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e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship you can turn to Psalm 25 Psalm 25 we read the first half this morning I'll read the latter half this evening beginning in verse 12 Psalm 25 beginning in verse 12 who is the man that fears the Lord him shall he teach in the way he chooses he himself self shall dwell in prosperity and his descendants shall inherit the earth the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him and He will show them his Covenant my eyes are ever toward the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the net turn yourself to me and have mercy on me for I am desolate and Afflicted the Troubles of my heart have have have enlarged bring me out of my distresses look on my Affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins consider my enemies enemies for they are many and they hate me with cruel hatred keep my soul and deliver me let me not be ashamed for I put my trust in you let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait for you redeem Israel oh God out of all their troubles amen well please turn with me to Psalm 29 we sang this on Wednesday night I thought it would be good to sing it again tonight Psalm 29b as in bravo we'll stand as we sing together all glory Str andion to him glory and him in beuty of Hol worship the glory over the waters the th the voice of mesty and mighty the for and through all creation this wonderful temp all things he has passion his glor de Waters never toe the will BL and to his the all his will [Music] with well let us pray our blessed God and Holy Father we thank you for the the blessedness the the the joy that it is to come back to the house of the Lord on this sabbath day we confess that you are the most high that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting you made the world that you govern it and that you've redeemed your your elect out of it we bless you and we praise you for so great a Salvation we know we are not heaven bound because of our works or because of our Merit or our lawke keeping we know that we justly deserve God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come so we praise you and thank you for the sending of the son of your love into this world the only begotten Son of God the one who lived for us and died for us and was raised again the third day and we look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we thank you that we are clothed in his righteousness and cleansed in his blood we pray that as We Gather tonight our hearts would be drawn out in worship and praise and adoration to such a great God we ask you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness we don't always live in light of Our Gospel calling and we confess that transgression to you trusting that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared so wash us and cleanse Us in that blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and for any and all who are here that are dead in their trespasses and sins we just pray that you would awaken them even as we read and as we sing in the 29th Psalm the voice of the Lord is able to break the Cedars of Lebanon we know God that your word word is strong your word is sure your word does not return unto you void but it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it so we pray that you would have mercy that you would bring that conviction for sin and set forth Christ and all of his offices to save and may Sinners believe on him and may they know the joy of everlasting life we pray that for our meeting together here we pray for other churches and our community we pray for this nation as a whole Lord God that you would be gracious and merciful that you would indeed bless bless the proclamation of your truth and father we thank you that we're not alone in this city or in this country and we thank you for all the men that we met a couple of weeks ago from western Canada we pray for those various churches and for those various men that they would be faithful in laboring in the word and Doctrine and that you would look with uh favor upon their churches you would bless these brothers and cause them to be uh useful means in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ uh for drawing Sinners out of Darkness into Marvelous Light as well God we pray for the missionary Enterprise we thank you that your your gospel is going forth throughout the world we thank you that you cannot or that the the word of God cannot be stopped and that the the the Lord Jesus promises to build his church and the gates of Hades shall not Triumph against it we pray God for your blessing upon Myanmar thank you for the recent encouraging report pray that you would continue to bless those children and give wisdom to Peter as well we pray for the Saints and Su and thank you for pastor Mike and Jessica and this new birth we uh pray for cam tonight that you would uphold our brother fill him with the Holy Spirit and use him to proclaim the the truth of Jesus Christ there bless the brethren in Armstrong and in dren and God may you be glorified throughout this Earth we thank you now we praise you now and we ask that you would continue with us fill us with your Holy Spirit produce in us that reverence for you and that joy and that Thanksgiving and that gratitude that you have done so many glor glorious and wondrous things in our lives and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we can turn with me again in your hym books to number 170 170 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] the his son and TR oh PR the and gra of great CH the all the World Earth to Mighty Lord toy word and his we can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy we are in Deuteronomy chapter 30 Deuteronomy chapter 30 I'll begin reading in verse one now it shall come to pass when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you and you call them to mind among all the Nations where the Lord your God drives you and you return to the Lord your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today and your children with all your heart and with all your soul that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you if any of you are driven