The Second Helvetic Confession - Chapter 22
Of Religious and Ecclesiastical Meetings
What Ought To Be Done in
Meetings for Worship. Although it is permitted all men to read the Holy
Scriptures privately at home, and by instruction to edify one another in the
true religion, yet in order that the Word of God may be properly preached to the
people, and prayers and supplication publicly made, also that the sacraments may
be rightly administered, and that collections may be made for the poor and to
pay the cost of all the Church's expenses, and in order to maintain social
intercourse, it is most necessary that religious or Church gatherings be held.
For it is certain that in the apostolic and primitive Church, there were such
assemblies frequented by all the godly.
<The writer of Hebrews begins a long discourse
concerning sacrifices
and how these have never been the heart of God, but that Christ was/is/shall be
the one sacrifice pauses to say,” forbid not the assembling of yourselves
together as is the manner of some. In Hebrews the writer continues for several
more verses showing why this is a necessity. Having such a clear and extensive
text from the Bible should put to silence all that deny this need of assembly.
” Alas, this is not the case and we see the same heresy in contemporary
society throughout the ages. Paul struggled with it, the early church struggled
with it and the introduction of Bible centered worship in the reformation
continued to fight the same battle. This is the prime reason we cannot totally
discard the words of these early church fathers and begin anew. They have fought
the good fight; they have passed to us the heritage of a pure and undefiled
worship from the hand of God so to speak. At places they seem hard to understand
or to have reacted purely to their own circumstances. I am guilty of tossing the
accusation of over reaction at their feet, perhaps much too often. In places
they did have narrow or limited vision and focus was entirely on the present
circumstance. However it is not a circumstance that was put to rest in their
day. We see the application of these same heresies in the church today and the
result is devastating to the Reformed churches. Evangelicalism for the most part
has wandered far from home in these ancient errors.
Thus we must cling to the completed work of these church fathers until
such time as we can see the whole picture and strive to better state the
doctrine for the next generation. Our job as modern theologians is not to create
a new theology, this will not happen. Our job is to understand and clarify what
God has given to us in the heritage of the fathers.
Calvin had this broader picture in mind though at times he
appears to contradict himself, when considered in total we see Calvin did
understand and apply the doctrine of love in a most gracious way.
Bullinger and other early reformers also saw the complete picture. As I
view their works from this distance of some five hundred years I am returned to
basic infantry training received in my own youth whereby when in the foxhole you
set up firing stakes to your left and to your right. When under attack you fired
systematically into this area of fire only. You did not see the whole battle
field, you took care of the enemy in your firing zone. In our situation as men
of God we often find ourselves in the foxhole taking care of our zone of fire,
trusting our comrades at arms to being doing like wise and in the overlapping
zones of fire we each cover each other. In our case God is the general and has
the whole picture. Often our theologians find themselves in this zonal firing
pattern and become narrow and focused in their views. Where such places exist
the task is not to remove the theologian and open a hole in the defense, it is
to under gird him with the whole truth of Scripture and fit his view into the
total picture. As with the attempt here, we are not in debate or opposition with
the reformers, we are trying to make the whole picture clearer as an under
commander of God on this battlefield of Satan. >
Meetings for Worship Not To Be
Neglected. As many as spurn such meetings and stay away from them, despise
true religion, and are to be urged by the pastors and godly magistrates to
abstain from stubbornly absenting themselves from sacred assemblies.
<The passage from Hebrews 10 is clear and leaves no room
for argument. God has spoken end of debate. The author then rightly puts his
finger on the cancer; such a person does despise true religion (a binding
together of the assembly). There is no protest against God! >
Meetings Are Public. But
Church meetings are not to be secret and hidden, but public and well attended,
unless persecution by the enemies of Christ and the Church does not permit them
to be public. For we know how under the tyranny of the Roman emperors the
meetings of the primitive Church were held in secret places.
<The reformer here sets the standard from the Bible that
meetings are to be public. Yet he recognizes the pragmatic need to allow freedom
here. God did not call all to the stake of the martyr. Discretion has been said
to be the better part of valor. While called to contend for the faith and to
stand fast in the face of the enemy, living to fight another day may be the will
of God.>
Decent Meeting Places.
Moreover, the places where the faithful meet are to be decent, and in all
respects fit for God's Church. Therefore, spacious buildings or temples are to
be chosen, but they are to be purged of everything that is not fitting for a
church. And everything is to be arranged for decorum, necessity, and godly
decency, lest anything be lacking that is required for worship and the necessary
works of the Church.
