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CHAPTER V

The Content of the Adventist Worship Service

WE HAVE discussed the worship service as a unit. Now to take a closer look at its various parts. Although a proper arrangement is important, it is even more vital that each part be performed with insight and excellence. Well-chosen Scripture readings, heart-warming prayers, well-selected hymns, a good sermon, will be helpful in almost any sequence, although a meaningful sequence will enhance their helpfulness. On the other hand, the best sequence will be meaningless if the individual parts are not well selected and performed.

The fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation tell us a great deal about worship. Through the telescope of prophetic vision John looked into heaven itself. Let us look over his shoulder as he watches worship in heaven. What did he see? He saw God sitting upon a throne surrounded by an emerald rainbow. He saw twentyfour elders sitting about the throne, wearing white robes and gold crowns. Before the throne was a crystal sea, and about the throne were four living creatures, indescribable in human language. What was this quartet of celestial beings doing?

                     "Day and night they never cease to sing,
                          `Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, 
                          who was and is and is to come!"'
                                                             Revelation 4:8, R.S.V.

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And what were the twenty-four elders doing?

"And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

"'Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, 
to receive glory and honor and power, 
for thou didst create all things,
and by thy will they existed and were created.' " 
                                                Verses 9-11, R.S.V.

These elders, "redeemed from among men," joined in a twentyfour-voice chorus of praise and worship to God.

Then upon the scene came a Lamb—the most often repeated symbol of the Book of Revelation. The Lamb took the sealed scroll from God's hand "and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying,

" `Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God 
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, 
and they shall reign on earth."'
                                                            Revelation 5:8-10, R.S.V.

The quartet and the chorus combine and offer their worship to Christ, who ransoms men for God.

But others wished a part in this worship:

"Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, `Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"' Verses 11, 12, R.S.V.

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Can you imagine the reaction of John as he listened to the angels sing? But something still greater was in store. The climax was yet to come:

"And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, `To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!' And the four living creatures said, `Amen!' and the elders fell down and worshiped." Verses 13, 14, R.S.V.

But the best part of this glorious picture of worship in heaven is found in Revelation 7. Again we see the same God on His throne, the same myriads of angels, the same twenty-four elders, and the same four living beings. But in verse 9 a new group is introduced:

"After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands."

Who are these? Verse 14 reveals that they are those who "have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." What are they doing? They are worshiping God. Verse 10 pictures them as saying, "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." It is a tremendous thought that we, along with the elders, the living beings, the angels, and all the hosts of God's universe may one day worship God and Christ on that crystal sea. We may be participants in this great drama. If we expect to worship God in that day, shouldn't we be learning to worship Him now?

This picture of worship in heaven reveals several of the components of divine worship as we know it. There was music. All the beings in the universe sang their praise to God. There was prayer.
The golden incense bowls held the prayers of the saints. There was an offering. The twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the throne. There was a sermon and a Scripture reading. The opening of the scroll was a revelation from God. It was the didactic part of the service. Critics say that these chapters in Revelation reflected 

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contemporary worship practices and current liturgies. We must remember that this experience of John was a vision from God, not an expression of human experience.

And now let us turn to materials for worship. The first is the Bible. Revering the Bible as we do, isn't it strange that we sometimes neglect the Scripture reading in our worship services? The call to worship, if one is used, can well be an appropriate selection from the Bible. Would there be anything wrong in having both a New Testament and an Old Testament selection for the Scripture reading, as many Protestant churches do? One could be responsive, the other not.

Instead of saying, "We will now receive the offering," why not quote one of the many texts on stewardship, like 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver"? The language of worship can well be the language of the Bible. We can use the Bible much more extensively than we have in the past.

And should we not learn how to read the Bible? How often we read the Sacred Word haltingly and without interpretation. The worship leader should be adept at oral interpretation of the Bible. The Sunday after VE Day during World War II, I attended the worship service at a Jewish synagogue in Boston. I was eager to sense the reaction of the Jews who had such a tremendous emotional investment in the European conflict. I remember just one thing about the service. The cantor read with great beauty and skill the ninth Psalm. No sermon could have expressed more feelingly the Jewish reaction to events in Europe. I can still hear that cantor as he read:

"When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right. . . .

