Christian Worship, Not Law
The Levitical economy (Israel's system of worship) was a system that was for the natural man. It consisted of externals things, things that man could physically see and take note of. Man moved by what he saw, not by faith in unseen realities. We are all familiar with such visible examples. God's presence could be seen where He dwelt. Israel had a visible house for God: first, the tabernacle, then, the temple. There was an appointed place of worship: Jerusalem. There was an established priesthood. There were sacrifices: animals, rams, incense, flour, oil, and more. There were musicians and instruments to accompany the songs. All catered to the five senses of man, that is, all catered to the natural man.
Now Israel, as a nation, is an illustration of what the natural man is under law. And what happened to the nation of God under His Law? They failed. Under the law, God taught man in the flesh that, given His righteous requirement for approach and worship, the natural man fails miserably - even when he is provided with God's visible presence, the temple, sacrifices, holy days and a priesthood! (see Malachi 1-2)
Now, in Hebrews, the author states that the law had "a shadow of the coming good things, not the image itself."(Heb. 10:1) The system of sacrifice and worship under the law was a shadow of greater realities. Now a shadow is not the image, though a reflection of one. Also, the tabernacle, sacrifices and all connected with Israel's system of worship are defined as "figurative representations of the things in the heavens."(Heb. 9:23) The worship and sacrifices under the law represented something beyond the external, reflecting to faith the "things in heaven."
We ask the reader, what are the good things from which these shadows stretch? What are the things in heaven of which the old economy represent? Dear reader, is it not Christ and the salvation that God has provided through Him? Christ answers to all that God provided in the Old Testament system of worship. The objects and materials in the old economy were types of heavenly things that Christ answered to and fulfilled, having "passed through the heavens." (Heb.4:14)
Does the temple have a veil in it? Then Christ's flesh is it, torn from top to bottom in order to picture His great sacrifice and our access to God through Him! (Heb. 10:20) Does the ark have a mercy seat atop it? Then God has sent Him as a mercy seat (the lid of the ark) - quenching His fiery judgments through death, all the while preserving His holiness and bringing us His mercy! (Rom. 3:25) What about the meats and drinks, feasts, new moons and Sabbaths under the old economy? Paul says that they are a "shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."(Col. 2:16-17) Christ represents and answers to all these things!
Because of the death of Christ, a great change has happened when it comes to the way God is to be worshipped. Believers are now in Christ, not Adam. (Rom. 5:12-21) Because of this, Christian worship is now to be "in spirit and in truth."(John 4:23) The Christian is not governed by the principles of the natural man, but by the spiritual man. (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:12-13) The latter man walks by faith, the former, by sight.
God's appointed place of gathering in the past was where He had set His name - Jerusalem. (1 Kings 11:36) But now, "Where two or three are gathered unto my name there am I in the mist."(Mt. 18:20) God's appointed ground of gathering is anywhere Christian's meet, owning the name of Christ alone, for any "other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 2:11) And what happened to the temple? No matter, Christians are now God's building. (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:15) What about the distinction between the people and the priest, the clergy and the laity? It is gone, for now all God's children are holy priests! (1 Pet. 2:5) But how are the saints to know what to do when they gather? Under the law, the priest controlled the order of the service under the direction of the high priest! Since all believers are priests and Christ is their great High Priest, He directs us now by His Spirit. The Spirit of God, an invisible Person with His own will, leads the saints when they rely upon Him in faith and are obedient to His Word. (1 Cor. 12; 1 Thess. 5:19)
The question for the believer today, when he meets for worship and ministry with other Christians, is not how well he can follow the liturgy, but how sensitive he is to the movement of the Spirit. It is not how impressive the service is, but how impressed he is by the presence of Christ in the mist. (Mt. 18:20) But Christ is only in the mist when saints are gathered unto His name alone.
God has removed all that appeals to the natural man. It is Christ and His Spirit that are everything now. The spiritual man knows this. All depends on coming to Him and relying on Him in faith.
Sadly, many Christian's today need more than Christ and His Spirit when they gather. Man, not Christ, fills their vision, for all is suited according to his natural tastes and needs. Many are governed by sight, not faith. They need large buildings to feel God's presence. They need elaborate services to prove to themselves that God really is in their mist. In order to help them pray they need soft music playing in the background. They forget that they are holy priests, with spiritual sacrifices to offer. (1 Pet. 2:5) Forgoing their priestly responsibilities, they expect a paid professional, ordained from a theological school, to lead them. All these feelings and needs stem from a profound ignorance as to the result of Calvary and what God has given us in His Beloved Son, now glorified in heaven.
But, you say, has God left us with nothing visible when we meet for worship? Ah, indeed He has - the Lord's Supper. The early saints gathered to break bread according to the Lord's dying request. (Lk. 22:14-20; Acts 2:42; 20:7) The glorified Lord also made sure Paul instructed His followers that they remember Him in the breaking of bread, further emphasizing it's importance in the meeting of the assembly. (1 Cor.11:23-26, note 23a) As the early saints gathered for worship, they met around the Lord's Table with the tokens of His dying love atop it. The first point of business in these meetings was to remember Him, to remember the greatness of His Person and the greatness of His work. None would look for anything to provoke them to worship other than the bread and cup and what each symbolized - Christ, His greatness, His love, His humility, His glories, His death, His return. These were some things in which they would declare and speak forth , for this time was a time of declaring Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor.11:26b) This was a meeting where Christ was all and everything! Such a remembrance would indeed provoke worship and praise! Does the reader know what it is to worship here, according to and under what God has graciously provided in Christ? What a place to be in, under grace and moved by grace, not man!
Can viewing a row of dimly lit candles lift the spirit here? Can a stained glass window contain the story of Calvary love? What external thing of man's making can compare with the glorious table God spreads to faith? For the greatest cathedrals ever built, the most heavenly chores ever sung, the most elaborate religious service ever beheld cannot compare to what the eye of faith beholds in Lord's Table. We may well say along with the apostle, "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God."(1 Cor. 2:9-10) The Spirit reveals these things, provoking our lips to acknowledge Him Lord (1 Cor. 12:3) and taking the things of Christ and showing them to us. (Jn. 16:15) Ah, for such a one it matters not if he meets in a building or meadow, a basement or, like the early church - a catacomb. As long as the Table is there, as long as the bread and wine are there, as long as the Spirit's rights are acknowledged, then will the circumcised ear of faith hear Him who cries out in the mist, "I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the mist of the assembly will I sing thy praise...Behold, I and the children which God has given me." (Heb 2:12,13b)
What passes for worship in many churches is nothing more than human machinery operating according to the principles of law. Programs, liturgy, clergy, music concerts, scheduled services, vestments: this is all law. God has removed all this and has placed us in a position of grace, a place where the heart should freely respond (uncompelled by man and his ritual) to the love of God as shown in Christ Jesus. The Christian is not to lean upon external things in order to "help his worship." He is to lean upon Christ alone and He will undoubtedly "help his worship." Is Jesus and His Spirit not enough? Do we dare disregard His will by pre-programming everything before we meet?
Christ is a Resurrect Man, alive in glory and willing to lead His people by His Holy Spirit, unaided by the effort of man and his programming techniques. All now depends on seeing Him who is unseen and having the heart rise according to this grace. This is impossible for the natural man and difficult where there is weak faith. The natural man needs to be governed by the Spirit (not the flesh) and the man of weak faith needs the truth (not tradition)! How important it is for the Christian to meet the Father's desire and worship Him "in spirit and in truth!"(Jn. 4:23)
Vin Santanelli