Sinclair Ferguson

We're not worshipping one another.

We're not worshipping ourselves.

We're worshipping God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And so our worship should be shaped according to who He is and what He wants.

For about the first half of my life, virtually every church service I ever attended in any kind of church began with exactly the same four words.

And now I very rarely hear them.

Of course, it's true that the Scriptures don't tell us what words we should use to begin our services of worship.

But in many ways, how we begin explains what we intend to do.

And I think the fact that I heard these words virtually every week of my life several times and now hardly ever hear them is really significant.

You may be wondering, what were these words?

Well, I think you can probably guess what they were, and probably guess that they've also largely disappeared, and probably understand why I think it's significant that we don't so often hear them.

The words were these.

Let us worship God.

I'm very tempted to remind you that these past few days we've been thinking about things that we tend to forget.

But I think it's a good idea to round out the week by thinking about something that we actually need to forget.

Yesterday we were thinking about remembering God's covenant with us because He remembers that covenant with us and He promises that He will never forget it.

But I find it intriguing that in that covenant He actually promises that there is something He will forget.

Remember the promise of the New Covenant, made in Jeremiah 31, 34, and cited in the New Testament in Hebrews 8, verse 12, because it's fulfilled in Jesus Christ, where God says, in the New Covenant, I will remember their sins no more.

He makes a similar promise in Isaiah 43, verse 25.

I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.