Worship and Sacrifice

About this book

Israel "made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image," and in so doing "changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt... yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD" (Psalm 106:19-25). Westfield warns that this is ever the danger of the church: when hearts turn from the living God to invent new ways of worship, then worship collapses into idolatry, unbelief, and complaint. Against this backdrop he lifts the exhortation of Hebrews: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:15-16). True worship, Westfield shows, is offered only through Christ the Mediator. Acceptable sacrifice flows from His covenant and bears the marks of His Spirit: not empty rites or inventions of man, but praise from a humbled tongue, mercy from a compassionate heart, and joy resting on the promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Yet those who give such sacrifices-especially ministers of the Gospel-must also expect the lot of Paul, who passed "by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true" (2 Corinthians 6:8). Faithful worship and holy sacrifice will not always be met with applause, but often with reproach-the very reproach Christ bore before us. Here is a searching call to abandon the worship God rejects and embrace the worship He delights in: joyful service, merciful deeds, and holy reputation in the eyes of God. It summons the church to remember that murmuring is no substitute for faith, that bare forms are no sacrifice without the heart, and that the Lord still requires praise, mercy, and joy offered through His Son. Westfield presses his hearers-and now his readers-that only such worship is received in heaven, and with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Hebrews 13:16).