No one would deny that these are strange days in which we’re currently living. We’ve all been forced to adapt our daily lives to this new reality. Sadly, this even includes changing the way the church conducts its ministry. I have been encouraged by those members of our church who have been struggling over the loss of corporate worship. Some have reached out to inform me that they find the loss of Sunday worship downright agonizing. This is a reflection of grace in their hearts. Pity the person who can have public worship taken away without ever missing it. I would rather go to bed without dinner than go a Sunday without church!
Truly our hearts resonate with words of the psalmist in Psalm 84—
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD . . . Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”
1. There’s no better worship than corporate worship.
I am reminded of a sermon on Psalm 87:2 that was preached by David Clarkson (1622-86), a colleague and successor to John Owen. This sermon has blessed me over the years because of the priority it places upon public worship. The psalmist here writes that “the Lord loves the gates of Zion, more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.” This teaches that the Lord prefers our corporate worship over our family worship or personal devotions, as intimate and edifying as those may be.
God takes more delight from the worship of the church when it is gathered publicly than he does in our one-on-one time with him. He honors corporate worship with his spiritual presence through the means of grace unlike anything else outside the corporate assembly of his people. The priority of public worship over private is further emphasized in our 1689 Confession of Faith, 14.1
“The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened. (2 Corinthians 4:13; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 10:14, 17; Luke 17:5; 1 Peter 2:2; Acts 20:32)”
One thing we learn from this paragraph is that God uses specific means to “ordinarily” enable people to believe in Christ for salvation and also receive special grace meant to strengthen the faith of those already saved.
Thus, we call these things the ordinary means of grace. And since they are reserved for corporate worship, we might also call them the public means of grace. These specific means mentioned in chapter 14 are the ministry (or preaching) of the Word, as well as baptism, the Lord’s supper, and prayer.
2. Live streaming is no substitute for corporate worship.
It’s important for us to recognize that we cannot enjoy those means of grace which God has reserved for the gathered church, if the church is not physically gathered. Consider what our Confession says in chapter 22, paragraph 6—
“Neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship, is now under the gospel, tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed; but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor wilfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calleth thereunto.”
As we seek to apply this section to our church, the elders do not believe that our public assembly has been “carelessly nor wilfully neglected or forsaken,” but that God, by his providence, has temporarily closed the doors of our church to public worship.
This means that what is happening each Sunday via live stream is not a public worship service of Grace Covenant Church. How can it be if the people are not assembled together in one place? So when we are housebound, let us understand that corporate worship just does not happen. Corporate worship cannot happen unless we are worshiping corporately.
So why are we live streaming?
We are live streaming in order to help church members stay connected to the ministry of our church which extends beyond the four walls of this building. We want to encourage our members and regular attendees who are now homebound. It is provided to assist believers in their private worship and family worship during our season of painful separation.
So while we may not be permitted to gather as a church on the Lord’s Day right now, you can still come before the family altar in your homes, worship the Lord, and be encouraged by his Spirit. We welcome all who join us online, with a special welcome to all the brethren of Grace Covenant Church.
3. The Lord’s Supper is celebrated in the communion of corporate worship.
One of the most tangible aspects of corporate worship that we dearly miss is our weekly participation of the Lord’s Supper. But we need to be extra careful here. Just because we miss the Lord’s blessing that comes through the partaking of the Lord’s Supper in the corporate gathering does not not give us the permission to try to partake of it in private devotions or family worship.
God has told us how to worship him.
Our good intentions do not give us the freedom to worship God however we choose. (Consider the examples of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3 or Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6:6-7 as case studies in offering worship according to one’s own devices.) God has prescribed how he wants to be worshipped. This is often referred to as the Prescriptive or Regulative Principle of Worship. Our responsibility is to worship him in the ways he has directed us—and only in the ways he has directed us. While this pandemic keeps us from gathering corporately, it has forced churches to get creative and innovative in ways that permit us to stay connected in terms of fellowship. But we are not given freedom to be innovative in terms of the public means of grace.
God prescribes the Supper for corporate worship only.
Regarding the Lord’s Supper, God has prescribed strict commands for the Supper to be celebrated only in the context of the assembled congregation. In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church was for the Lord’s Supper to be received only in the gathered assembly. Five times in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul writes the words, “when you come together” (v. 17, 18, 20, 33, 34). In verse 18 he makes it abundantly clear that he’s referring to the gathered church assembly as the context for lawful partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
Additionally, our own 1689 Baptist Confession teaches that there needs to be a gathered church in order for a person to lawfully partake of the Lord’s Supper. Chapter 28, paragraph 1 says:
“Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued in his church to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:26).
And chapter 30, paragraph 1 says:
“The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his churches, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance, and shewing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death, confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 21).
So it is clear from both Scripture and our Confession that we cannot partake of the Lord’s Supper and enjoy communion unless we physically come in union together as a church. The Lord’s Supper is a meal that we can only share together in-person as the visible church. Let us heed the solemn warning from 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 regarding partaking of the Supper in “an unworthy manner” and thus bringing the judgment of God ourselves. God takes his worship seriously. We ought to as well.
Final Encouragement
Though we may not be able to worship together in-person and celebrate the Lord’s Supper right now, we can still communicate through a variety of means which the Lord has made available. In this time of physical separation, be sure to reach out to one another throughout the week by phone calls, text, video meetings, or emails in order to encourage and pray for one another.
Additionally, please know that your pastors love you and are praying for you daily. Feel free to call or text us whenever you wish; we would be glad to hear from you and learn how we can pray for you more specifically.
Finally, let us all remember this: Our risen Lord Jesus Christ has the key of David—what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. For today he has shut our doors of public worship; but the day will soon come when he will open them again and no one will ever shut them! All glory be to Christ.
—Pastor John Giarrizzo