Latest / Reformed Thinking / Brothers, Focus on the Essence of Worship, Not the Form | John Piper

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Brothers, Focus on the Essence of Worship, Not the Form | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome, dear listener, to Reformed Thinking.
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This is the program where we try to prayerfully consider the
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truth of Scripture in, well, all areas of life and doctrine.
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That's right. And today we're doing a deep
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dive into something really central, I think, to our walk
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with Christ, the actual essence of worship.
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What is it really? Yeah, what's at the heart of.
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It exactly. We're going to be leaning quite
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a bit on some rich sources, particularly the theological
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writings of John Piper, to try and cover what authentic worship
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looks like. Not just the Sunday morning
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routine. No, not just Sunday morning.
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But like in every moment, our aim really is to figure out what
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it means to truly glorify God, not just with our words.
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You know what we say or sing? But with our entire lives, our
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hearts, yes. So this deep dive is for you,
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for anyone out there who's maybe hungry to grasp the real heart
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of Christian devotion and, well, live it out more fully.
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And it's a real blessing to join you for this.
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It feels like a very necessary exploration.
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I agree. We're setting out really to
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understand worship, not primarily as a set of actions or
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rituals. Like a checklist.
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Right. Not a checklist, but more as a
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posture of the heart, something that expresses itself
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continually. So we'll look at what Scripture
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teaches about where authentic worship comes from its source,
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and how understanding that can shape our lives, yes, but also
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our gatherings together. And I think what we might
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discover today could genuinely reshape how you think about,
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well, every waking moment, really leading us to a fuller,
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more complete devotion. OK, let's let's unpack this
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then. Our sources, Piper especially,
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point to something quite striking about New Testament
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worship. There's this remarkable
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quietness about the external forms.
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You know the how to instructions.
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Right, not a lot of detailed rubrics.
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Exactly. But alongside that quietness,
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there's a really loud, clear voice about its inner quality.
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What's happening inside? Think about it.
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When you read the New Testament letters, there's this noticeable
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absence of specific instructions on outward corporate worship
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forms. How to run a service basically,
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which is. Surprising when you compare it
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to the Old Testament. Absolutely.
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Instead, the accent, the weight is placed so heavily on worship
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as an inner thing, an experience of the heart directed toward the
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God. Compare that, like you said,
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with the Old Testaments. Focus on, you know, physical
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rituals, specific places like the temple.
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The Ark, the sacrifices. Right, all that visible majesty.
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The New Testament seems to shift the gaze inward, quietly but
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decisively. It is quite significant, as
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Piper notes, that the phrase the gathered life of the church,
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what we often call worship services, is actually never
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explicitly called worship in the New Testament letters.
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That's a point that might make some of us pause, right?
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We use that language all the time.
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We do and 1 clear way you see this shift is in the use or
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maybe the lack of use of a key Greek word prescunio.
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OK, tell us about that word. Well, prescunio is a primary Old
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Testament word for worship. It often carries the idea of
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bowing down, prostrating oneself physically.
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Like before a king or? Exactly before a visible majesty
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showing submission, and it's used frequently in the Gospels
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when people physically encountered the visible Christ.
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Right when he was right there. And it shows up again in
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Revelation, where you have Saints and angels in the actual
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visible presence of the risen Christ.
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OK, I see the pattern. Visible presence.
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Physical bowing. Precisely so.
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The fact that this specific word is largely missing from the New
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Testament letters, the letters written to us, the Church living
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between his ascension and his return.
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When he's not visibly present in the same way.
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Exactly. That absence is telling.
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It underscores this change. So what does that mean for us
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then? For you listening right now.
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Well, it suggests that in this current age between Christ going
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up and his coming back, He isn't physically, visibly present for
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us to worship in that same physical bowing down kind of
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way. OK, Therefore worship itself
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becomes, as Piper puts it, radically internalized and
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delocalized. Internalized and delocalized.