out to the farthest Parts under Heaven from there the Lord your God will gather you and from there he will bring you then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it he will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you who persecuted you and you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all his Commandments which I command you today the Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand in the fruit of your body in the increase of your livestock and in the produce of your land for good for the Lord will again Rejoice over you for good as he rejoiced over your fathers if you obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep his Commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul for this commandment which I command you today is not too Myster ious for you nor is it far off it is not in heaven that you should say who will Ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it nor is it beyond the sea that you should say who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it but the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it see I have set before you today life and good death and evil and that I command you today to love the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments his statutes and his judgments that you may live and multiply and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess but if your heart turns away so that you do not hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them I announce to you today that you shall surely perish you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess I call Heaven and Earth as Witnesses today against against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live that you may love the Lord your God that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to him for he is your life in the length of your days and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to Abraham Isaac and to J and Jacob to give to them amen well specifically if you notice in Chapter 30 at veres 1 to 10 we have this the the supplied sort of translator head there is the blessing of returning to God I think this points to the New Covenant so basically what we see is this list of blessings and cursings for obedience and disobedience in chapter 28 and then the Lord God announces right here in the chapter that they are going to be driven off into the farthest parts of the earth God tells them that he knows that they're going to violate that Covenant there will be Exile and then if you notice specifically CH AP 30 and: 6 the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live the prophets pick up on that sort of a language as well and it points to what God does in what we call regeneration so on the plains of Moab here basically God through the prophet Moses is announcing the New Covenant now it's not in as glorious detail as perhaps or or fine detail as perhaps in a confession of Faith but he's pointing past their sin to the Fulfillment of his Blessing in terms of recovery of Israel and bringing them nigh unto himself so it's truly a wonderful thing you move through the the pentat the people of God are told how they are to live they are threatened with many curses for not living in a way that is consistent with that there's always this nevertheless there's always this sort of mention that there's going to be a day where in God in his grace brings them to his to himself and we know that day is the the day of the Lord Jesus Christ so Plains of Moab New Covenant realities already being promised to the the the nation of Israel in light of the coming of the Savior well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you that your word is not halfhazard it's not just sort of put together but there is rhyme and reason it is truly the work of one author we know 40 or so men that that compose the the various pages and the words we know ultimately given by inspiration of God so we expect expect the consent of all the parts we expect the scope of the whole all these things Lord God testify that you are indeed the Lord God of Truth and that you gave us these things for our admonition for our encouragement and for our instruction concerning the blessedness of Jesus Christ and and salvation by him and we pray in his wonderful name amen we may turn again in your hym books to Psalm 19m as in Mike 119m as in Mike and we'll stand As we sing together holy on your word makes me Wier than my for your and are with me I have more my teachers Lord for on your each have more for all your teson my from every for I Des to follow all your word you have all your I you not turn oh Lord see your are to my T sweet is my through your I will understand Lord I [Music] these we can turn back to Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 12 for our introduction to our sermon Deuteronomy chapter 12 I'll read verses 29-32 Deuteronomy 12 beginning in verse 29 when the Lord your God cuts off from before you the Nations which you go to dispossess and you displace them and dwell in their land take heed to yourself that you are not ens snared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you and that you do not inquire after their gods saying how did these nations serve their gods I also will do likewise you shall not Worship the Lord your God in that way for every Abomination to the Lord which he hates they have done to their gods for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it nor take away from it amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we pray again for the guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit as we move through very various passages of scripture tonight we pray that you would guide our thoughts and our minds and cause us to reflect upon the necessity to worship you a right you are the Lord God of Truth we are to worship you in spirit and in truth certainly that means obedience on our part and and an understanding of what scripture teaches in in this particular regard so guide us and and bless us and help us Lord to glorify you and we pray through Jesus Christ amen well this morning I mentioned the regulative principle of worship and how appointing women as Elders or Pastors in churches would be a violation of