<I am reminded of the
founding of a new church that found it necessary to rent whatever space was
available for assembly for a season. This church began in a day care center. At
any given time there were decorations on the walls that were not in the best
taste to say the least. However the limit for me was reached the Sunday morning
I arrived to find skeletons and other beasts hanging from the ceiling in
abundance. Part of our rental agreement was that we left the classroom in the
same condition we found it. However I couldn’t preach in such an environment
and we took the time to remove and store away these emblems of hell and to
replace them after services ended for the day.
Our elders decided that this was not a fit place to meet and that we
needed our own space, even if rented. God provided and we moved to smaller less
comfortable quarters, but Reformation Day wasn’t buried in the hellish
celebration of Halloween. As God
provided from the offerings for the needs of the priests, God also provided for
the infrastructure of the tabernacle in the wilderness and temple of the latter
Jewish peoples. Where the church then holds assemblies is important to God and
should be to the church. This is
also the place to introduce attire. There is no dress code in the church of God.
Nonetheless to be anything but the most presentable possible is disrespect for
God. We wear that which we have
that is most appropriate to come into the presence of God. Whatever that best
is, it is suitable to God and men should not look down as if they have anything
they did not receive. The church is not the place to strut out the latest
fashions or prove the depth of a ladies wardrobe for the sake of self-pride.
>
Modesty and Humility To Be
Observed in Meetings. And as we believe that God does not dwell in temples
made with hands, so we know that on account of God's Word and sacred use places
dedicated to God and his worship are not profane, but holy, and that those who
are present in them are to conduct themselves reverently and modestly, seeing
that they are in a sacred place, in the presence of God and his holy angels.
<Men who strain at gnats in a perversion of the Lord’s
words deny there is a place where the presence of God is in more abundance than
another. They do err most grievously; God inhabits the praise of His people.
Christian liberty does not give permission to neglect the assembly because it is
a truth that man can worship God in truth and spirit anywhere at anytime. This
also speaks to our Pentecostal brothers who ignore 1 Corinthians chapter
fourteen and introduce all sorts of things into the worship of God that to the
uninitiated is pure foolishness or a most severe distraction at best. Decently
and in order is what God has commanded and we are to worship God as God has
reveled (commanded) in Scriptures alone. >
The True Ornamentation of
Sanctuaries. Therefore, all luxurious attire, all pride, and everything
unbecoming to Christian humility, discipline and modesty, are to be banished
from the sanctuaries and places of prayers of Christians. For the true
ornamentation of churches does not consist in ivory, gold, and precious stones,
but in the frugality, piety, and virtues of those who are in the Church. Let all
things be done decently and in order in the church, and finally, let all things
be done for edification.
<Another place I see our fathers trying to avoid the
slippery slope. This was covered in some detail in the comments concerning
images. There is nothing wrong with art and beauty or good architecture being
used in the construction and adornment of the church. However, the fathers are
right that in the flesh man will attempt to out do every neighbor and these
things can lead to an excess that is sinful.
Why build a thousand-seat arena for a congregation of one hundred?
Visions of future growth are false and proper stewardship would not limit
construction to one hundred seats but all outside reasons of pride must be
brought into focus and use of the tools and logic given by God in prayer allow
God to build His church, nor only spiritually but physically. >
Worship in the Common Language.
Therefore, let all strange tongues keep silence in gatherings for worship, and
let all things be set forth in a common language which is understood by the
people gathered in that place.
<A direct word to those who speak in unknown tongues as
in 1 Corinthians fourteen, but also very applicable to the multi-ethnic
gatherings we find in many places. What is the language of the majority? Use
this language! Provision of interpreters for those of differing languages is
most necessary, but must be done in a way that distracts in no way from the main
message. In attending worship
services in Eastern Europe I found the interpreter provided as much a
distraction as not being able understand the first word uttered from the pulpit.
There was a validation for being in the assembly in the testimony of the Holy
Spirit to my spirit. I found it much more conducive to worship when the
interpreter simply pointed to the verse being exhorted in the English Bible
before me. God is His Word and much of what we as men do completely unnecessary
with a Sovereign God that has given us a living Word. Were I left in that place,
I am positive the subjective experience would have led me back over and over
again until I understood more of what the pastor was saying.
Now we live by the Word of God alone and such experiences are not valid
in and of themselves. However, when the experience is in accord with Scripture
we have the witness required in the Bible, that is in the mouth of two or more
witnesses the truth is established. The witness of the Word and the Witness of
the Holy Spirit meet this requirement; which is reinforced by the third
testimony of our own spirit. In this sense alone God speaks today as loudly and
as clearly as He did on Sinai to that ancient peoples. >
