church
buildings as
temples and
the Lord's
table as
an altar
and
the Lord's
supper as
a sacrifice.
There is
a temptation
to go
back to
incense
and processionals
and clerical
garb and
ritual and
ceremony and
art
and
pageantry and
drama and
dance in
order to
stimulate and
inspire faith.
"
The
Reformers
were
against
it," said
Mr.
Johnson. "Rightly
so,
because
these
things are
all distractions
from the
God-ordained means
of grace
which
are not
to be
obstructed by
extraneous symbols,
but are
to be
viewed
directly
- with
the Word
preached and
the sacraments
administered,
unencumbered
by symbols
or visual
stimulation not
authorized in
God's
word."
Three
important
things
must
be
kept
in
mind,
according
to
Mr.
Johnson:
1.
Old
Testament
symbols
were
temporary.
As
seen
in
John
1:14,
when
the
Messiah
came, we
beheld His
glory, not
through symbols
but directly.
2
Symbols
are
by
nature
inferior
to
verbal
revelation.
Some
have
referred
to
them as
dumb sacraments
because they
are not
self-interpreting. Hebrews
10:
1 says
that the
law is
a shadow
it is
not the
very form
of things.
Galatians
3:1 tells
us that
it is
through the
preaching of
the Gospel
that
Christ
is portrayed
before our
eyes, not
through symbols.
3.
Unauthorised
symbols
are
a
distraction. "When
I conduct
weddings
or
do
baptisms,
there are
all sorts
of pressure
to add
what I
think of
as
extraneous
movements, symbols,
actions that
distract attention
from what
we're
there to
do. There
are the
God ordained
signs and
the God
ordained
words.
Let's not
add to
that because
not only
are the
symbolic
representations
temporary and
interior to
the actual
thing, they're
just a
distraction
from the
thing we
ought to
be looking
at and
hearing."
New
Testament
worship
is
spiritual,
and
because
it
is,
there
is
even
greater
emphasis placed
upon the
heart, not
upon complex
ritual. The
spotlight
comes off
all that
complexity and
shines on
the heart,
said Mr.
Johnson. "So,
I tell
my
people,
if
you've
come
to
worship
God,
you'd
better
prepare.
Don't come
blustering in
one minute
before time
to begin
and
expect
to be
able to
worship God
aright." "Draw
near
to
God,
and
He
will
draw
near to
you," Pastor
Johnson
quoted,
explaining
that
when
we
pray
privately,
in families,
or publicly,
we are
drawing near
to God.
In this
day
of little
correctness, it
is good
to be
correct in
our worship,
he went
on,
but we
must be
careful not
to lose
sight of
the heart
of the
matter
which
is drawing
near to
God to
meet with
him and
to know
Him, and
to be
fed
by Him
and to
enjoy Him.
Mr.
Johnson
called
attention
to
the
one
thing
the
Psalmist
asks
for
in
Psalm
27, verse
4. "One
thing
have
I asked
of
the
Lord,
that
will
I seek
after:
that I
may dwell
in the
house of
the Lord
all the
days of
my life,
to
gaze upon
the beauty
of the
Lord and
to inquire
in his
temple." The
one
thing
the Psalmist
is going
to ask
for, noted
the speaker,
he also
is going
to
seek. The
one thing
he wants
is to
know God,
to experience
delight in
Him.
In New
Testament language,
he wants
to partake
of the
bread of
life
and
drink the
living water.
In
our
worship,
we
are
meeting
with
our
God,
hungering
and
thirsting
for
Him.
Throughout the
Psalms we
find language
that expresses
the yearning,
the
hunger, and
the thirst
that are
images of
the heart's
longing for
God.
Worship
that
is
in
spirit
is
simple,
devoid
of
external
ornamentation,
ostentation,
and complexity
according to
Mr. Johnson.