"O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.... "The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. . . .

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"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: that I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. . . .

"Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

What a Scripture lesson that was! Why cannot we read great scriptures to our congregations, and read them in such a way that our hearers will become aware of their greatness and their relevance to modern life?

The second great area of worship is public prayer. The usual prayers in our services are the invocation, the offertory prayer, the pastoral prayer, and the benediction. We do not need more prayers, but we do need better prayers.

What is an invocation? It is not another pastoral prayer. It is a prayer in which God's presence and blessing are invoked on the congregation. It can become sheer form. With planning and thought, it can be meaningful and valuable. We can be sure it will not be worthwhile unless we make an effort to make it so. A study of sample invocations in some standard guide to public worship can give the leader of worship ideas he can use in his own way.

What has been said about the invocation also applies largely to the offertory prayer and the benediction. Both can and will degenerate into "vain repetitions" without thought and planning. If these prayers are worth praying, they are worth planning. This does not mean they need to be read or memorized, but the one who prays should have some idea as to what he is going to say before he opens his mouth.

One of the best books on public prayer is Robert L. Williamson's Effective Public Prayer, published by the Broadman Press in Nashville in 1960. This book is worth the attention of any minister. I shall bring you a few quotations which I hope will whet your appetite for more. In his introductory chapter, Williamson says:

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"Of course, the Spirit of God is not bound. He can draw near to us whatever the conditions. Despite such handicaps as impossible hymns, wearisome sermons, interminable prayers, and agonizing choirs, God still can find ways and means to break through to a long-suffering congregation and commune with them. But on the other hand, if those who lead in public worship are truly ready for their office, not only being in tune with God themselves but also having carefully prepared for each phase of the worship service, how much more quickly, how much more clearly will the worshiping body catch the sound of the `still small voice.' "—Pp. 1, 2. Regarding prayer, he says:

"If preaching is of supreme importance because in it the minister seeks to become the voice of God speaking to the people, we also must say that public prayer is tremendously important because in it the minister becomes the voice of his people as they speak to God."—P. 2.

Williamson lists the common faults of public prayer under these headings: (1) lack of preparation, (2) excessive length, (3) poor delivery, (4) monotonous reference to the Deity, (5) personal references, (6) preaching disguised as prayer, (7) private rather than public prayer. Under desirable qualities of public prayer he lists: (1) corporateness, (2) fervor, (3) reasonable length, (4) freshness in thought and language, (5) concreteness, (6) progression, (7) expectancy, (8) dedication of life as the goal. All of these items deserve more attention.
Regarding the function of pastoral prayer, Williamson says: "What then is the pastoral prayer? It is a time in which the minister, united with his congregation, becomes its voice and offers its prayers to God. Not only is there personal confession but also the confession of the church. Not only is there thanks to God for his daily blessings but also thanks for his grace poured out on the church. Not only is each Christian encouraged to surrender his life to Christ, but the church itself is led to those pathways of service to which God directs it and sacrifices itself anew to his holy will." —Pp. 43, 44.

The pastoral prayer, says Williamson, should include 

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 (1) adoration, (2) confession, (3) thanksgiving, (4) petition, (5) intercession, (6) dedication. He observes:

"Some are there burdened with sorrow. Others rejoice in blessings they have received. Some have lost the sense of the presence of God. Still others are shamed by sin. The pastoral prayer should be balanced so that it may be a real prayer experience for each of these people."—P. 63.

Excellent counsel is given on the language of prayer. First, it should be dignified-spoken in a mood of "reverent restraint." Second, it should be varied. The same old expressions should not be repeated in the same old way, week after week. Third, the language of prayer should be clear. Emphasize the verbs and the nouns rather than the adjectives. Fourth, it should be stimulating. Many people do not listen during prayer. When Peter Marshall prayed, "Where we are wrong, make us willing to change, and where we are right, make us easy to live with," people listened. Warmth should be generated as the pastor prays. Fifth, the language should be reverent. "You" should not be substituted for "Thee" and "Thou" in addressing God. The language of Scripture cannot be improved upon as the language of prayer.