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Break that down. Internalized means it's
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primarily about what's happening inside, in the heart and spirit.
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Delocalized means it's no longer tied firmly to a specific
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physical spot, like the Temple of Jerusalem or even necessarily
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a church building. Or a certain outward display.
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Right. So think about what this means
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for your daily walk. Worship isn't confined to a
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building you go into once a week.
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It's not just about an act you perform that others can see.
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It's about what's happening within you.
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All the time. Fundamentally, it's internal.
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And it's fascinating, isn't it, how Jesus himself seems to set
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this new course in his teaching? Absolutely.
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You see it clearly in John chapter 4 with the woman at the
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well right. The Samaritan woman.
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Jesus tells her, verses 21 to 23 that an hour is coming and
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actually he says it's already here when true worship won't be
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tied to specific places. Not Mount Garrison for the
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Samaritans, not Jerusalem for the Jews.
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So the location becomes secondary.
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Or even less than secondary. He says true worshippers will
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worship in spirit and truth. Piper interprets this as meaning
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inner spiritual reality replaces geographic locality.
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The physical setting just isn't the main thing anymore.
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The where gives way to the how and the what, or maybe The Who.
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Exactly. And Jesus also hammers home the
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point that worship without the heart is worthless.
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Matthew 15. Yes, Matthew 15 verses 8-9.
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He quotes Isaiah saying this. People honors me with their
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lips, but their heart is far from me.
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In vain do they worship me. In vain.
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That's strong language, it. Is it means worship that's just
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external, just going through the motions without genuine inner
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affection for God is vain, empty.
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It's simply not authentic worship.
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It just doesn't count in a sense.
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Right. So this really lays bare the
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absolute necessity of that inner posture, the genuine heart
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attitude. Which is a challenge for us,
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isn't it, to constantly examine ourselves?
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It really is to look past the outward stuff in our own lives
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and even in our church gatherings.
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Are we just performing actions or is this truly coming from a
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heart that loves and values God? Is our heart genuinely engaged?
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And then Paul, the apostle Paul, he really picks up this theme
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and runs with it, showing how deep this runs in the new
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covenant. He does.
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He takes other Old Testament words linked to worship, like
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leshroho, which often gets translated as serve.
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OK. And he sort of redefines or
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reapplies them to describe this non localized spiritual
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experience. Can you give an example?
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Sure Romans one verse 9 Paul says I serve or the Greek could
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mean worship God with my spirit in the gospel of his son.
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With my spirit, not in a specific building or with a
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specific ritual. Exactly.
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It's not a physical temple act, it's a spiritual orientation.
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It's how his whole inner being is directed in his mission.
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OK, that makes sense. And you see it again in
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Philippians 3.3. Paul says true Christians
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worship God in the Spirit of God and put no confidence in the
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flesh. Again, worship linked to the
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Spirit contrasted with outward, fleshly things.
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Right, the external markers. And then there's Romans 12.1,
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which is so foundational. Present your bodies as a living
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sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
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worship. Your whole body, your whole life
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as an act of worship. Yes.
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So even when Paul uses language that sounds like the Old
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Testament sacrifice service, he makes it clear that under the
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new Covenant, worship is fundamentally an internal
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spiritual experience. And it's not just for Sunday.
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It covers all of life and ministry.
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It's. Really a core principle then,
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not just a side note. Absolutely, and building on
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that, Paul takes Old Testament concepts like sacrifices and
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priestly service and just broadens their meaning
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dramatically. How so?
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Well, they get applied to everyday Christian living.
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For instance, Hebrews 13.15 calls the praise of our lips a
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sacrifice of praise. OK, so speaking, praise is a
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sacrifice. And the next verse, Hebrews
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13.20 sync mentions doing good and sharing.
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Those are called sacrifices, pleasing to God.
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Practical actions. Right.
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Paul talks about his own ministry work as a priestly
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service in Romans 15. He refers to as converts as an
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offering in Philippians 2. Wow, OK.
