Give Praise to God | Philip Ryken, et al.

Philip G. Ryken, Derek W. Thomas, J. Ligon Duncan. Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship—Celebrating the Legacy of James Montgomery Boice. P&R, 2003. 516 pp.

Corporate Worship: A Means of Grace

Evangelical Christians often think of devotion as private. The favorite devotional hymn in many rest homes is “In the Garden.” The preciousness of personal fellowship with the Lord makes the song dear to believers: “He walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own.” But no one seems to cringe at the boast, “And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

Our daily devotions bring joy in our personal fellowship with the Lord. It is well that our prayers include petitions for others, by name, with thanksgiving. We need to remember that the grace that unites us to the Lord unites us to all who have been made members of his body.

Above all, we must prize the blessing of corporate worship. The church of the Lord, gathered for worship, marks the pinnacle of our fellowship with the Lord and with one another. The church is the people of God, the new humanity, the beginning of the new creation, a colony of heaven (Heb. 13:14). The threats of Islamic militants against Western society do not define the war of our time. The cosmic struggle is spiritual, and the weapons of our warfare are not hijacked planes or terrorist biological attacks. They are the weapons of divine love: the preaching of gospel and the showing of mercy in Christ’s name.

In corporate worship we experience the meaning of union with Christ. We worship most fully when we together hear his words to us and encourage one another to grow in grace and in witness to the world.

The Lord is present among us in corporate worship. By the power of his Spirit he assures us that we are his and he is ours. In worship together, the Pentecost promise is renewed, not in visible flames, but in the presence of the Spirit who makes intercession for us as we pray. To be sure, the witness of the Spirit is also individual, bearing witness with our spirits that we are the Lord’s. Yet the Spirit who makes individual believers into temples of the Spirit also makes the church his temple (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). Union with Christ is the secret of both. . . .

In corporate worship we rise by faith to enter the heavenly assembly of the saints and angels. We join the praises of heaven, for we “have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24).

In the Spirit, we worship in heaven in the great assembly where Jesus is. In the Spirit, Jesus worships on earth in the congregation where we are. In heaven and on earth, we are in the presence of Jesus. His presence in corporate worship assures us that our corporate worship is for us a means of grace. We taste grace in corporate worship, when, by the Spirit, we know the Lord is with us. That reality we perceive by faith.

Corporate worship is a means of grace in the singing of the church. In song we join in the praises of the Lord, call on his name for his saving power, and encourage one another. To remember God’s mighty deeds of redemption draws our hearts to him. We praise him for his words as well as his deeds. . . .

We may bring together Paul’s two passages about the singing of the church (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). In these passages, we are taught that the richly indwelling word of Christ gives us wisdom of the Spirit to teach and admonish one another. We do this in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord and giving thanks in the name of Jesus to the Father. Paul’s reasoning in these passages makes it clear that he is not speaking of the canonical Book of Psalms, but of the songs of the new covenant in corporate worship. When Paul speaks of “spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16), we cannot limit this description to inspired songs. The term spiritual is used in Colossians 1:9 of “spiritual wisdom.” This is the wisdom that finds utterance in song.

These spiritual songs are not verbally inspired by the Spirit. They do flow, however, from the wisdom that the Spirit gives as we reflect on both the word and the situation to which it applies.

Not only is the preaching of the word a means of grace in corporate worship, the singing of the people of God also ministers grace. Songs are addressed not only to the Lord in praise and petition, but also to one another as we instruct, warn, and encourage. The preaching of the word in worship is accompanied and supported by the ministry of the saints to one another as they sing the new songs of Zion. . . .

The growth of more recent songs has established another category for congregational singing. Collections are being made, and new songs written. Many have their attraction from popular music, but lack the biblical teaching stressed in Paul’s words. The teaching office of the church must again lead in instruction about hymnody. We remember Martin Luther, whose musical gifts supported his bold preaching.

We see, then, that God gives his grace in corporate worship through the presence and participation of the Son and the Spirit. Jesus sings in the congregation, and the Spirit leads in our songs. . . .

In the church of the New Testament, corporate worship was a means of grace. We need not only recognize that it is, but seek to follow the example of the New Testament church. In our worship, we must recognize the central place of the word preached, but also increase the pace of our use of the word, addressing it to one another in song, in questions, in confession of faith. As we address the Lord in prayer, we also encourage one another and bring with united voice our praises, thanksgivings, and petitions. . . .

Paul’s list of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 assumes the assembled gathering of the church. The gifts of the prophets have to be assessed. Are they true prophets? Others must judge. If prophets are interrupting one another, order must be restored in the assembly. Paul’s letters are read to the church in assembly, and this is true of the other epistles in the New Testament.

As the assembled people of God, the body of Christ functioning in the presence of one another, and the fellowship created by the Holy Spirit, the church must gather in corporate worship. In the middle of fierce persecution, larger gatherings may be for a time impossible, but the calling of the Lord remains, and his saints yearn for the joy of standing together to bless his name.

The wonder of the gathering of the people of God and the mystery of worship can appear in house-churches. Paul sends greetings to the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila (Rom. 16:5) and in the same breath speaks of “all the churches of the Gentiles” (16:4). The Lord’s people gather in smaller and larger assemblies, yet they do assemble. House-churches are not joined by the ties of family blood, but by the blood of Christ.

Corporate worship is a means of grace. It expresses the design of God’s saving call, his gathering together from every tribe, tongue, and nation the people of God. In days when ethnic identity trumps all, the church gathered shows the true multiethnic identity of the nations brought to the Lord of all. . . .

Corporate worship is surely the fruit of God’s grace. Because the Lord has called us, we call on him. He has revealed his saving name, and we lift up that name in devotion and praise. But does the Lord use our response also to give us grace? The basic question is easily answered when we remember the work of the Holy Spirit in our prayer and worship. We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit is our teacher. He prays for us and in us, moving us to pray, opening the gates of heaven that we may enter the holy place. The Spirit confirms the presence of Christ our mediator and our heavenly priest. . . .

Surely the work of the Spirit in us is the major means by which the Spirit applies to us all the benefits of Christ. Charismatic worship is not alone in calling attention to our need for the work of the Spirit in our worship. Corporate worship in the Spirit is surely a means of grace, for the Spirit blesses it.

Reprinted from Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship, © 2003 by Philip Graham Ryken, Derek W. H. Thomas, J. Ligon Duncan III. Used by permission of P & R Publishing, Phillipsburg, NJ. All rights reserved.

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