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Religious worship and the Lord's Day 1.
THE light of nature shows that there is a God who has dominion and
sovereignty over all. He is just and good, and He does good to all.
He is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, invoked, trusted and served
by men with all their heart and soul and strength. But the only
acceptable way of worshipping the true God is appointed by Himself, in
accordance with His own will. Consequently He may not be worshipped
in ways of mere human contrivance, or proceeding from Satan's suggestions.
Visible symbols of God, and all other forms of worship not prescribed in
the Holy Scripture, are expressly forbidden.
Exod. 20:4-6; Deut. 12:32; Jer. 10:7; Mark 12:33. 2.
Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, and to Him alone. It is not to be given to angels, saints,
or any other creatures. Since man's fall into sin, worship cannot be
rendered to God without a mediator; and the only accepted mediation is
that of Christ.
Matt. 4:9,10; 28:19; John 5:23; 14:6; Rom. 1:25; Col. 2:18; 1
Tim. 2:5; Rev. 19:10. 3.
God requires all men to pray to Him, and to give thanks, this being
one part of natural worship. But to render such prayer acceptable,
several things are requisite: it must be made in the name of God's Son, it
must be Spirit-aided, and it must accord with the will of God. It
must also be reverent, humble, fervent and persevering, and linked with
faith, love and understanding. United prayer, when offered, must always be
in a known language.
Ps. 65:2; 95:1-7; John 14:13,14; Rom. 8:26; 1 Cor. 14:16,17;
1 John 5:14. 4.
Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for men of all sorts
now living or as yet unborn. But prayer is not to be made for the
dead, nor for those who are known to be guilty of 'the sin unto death'. 2
Sam. 7:29; 12:21-23; 1 Tim. 2:1,2; 1 John 5:16. 5.
The reading of the Scripture, the preaching and hearing of the Word
of God, the instructing and admonishing of one another by means of psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with heartfelt thankfulness to the
Lord, the observance of baptism and the Lord's supper-these are all parts
of divine worship to be performed obediently, intelligently, faithfully,
reverently, and with godly fear. Moreover, on special occasions,
solemn humiliation, fastings, and thanksgivings ought to be observed in a
holy and reverential manner. 6.
In present gospel days neither prayer nor any other aspect of
religious worship depends for its efficacy on the place where it is
performed or towards which it is directed, for God is everywhere to be
worshipped in spirit and in truth; as, for instance, in the daily worship
carried on in private families, in the worship in which individual
Christians engage in secret, and in the worship of the public assemblies.
Such assemblies are convened in accordance with God's Word and providence,
and believers must neither carelessly neglect them nor willfully forsake
them. 7.
* As it is a law of nature, applicable to all, that a proportion of
time, determined by God, should be allocated for the worship of God, so,
by His Word, He has particularly appointed one day in seven to be kept as
a holy Sabbath to Himself. The commandment to this effect is
positive, moral, and of perpetual application. It is binding upon
all men in all ages. From the beginning of the world to the
resurrection of Christ the Sabbath was the last day of the week, but when
Christ's resurrection took place it was changed to the first day of the
week, which is called the Lord's day. It is to be continued to the
world's end as the Christian Sabbath, the observance of the seventh day
being abolished. 8.
* Men keep the Sabbath holy to the Lord when, having duly prepared
their hearts and settled their mundane affairs beforehand, for the sake of
the Lord's command they set aside all works, words and thoughts that
pertain to their worldly employment and recreations, and devote the whole
of the Lord's day to the public and private exercises of God's worship,
and to duties of necessity and mercy.
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