OUTLINE

The doctrine I wish to teach you in this booklet is simply this: Godly men are worshiping men. They are devoted to public worship, family worship, public square worship, private worship, and obedient worship.

QUESTION I. What is worship?

ANSWER. Worship is the offering up of spiritual sacrifices to the Lord, for His glory, in private, in public, and with the family, in the ways God prescribes and exemplifies in the Scriptures.

QUESTION II. Why do godly men worship the LORD?

ANSWER I) Godly men worship the LORD because he created them. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:11). II) Godly men worship the LORD because he deserves it. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). III) Godly men worship the LORD because that is the chief activity he has redeemed them for. “My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed” (Psalm 71:23). IV). Godly men worship the LORD because that is the reason Jesus died and was raised. “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you” (Psalm 22:27).

I. GODLY MEN ARE DEVOTED TO PUBLIC WORSHIP (Hebrews 10:24-25)

I) Worship of the Lord must be offered up according to the Word of the Lord (Leviticus 10:1).

II) The glory of the Lord is more precious to him than the lives of men (Leviticus 10:2).

QUESTION IV. How do we apply this truth—God’s glory is more precious to him than the lives of men—to our own lives?

ANSWER I) The glory of the Lord must be more precious to you than the opinions of men. II) The glory of the Lord must be more precious to you than your own glory.“And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5). Is the glory of the Lord more precious to you than your own glory? III) The people of the Lord must sanctify his name in worship, or he will sanctify his name upon them (Leviticus 10:3).

QUESTION V. How do we sanctify the Lord’s name and glorify him in his worship?

ANSWER I) The Lord’s people must draw near to him by faith in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25). II) Drawing near to God through faith in Christ, the church then must preach, sing, pray, baptize, feast, give, fellowship, practice discipline, and equip, all according to the Word.

For confirmation of these truths, consider each of them in turn:

(I) The church must preach and hear the Word (2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 20:27; James 1:21).

(II) The church must sing the Word (Ephesians 5:19-20).

(III) The church must pray the Word (Matthew 6:9-13).

(IV) The church must baptize according to the Word (Acts 8:12).

(V) The church must feast according to the Word by participating in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:26).

(VI) The church must give according to the Word (Philippians 4:18).

(VII) The church must fellowship around the Word (Acts 2:42).

(VIII) The church must practice church discipline according to the Word (Matthew 18:15-17).

(IX) The church must equip the saints for the work of the ministry with the Word (Ephesians 4:11-12).

II. GODLY MEN ARE DEVOTED TO DAILY FAMILY WORSHIP

Joshua worshiped the Lord with his family, exemplifying what a godly man looks like in his home (Joshua 24:14-15).

QUESTION I. What is meant by family worship?
ANSWER. Family worship is the daily use of prayer, Scripture, catechism, and song by a family, led by the head of the household, to worship the one true God for His glory and their good.

I) THE DUTY OF FAMILY WORSHIP

I) You are commanded to worship the LORD in sincerity and faithfulness, putting away all your former idols (Joshua 24:14).

(II) Do not be deceived, you will worship something or someone (Joshua 24:15a).

(III) Those who worship the LORD, should do so with their household (Joshua 24:15b).

(I.) Job continually worshiped the Lord God with his family (Job 1:4-5).

(II.) Abraham commanded His household to keep the way of the LORD and offered sacrifices to Him (Genesis 18:19).

(III.) Jacob set up a family altar by God’s command and worshiped the LORD with his household (Genesis 35:1-3).

(IV.) Asaph says fathers are to instruct their children in the glorious deeds of the LORD (Psalm 78:3-7).

(V.) David says the LORD’s praises are in the houses of the righteous (Psalm 118:15).

(VI.) Paul exhorts us all not to be drunk, but to be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:18-19).

(VII.) Paul expects husbands to wash their wives in the water of the Word of God (Ephesians 5:25-27).

(VIII.) Paul commands fathers to instruct their children (Ephesians 6:4).

(IX.) Peter expects husbands to pray with their wives (1 Peter 3:7).