that regulative principle of worship basically the regulative principle of worship is simple we do what God commands us to do in scripture so we looked at that a couple of weeks in a row at at 1 Timothy CH 3: 14-6 under the head the regulation of the church's worship well we're going to expand that theme the regul a reg a regulative principle of worship and we're going to look at some Old Testament passages tonight basically I have a two-fold aim I want to highlight first the Divine appointment of worship and then secondly the covenantal context of worship now some of these Concepts will probably be new some of them will probably be repetitious for those who attend the confession studies and the Wednesday night bible study but nevertheless I want to lay a foundation so that if we make changes to corporate Worship in the coming months there is biblical warrant and ground to do so we're not going to make changes away from scripture but hopefully changes in Conformity to scripture so again there's going to be a leaning on my part on the confession of faith and theology I'm more comfortable just starting in a book and preaching through that book topical series are not my fores so I'm in a bit of a a quandre on how to approach this particular subject matter but I definitely think we need to get in our minds the Divine appointment of worship and then the covenantal context of worship worship the covenantal context of worship becomes very important when you read say for instance the Old Testament versus the New Testament in the Old Testament you have Tabernacles you have a temple you have a priesthood you have sacrifice you have incense you have a lot of things that we don't utilize in the New Covenant well how do we account for that is there a way to explain the change in our approach to God in accordance with his word well yeah it's the covenantal context so that's why I think that's an important head not sure we're going to get there tonight I want to focus primarily on the Divine appointment of worship so remember the Puritan view is What's called the regulative principle of worship that simply means we do what we are commanded in scripture we're not permitted to do that which is uh uh uh not mentioned we are to do what God says so only what is commanded is acceptable in worship and anything outside of what is commanded is prohibited then you've got what's called the normative view the anglicans the Roman Catholics the lutherans they all operate according to this principle what is commanded is acceptable plus anything not expressly prohibited is acceptable only what is expressly condemned or forbidden is prohibited so in other words they say we're free to do that which the Bible doesn't forbid well we could have a pony up here we could have a puppet show up here we could do all manner of things up here because the Bible doesn't expressly forbid such things when you adopt the normative principle basically anything goes and ultimately it's that church or those Elders that make the determination about the public worship of God I think Benjamin ke summarizes well for us what the regulative principle means or entails whatsoever we do in the worship of God we must see we have a command from God to Warrant our practice and also we must not add to nor diminish from nor alter anything if we do God will not hold us Guiltless and then our confession of fath chapter 22 paragraph 1 it says but the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy scriptures so in other words it does encapsulate what we find here in Deuteronomy 12:32 whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it nor take away from it that is a wonderful summary statement of what the regulative principle of worship is now when we talk about Worship in this series of messages it's going to be dealing with public worship this is not the a negation of private worship when you read your Bible in the morning and when you pray to God it's not a negation of Family Worship when you gather the children around and and you read scripture and you engage in catechism and you sing some hymns with them or or some children's songs but the primary emphasis as we move through this material is on public worship it is the people of God gathering together at a specified time on the Lord's day to worship God and when we come down to it this is the most important aspect in our or one of the most important aspects in our religion why did God make man what is the chief end of man man's Chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever we see that in the garden why did God make Adam and Eve not because he had a need not because they completed him he does it according to his own good pleasure they don't add anything to God they don't diminish anything from God but God according to his good pleasure makes man makes him in his image and makes him to commune with him and we see that communion take place in the garden we see that that that that interaction between God in Adam and Eve we see worship and so man's Chief end is to glorify God to enjoy him forever and worship is a period of time that is set apart exclusively for the purpose of communion with God by the means which he has appointed some suggest the regulative principle of worship it's too restrictive all of life is worship well Brethren that's not the case all of life isn't necessarily worship when you're engaged in work you should be focused on your work of course the general sense you do it to the glory of God you do it for his honor and for his praise but that's not the case that all of life is wor sh that's like saying in your marriage all of life is a date night no it isn't there's a lot of bad breath there's fights there's arguments there's there's interactions that aren't date night sort of quality if everything is worship then nothing is worship and so the regulative principle of worship applies specifically to the people of God meeting in the house of God on the day of God for the worship of God communing with him glorifying him and enjoying him now having introduced let's look at the divine appointment for worship and there are three things to observe first the books of Exodus and Leviticus secondly the command and Deuteronomy 