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Even financial gifts from believers are called a fragrant
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offering, a sacrifice acceptable to God in Philippians 4.
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So giving money can be worship. Yes, and ultimately Paul even
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sees his potential death for Christ, his martyrdom, as being
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poured out like a drink, offering a form of Worshipful
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sacrifice in Second Timothy 4. It seems like almost anything
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done for Christ can be framed as worship or sacrifice.
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That's the implication. And what's even more
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foundational, maybe, is that the people of God themselves, the
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Church, are now seen as the New Testament temple.
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Not a building, but the believers.
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Exactly. We are the place where these
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spiritual sacrifices are offered.
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God's presence dwells in His people, not primarily in a stone
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structure. So this all points to the idea
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that worship isn't just for Sundays.
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It absolutely underscores that it becomes a continuous posture,
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which leads us to what Piper calls the greatest of all
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worship sentences in the Bible. OK, what are they?
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1st Corinthians 10.31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you
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do, do all to the glory of God. Eating and drinking the most
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basic things. The most mundane things in
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Colossians 3.17 And whatever you do in Word or deed, do
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everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
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the Father through him. Whatever you do, that's
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incredibly comprehensive. It is.
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And notice these huge commands about doing everything for God's
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glory as worship are given without any specific link to a
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Sunday service or religious ceremony.
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They apply to life itself. So the conclusion Piper draws
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from all this? Is that worship in the New
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Testament is being significantly deinstitutionalized,
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delocalized, de externalized? Let's break.
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This down again deinstitutionalized.
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Less tied to a specific religious organization or
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system. Delocalized.
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Not confined to a sacred place can happen.
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Anywhere de externalized. Less about the outward visible
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actions, more about the inward heart reality.
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Right. The focus really shifts away
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from ceremony and seasons and places and forms, or to what is
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happening in the heart. And crucially, not just on
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Sunday, but every day and all the time in all of life.
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That's a radical reorientation. Which makes you ask why?
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Why did this shift happen? That's a great question, and it
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connects directly to the mission of the church.
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How so? Well, think about the difference
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in the basic nature of the Old and New Testaments regarding
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mission. The Old Testament was, in
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essence, primarily a come see religion.
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Come see. Explain that it was centered on
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Israel, God's chosen people in a specific place, primarily
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Jerusalem in the Temple. The idea was that the nations
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would come and see God's glory revealed there among his people.
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OK. So it was geographically
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centered. Right.
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And that kind of setup naturally allowed for and even required
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more fixed formal worship structures tied to that place
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and people. But the New Testament is
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different. Fundamentally different.
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It's a go tell religion. The Great Commission.
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Exactly. Jesus commands his followers.
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Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, all
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cultures, all languages, all kinds of people, everywhere.
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So the focus explodes. Outwards it does, and once you
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have that universal go tell mandate, the previous concern
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for highly specific fixed worship forms kind of fades.
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Because rigid forms wouldn't travel well.
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Precisely. Imagine trying to replicate the
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exact Jerusalem temple rituals in every culture around the
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world. It would be impossible and
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likely a hindrance to the gospel message itself.
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So the form needed to be adaptable.
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Yes, and that's why, Piper argues, the issue of specific
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outward form almost vanished out of the New Testament letters.
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The writers just don't spend much time on it.
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Adaptability was key for the mission.
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It was essential, and this context helps explain the
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sparing treatment of form in worship in Scripture.
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So what's the take away for you listening?
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It means that while getting together with other believers
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for corporate worship is vital, biblical and good.
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It's not the only expression of worship, maybe not even the
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primary one. Well, the core expression seems
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to be this daily allegiance to God, this internal heart posture
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that plays out in all of life, not just the acts you do in a
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church service. Which gives you incredible
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freedom. It really does.
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Freedom to express worship in countless ways.
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Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, knowing that your
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very life offered to God from the heart can be an act of
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worship. OK, so if worship is this
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internalized thing, this inner experience covering all of life,
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the next big question has to be what is that inner experience?
