Worship Study Lesson 11: Gospel-Ordered Worship | Matthew Sikes

Small group Bible study curriculum with lessons by:
Scott Aniol, Tom Ascol, Voddie Baucham, Josh Buice, Costi Hinn, Phil Johnson,
Steven Lawson, John MacArthur, Laramie Minga, Matthew Sikes, Paul Washer, James White

Main Point: Scripture-regulated, gospel-ordered worship will build up Christ’s body to glorify him.

Main Passage: 1 Corinthians 14

Memory: “But all things should be done decently and in order.”
(1 Cor 14:40)

For a Christian, all of life ought to be one of worship—responding with actions and affections to God’s character and works as expressed in his Word and made possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, Scripture commands that believers gather together (Heb 10:25) as the temple of God (Eph 2:21–22), in order that we might corporately worship him.

Yet many questions arise as we consider what we do when we gather for worship. How do we determine our order of worship? Why do we do the things that we do in the way that we do them? Why do we sing certain hymns in certain places in the service? Do our prayers in worship serve specific purposes, or are they simply prayers scattered throughout so that we have a certain number of them? Why do we read Scripture passages other than the sermon text throughout the service?

First Corinthians 14 specifically addresses these questions. This chapter serves as the culmination of Paul’s argument on the true nature and purpose of spiritual gifts. Paul defines spiritual gifts in chapter 12, in chapter 13 he stresses that love is supreme, and then in chapter 14 he discusses the practice of gifts in gathered worship. And in the midst of a rebuke about improper practice of the spiritual gifts at the church in Corinth, Paul provides a foundational understanding of the nature and purpose of corporate worship.

Paul has two overarching concerns in 1 Corinthians 14: intelligibility in communication and worship that is decent and orderly.

Intelligibility in Worship is Necessary for Edification (1 Cor 14:1–25)

Edification is the Goal of Corporate Worship (vv. 1–5)

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. ² For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

Notice the emphasis in this passage on the edification of the body in corporate worship. We might wonder, “isn’t the goal of worship to glorify God?” Certainly God’s glory is the goal of all of life, including our worship. But Paul’s emphasis here is on this important truth: worship that is truly glorifying to God will necessarily be edifying for the body.

For example, why does Paul continue to emphasize the priority of prophecy over speaking in tongues in verse 1? Verse 2 tells us the answer: “one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God.” Someone speaking in tongues edifies himself but not others (v 4), and so Paul discourages speaking in tongues in corporate worship unless an interpreter is present (v 5). On the other hand, he says in verse 3, “the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation,” and so Paul encourages prophecy in worship.

In other words, in these first five verses, Paul lays the foundation for the purpose of the corporate worship of the church—it must build up or edify the body. He uses construction language to signify the fact that the church, as God’s new covenant people, serve as the temple of the living God. This temple must be built up; this is the goal of corporate worship.

Paul stresses this idea in Ephesians 4:11–16:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

This passage further clarifies the goal of corporate worship—the edification of the body, which leads to the whole body growing into maturity in Christ. We clearly learn from these verses that worship is not about an individual having an emotional encounter that ignores the other worshipers. Corporate worship is not even about 200 people coming together and privately worshiping God at the same time. Rather corporate worship is corporate—it is building up the body in love.

Corporate Worship Must be Intelligible (vv. 6–25)

Paul continues his argument by stressing the principle that corporate worship that builds up the body must first be intelligible. He illustrates the ineffectiveness of unintelligible worship in verses 6–12:

Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

Paul notes that if he were to speak uninterpreted tongues to the church, he would be ineffective, because he would not edify the body. He further uses musical illustrations: flutes and harps that do not produce distinct tones will not be understood as serving their proper function. Likewise, a bugle producing an indistinct sound to call troops for battle will not fulfill its purpose. Indistinct sounds into the air will be unintelligible to all in the congregation.

Therefore, Paul emphasizes again, corporate worship is about edification—“strive to excel in building up the church,” he again proclaims. In worship we muststrive for communication that is intelligible and will thus edify and build up the body in love for the purpose of glorifying our God and sanctifying his people.

