MANILA PASTORS' CONFERENCE WITH EMPHASIS ON WORSHIP: THE PHILIPPINES

Brian Ellis reports: We thank the Lord for the good spirit once again in the Annual Pastors' Conference of Cubao Reformed Baptist Church, February 7-9. Numbers were about the same as last year although there were a good number of new faces. The messages were of a high standard with Geoff Thomas from Wales being our main speaker and bringing three messages on Preaching - the Man, the Message and the Method. He also ministered other times during his 7 days with us. At a public meeting on the Tuesday night he preached powerfully on the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16, upholding the sovereign power of God in salvation.

Rene Maramara opened the Conference with the Conference Sermon focusing our attention on Ezekiel 36 and the renewal of Israel by the grace and power of God, which was for His Name's sake. Gilbert McAdam brought two fine papers on Biblical Worship which brought forth many questions from those present. Many men were made to think about the whole matter of reformation in worship. Each sesssion is followed by a question time. This year we also had one whole session devoted to questions. Rudy Perdigon, who works in Baguio and Mountain Province as a missionary, although he is now 70 drew on the experience of his years to challenge men with the responsibilities of the pastorate. Finally Noel Espinosa, the Grace Ministerial Academy principal gave two messages on preaching with emphasis on preaching to the mind. This was opposed to so much supposed preaching today which has little biblical content and so often by passes the mind. His final paper and the final message of the Conference was on Apostasy and the responsibility of pastors for the souls of their congregation. This was a very challenging message and a very fitting climax to sober us to the mighty task to which we are called. The messages were again taped and have been made available. In spite of the economic situation more books were sold from the book table with almost US$10,000 of books going out at wholesale price.

FREE BOOKS FOR PASTORS

In the providence of God most of our free books for distribution under our Pastors' Book Fund did not arrive in time for the Conference and as of writing are still stuck at the pier. They should have arrived last December but the shipping company lost 59 boxes from various UK publishers. They were eventually found at the pier in the UK and shipped. However again there was a foul up and the agent here in Manila nor ourselves received any papers. The shipment was eventually traced but none of the paper work that was finally received was correct. At the time of writing the shipment has been declared abandoned here by customs.

The agents are still working to try and get the books. We hope to get the books in the next week or so. We shall then seek to distribute the free books to the men who attended the Conference.

GILBERT MCADAM ON WORSHIP

In the Tuesday afternoon session Gilbert McAdam gave the first of two lectures on "Worship."

"No one is going to tell me how to worship. I will worship God in any way I want," had said a young woman to him. Her assumption was that God would accept anything she did. GM read Isaiah chapter one. Their worship seems to have been outwardly correct but their lives were immoral and so their worship was not accepted. The worship of Westminster Abbey on state occasions is impressively regal but it may not be acceptable to the Lord. The things that please US most may seem to GOD to be disgusting and boring, says Calvin on John 4.

There are two great principles in Isaiah 1 i] It is what God thinks about religion that is important (v.11). Is it pleasing to God? Not whether unconverted visitors feel happy in our midst. In the NT the unconverted Jews did not feel at home in Christian worship services. ii] Acceptable worship must be a response to what God requires (v.12), not to what e.g. the young people require.

Biblical Principles concerning the worship that God requires.

1. Worship is required of all men. In Romans 1 the first sin the Gentiles are accused of is that they did not glorify God as God but they worshipped idols.

2. Worship is a response to a revelation of God of himself. The Gentiles knew God but did not glorify him as God. We must worship the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. Our worship must be commensurate with this life.

3. Worship requires unconditional surrender to God. That is what its essence is, coming to the God of glory, the exalted One.

4. Worship involves the acknowledgement of all God's glorious attributes, cp. Ps. 103:1 and 107:1: the source of every earthly good. 'Praise the Lord,' is the phrase with which the last five psalms of the Psalter begins.

5. Worship involves confession of our sins. Much OT worship makes that clear. "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou dost not despise." cp. Ps.51, and Isaiah's vision of the Lord, and Peter seeing the nets breaking under the weight of the fish and crying, 'Depart from me.'

6. Worship involves thankfulness and joy. A tremendous number of the psalms reflect this. One Easter Sunday morning GM was preaching on the resurrection in a church in Glasgow. He notices a man who was listening intently to every word of the sermon. He was the sort of listener that you want every member of the congregation to be like. After the service GM went on to him and asked if he were a member of this congregation. "No I belong to so and so" - a big trendy church, - "but this week my brother died, and I could not face going to my church this Sunday in particular because I know what it would be like." In his state of bereavement over the loss of his brother he could not face the frivolity of his very own church that Sunday.

7. Worship must be offered through the Lord Jesus Christ. OT sinners could not approach God by themselves. It must be as full of Jesus Christ as OT worship was full of sacrifices,

8. Worship must be part of a full life-style. Isaiah tells the people to wash and cleanse if they are to have their worship accepted by God. 9 Worship's practical expression must be controlled by the Lord God. Our full lives must be controlled by the Word of God. I Timothy 3: 14&15 - "...that you may know how to conduct yourself in the house of God." If worship is all a matter of personal choice then we are going to have multitudes of types of worship. If we go by the Bible then God's people are united everywhere in their worship. Don't look around and get your ideas from other people but from God and his Word.

A dozen lively questions followed, after a slow start, covering holy laughter, musical instruments, women wearing trousers or jeans etc.

The final session of Wednesday was Gilbert McAdam speaking thus on Biblical Worship:-

The Biblical Expression of Worship.