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What's the actual essence of it? Right.
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If it's not just singing songs or putting prayers, what is it
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deep down? And this is where Piper's work
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gets really interesting, I think.
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He argues it's all about magnifying God.
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Magnifying God? What does that mean practically?
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Well, he defines worship, whether it's an inner feeling or
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an outward act, as fundamentally a magnifying of God.
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Which doesn't mean making God bigger than he is, obviously.
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No, of course not. It means acting or feeling in a
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way that shows how magnificent he is.
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It reveals or expresses His greatness, His glory, His worth.
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OK, so it's about reflecting his value?
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Exactly. It's about consciously
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displaying his worth. Which leads Piper to ask, OK,
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what inner experience of the heart actually does that?
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What internal reality truly reveals and expresses God's
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greatness? And define the answer.
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He turns again to the Apostle Paul, specifically Philippians.
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Right Philippians Chapter 1 Paul is talking about his own life
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mission, his driving passion. What does he say there?
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In verse 20 he says his earnest expectation and hope is that
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Christ will always be exalted or magnified, shamed to be great in
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my body, whether by life or by death.
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So his number one goal is that everything he does, living or
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dying, points to how great Christ is.
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That's it. That's his central mission,
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making Christ look magnificent. And then verse 21 ah.
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Yes, verse 21. Paul immediately connects that
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mission to his famous statement. For to me, to live is Christ,
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and to die is gain. That little word for is doing a
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lot of work there. It really is Piper points out
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that for signals that verse 21 is the explanation of verse 20.
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It tells us how Paul's living and dying can magnify Christ.
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So to live is Christ and to die is gain describes the inner
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reality that makes Christ look great.
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Precisely that verse describes the inner experience, the heart
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posture that exalts Christ. And that, Piper argues, is the
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very essence of worship. OK, so let's break that down for
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you. How does this work?
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How does it magnify Christ in death and in life?
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Right, let's take death first. How is Christ magnified when
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Paul dies? Well, Paul says dying is gain.
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Yes, Christ is exalted magnify in Paul's dying if Paul
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experiences death as gain. Why is it gain for Paul?
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Because as he says, just a couple of verses later,
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Philippians 1.23, his desire is to depart and be with Christ.
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For that is far better than even the best experience of Christ he
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could have in this life. So more of Christ closer
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fellowship with Christ is better than life itself.
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Exactly. When a person faces death with
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that conviction that dying means gaining more of Christ, and
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that's better than staying alive, that experience magnifies
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Christ. It shows how variable Christ is
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more valuable than life. Yes, Piper identifies this as
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the inner essence of Worsham. In the hour of death, Christ is
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praised. He's glorified.
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He's magnified in death by being prized above life.
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OK, that's powerful for the moment of death.
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What about magnifying him in life?
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Well, that connects to the first part of verse 21.
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To me, to live is Christ. To live is Christ.
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What does that mean? Paul clarifies it later in
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Philippians chapter 3 verse 8. He says he counts all things to
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be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing
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Christ uses my Lord, He's willing to lose everything else.
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To gain Christ. Right.
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So to live is Christ means experiencing Christ as your
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supreme treasure. You're surpassing value now in
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this life. It means finding Him to be gain
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now, not just waiting until death.
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So Christ is glorified in our lives when He is our greatest
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satisfaction before we die. Exactly.
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Christ is most glorified in life when we are most satisfied in
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Him, even before death. It's about finding our deepest
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contentment, our treasure, our joy in Him right here, right
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now. This leads directly to that
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central maxim Piper is known for.
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Yes, the organizing principle. God is most glorified in us when
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we are most satisfied in Him. Say that again.
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God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
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Then that sums it all up. It really does.
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It encapsulates the whole argument.
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Christ is magnified in our death, when dying means gaining
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more of Him, which is ultimate satisfaction.
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And Christ is most glorified in our life when we we find our
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highest satisfaction in Him during our life.