The absence
of a
New
Testament
book of
Leviticus does
not mean
more creative
freedom for
the
church
as though
we were
free to
invent new
forms of
worship. It
means that
there
is greater
simplicity in
our worship.
Reading elaborate
ritual
details
from the
book of
Leviticus, Mr.
Johnson drew
a comparison
with the
sort
of ritual
that has
been and
is practised
by some
highly ritualistic
churches. "Do
we
find
such
rituals
in
the
New
Testament?" The
answer,
of
course,
is no.
It simply
isn't there.
There are
no rituals,
no holy
days,
none
of that. "And
what
does
that
mean?" asked
Pastor
Johnson.
Is
it
license
to do
whatever we
want? "It
means," he
answered, "That
our
services
are
very simple
services. And,
I would
add, that
that simplicity
promotes
catholicity." He
made
note
of
the
fact
that
this
is
the
age
in
which
the
gospel
goes to
the far
ends of
the earth,
in the
igloos of
Alaska and
the
jungles
of South
America and
all the
places in
between, and
because these
services
are so
simple, they
can be
done at
any time
in any
place by
any
people.
They merely
consist of
the word
read, sung,
preached, prayed
and
seen
in the
sacraments. Do
not, the
pastor exhorted,
go back
to the
medieval
liturgy with
all its
symbols and
rituals and
ceremonies. And
don't
move
in the
direction of
high tech
complexity, either. "The
church
ought
not
be the
captives of
the magisterium
or the
techies." One
shouldn't
have
to
be a
computer wiz,
he said,
in order
to lead
the people
of God
in
worship.
The
pattern
to
be
sought
is
not
the
pattern
of
the
temple
but
the
simple
service
of the
synagogue. Mr.
Johnson quoted
Hughes Oliphant
Old who
said,
"
The
early
church
did
not
take
over
the
rich
and
sumptuous
ceremonial
of
the
temple but
rather the
simpler synagogue
service with
its scripture
readings,
its sermon,
its prayers,
and its
psalmody."
Using
the
element
of
preaching
as
a
case
study
to
further
his
point,
Terry
Johnson
drew from
the first
epistle of
Corinthians to
see if
in the
way the
Apostle
Paul handles
this element
we can
find a
pattern or
principle that
applies
to all
the elements.
Paul says
he did
not come
with cleverness
of
speech,
even though
that is
something that
would have
appealed in
that
culture. "The
church
growth
people
would
likely
have
advised
Paul
that
here
was
a great
way to
make contact
with these
folks -
mimic their
rhetorical
arts;
they'll identify
and that
will be
your point
of contact
with them,"
said
Mr. Johnson.
Paul's answer
is different.
Paul says
that he
has not
come
in cleverness
of speech
because that
would void
the cross.
The
medium,
Mr.
Johnson
pointed
out,
can
shout
so
loud
that
you
cannot
hear
the
message. "I
was
determined
to
know
nothing
among
you
but
Christ
and
him
crucified." What
is
the
Apostle
Paul's
point?
Mr.
Johnson
replied
that
it
is
that this
is a
simple message,
and we
must keep
it simple.
Trying to
dazzle
people creates
the danger
that they
will be
drawn to
us or
the
dazzle
rather than
to Christ,
and Paul
speaks to
that danger.
We
will
be
challenged,
said
Mr.
Johnson,
by
the
fact
that
this
sort
of
simple
worship is
more challenging
that dependence
on elaborate
ritual with
processionals
and ceremony,
and it
is also
more challenging
than using
media
and glitz.
Dependence on
these trappings
allows one
to just
sit back,
but
simple worship
demands preparation
and earnestness.
The leaders
of
simple,
Reformed worship
must be
men of
depth and
character. The
participants
must come
with prepared
and open
hearts and
minds. But
it is
here
that spirit
and truth
are found
in our
worship.
[as
reported
in "Presbyterian
and
Reformed
News",
January-March
2003.
www.presbyteriannews.org]