Introduction - John 4:19-24 i] The woman asks a Prophet. We must go to the apostolic writings, bringing our opinions and traditions to the word of God. ii] The outward forms of the Old Covenant were temporary, and have now been done away. The spiritual realities which they symbolised are now fulfilled in New Covenant worship, which is worship 'in Spirit and in truth.'

1. Worship under the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant made at Sinai. God gave to Moses a detailed system of worship - the priesthood - detailed regulations concerning sacrifices - the tabernacle (the centre of worship, with all its symbolism: the holy place, the altars, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat, the cherubim) - Great festivals - the beginning of musical worship in a small way (Ex.15). This aspect is greatly enlarged in the days of David, when music introduced on a much grander scale at the command of God (2 Chrons 29:25). Why all this? Not because God pleased with elaborate ritual and beautiful ceremonies.

Rather, these things symbolic of great spiritual realities.

We should also notice the synagogue - its origins not recorded in Scripture, but came into being at least by the time of the Exile. During the exile, temple worship and sacrifices were impossible (except the Passover). Companies of Jews met together on the sabbath for prayer, study the Scriptures and probably singing of psalms. After the exile and in NT times temple-worship and synagogue-worship coexisted. The synagogue had become a major feature in Jewish religion, and the Lord Jesus attended it regularly (Lk.4:16).

2. New Covenant Worship.

a. Its essence.

i] the temple done away, but the church itself is the temple of the Holy Spirit ii] No earthly priesthood, but we have a great High Priest in heaven iii] no more sacrifices to offer, since 'by one offering he has perfected for ever those who are sanctified.' The only sacrifices are the presentation of ourselves in consecration to Christ's service. iv] The NT Christians saw no need for musical instruments, since they all could join in singing the praises of God. v] They no longer needed to keep the Passover or other festivals, but they kept the Lord's Supper as a memorial of the much greater Passover - the deliverances effected by Christ. SO we have realities replacing the outward symbols of the law.

b. Its form.

Not a great deal of information in the NT, but clearly three elements;-i] they continued the kind of worship which had taken place in the synagogue - the study of Scriptures and prayer, together with the singing of psalms ii] the exercise of spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Paul devotes three chapters (I Cor 12-14) to this aspect; the emphasis is on edification, by means of rational content and intelligibility. It was an extension of the ministry of the Word, until such time as the Word would be written down iii] the celebration of the Lord's Supper, a regular part of the worship each Lord's Day (Acts 20:7).

c. Its elements - four principle elements in New Testament worship: the Word of God: Prayer: Singing Praises: the Lord's Supper.

1) The Word of God

a] Preaching and hearing God's Word are acts of worship - worship includes submission to God: not simply bodily posture, but the submission of our minds and hearts. How? In the first place by listening to God (Luke 10:29-42). b] The Word of God I absolutely necessary in New Covenant Worship - in the Old Covenant there much to see. We have nothing to see, and need spiritual realities to be brought before us through God's Word. c] The reading of the Word of God is important ( I Tim.4:13). The reading here is the public reading of Scripture, part of the work of a pastor. The early church had three readings each Lord's Day morning: OT, Gospel, Epistle. We should use a good version, the same all the time. Who should read? The pastor, or someone who is able to read (understanding the passage, preparation, clarity). d] The preaching of the Word of God. Acts 2:42 I Cor.14. This too is an act of worship-it must bring the great truths of the gospel before us (Gals 3:1 - 'publicly placarded') it must apply to the people preaching is designed to produce true worship in the hearts of believers - gratitude, repentance, confession, submission, faith, commitment to service - Sunday; morning, the resurrection of Christ - afternoon contentment, submission to God's providences - the Lord's Supper, the dying thief, justification by faith, salvation by grace.

2) Prayer

a) One of the primary characteristics of the church of God (I Cor 1:2 and Cats 9:14) - "My house shall be called a house of prayer."

b) The Jews had set prayers used I worship: Acts 2:42 ('and the prayers') suggests at least some kind of pattern. We need to have some kind of structure. We need to know what topics are to be included - e.g. worship, confession, prayer for 'all the saints' for ministers of the Word, for 'kings and all who are in authority.'

c) We need to pray in such a way that the whole congregation can join in.

3) Singing

a) A definite place in worship in Christian worship (Col 3:16, Ephs.5:19, I Cor 14:26) - but not a very large place. Nothing about any other kind of musical worship - a tremendous contrast with the outlook of large numbers of Christians today.

b) A particular emphasis on the thanksgiving (Cols 3:15-17, James 5:13).

c) Also on the content - 'let the Word of God dwell in you richly';

'teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' - the emphasis here on truth, not just how we feel, but the truth of God.

d) are we wise to neglect the psalms, the principal source of the church's songs throughout most of church history

e) Criteria for what we should sing includes the content of truth, balance, clarity, suitability of language, suitability of music.

4) The Lord's Supper

a) This again is clearly part of NT worship - 'This do in remembrance of me.' Acts 2:42 included with apostolic doctrine, fellowship and the prayers.

b) How often should we celebrate the Lord's Supper? Calvin said, "Once a week at the least."

5) The Structure of Worship

We need to think a good deal about structure. For a typical service in the second century A.D. consult "Two Thousand Years of Christ's Power" by N.R. Needham pp.69-74. The Reformers kept this basic pattern in that the prayers came after the sermon. They also included the reading of the Ten Commandments and specific prayers of confession. I do not argue that we should slavishly follow the Church Fathers, or the Reformers. But we do need to think carefully about a proper structure and order to our worship.