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So the core, the authenticating inner essence of worship is.
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Being satisfied with Christ. It's prizing Christ, cherishing
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Christ, treasuring Christ. It's an affection, a deep
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gladness in him, yes. It means actively, intentionally
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going hard after all that God is for us in Jesus Christ,
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crucified and risen. It's pursuing Christ as our
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ultimate prize, our treasure, our souls food, our hearts
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delight, our spirits pleasure. In this definition, this
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understanding of worship as heart satisfaction in God.
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It's not limited to Sunday mornings, is it?
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It covers all of life that flows from that satisfied heart.
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But it certainly has huge implications for what our
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corporate gatherings are Sunday the services should be about.
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Absolutely. It reframes the whole purpose.
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OK, so with this foundation laid worship as inner heart centered
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satisfaction in Christ. How does this understanding help
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us? How does it shape our lives and
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our church practices? Well, Piper points out several
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common ways we can go wrong, several hindrances to authentic
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worship that arise when we lose sight of this essence.
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OK, what's the first one? Focusing too much on the outward
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forms and styles. The worship wars.
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Exactly those conflicts that flare up in churches over things
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like music style, traditional versus contemporary.
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Organ versus guitar, drums or no drums?
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Right. Or dress codes or liturgy,
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styles or architecture, all those external things.
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Piper argues these debates often happen because people have lost
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sight of the inner essence. Because the New Testament is
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relatively silent on specific forms.
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That's stunning silence. Yes, it means that when we make
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ceremony in seasons and places and forms the main thing instead
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of what is happening in the heart, we actually hinder true
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worship. So understanding the essence
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satisfaction in Christ is the solution.
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He says it provides an anchor in the storms of these debates.
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It helps clarify that if the inner reality, the heart
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satisfaction in God is genuine. Then the formal details are
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secondary. They're secondary and there can
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be freedom and flexibility. It helps put those debates in
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perspective. OK, that's helpful.
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What's another hindrance? Simply trying to worship without
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a genuine heart. We touched on this with Jesus's
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words in Matthew 15. Honoring with lips, but hearts
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far away. Right worship is just lip
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service, just external actions without inner affection is vain,
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empty, not authentic. The solution seems obvious then.
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It is, though, not always easy. Authentic worship has to
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genuinely flow from that inner affection, that satisfaction in
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God. It has to be real.
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Yeah, OK. Third hindrance.
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This one might be more controversial.
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For some, it's believing that seeking your own happiness or
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satisfaction God is somehow wrong or selfish.
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You hear that sometimes, don't you?
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That we shouldn't seek our own joy, even in God.
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Yes, there's an ethical view out there that suggests seeking
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personal happiness is morally suspect, Piper argues.
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This view is absolutely deadly for authentic.
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Worship. Why deadly?
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Because if the very essence of worship is being satisfied in
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God, then trying not to be satisfied in Him means you can't
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actually worship authentically. It cuts worship off at the root.
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Exactly. So the solution is to see that
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pursuing our joy and satisfaction in God isn't just
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optional. It's not selfish, it's actually
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our highest duty. Because that's how he's most
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glorified. Precisely when that
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understanding root worship flourishes, our joy in Him
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becomes the fuel for magnifying Him.
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OK. That's a big one.
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What else hinders worship? Another issue is the posture we
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bring, specifically coming to worship primarily to give
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something to God, rather than coming primarily to receive God
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himself. Explain that difference coming
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to give versus coming to receive.
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Well, an attitude of coming with hands full to give, as if we're
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bringing our performance, our songs, our efforts to impress
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God or fulfill a duty, rather than coming empty to receive
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God, recognizing our deep need for him that hinders worship.
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Because it shifts the focus. Yes, when the focus subtly moves
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to the quality of the human performance, how well the singer
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sang, how skilled the musicians were, how eloquent the preacher
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was, rather than focusing on God himself, his truth, his beauty,
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his sufficiency, we miss the mark.