12 and then we'll end with an emphasis in the book of Chronicles but first with reference to the books of Exodus and Leviticus you can turn to Exodus chapter 20 Exodus chapter 20 again I'm laying groundwork certain categories that we need to be mindful of specifically with reference to the law of God it is God's law that is the regulating principle behind find our worship other words we're not free to create we're not free to innovate we're not free to just deliberate on how it is we're going to approach the living and the true God no we're free to obey that's what we are called to do we're to obey God relative to his command on how we approach him in worship so notice specifically in the Ten Commandments the first commandment emphasizes the object of worship and the second commandment emphasizes the manner of worship note the preface in chapter 20 at verse 2 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage so a bit of a historical review in terms of what Yahweh had done in bringing Liberty to the children of Israel and he brings them out now to sin to speak to them his law and the first commandment is there verse three you shall have no other gods before me so that is a definition of the object of worship you're to have no other gods before God you're to have no other gods besides God you're not supposed to add Gods to to the list of gods that are authorized to worship one true and living God and we worship him uh uh specifically and then verse four the second commandment deals with the manner by which we worship that true God you'll see subsequent to this in Israel they would say they were worshiping Yahweh but they would do it in a manner that betrayed the second commandment like when jeroboam builds those calves so that the people of God don't go to Jerusalem he puts them in locations where they will not go back to Jerusalem and he says behold your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that was not the case but it was suggesting by jeroboam that this was Yahweh pictured as a calf so if you have the right God good but you need to worship the right God in the way that the right God commands and that's the emphasis in the second commandment notice in verse four you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing Mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments so there is appended to the second commandment on how we're to worship the true and living God a threat of curse a promise of blessing but a threat of curse so if you worship the true God in a false manner you are subject to God's judgment so when we look at the Ten Commandments we would call these or we would categorize this as moral law it is moral law it reflects who God is it's always binding upon all men everywhere whether Jew or Gentile whether old Covenant or New Covenant basically it is a summary or a codification of what God gives to Adam in the garden often times in reformed theology it's refer refer to as natural law that which was written on the Heart by God in creation and so man knows intrinsically and inherently because he is God's creature and God's image Bearer that it's wrong to disobey him man knows inherently and intrinsically that it's wrong to murder that it's wrong to commit adultery now I realize they suppress that truth in unrighteousness and I realize they act against that but there is a conscience that does accuse them according to the Apostle Paul in Romans 2:14 and 15 15 so the 10 commandments here in Exodus 20 are referred to as the moral law of God but as you continue in the book of Exodus you'll notice that there's other types of Law and in the reformed tradition we speak of the three-fold division of the law so you've got the moral law which we have here in Exodus chapter 20 then you have What's called the ceremonial law and ceremonial law specifically governs worship we might also call that positive law which we'll deal with a bit later positive law is something that is commanded by God for a time it's not moral law that's always relevant to everybody in every situation positive law is the prohibition against eating from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden positive law is the reason why in the old Covenant the Jews worshiped on Saturday positive law is the reason why in the New Testament or New Covenant Christians worship on Sunday positive law is what governs worship in the particular Covenant you find yourself in so we've got moral law of God written on the heart of man at creation delivered by God to Moses and Israel at sin and it's written on the hearts of Believers according to the promy uh prophecy of Jeremiah 31 in create uh uh Redemption and then this ceremonial law Turan refers to it this way the ceremonial law is the system of God's positive precepts concerning the external Worship in sacred things prescribed to the ancient church either for the sake of order or signification our confession says that it does a few things that this ceremonial law given by God to Israel prefigure Jesus when you get to Leviticus chapters 21 and 22 Think Jesus Leviticus 21 specifies that the priest cannot be handicapped that's not because God is anti-h handicapped that is because God is glorious and God demands that those who come nigh to him in that public activity is fit for service and so in Leviticus 21 you see the premium put on the priest that is that is uh qualified to engage in Priestly service and then in Leviticus 22 it deals with the animals the animals that are to be sacrificed you don't get the the defective one out of your flock and and and drag it to the house of God because you're not going to make any money off it you're not certainly not going to eat it so you're going to go ahead and give it to God no what we find in Leviticus 21 and 22 along with much of Leviticus as a whole and much of the book of Exodus is prefigurement or typology pointing us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ so the ceremonial law is is is is realized by John the Baptist when he says of Jesus Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world all those Lambs all those Bulls all those animals in the Old Testament prefigured the Lamb of God they typified they pointed forward they were announcements