If these counsels are to be followed, prayers must be prepared. This does not mean that they are necessarily written and read. Part of this preparation is in personal devotion. "In order to pray well, it is necessary already to have prayed." Part of the preparation consists of devotional reading, part of it in thought and concern regarding the people in whose behalf he will pray. In some way the preacher should fix in his mind the major points that he wishes to cover in his prayer. This will ensure that he does not forget that which is important, and at the same time he is free to add as the Spirit guides. Preparation should be directive, not restrictive. The prayer should grow out of life, devotion, and thought. Williamson says:

"Probably the most effective method would be for the minister to pray extempore following careful preparation. Let him plan the prayer, outline it, think it through carefully, perhaps write it in full. But at the time of worship let him lay aside the manuscript 

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and, with perhaps only a few notes at hand, offer the prayer from his heart. It might not go quite so smoothly as if it were read. He may occasionally hesitate for a word or phrase. But it will not sound like a recitation or a reading. It will sound like prayer.

"This is not at all to cast aside the careful preparation that has been made. Through the planning, the meditating, the outlining, the writing that the minister has done, his own heart is being filled that he might better lead his people as they pray.

"One should remember that in public prayer when heads are bowed and eyes closed, the only contact that the minister has with the congregation is through the ear. He must then endeavor to use his voice to the fullest advantage. Since the mood is one of deep devotion, the minister will speak quietly and in a low key. A middle key is acceptable, but if the voice becomes high and shrill, it can grate terribly upon those who listen. The minister should not be hesitant and uncertain in his speech, but neither should he be vehement and dictatorial. Let him remember that he is not giving orders to God but beseeching God's grace."—Pp. 108, 109.

Williamson's final chapter is an inspiring treatment of the fruits of effective public prayer. He points out that serious attention to this phase of a minister's work will, first of all, deepen his own spiritual life. He says, "If the minister will not take time to prepare his prayers for his people's sake, he should do so for his own."—P. 136. He also stresses that good public prayer will enrich the worship service. It will help to avoid the idea that nothing matters but the sermon. It can strengthen the prayer life of the people. "Ministers are forever blaming their members for not praying more than they do. Perhaps at least a part of the difficulty is that when the members come to church they often do not hear any real praying there."—P. 138.

"What would happen to our members if every Sunday they heard some genuine, urgent, expectant praying? If each week they had a heart-searching experience of the confession of sin, who can say that they would not go home and spend more time on their knees? If in public prayer each Christian were led to see anew the fulness of God's grace and to pour out his gratitude to him, would 

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it not be that in time he would be characterized by the grateful heart so that he would eventually, as Paul says, `in everything give thanks'? If as the minister draws his people to the throne of grace and voices their desire to be done with careless and self-indulgent living and in its stead to have their lives conformed to the image of Christ that they might share in the purposes of his eternal kingdom, who can say with finality that in time they would not come to look upon each day as an opportunity for a new dedication and begin it with the sincere prayer, `Not my will but thine be done'?"—P. 139.

I cannot add a great deal to these quotations except to urge you again to read the book. My reaction when I first read it soon after it was published was a profound dissatisfaction with my public prayers. Here is an area where we need improvement. This change will come only as a result of determined, dedicated personal effort. It is something that cannot be voted or legislated. Only as we, individual ministers of the gospel, improve our public prayers will this part of the worship be enhanced.

I am sure many of you are thinking, "But ministers don't do the praying in public. Elders, visitors, and others perform this function." This is true to too great an extent. It is proper for our elders to offer the pastoral prayer at times, but not always. The minister should not completely delegate this function of his ministry. Neither does courtesy demand that a visiting minister spotted in the audience should be impressed into service to offer the prayer.