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So the solution? Is to cultivate and teach a
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posture of coming hungry for God, coming with a sense that we
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will die of hunger and thirst unless we have God.
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Recognizing our desperate need. Yes, Piper argues, God is
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greatly honored when people acknowledge their desperate need
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for Him and come seeking satisfaction in Him.
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It changed our posture from what?
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A proud contribution to one of humble, joyful reception.
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OK. And the last hindrance
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mentioned? Treating worship as a means to
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an end. Using worship to get something
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else done. Exactly.
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If the inner essence of worship is satisfaction in God, then
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worship. True worship can't be a means to
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anything else. But don't we often talk about
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worship services achieving things like?
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Oh yes, people might try to use worship to raise money, or
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attract crowds, or heal people's emotional hurts, or recruit
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volunteers for church programs, or improve church morale, or
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teach the children, or even as an evangelistic strategy.
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Those aren't necessarily bad goals in themselves.
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No. Many are good goals, but Piper's
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point is if you make those goals the primary reason for the
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activity you're calling worship, then it ceases to be worship.
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Because the focus shifts from God Himself to the desired
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outcome. Right.
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Genuine affections for God, that satisfaction in Him, are an end
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in themselves. They're valuable for their own
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sake, not just for what they produce.
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Can you? Give an analogy.
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Piper uses a couple. True affection in a marriage
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isn't performed in order to get the spouse to do chores.
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The affection is its own reward, or the joy of father feels
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playing ball with his son isn't primarily so that the sun will
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cut the grass later. The delight is in the playing,
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the relationship itself. So while authentic worship might
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lead to good outcomes like unity or outreach.
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Yes, it often does. But doing the worship for the
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sake of those outcomes diminishes its authenticity.
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The goal must remain satisfaction and God Himself.
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That really clarifies the priority, OK.
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So understanding the essence and avoiding these hindrances is
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key. Does Piper offer positive
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guidance for, say, structuring our corporate gatherings?
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Yes. Building on this foundation, the
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sources layout some practical principles that can guide
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corporate gatherings aiming to respect this essence of worship.
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These are drawn from the philosophy of a specific church,
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but offer a helpful framework. OK, what are some of these
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guiding principles? 1st God Centeredness The
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absolute main goal of a Sunday service should be to experience
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God in such a way that He is glorified in the affections, the
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heartfelt satisfaction of the people gathered.
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Keeping that vertical focus sharp.
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Exactly. Second, expecting the presence
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of God, cultivating A genuine desire and belief that God will
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draw near, that he makes himself known and felt for the good of
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believers and the salvation of unbelievers present.
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Not just going through motions, but expecting an encounter.
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Right third, Bible based and Bible saturated every the songs,
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prayers, welcome sermon, any readings must align with and
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flow from the truth of Scripture.
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The Word is the a foundation. Head and heart working together.
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Yes, that's the 4th principle, head and heart.
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The aim is to ignite and carry strong real emotions toward God,
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but not through manipulation. It happens through clear
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thinking about spiritual truth based on the Bible, allowing
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affections to respond authentically to that truth.
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So truth first, then feeling. Generally, yes. 5th Earnestness
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and intensity. The atmosphere should reflect
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the weight and wonder of who God is.
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Reverence, passion, awe. Avoiding things that feel
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trivial or superficial. Taking God seriously.
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And ourselves seriously before him. 6th Authentic
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communication. A commitment to rejecting all
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pretense, hype or posturing from leaders and participants.
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The focus should be on a real encounter with God and truth,
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not on polished performance. Very much so. 7th manifestation
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of God and the common good. The belief here is that when the
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focus is truly on God revealing himself, his manifestation, that
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is what's best for people. So loving one another isn't
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opposed to God centered worship, it actually flows from it. 8th
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on distracting excellence, doing all aspects of the service,
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Singing, playing, praying, preaching well, but in a way
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that doesn't draw attention to the performance itself, but
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points through it to God's truth and beauty.