II) THE HOW TO OF FAMILY WORSHIP

You must plan and be disciplined. It will not happen if you do not cast a vision and then follow up by buffeting your body and making it your slave. Set a time everyday and make it happen. When you worship together in your home, I think you should do at least these four things:

(I) Pray, thanking, interceding, and petitioning God on behalf of your family (Job 1:5).

(II) Read the Scriptures, explaining and applying to the best of your ability (Deut. 6:4-7; Ephesians 5:25-27, 6:4).

(III) Catechize, memorizing the most important questions and answers you can ask.

(IV) Sing, lifting your voices in praise with a Psalm, Hymn, or Spiritual Song (Ps. 118:15-16, Eph. 5:18).

III) MOTIVES FOR FAMILY WORSHIP

Thomas Doolittle (1630-1707) has an extremely long sermon with a title to fit: How May the Duty of Daily Family Prayer be Best Managed for the Spiritual Benefit of Every One in the Family? In it he gives seven motives to family worship. I commend these to you:

“I) You should pray to God daily in your families because we receive every day family-mercies from the hand of God (Ps. 68:9). II) You should pray to God daily in your families, because there are sins committed every day in your families (Ps. 51:3). III) You should pray in your families daily unto God, because you have many daily family-needs, which none can supply but God (Matt. 6:11). IV) You should pray in your families daily because of your families’ daily employments and labors (Ps. 127:1-2). V) You should pray to God in your families daily, because you are all every day liable to temptations (1 Pet. 5:8). VI) You should pray in your families daily because all in your families are liable to daily hazards, casualties, and afflictions (Jn. 16:33). VII) You must pray to God in your families daily, or the very Heathen will rise up against you Christians and condemn you (observations of the devotion of adherents to pagan religions).”

I would simply add an eighth: You must worship God daily in your families because he is worthy of worship.

IV) ARGUMENTS FOR FAMILY WORSHIP

In my favorite book on the subject, A Family Altar Erected to the Honor of the Eternal God, Oliver Heywood (1630-1702), gives ten arguments for family worship. I encourage you to read and meditate on these:

“I) Suppose a grave and pious minister, or Christian friend lodge with you, would you not reach him a bible, and desire him to go to prayer with you, lest he should suspect you to be prayerless at other times? And will not God's authority and presence have the like influence, and awe upon your spirits? II) Suppose your friends and relations should quite disown, and disclaim you, unless you would pray in your family, would you not make a hard shift to do something that way, rather than be accounted unworthy of human society? And shall that prevail more than God's disclaiming you, or disowning converse with you? III) If your landlord should turn you out of your house, or your father should disinherit you, if you set not up this family altar, could you be content to suffer both, rather than do it? And shall a threatening of your Father in heaven, or great landlord, to reject or eject you out of heaven avail nothing? IV) If a law were imposed upon you to pay five shillings every time that you neglect prayer in your family, would you forfeit that sum as oft as you go prayerless to bed ; would you not fear that would beggar you? And shall not greater losses and heavier penalties deter you from this omission? V) If the king or a nobleman should promise you five pounds every time that you call your family together, read a chapter, sing a psalm, kneel down and pray to God, would you not strain hard to procure that money? And will not a greater profit from Almighty God prevail with you to perform this exercise to obtain a reward? VI) Suppose a brand were set upon your foreheads, like Cain's, or a dreadful trembling should seize upon your bodies for such a neglect…would not this shame you out of your criminal omission? VII) Suppose the next time you go prayerless to bed, your loveliest child and darling should be snatched away by a sudden stroke of death, as it was in Egypt, when the first-born of Pharaoh and others died, and there was a great cry. Would not this move you into a better course? Oh, but a greater evil befalls you, your own precious souls are endangered by neglect. VIII) Suppose a red cross, with a “Lord have mercy upon us," were set upon your doors, and the pestilence were within your house, seizing on you, one after another, and you had nothing else to do but to get ready to die would you not spend some time in prayer with yourselves and families? Behold a worse plague is upon you, the plague of sin, and will you not pray? IX) Suppose, upon every omission of family prayer you should lose a limb, or member of your body, first one finger, then a toe should be cut or torn off, till all be gone, and you dismembered; would not this force you to this duty? and yet your precious souls, which are ten thousand times more worth than a limb, yea,' than the whole body, are in hazard by willful neglect. X) Suppose a gallows were set at your door, and you must be hanged thereupon the next time you go out of your door, when you have not prayed in your family; would you venture to be hanged rather than omit this duty? do you love your lives no better? Oh! but eternal death is far more dreadful, and are eternal torments, that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, nothing to you? Is the second death easy?”