Paul then moves to a direct application of this principle of intelligibility in worship beginning in verse 13:

Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. ²⁰ Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹ In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

Paul argues that both our minds and spirits must both be engaged in worship for the goal of edification. Furthermore, in order for worship to be edifying it must genuinely be corporate—that is, the entire body must be engaged. Worship is not an observational activity.

Furthermore, Paul notes beginning in verse 23 that worship that is intelligible and edifying will also necessarily be evangelistic:

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵ the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Paul lays out the important principle here that corporate worship of the church is primarily about the church coming together to be built up, not about attracting unbelievers. Yet, when worship is God-centered and builds up the body, it will be evangelistic as unbelievers are called to account by all and fall on their faces, worshiping God, and declaring that he is among us! This will happen because, as we will see in more detail soon, our services will be saturated with the gospel.

Corporate Worship Must Be Intentionally Ordered Around God’s Word (1 Cor 14:26–40)

After establishing the necessity of intelligibility for corporate worship that is edifying, Paul moves to addresses the issue of the ordering of worship, arguing that orderly and decent worship is necessary for edification and the glory of God.

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.… ⁴⁰ But all things should be done decently and in order.

Paul stresses again that corporate worship of God is for building up the body (v 26) and concludes that in order for this to happen, worship must be done decently and in order (v 40). His specific instructions regarding the practice of tongues and prophecy stress this—these gifts must be practiced in an orderly fashion. While we no longer have the gifts of tongues and prophecy today, the principle remains: corporate worship should be done decently and in order.

While Paul does not prescribe a specific order for worship, he does mandate that our worship have an order. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to give careful thought to the way we order our worship so that it glorifies God, builds up the body, and calls unbelievers into account.

The fundamental principle that should undergird the orderliness of our worship is that our services must be centered on the Word of God, both in content (the specific elements) and form (the way that our services are shaped). Beginning in verse 36, Paul stresses the authority of Scripture for worship:

Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.
³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

If we truly believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, then we will recognize that to go beyond the biblically prescribed elements of corporate worship infringes on Christian liberty and hinders the mandate for corporate worship to build up the body in love.

Rooting our worship services in Scripture will involve three aspects: the essence of worship, the elements of worship, and the shape of worship.

The Essence of Worship

At its core, corporate worship is a dialogue between God and his people. As with our salvation, God is always the initiator of worship. God speaks first, and then we respond to him; this is the essence of worship throughout Scripture.

After God reveals himself to us, we draw near to him with reverence and awe because our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:28). Any service of worship that begins with a man-centered, casual, and flippant approach to God is not worship of the one, true, living God—it is something else.  Any worship that centers on something other than God and his glory is in fact idolatry.

This is one of the reasons that our preparation for entering worship is so important. Do we come to corporate worship with an attitude of reverence and awe, or do we enter mindlessly without having given any thought to what we are about to engage in, expecting the leaders to rouse us to an emotional high using catchy rhetoric and emotional music?

We must always remember that the essence of worship is God-centered, Word-centered, Christ-Centered edification of the body of Christ—a rhythm of revelation and response between God and his people.

The Elements of Worship

While we do not find a specific mandate in Scripture for the exact ordering of our worship, we do, however, find certain prescribed elements that give us the parameters of what should and should not be allowed in worship. The sufficient Word has given those ordinary means of grace that, through their regular use, will build up the body.

Paul commands Timothy, in the context of teaching him how to behave in the house of God, “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim 4:13). He repeats similar commands in Colossians 4:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:27.

Paul also commands Timothy to “devote yourself … to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13) and “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim 4:2).

Third, Paul commands that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions” (1 Tim 2:1). He commands the Colossians to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (4:2), and to the Ephesians he admonishes, “praying at all time in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication . . . making supplication for all the saints” (6:18).

A fourth biblically-prescribed element is singing. In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, Paul commands gathered believers to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, thereby “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph 5:19) and “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Col 3:16).

Fifth, Paul commanded the Corinthian church, “On the first day of the week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come” (1 Cor 16:2). Although in its immediate context this refers to giving that was taken to needy believers in Jerusalem (v. 3), Paul indicates that elders should be paid (1 Tim 5:17–18), and so it is fitting that such regular, weekly giving be used for that purpose as well, in addition to caring for the particular needs of members in the congregation (Acts 6:1, 1 Tim 5:3) and other material functions of the church.