that God is going to send one that will sa his people from their sins there are certainly moral duties involved in the ceremonial law but then the ceremonial law was abrogated it was temporary it came to a conclusion in fact leave your pencil there and turn to the book of Hebrews just so you can see that those old Covenant laws relative to worship relative to prefiguring the Lord Jesus containing some moral duties was in fact abrogated better it was in fact fulfilled by our lord Jesus Christ as the sum and substance of what those things typified notice in Hebrews chapter 9 um I'm sorry Hebrews chap yeah chapter 9 specifically at verse 6 Hebrews 9 at verse 6 now when these things had been thus prepared the priests always went into the first part of the Tabernacle performing the services but into the second part the high priest went alone once a year not without blood which he offered for himself and for it the people's sins committed in ignorance the Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first Tabernacle was still standing it was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience concerned only with foods and drinks various Washings and fleshly ordinances notice um imposed until the time of reformation it had a built-in obsolesence it was going to come to an end it's typic iCal function would be completed when the antitype came when the Lamb of God arrives on the scene to go back to the temple or Tabernacle and present animal sacrifices is to go backward in Redemptive history notice in Hebrews chapter 10 specifically at verse one for the law having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make those who approach perfect for then would they not have ceased to be offered for worshippers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins but in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins and then he goes on to highlight the the the glory of Jesus who took a body to himself was a sacrifice and thus fulfilled all that was typified in that old Covenant system so go back with me into the book of Exodus so you've got this emphasis the moral law chapter 20 ceremonial law which governs worship priesthood Tabernacle Temple incense sacrifice and then you have What's called the judicial law and the judicial law and again there's not a quiz after this message tonight I'm thinking that I'm going to genuinely confuse everybody just stick with me uh I'll try to make it as less painful as I can possibly make it but again these concepts are necessary how do we not allow incense and sacrifice and Priests into New Covenant worship have you ever thought that have you ever read through the Old Testament say why don't we have priests today why don't why don't we have incense why why don't we have the sorts of instruments that were utilized in in Temple worship why don't we do that well there are reasons why and there's arguments why and there's answers why we need to lay the groundwork in terms of who God is and what his law reveals so basically in judicial law again Turan the forensic or judicial law concerned the civil government of the people of God under the Old Testament and contained a body of precepts concerning the form of that political rule in other words how is Israel supposed to conduct itself when it goes into the promised land well that's that body of legislation given by God through Moses to deal with how they're supposed to conduct themselves when they go into the land now behind judicial law is moral law when you have for instance the command to build a fence on the top of your flat roof so somebody doesn't fall off and kill themselves I I think that's an application the sixth commandment in civil society and the general Equity of that abides today you should have a fence around your swimming pool so your two-year-old neighbor doesn't come over and drown because that would violate the principle of trying to actively promote life and make sure you do no harm to your neighbor so judicial law governed the nation of Israel during their tenure in the land and it was that which regulated their conduct in the body politic now when we ask the question is this three-fold division of of the law biblical guess what many have answered no it's not it is a Reformation imposition upon the text of scripture it isn't it is a Reformation actually it goes way back even to the patristics who saw the three-fold division of the law but look at chapter 20 in The Book of Exodus you've got moral law look at chapter 21 you've got verse one now these are the judgments which you shall set before them here you've got laws concerning slaves you've got laws on homicide you've got distinctions between murder and manslaughter laws regarding bodily injuries laws concerning property damage laws concerning society as a whole in other words it's judicial law how do we apply the general principles of the decalogue or the Ten Commandments the moral law of chapter 20 into life in society well chapter 21 at verse 1 all the way to chapter 23 at verse 9 indicates that emphasis this is how Israel is supposed to conduct herself as a body politic in her tenor in the land and then we have ceremonial law so the Covenant is ratified in chapter 24 and then the emphasis falls on ceremonial law beginning in chapter 25 those laws that regulate the worship of old Covenant Israel and essentially what you have is the instructions for the Tabernacle chapter 25 beginning in verse 1 all the way to chapter 31 and verse 11 and right kind of in the middle of that in chapters 28 and 29 you have uh legislation concerning the priesthood so see it's not how do we live in society with reference to bodily injury how do we live in society with reference to property disputes it's rather how do we worship this living and true God well this living and true God ordained that you have a tabernacle this living and true God ordained that you had a pries to it this living and true God ordained that you brought sacrifice because he's holy and without the shedding of blood there is no remission so this living and true God knows what man is and in order to facilitate communion and Union with him he provides a system he provides a mechanism and again typical of what Jesus is