If an elder is to offer the prayer, he should be told several days before Sabbath. Perhaps some education in public prayer might be worthwhile in some places for the elders. A copy of Williamson's book might be a valuable addition to the church library.

Let us remember one thing: The pastoral prayer can be just as important a part of worship as the sermon. Let us try to make it such.

The next area of concern is one where angels fear to tread—church music. I approach this subject not as a musician but as a pastor. I am aware that much conflicting opinion exists in this area. Some hold that only the finest in church music, as evaluated by 

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professional musicians, should ever be used in the church service. This standard would exclude many of the numbers in our hymnal and much that is commonly used for preludes, offertories, postludes, and responses. Others hold that the musical taste of the congregation should be the deciding factor, that such music should be provided as the majority will enjoy. This definitely tips the balance in the direction of the gospel hymn and the more rhythmic, sentimental type of music. What is the pastor to do, especially if both viewpoints are championed by influential groups in his church?

I recognize that my suggestions on this subject are not going to please either group. I am afraid I may be like the Civil War soldier who wore a gray coat and blue trousers and was shot at from both sides. I am not seeking a compromise position, but I honestly object both to a steady diet of Bach and a steady diet of George Beverly Shea. I cannot help but feel that both have their place.

Jones, in his section on music, lays down three principles which I believe are worthy of consideration. The first will be sharply challenged by some musicians: "Music is an adjunct to worship, never an end in itself."—P. 253. He expands this principle as follows:

"One of its main functions is to produce the moods and stimulate the emotions conducive to the spirit of worship. If it falls short of doing this, or if it produces moods and emotions contrary to the spirit of worship, it fails. If it is detached from the purposes of worship and made a means for the improvement of the general musical taste of the congregation or for training musical artists and displaying their abilities, it loses its religious values."—Ibid.

As an adjunct to worship, some of the best music is represented in the great worship hymns. In an article in the December Ministry, 1959, Professor Harold Hannum recommended twelve of these hymns as being of unusual excellence. They were: "Now thank we all our God" (No. 90); "O God, our help in ages past" (No. 81) ; "Come, ye thankful people, come" (No. 496) ; "Jesus, still lead on" (No. 676) ; "All things bright and beautiful" (No. 421) ; "All glory, laud, and honor" (No. 15) ; "We gather together to ask 

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the Lord's blessing" (No. 8) ; "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation" (No. 12); "Rejoice, ye pure in heart" (No. 17) ; "All praise to Thee, my God, this night" (No. 53) ; "When I survey the wondrous cross" (No. 118) ; and "Go to dark Gethsemane" (No. 122). Hymns like these promote the spirit of worship and should be learned and widely used.

But this raises a serious question. Suppose you are leading a congregation of unlettered people in an area with a low cultural level. A few of the easier of these hymns might be learned. Some of them would never strike a response. And this brings us to Jones's second principle: "Music should be within the appreciation range of the worshipers."—P. 254. He goes on to say:

"They should be able to understand and comprehend it, musically speaking, and respond to it spontaneously. It should fit their needs. They should be able to use it enthusiastically as an expression of their feelings. Otherwise it is meaningless, worthless, as a vehicle of worship."—Ibid.

It is here that the battle is joined. The purists cannot accept this viewpoint. They consider it as a compromise with degenerate popular taste. In 1961 the Associated Press circulated an article entitled "Pastor in Plea to Retain Old Gospel Songs." It read as follows:

"Comes now a voice from the hinterland to protest the moves by church music specialists to eliminate the old gospel songs from the hymnbooks.

"The process has been going on for some time now, in various denominations.

"With a commission now working to revise the Methodist hymnbook, the Rev. Roy Delamotte, a circuit pastor in Kentucky and Tennessee, has unleashed a plea for preserving the simple gospel numbers.

" `While music may be a matter of principle with the classes, it's a matter of taste with the masses,' he writes in the current issue of the church magazine, Christian Advocate.

"Most denominational hymnbooks already have dropped many gospel songs, such as `The Old Rugged Cross' and `Bringing in 

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the Sheaves,' and substituted more classical hymns, many based on medieval chants and chorales.