Sixth, Christ commanded in his Great Commission to the disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).

And finally, Paul told the Corinthian church that he passed on “the Lord’s Supper” to the church, having received it from the Lord himself (1 Cor 11:20, 23).

These are the only corporate worship elements given to the church in the New Testament for the purpose of building up the body. To add or subtract from these God-ordained elements would be to distrust the sufficiency of God’s Word in giving us what we need to equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:17).

The Shape of Worship

Finally, we arrive at the important question of how we order or shape our worship services. Again, as we have not been given a mandated order of worship in Scripture, we are left to use biblical principles for the ordering of our services. What we know for certain is that how we order our services is very important; otherwise, Paul would not have written to explain to the Corinthian church of the necessity of decent and orderly worship.

How we order our worship is important because it communicates what we believe about God and how we relate to him.   Worship that is edifying must be thoroughly God-centered, and worship that is thoroughly God-centered will focus on the preeminence of Christ in all things. More specifically, Christ-centered worship will revolve around on the person and the work of Christ—that is, the gospel.

Our worship must be filled with the content of the gospel, but the gospel also impacts the order of our worship. At the heart of why and how we worship, we are remembering what God has done for us in the gospel in such a way that we are built up by the gospel.

For example, when God founded the annual Passover observance, he proclaimed, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast” (Exod 12:14). In calling this feast a “memorial,” God meant more than simply a passive remembrance of the first event of Passover; this is clear by the fact that the Hebrews were meant, not merely to recount the event of the first Passover, but to actually reenact the event. In so doing, the people of Israel for generations to come would not only remember the facts of the exodus from Egypt, but they would also be formed by the event as if they had been there themselves as a means to renew their covenant with God.

This same emphasis on remembrance is found at the heart of our observance of the Lord’s Supper, which serves as the climax of the service and a sort of microcosm for the whole of worship. While celebrating the Passover memorial himself, Jesus Christ established a new ordinance, complete with a carefully prescribed liturgy, and commanded his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This “remembrance” is an active reenactment of the death of Christ on behalf of his people in such a way that we are built up by the gospel.

This principle of remembrance through a reenactment of the gospel should inform the entirety of the service. How we tell the story of the gospel in our worship is a re-presentation of the gospel, which reminds us of the truth that is for God’s people by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Worship serves as a sort of renewal of the reality of our position and grace in Christ that directly confronts the false narratives that we are surrounded by in the world, and even in our own hearts.

If the purpose of our corporate worship is to build up believers in the gospel, wouldn’t it only make sense that our services not only be filled with the content of the gospel but also ordered by the gospel?

The gospel is a story with specific elements that we can re-present in our worship:

1. God is the holy Creator and Sovereign over all.
2. We sinners are confronted with our need for forgiveness.
3. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
4. Christ has atoned for our sins by his broken body and shed blood.
5. We respond with thanksgiving and a life devoted to growing in his Word and being conformed to the image of Christ.

This gospel message has a logical flow that corresponds to the message of the entirety of Scripture. The Bible is God’s story of redemption of his people—it is the gospel, and so the examples of worship we have in Scripture model this reenactment of the gospel.

For example, the worship patterns that God had established for Israel at Mt. Sinai were not arbitrary. The order of worship God prescribed reflects his redeeming work in which in the assembly, God’s people reenact through the order of what they do God’s atoning work on their behalf. The encounter at Sinai began with God’s initiative: “The Lord called out to [Moses] out of the mountain” (Exod 19:5)—God himself called Moses, Aaron and his sons, the elders, and all the people to draw near to worship him (24:1). The people had to remain at a distance, however (v. 2), emphasizing the fact that sin cannot come fully into the presence of God. For this very reason, this worship service continued with necessary consecration of the people. Moses presented God’s “rules” to the people as a way to reemphasize their own sinfulness and then offered the necessary sacrifices of atonement so that they would be accepted (vv. 3–8). God communicated his approval and acceptance of them based on the atoning sacrifice when the leaders of the people “saw the God of Israel, … and he did not lay his hand” against them (vv. 9–11). The ultimate expression of the fact that they were now welcome in his presence for communion with him was that “they beheld God, and ate and drank” (v. 11). Once again, to eat and drink before the presence of God was a powerful statement that the people had gained acceptance with God, not through their own work, but through the means that he had established.