going to do as the yay and amen of all the Covenant Promises of God so you've got the instructions for the Tabernacle chapters 25 uh CH uh 25-31 and then you've got the construction of the Tabernacle in chapter 35 to 40 so much of the book of Exodus is taken up with ceremonial law much of the book of Exodus is taken up with that particular emphasis of God's dwelling with his people the first part of book is God's Deliverance the second part of the book is God's demand and the third part of the book is God's uh uh dwelling with his people and then notice the purpose look at 258 if we ask the question why the Tabernacle 258 let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them isn't that beautiful God most high wants to dwell with us God most high provides a mechanism by which he can dwell with us so again with reference to worship when we come to the house of God there ought to be a gladness that punctuates our heart why because the most high is going to dwell with us we have to understand what's happening in public worship God himself is with us God God as it were communes with us it is a blessed privilege it's not something we say I'm just too tired I don't want to go to church got sports today I've got other things to do today no the the the Apex the Pinnacle the high point of your week is the Lord's Day in the Lord's House with the Lord's people because God is in the midst of his Saints notice as well in chapter 29 just the purpose behind this 29:44 so I will consecrate the Tabernacle of meeting in the altar I will also consecrate both Baron and his sons to minister to me as priests I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God and they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them I am the Lord their God so we got the instructions with reference to the building of the Tabernacle and then you've got the construction of the building of the Tabernacle turn to chapter 35 chapter 35 we'll see something similarly when we look at the book of Chronicles but here in chapter 35 notice specific speically when it comes to building this Tabernacle find a couple of unemployed guys at at Home Depot and see if they want to you know get their hands dirty for a day just get a couple of derel that don't have anything better to do and hand them a hammer and just have them start you know building that's not what happens here God fills Artisans with the spirit of the Living God to construct the Tabernacle why because God is to be worshiped in an appropriate manner notice in 35:30 and Moses said to the children of Israel see the Lord has called by name ba balel the son of Yuri the son of her of the tribe of Judah and he has filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all manner of workmanship to design artistic Works to work in gold and silver and bronze in cutting Jewels for setting and carving wood and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship and he has put in his heart the ability to teach in him and aab the son of AAC of the tribe of Dan he has filled that with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker in blue purple and Scarlet thread and fine linen and of the Weaver those who do every work and those who design artistic works and Batel and a hoab and every gifted Artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the manner of work for the service of the sanctuary shall do now notice according to all that the Lord has has commanded he doesn't choose Batel and and and aolia because they're creative because they're Innovative because they have good minds and the good Architects no he fills them with the spirit of the Lord so that they will obey him and construct the Tabernacle in the manner in which he specifies and that emphasis on obedience in terms of the building of the Tabernacle comes out in several places I will just read them off chapter 35 and verse 29 back up there which the Lord by the hand of Moses had commanded to be done 361 we've already seen look at 391 391 of the blue purple and Scarlet thread they made garments of Ministry for ministering in the Holy place and made the holy garments for Aaron as the Lord command had commanded Moses drop down to verse 7 as the Lord had commanded Moses over at verse 21 as the Lord had commanded Moses verse 26 as the Lord had had commanded Moses verse 29 as the Lord had commanded Moses verse 31 as the Lord had commanded Moses you get the point do you think we go in the New Covenant and then it's a free-for-all well you know you're the New Covenant believer you you just come up however you want you you just figure out whatever Strange Fire you want to offer up and you just do that you do you absolutely positively not the same argument from from Deuteronomy chapter 4 as to why why we not ought not to engage in idolatry is utilized by the Apostle in Hebrews 12 when he tells us we are to come to God and offer up acceptable worship and that acceptable worship isn't acceptable to us the Bible doesn't ask the people of God what is it that's acceptable to you well I don't like long sermons I don't like a lot of theological Concepts you may not and that's okay but you're not asked in scripture how you want worship to function it's acceptable to God and then it's punctuated in Hebrews 12 with this for our God is what he is a consuming fire just like in the old Covenant the god of the New Covenant is the same he hasn't change he doesn't say well it's okay just just bring whatever it is that you feel like bringing no it is the regulative principle of worship whether you're in the old Covenant or you're in the New Covenant and then several other times in chapter 39 chapter 40 we see this emphasis and then with reference to the Implement implementation of corporate worship I think I've explained to you no I know I've explained to you many times they finished the Tabernacle look at chapter 40 they finish the Tabernacle and then notice what happens according to verse 34 then the Lord covered the Tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle this is what they wanted this is what God had commanded this is what God had said have them build a sanctuary for me that I may dwell in the midst of them so that Dwelling Place concept has been achieved but