"Rev. Mr. Delamotte, a young minister who holds a Ph.D. from Yale, maintains that while gospel songs may not be musically the best, ordinary people sing them with relish, and that's better than `a resentful silence.'

"'If a devout Methodist gets a bang out of belting out "In the Sweet Bye and Bye," I for one shall not insist that he sing instead that good, old-fashioned hymn of A.D. 1336 "Alla Trinita Beauta," ' he adds.

"He says the hymn preferences of common folk need to be recognized `if we still have hopes of preventing our once dynamic denomination from being strangled forever in a white collar.' "

Whatever our personal bias, we must respect this viewpoint. I believe every minister should try to choose the music of his church in such a way that it will be definitely above the median of the appreciation range of his worshipers. He should try with tact and patience to lift this appreciation range, but he should recognize this cannot be done by getting so far ahead of the people that communication ceases. He should try to move away from contentment with the inferior, but without creating the "resentful silence" which results from too rapid introduction to the unfamiliar. I believe also that we have many hymns that are both musically acceptable and "singable." From this category most of our selections should be made. Jones states this principle well:

"The effort to lift the musical level of hymns is laudable, but if made an end in itself, it can easily and quickly defeat the purpose of the hymns, which is to sing the gospel into the lives of the people. It is not necessary that all the hymns in worship be great hymns, worthy of being handed down from generation to generation. Much serviceable music dies with the generation that produced it and found it satisfying."—Pp. 258, 259.

Jones's third principle is that "church music should be the medium for the development, the expression, and the transmission of the evangelical faith."—P. 254. Music that is out of harmony with the theology of those who use it should not be chosen.

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Helmut Thielicke, in his The Trouble With the Church, tells of accompanying some of his students to a refugee camp to minister to the poorest of the poor. In the evenings meetings were held with those who were to be "shipped out" the next day. After a sermon, members of the congregation were asked to select a hymn. Almost invariably they selected gospel hymns not considered suitable for church services by professional musicians.
Thielicke states that he was a "bit edgy" at first, thinking that his students would be suffering "aesthetic torments" as a result of having to sing these hymns.

"But then they saw how these people were gripped and moved; they began to see what these hymns could mean to these people in their hard situation. They even saw tears and they could not bring themselves to dismiss it all as `sentimentality.' They were also touched by the devotion with which the very ones whom they knew to be believing Christians sang. And suddenly these young liturgical aesthetes suffered a change: they began to like these hymns. Not because their aesthetic judgment about them had suddenly changed! This had not changed at all. But because they saw that the aesthetic category is inappropriate here or that this category is not capable of elucidating the mystery of what was happening here.

"These hymns were suddenly freighted with the faith, hope, and devotion of those who sang them. Therefore, all at once they were not just sentimental chaff, but had weight and consequence. It was as if they had been justified by the faith of those who were edified by them, as if they had received a kind of `alien righteousness' (and therefore not their own aesthetic righteousness)."—Pp. 87, 88.

When a minister loses the ability to identify with people whose aesthetic tastes are inferior to his, when he can no longer enter into their experience and enjoy the expressions of worship which are meaningful to them, he has lost one of the characteristics of a pastor. High aesthetic standards are commendable. I see no reason why a group of ministers at a ministers' meeting should choose less than the best of hymns; but these same ministers should be able to enter with understanding and appreciation into the singing of those 

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hymns that bring comfort and hope to people who have lived on a different cultural level.

Much more could be said about music. We may summarize by saying that the same principles of spontaneity, spiritual warmth, and meaningfulness that govern Adventist worship as a whole should govern the choice of music for the Adventist worship. Hymns, anthems, responses, introits, should be appropriate to the occasion, understandable to the majority of the congregation, and performed for the glory of God rather than the ego of the performer. Let us have enough flexibility to take individual differences into consideration and enough rigidity to avoid that which could be better.

This will require great wisdom and tact on the part of the minister. He can weaken his worship service by erring in either of two opposite directions. Only by a knowledge of music, of people, and of the objectives of Adventist worship can he make the right decisions.

