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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me as we begin worship this evening with our call to worship which is a reading of Psalm 125 Psalm 125 this is the word of God a song of a sense those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion which cannot be moved but abides forever as the mountains surround Jerusalem so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity do good O Lord to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts as for such as turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity peace be upon Israel amen let's stand and sing our first hymn together it's 992a 992a let's stand and sing as a church [Music] pra your name to tell [Music] and [Music] my music the heart and [Music] heart see what you done PR your Works [Music] your de of to will [Music] all all s my the mul and [Music] all my I I see [Music] and be [Music] my like [Music] by still and his [Music] is please be seated let's go to our God for a time of prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we rejoice in this opportunity now a second time on your Lord's day to gather together in this place for the worship of the one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray uh Lord God that you would help us by your spirit to hallow your name this evening we do pray that we would call it a high honor to be able to gather in this place to worship you and we we rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Savior and we thank you that in the fullness of the times you did send forth your son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law we thank thank you for the the Blessed truthfulness of that statement that Christ Jesus came into this world Sinners to save and we do rejoice in the Forgiveness of sins we rejoice in that righteousness of Christ imputed to us received by faith alone we thank you that in the Lord Jesus Christ by virtue of his life his death and his resurrection all who believe in him have everlasting life and we do just pray that you would impress upon us the joy of that this evening and we thank you so much we do pray that you'd forgive us aresh by virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we know that with Jesus Christ we have that Advocate with you the father uh Jesus Christ the just one and in him we have the Forgiveness of all of our sins of all of our iniquities and we rejoice in that we do pray once again that you'd cause us to Worship in spirit and in truth we do pray that you would by your spirit uh just remove from us any any intruding thoughts and cause us to attend attend to the preaching of the word to attend to these elements of worship that we would with a focused mind be all about worshiping our blessed God this evening we thank you that we have the Liberty to do this we thank you that we can hold full Bibles in our hands that we can come into this place uh unmolested to gather together as the people of Christ to to worship you so we do pray once again that you would help each and every one here this evening because it is possible with you to do so that we would all count at a high honor to gather in the Name of Christ we pray Lord God that you would be with our persecuted Brothers and Sisters in Christ throughout the world as we read reports as we we get emails and we we hear of the uh just the horrible persecution that comes upon the people of God we come to you in prayer asking that you would be with our our brothers and sisters in these situations where there is such persecution such tyranny such opposition in the face of these struggles in the face of these Horrors Lord God we pray that you would strengthen your people that you would give them that Grace to lay hold of the the confession of their faith without wavering and knowing that you their God uh that you are faithful and we do just pray that you'd surround them with protection that you'd give them courage in the face of opposition and uh that they would in the face of their oppressors look with eyes of faith upon a risen Christ and him find comfort and him find confidence for day today we do pray that you would deal with those who persecute your people throughout the world Lord God we pray that the gospel would come what with with much power with the Holy Spirit and much assurance that those uh currently your enemies would by grace and through the proclamation of the Gospel come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ that they would be saved and be found amongst those whom they formerly persecuted and we once again pray for those reprobate who would continue in opposition to the living and true God who would continue to bring violent opposition and oppression to the people of God that you would take them out of the way that they would Lord God no longer bring danger and violence and wickedness upon your people we pray for those who govern over govern over us unto a similar end Lord God that you would cause those who do rule who are in positions of governance and power that uh they would govern uh over the people with uh with a proper righteousness with Justice with a proper Equity that they would not be found to be governing according to wickedness according to the whims of men but rather that they would rule according to your uh according to your Revelation and that they would do those things that are just in your sight and we pray for those who would not do this who would seek to uphold wickedness and perversion in the land that you would take them out of the way and we even pray for many Lord that you would bring Salvation to the hearts of those who govern and that they might even by your kind Providence stay in power to bring about change in a wicked and perverse generation we do pray Lord God that you would be with those who are sick in our midst those who are struggling uh with illness those who are struggling with injury those unable to join us because of these things we do pray that you'd strengthen your people physically and cause them to know healing in the physical man and uh beyond that in that inner man Lord God we pray that you would cheer their hearts with the