V. THE BLESSINGS OF FAMILY WORSHIP

I) Daily family worship will glorify God, which is why you exist and therefore will bring you and your family great joy (Isaiah 43:7).

II) Daily family worship will soberly remind you and your family of both the sinfulness of sin and the sufficiency of Christ (Romans 6:23).

III) Daily family worship will constantly nourish you and your family with spiritual food (Matthew 4:4).

IV) Daily family worship will help you and your family keep your eyes fixed on Christ and his kingdom (Colossians 3:2).

V) Daily family worship will instruct you and your family as to what is right and wrong, and therefore equip you to love God and neighbor in holiness (Psalm 119:105).

VI) Daily family worship will give you a clear conscience in life and death (Acts 20:26-27).

III. GODLY MEN WILL EVEN WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE (1 Chronicles 20:21; Psalm 57:9; Acts 16:25)

IV. GODLY MEN ARE DEVOTED TO PRIVATE WORSHIP

QUESTION. What should I do when I worship the Lord in private?

ANSWER I) Worship the Lord in private by confessing your sins and acting faith in Christ (1 John 1:6-10; Psalm 51:17; Psalm 66:18).

II) Worship the Lord in private by prayers of adoration and thanksgiving (Psalm 86:12).

III) Worship the Lord in private by studying the Scriptures (Psalm 119:97-105).

IV) Worship the Lord in private by memorizing the Scriptures (Psalm 119:98).

V) Worship the Lord in private by catechizing yourself.

VI) Worship the Lord in private by meditating on the truths revealed in Scriptures (Psalm 119:97).

VII) Worship the Lord in private by reading good books that help you better understand and apply the Scriptures (2 Timothy 4:13).

VIII) Worship the Lord in private by self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28).

IX) Worship the Lord in private by prayers of petition (Psalm 88:1).

V. GODLY MEN ARE DEVOTED TO OBEDIENT WORSHIP (Romans 12:1-2)

QUESTION. What does a godly man look like as he worships God by obedience? ANSWER. I) A godly man leads a worshipful life motivated by the mercies of God (Romans 12:1a). II) He does not just worship God through reading, meditating, praying, and singing, but also through offering his very body as a continual living sacrifice to the Lord (Romans 12:1b). III) A Godly man, as a living sacrifice, labors to be holy and acceptable to God in all that he does (Romans 12:1c). IV) A godly man, as a holy and acceptable living sacrifice, knows this is the only reasonable response to the mercies of God (Romans 12:1d).

QUESTION. What does a living sacrifice look like?

ANSWER I) A living sacrifice is not conformed to this world (Romans 12:2a). II) A living sacrifice is transformed by the renewing of their mind (Romans 12:2b). III) A living sacrifice tests all things to discern what the revealed will of God is (Romans 12:2c). IV) A living sacrifice obeys the revealed will of God because it is good, acceptable, and perfect (Romans 12:2d). John Howe wrote that, “Christians are temple, priests, and sacrifices, all at once; as our Lord himself, in his peculiar sacrificing, also was.” Amen. Godly men are devoted to obedient worship.

CONCLUSION

For the glory of God, the good of our families, and the gladness of ourselves, may we be godly men who devote ourselves to public, family, public square, private, and obedient worship remembering that the Lord is worthy of it all. May God the Father strengthen us in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit to happily obey Psalm 29:2 both now and forever: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.”