not meeting place in other words they can't go in when God is there look at again verse 34 then the cloud covered the Tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle and Moses was not able to enter the Tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle what does that mean that means God's holy means when Paul says what Paul says in Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission that is a principle that transcends whatever Covenant you happen to be at if you're a filthy vile sinner you don't just wander into the presence of God your filthiness and your vess and your Sinners ship needs to be cleansed needs to be washed needs to be purified by the blood of Jesus Christ so that you may then enter into the presence of God so the book ends with tension God shakina glory comes down and fills the the Tabernacle he's dwelling amongst them but Moses himself can't go in why because Moses himself is a that's what the Book of Leviticus comes to resolve in Leviticus chapters 1 to9 you have an emphasis on sacrifice you have an emphasis on blood you have an emphasis on priesthood in other words to make this Dwelling Place a meeting place Israel is taught that the only way to God is through a bloody knife and a smoking altar you don't just wander into the presence of God unwashed or uncleansed or unsanctified you must be washed you must be cleansed you must be purged and that's precisely what the Book of Leviticus responds to in the first nine chapters so you've got the laws concerning sacrifice and priesthood in Leviticus chap 1 verse 1 to chapter 7 and verse 38 you've got the institution of the priesthood in subsequent subsequent Worship in Leviticus 81 to 10:20 and if you turn with me to chapter 9 you'll see an example of God's approval God's approval in other words the dwelling place has become the meeting place because the children of Israel obeyed the command of God offered up the proper sacrifice through the legitimate priesthood and thus realize the blessing of God upon them in terms of communion and worship so notice in chapter 9 at verse 22 it says then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people blessed them and came down from offering the sin offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings and Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people then the glory of the of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar when all the people saw it they shouted and and fell on their faces this was God's approval this was God's blessing this was God's encouragement this was God saying yes good job as it were I've accepted you and I'm to manifest my glory to you and then right on the heels of that in chapter 10 we see a an instance of God's disapproval so after this particular exercise of religious obedience and the the the the resultant communion with God we learn in 101 then naab and Abu the sons of Aaron each took his sensor and put fire in it put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord which he had not not commanded them whatever their particular crime was some suggest it was because they were intoxicated others suggest that they were trying to appearer behind the holy of holies on what was not the day of atonement I favor that latter interpretation but whatever the particular issue is this is fundamental which he had not commanded them you you got that you mean God actually does demand obedience when it comes to public worship he's not okay with Pastor Susie he's not okay with sacrifice and and and incense and a and a priesthood and and and all these sorts of accouterment that we find in Old Covenant worship he's not okay with that in the New Covenant no of course he's not so notice what happen so fire went out from the Lord it just went out according to the end of chapter nine but in chapter nine it goes out to consume what it goes out to consume their sacrifice it goes out to consume that which was acceptable to God not so forn ab and Abu when they offer up profane or Strange Fire that fire goes out from the Lord and devours them and they died before the Lord and Moses said to Aaron this is what the Lord spoke saying by those who come near me I must be regarded as holy and before all the people I must be glorified doesn't sound like a god who gives you know you the freedom and the leeway to be be Innovative when it comes to worship now turn to Deuteronomy the text started off with we're going to come to a close soon Deuteronomy 12 the emphasis in the chapter is on a central sanctuary in other words where the children of Israel are supposed to go to worship God God didn't want them just breaking out in a wor worship you know sense any old where because they might bow to baale they might bow to ashra Central Sanctuary with somewhat fundamental and preventative maintenance in Old Covenant Israel to Pro prohibit them from engaging in idolatry if you got the hankering to worship an old Covenant Israel typically you were at a bale service or an ashra service or at molok and so God develops or God has this Central Sanctuary where the children of Israel will meet now up until this time it's Tabernacle and then later it will be Temple but notice in chapter 12 the passage that we read there's an occasion given in verse 29 when the Lord your God cuts off from before you the Nations which you go to dispossess and you displace them and dwell in their land remember the conquest all the instructions are given in the book of Deuteronomy and then they go out under General Joshua and they begin to engage in this activity they dispossess the land of the Canaanites why because God's mean to the Canaanites no God's justice is is is opposed to Canaanite religion and irreligion and this was a promise made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob so God says when you go into these nations note the warning of verse 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ens snared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you and that you do not inquire after their God saying how did these nations serve their gods I also will do likewise that's not a good thing when you look at the pagans next to you and say well how how are they worshiping their gods I I think I'll go