-- Household Worship
house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10). Zechariah foretold the zeal of believers under the New
Covenant: "The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also'" (Zechariah 8:21). And this was fulfilled, for the early Christians gathered in whatever place they could find, so long as they might freely call upon God (Acts 16:13).
The manner of joining in public prayer is this: ministers, in preaching, are the mouth of God to the people; in prayer, they are the mouth of the people to God. Therefore, the congregation must, with fervent affection, lift up their hearts with the minister, giving inward assent to the petitions offered in their name. For this cause we all say, Amen.
Hence it is a great fault to leave the assembly during prayer, or to sit idle and thoughtless, as if we had no souls, or to let our minds wander on worldly matters while we stand before the Lord.
Thus we see that the true service of the Church consists in the reverent hearing of the Word, in faithful prayer, in the right use of the sacraments, and in works of mercy. Many, therefore, must be admonished to acknowledge their ignorance who imagine that to recite the Creed, the Ten Commandments, or the Lord's Prayer in the congregation is to serve and worship God fully—though they profit nothing by the Word, the prayers, or the sacraments. Such outward form without inward devotion is not worship but shadow.
Household Worship Having spoken of church service, we now come to household service.
Three things must here be considered.
First, it is necessary that in every family the worship and service of God be maintained. This is the express commandment of God: "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands" (1
Timothy 2:8). Hence Zechariah foretells that when God pours out the Spirit of grace and supplication upon His people in the latter days,
"every family apart shall mourn" for their sins, whereby they have pierced Christ (Zechariah 12:10–12). The place where Adam's family assembled is called "the face of God" (Genesis 4:14), because there they prayed and offered sacrifice—and there also God manifested His presence and favor. Joshua declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). Cornelius is said to have "feared
God with all his household" (Acts 10:2). Paul writes, "Priscilla and Aquila greet you, and the church that is in their house" (1
Corinthians 16:19). Their house was thus called a church, not merely because believers met there, but because it was a household devoted to the worship of God—a little church within the Church.
A family cannot stand without the blessing and protection of God, and this blessing is inseparably joined to His worship. "Godliness," says Paul, "has promise for the life that now is, and for that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). On the contrary, households that neglect
His worship are little better than companies of atheists; for one mark of the atheist is that "he does not call upon the Lord" (Psalm 14:4).
Let such as think it enough to pray only in the public congregation take due warning from this truth.
Although it is necessary that God be worshiped in every household, the time, place, and manner of such worship are left to the godly discretion of the family's head, to be ordered with wisdom and reverence.
The Parts of Household Worship The parts of this worship are two: instruction and prayer.
Instruction consists in teaching and learning the will of God, and is called by Paul "the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians
6:4). It should include three things:
1. Instruction in the commandments of God. "You shall teach them diligently to your children," says the Lord
(Deuteronomy 6:7). Because children and servants are often slow to learn, parents must not be discouraged but urged to sharpen these truths upon them—as one sharpens a stake to drive it deep. Again, parents are commanded to "charge their children to observe all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy
32:46). Of Abraham the Lord gave this commendation: "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment"
(Genesis 18:19).
2. Instruction concerning the ordinances of God. The Israelites were required to explain to their children the meaning of the Passover (Exodus 12:26), the consecration of the firstborn
(Exodus 13:14), and the twelve stones taken from the Jordan (Joshua 4:22). Likewise, every Christian household should teach the purpose and meaning of baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the public ministry of the Word.
3. Instruction concerning the works of God—His judgments and mercies. Parents are commanded to make known to their children and their children's children the things they have seen (Deuteronomy 4:9). Hezekiah, after his recovery from mortal sickness, said, "The father to the children shall make known Your truth" (Isaiah 38:19).
Prayer, the second part of family worship, has been treated before.
It must be both daily and sincere, offered in faith and reverence by the household together before the Lord.
The Duty of the Head of the Household
The master of the family bears the chief care and charge of household worship. His office is twofold.
First, he must prepare and fit his family for the worship of God, whether public or private. When Jacob was to worship at Bethel, he said to his household, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean" (Genesis 35:2). Job likewise "sent and sanctified his children" before offering sacrifice for them (Job 1:5). This sanctifying of the family consists in two things: (1) purging the household from open sins and corrupt practices, and (2) seeing that every member, at least outwardly, walks in the ways of God. When the priests and Levites were negligent, and many of the people unprepared to eat the Passover, Hezekiah prayed for them, and the Lord accepted his intercession (2 Chronicles 30:18–20). So must every Christian head of household stand in the gap for his own home.
To this end, the teaching of God's Word is laid expressly upon the master of the family: "You shall teach these words diligently to your children" (Deuteronomy 6:7). Paul implies the same when he says,
"If the wife will learn anything, let her ask her husband at home" (1 Corinthians 14:35). So the husband must be the spiritual instructor of his household. Yet the wife also bears a subordinate part in this duty, as appears in Bathsheba's counsel to Solomon (Proverbs 31:1) and in the godly nurture of Timothy by Lois and Eunice (2 Timothy
1:5).
That this instruction may not be fruitless, the master of the house is also given authority to command obedience, as Abraham did
(Genesis 18:19). Some object that if a householder must teach and exhort, he does the work of a minister. But the teaching of the master of a house differs greatly from that of the minister, as household government differs from civil magistracy. The father teaches by domestic authority—as master, husband, or parent—while the minister teaches by divine authority in the name of Christ, as His ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). Ministers stand in the place of God and speak in His name, whereas householders teach as private men