Churches of Christ -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 20th century
According to the Bible, therefore, faith, repentance, confession, and
baptism are the conditions of salvation. Since all saved people are
added to the Lord’s church by the Lord, then these are also the
conditions of membership in God’s church. The church, which teaches
this, is right on this point. It might be wrong somewhere else, but the
church which teaches these facts is the right church as far as the
conditions of membership are concerned. Any church which leaves off any
one of them or adds something to them just lacks that much, at least,
being right.
IV
Worship
Let us look next at the acts of worship. There’s no place in the Bible
which says in so many words, “Here are the acts ye shall perform as
worship to Jehovah”; but there _are_ certain acts commanded, which are,
by their very nature, acts of worship. Therefore, God does state for us
the acts which the members of His church shall perform in worship unto
Him.
First, they should _pray_. Acts 2:42 states that the church at Jerusalem
continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in
breaking of bread, and in prayer. Acts 20:36 gives us an example of
public prayer. At the seaside the apostle Paul knelt down with those who
were gathered with him and prayed unto God. Prayer by its very nature is
an act of worship.
We also learn in First Corinthians 16:1 and 2, that we should _lay by in
store_ upon the first day of the week as we have been prospered; and
that itself is an item of worship. Giving or sacrificing unto God for
the sake of God is an act of worship.
From Acts 2:42, Acts 20:7, and many other Scriptures that could be
listed, we learn that _teaching and studying the Bible_ are also
commanded of God’s children; and that, likewise, is worship.
In Ephesians 5:19 we read these words, “Speaking unto yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord.” And in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly, in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord.” These Scriptures command us to _sing_ praises to
God and admonitions unto each other, which is naturally an act of
worship.
And then, finally, we are taught to eat the Lord’s supper (1 Cor.
11:17-34; Luke 22:19-20). Acts 20:7 tells us that this shall be done on
the first day of the week. The church at Troas, under apostolic
guidance, met upon _the first day of the week_ to eat the Lord’s supper.
And, friends, “the sabbath day,” as the expression was used in the Old
Testament, meant every sabbath day, and by the same line of reasoning,
“the first day of the week” means the first day of every week.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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