This first service of worship for Israel followed a progression that became standard for the worship of God’s people from that time forward. This same theological pattern characterized the progression of sacrifices within the tabernacle assemblies, moving from the sin offering to the guilt offering to the burnt offering to the grain offering and finally the peace offering. The same structure appears at the dedication of the tabernacle (Lev 9) and later Solomon’s temple (2 Chron 15–17).

This pattern is modeled also in Isaiah’s vision of heavenly worship (see Lesson 3) and in John’s vision as well (see Lesson 12).

From creation to consummation, the corporate worship of God’s people is a memorial—a reenactment—of the “theo-logic” of true worship: God’s call for his people to commune with him through the sacrifice of atonement that he has provided, listening to his Word, responding with praise and obedience, and culminating with a beautiful picture of perfect communion with God in the form of a feast. This reenactment in a corporate worship service of God’s work for us is what will progressively build us up in the gospel.

This is why historic worship services, intentionally structured on the basis of this theological pattern, have always followed a standard order: worshipers begin with God’s call for them to worship him, followed by adoration and praise. They then confess their sins to him and receive assurance of pardon in Christ. They thank him for their salvation, they hear his Word preached, and they respond with dedication. And the climax of all historic Christian worship has always been expression of communion with God through celebrating the Lord’s Table. To eat at Christ’s Table is the most powerful expression that Christians are accepted by him, memorially reenacting Christ’s death until he comes again. All of the Scripture readings, prayers, and songs in this order are carefully chosen for their appropriateness in a particular function within the service structure shaped by the true reality of worship in the world without end.

We could summarize this biblical pattern in this way:

God reveals himself and calls his people to worship
God’s people acknowledge and confess their need for forgiveness
God provides atonement
God speaks his Word
God’s people respond with commitment
God hosts a celebratory feast

Worship now that is shaped by the true spiritual realities of heavenly worship is what God has designed to sanctify us to live by faith in light of those realities, just like the saints of old. Paul says in Titus 2:12, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,”—so he’s talking about the gospel that brings salvation, but then notice what else he says the gospel does: “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” In other words, the gospel that saved us is also the gospel that sanctifies us—the gospel that reconciled us to God, that brought us near to him, is the gospel that will continue to grow our relationship with him. We don’t just believe the gospel for salvation and then leave it behind; even as believers, we must continually renew ourselves in the gospel so that it continues to train us and cultivate our relationship with God.

Thus the biblical essence of worship—a rhythm of revelation and response—is embedded in the biblical elements of worship within the gospel shape of worship:

1. Revelation: God reveals himself and calls us to worship.
2. Adoration: We recognize the greatness of God and praise him for it.
3. Confession: When we acknowledge the holiness of God, we also recognize our unworthiness to draw near to him because of our sin.
4. Propitiation: As Christians, we are assured of pardon through the sacrifice of Christ, which makes worship possible.
5. Proclamation: The Word of God is taught.
6. Dedication: We respond to the Word of God with consecration.
7. Supplication: We bring our requests before the Lord.
8. Communion: We celebrate free access to God because of Christ’s death on our behalf.
9. Commission: God sends us into the world to serve him. Just as the service began with God’s Word, it ends with a word of blessing from him.

This order of worship represents the process and the logic of the gospel that characterizes the life of God’s people from the beginning, and it serves as the foundation of our holy living and continuous sanctification.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you have given us the sufficient means for our edification through your Word. Help us to trust your Word as we approach corporate worship, so that you might be glorified, we might be built up in the gospel, and unbelievers will be called to account. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen.

For Further Study:

Castleman, Robbie F. Story-Shaped Worship: Following Patterns from the Bible and History. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013.

Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.

Cruse, Jonathan Landry. What Happens When We Worship. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2020.

Taylor, Mark. 1 Corinthians. NAC. B & H, 2014. Waldron, Samuel E. To Be Continued?: Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? Greenville, SC: Calvary Press, 2007.