The other component of worship, the sermon, will be discussed in the final chapter. One more area demands our attention as we consider the effectiveness of Adventist worship, and that is the Communion service. We will not discuss in detail its conduct, but a discussion of public worship is not complete without some attention to the worship aspects of this important service.

At the Communion service worship should reach its highest peak, because here the symbols of Communion can make the presence of God most real. And yet no service can degenerate more completely into lifeless formality than the Communion service.

Adventists celebrate the ordinance of foot washing prior to the Communion service. This ordinance may be very worshipful if it is understood as the memorial of Christ's humiliation and a symbol of cleansing. It can be completely self-defeating if the participants are intent on congratulating themselves that they are "humble" enough to do something their Baptist or Methodist brethren would hesitate to do. The worship value of this service will be influenced by the carefulness with which it is planned, by the quietness and reverence with which it is performed, by the appropriateness 

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of the instruction given by the pastor, and by the condition of the equipment.

The Communion service, likewise, must be made meaningful by the leader of worship. If a sermon on this service is desirable, it should be preached the Sabbath previous. On the day of the service, the sermon can well be limited to ten minutes, and should deal with one pertinent aspect or implication of the service. While certain standard scriptures are applicable, why not vary the scriptures from time to time? The Gospels and the Epistles are full of scriptures that are appropriate, especially the Epistle to the Hebrews. I once watched Dr. Harold John Ockenga conduct a Communion service at the Park Street Congregational Church in Boston. As he distributed the trays and the plates to the deacons, he quoted appropriate scriptures, one after another. This was most effective.

One of the problems incident to Communion services is timing. To have it last an hour and a half or two hours detracts from its effectiveness. With careful planning everything can be done, with out rushing, in an hour and fifteen minutes. This will include ten minutes for the sermon and adequate time for transition. One great help in shortening and enhancing this service is the installation of Communion cup holders on the backs of the pews. In cases where the church is seated with opera chairs, a removable aluminum holder can be purchased. Between services all that appears is a bracket that is nearly flush with the back of the seat.

Throughout the service, a spirit of joy should prevail. The theme of the service is salvation through the sacrifice of Christ. It is a memorial of our deliverance from the power of sin and a re minder of our eternal redemption. Sometimes we are satisfied merely to do everything correctly. We are careful in our handling of the bread and the wine. We fold the linen neatly and distribute the elements with precision, yet the spirit is lacking. We do not discern "the Lord's body." If we did, we would be radiant.

Like all services of worship, this one must be planned. The leader of worship should spend long hours meditating, preparing, renewing his own appreciation of its meaning. With this kind of 

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planning, the attendance will grow. The church will soon need to add to its equipment. And, most important of all, the church members will be brought into a closer fellowship with Christ and with one another.

Harold Fey, in his book The Lord's Supper, says:
"Once a church which possessed no paid ministry, no priesthood, no cathedrals or church buildings, no endowments, no salaried bishops or secretaries, and no publicity except the lies told by its enemies, held a disintegrating world together and laid the basis of a new civilization. Its power was not its own. What it had was a gift. The gift was given it in meetings of little groups who assembled before dawn in houses on back streets and in caves under Rome. Those who gathered heard sermons only infrequently, when men like Paul the sail-maker came their way. But whenever they met they broke bread with gladness and singleness of heart and shared the cup of their covenant with Christ. What did that church have that we do not have today?"—P. 8.
As we come to the end of this discussion of the form and content of worship, I am reminded of a brief but striking quotation from Testimonies, Volume 9, page 143:

"The evil of formal worship cannot be too strongly depicted, but no words can properly set forth the deep blessedness of genuine worship."

We must have form, but we do not want formalism. And the form must take on its significance from the content. When every Scripture reading interprets the true meaning of the passage, when every prayer is a masterpiece of disciplined devotion, when every hymn is an expression of a dedicated soul, when every sermon brings men to the foot of the cross—-then worship will fulfill its purpose. God will be glorified, and His people will be edified.