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Avoiding both sloppiness and showing us.
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Yeah, so it's a careful balance. And finally, Knife mingling
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historic and contemporary using both older hands and newer
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songs. Why is that mixture suggest?
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It shows a desire to draw from the church's rich heritage what
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is old, while also speaking meaningfully to the present what
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is new, valuing diverse expressions that are faithful to
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the core essence. That makes sense.
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It connects us to the past and the present.
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And, you know, this whole focus on the inner essence, the heart
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satisfaction, it's not really a novel idea, is it?
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It has roots deep in church history.
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You are absolutely right. This isn't some new invention.
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Thinkers throughout history have grasped this.
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The reformers for instance, Figures like John Calvin and
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Martin Luther. They strongly emphasize this
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freedom of worship from rigid man made forms precisely because
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they recognized the remarkable inward reality of worship.
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Calvin wrote that Christ in the New Covenant did not will in
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outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in
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detail what we ought to do. Why?
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Because Calvin said, Christ foresaw that this depended on
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the state of the times, and he did not deem one form suitable
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for all ages. So forms could change.
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Yes, Calvin argued, practices could be changed based on the
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advantage of the church and guided by love, that significant
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freedom grounded in the internal reality.
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And Luther? Luther, perhaps even more
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forcefully, expressed this freedom.
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He famously said that the worship of God should be free at
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table, in private rooms, downstairs, upstairs, at home,
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abroad, in all places, by all people at all times.
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Wow, that really breaks down the walls between sacred and
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secular, space and time. It completely does.
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And the Puritans who followed in that Reformed tradition
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continued this emphasis on simplification and freedom and
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worship. You saw it in their music, their
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simpler liturgies, even their church architecture.
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How did they view life itself? One historian described the
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Puritan view as seeing their entire life as a continuous act
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of worship, pursued under an unremitting and lively sense of
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God's providential purposes and constantly refreshed by
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religious activity, whether that was personal devotion, family
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worship, or public gathering. And their church buildings
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reflected this. Yes, famously, they often called
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their churches meeting houses. They deliberately kept them
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plain, simple, unadorned. Why?
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To make a point. Exactly.
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The point was to consciously divert attention from the
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physical place to the inward spiritual nature of worship.
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They didn't want anything in the building to distract from
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hearing God's Word and responding in the heart.
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So looking back at history helps put our modern worship wars in
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perspective. It really does conflicts over
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contemporary versus traditional, organ versus guitar dress codes.
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These historical perspectives remind us that such debates
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often focus on the external form while missing the main point,
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the hearts disposition toward Christ, His truth, His beauty,
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His worth. The essence, the inner
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satisfaction in him. That's the anchor, not the
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particular style. That seems to be the consistent
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testimony from Scripture and much of church history.
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So wrapping this up for you, our listener, what does all this
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mean as you think about your own life, your daily walk, and how
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you approach gathering with other Christians?
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Well, this deep dive into worships essence seems to reveal
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a call really to something quite radical.
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A continuous, moment by moment heart centered allegiance to God
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through Christ. It's about finding such a real
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deep satisfaction in him. That he ends up being glorified,
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magnified, shown to be great in every part of your life, in the
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mundane, in the crises, even ultimately in your dying.
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Which leads us maybe to a final thought, a question for you to
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ponder. Yeah, if worship truly is this
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inner heart centered satisfaction in Christ that
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spills out into all of life, perhaps ask yourself what
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specific areas of your daily routine, things you do every
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day, could you more intentionally OfferUp as an act
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of prizing Christ, seeing him as supremely valuable in that
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moment? And maybe also, how might
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understanding worship as an end in itself, a delighting God for
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his own sake? How might that reframe your
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motivations, moving beyond just using spiritual activities to
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get something else done? And instead finding sheer
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delight and satisfaction in God Himself, right there in the
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midst of it all. That seems to be the heart of
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the matter.