thou and do likewise that's kind of how we're led to believe that new Co Covenant worship functions if the world's doing something and it works in the church well well let's do it well what does God authorize what do God command what what does God demand what does God say what do the the the documents of the New Testament which regulate New Covenant worship what what do they say do we just ape whatever the world does and it works and bring it into the worship of God because we want it to work there's something more important than things working truth God's glory God's Majesty God's honor it's not about utilitarianism well what whatever works is what we utilize no we do what God commands so look at the pagans or rather look at the Israelites looking at the pagans then there is this command in verse 31 you shall not not Worship the Lord your God in that way remember object commandment one manner commandment two you shall not Worship the Lord your God in that way for every Abomination to the Lord which he hates they have done to their gods for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods now they do a lot of lesser things that are wicked and and sinful and evil and vile but God shines the light on one of the apexes of their their wickedness and evil that's what you did when you worship moak Molech was an idol with arms outstretched he was standing in a in a in a bay of fire or and a surrounded by fire you threw your baby into his arms and because he had arms but couldn't catch the babies would drop into the fire and be burned to death and Israel would get caught up in that kind of religion much to the to to the the the absolute Rebellion against Commandments like these and then it's in this context that we find verse 32 which is the corrective see the regular the principle of worship is not a straight jacket it's not binding us it's not well in one sense it is it's keeping us from idolatry it's keeping us from aping the pagans it's keeping us from the sorts of things that go on in the name of Christian religion or Christian worship that are not Christian worship Brethren and this isn't just an intramural well I don't like the way they're doing these things have you noticed what's happened in the churches over the last few years it's a freefor all it's horrible it has no s sort of uh uh uh resemblance to what you find in the pages of the New Testament and to suggest that we actually regulate our worship according to the written word of God well well that's Antiquated that's oldfashioned that that's puritanical that that's not that's not what God wants God wants us to be happy Jesus wants you to have you know lots of fun when you come to worship no he doesn't where did that come from lots of fun when it comes to worship it bugs me when the pagans use Jesus against against US Open Your borders because Jesus wants you to well it bugs me when ecclesiastical Authority uses Jesus to bat us down as well well Jesus wants everybody to be fulfilled in worship well what's more fulfilling than worshiping God the way that God commands that's where fulfillment if that's an actual thing we ought to pursue comes so notice the the principle in verse 32 whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it nor take away from it so in conclusion we'll get to the emphasis in Chronicles God willing next time and then the covenantal context of worship next time but just a couple of thoughts one man's Chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever and one of the ways that God has facilitated that in this present evil age is with the church it's with the people of God blood bought by Jesus called out of darkness in The Marvelous Light given the Grace To Believe on on him to be forgiven of our sins to be cleansed in his blood and to receive his righteousness and then we find each other in these places called church and we gather together and we use the simple means and joined by God to us in the Covenant documents called the New Testament on how we're to approach him the same living and true God that was the consuming fire in Old Covenant Israel is the same living and true God that is a consuming fire in New Covenant Israel and so we are to approach him obediently we are to approach him in a way and in a manner that is consistent with his Holiness and that is in response to his revealed word secondly just Ponder the thought in terms of the privilege involved I realize Brethren probably right now it's warm it's late I've droned on a long time it doesn't feel like God's right here in the midst of this place but he is Christ is in the midst of the lampstand when you turn to Revelation 1 the lampstands the seven lampstands of the churches of Asia Minor Christ is there Christ is communing Christ is blessing Christ is encouraging Christ is strengthening Christ is with his people he is Promised never to leave us nor forsake us that is a general overarching theme that we can hold on to on a Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday it is especially manifested on the Lord's day when he comes to his own and he encourages us and he builds us up in his in our Most Holy Faith and he causes us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior so God in his Mercy has brought us together through the blood of the Lamb to be a worshiping people and when it comes to worship we're to be obedient not creative not Innovative because God is indeed a consuming fire well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity of it concerning worship and the command of God and the necessity to follow that I pray that you would help us and help other churches help uh the people of God throughout the world to to take the documents seriously to take the commands of Christ seriously and seek by your grace to implement those things I pray for your blessing upon this local church I pray for all of the brothers and the sisters here again tonight we remember Mr Faber we just commend him to you and to the word of your grace and pray that all would go well in this surgery please bless Wilma please bless all of the children and may you in the in the midst of these things comfort and encourage them and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation e e