knowledge of their God that cheer their hearts with the knowledge of Jesus Christ their Savior and we do just pray that you would cause them to lean upon the God Of Heaven and Earth who does do right according to his most wise will and according uh or for the good of his people and we just rejoice in the fact that we do have a sovereign God over us who purposes all things who brings all things about for his own glory and for the good of his people we do pray Lord God that you'd be with Pastor Buzz uh Butler as he preaches your word uh be with him as he comes up here to open up his Bible to preach to us we pray that you'd strengthen him in this place that youd give him your Holy Spirit uh that he might speak the things of your word your Revelation to the sons of men that he might have that Clarity of thought and that uh blessedness of speech as he opens the word up and that we might as those hearing receive the word of God and so believe and so act according to your revealed will we do pray then to continue to be with us we thank you that we have the ministry of the Holy Spirit encouraging our hearts lifting us up to high thoughts of our God we pray that each and everything we do in the worship of our great God tonight would be unto your honor and would be unto the uh exaltation of Jesus Christ in our midst and we pray in his precious name amen amen well let's stand and sing together our second hymn will be 45 450 let's stand and sing together J of my soul my till his hand s to re my Al still all his all me I the sh of my Christ all in me I heart PR the all and Sh of my I am all rightousness full of sin I am are full of to streams with the mountain the my heart [Music] all you can turn in your Bibles with me to Deuteronomy chapter 32 Deuteronomy chapter 32 our old Testament scripture reading for this Lord's Day evening as it's difficult to uh to cut it up really we'll read the entirety of the chapter as we see the song of Moses and then with a closing summary that wraps up the end of chapter 32 so this is Deuteronomy 32 beginning in verse 30 of Deuteronomy 31 this is the word of God then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended give ear o heavens and I will speak and hear o Earth the words of my mouth let my teaching drop as the rain my speech distill as the Dew as raindrops on the tender herb and as showers on the grass for I proclaim the name of the Lord ascribe greatness to our God he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are just ice a god of Truth and without Injustice righteous and upright is he they have corrupted themselves they are not his children because of their blemish a perverse and crooked generation do you thus deal with the Lord oh foolish and unwise people is he not your father who bought you has he not made you and established you remember the days of old consider the years of many generations ask your father and he will show you your elders and they will tell you when the most high divided their inheritance to the Nations when he separated the sons of Adam he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel for the Lord's portion is his people Jacob is the place of his inheritance he found him in a desert land and in the Wasteland a howling Wilderness he encircled him he instructed him he kept him as the apple of his eyee as an eagle stirs up its nest hovers over its young spreading out its wings taking them up carrying them on its wings so the Lord alone led him and there was no foreign god with him he made him ride in the heights of the earth that he might eat the produce of the fields he made him draw honey from The Rock and oil from The flinty Rock Kurds from the cattle and milk of the flock with fat of lamb and Rams of the breed of Bashan and goats with the choicest wheat and you drank wine the blood of the grapes but Jeran grew fat and kicked you grew fat you grew thick you are obese then he forsook God who made him and scornfully esteemed the rock of his salvation they provoked him to jealousy with foreign Gods with Abominations they provoked him to anger they sacrificed to Demons not to God the gods they did not know to uh excuse me to gods they did not know to New Gods new arrivals that your fathers did not fear of the rock who begot you you are unmindful you have forgotten the God who fathered you and when the Lord saw it he spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and daughters and he said I will hide my face from them I will see what their end will be for they are a perverse generation children in whom is no faith they have provoked me to jealousy by what is not God they have moved me to anger by their foolish Idols but I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation I will move them to anger by a foolish Nation for a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn to the lowest hell it shall consume the Earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains I will Heap disasters on on them I will spend my arrows on them they shall be wasted with Hunger devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction I will also send against them the teeth of beasts with the poison of serpents of the Dust the sword shall destroy outside there uh there shall be Terror within for the young man and virgin the nursing child with the man of gray hairs I would have said I will Dash them in pieces I will make the memory of them to cease from among men had I not feared the Wrath of the enemy lest their adversaries should misunderstand lest they should say our hand is high and it is not the Lord who has done all this for they are a nation void of counsel nor is there any understanding in them oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end how could one chase a thousand and two put 10,000 to flight unless their Rock had sold them and the Lord had surrendered them for their rock is not like our Rock even our enemies themselves being judges for their Vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah their grapes are grapes of Gul their clusters are bitter their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel Venom of cobras is this not laid up in store with me sealed up among my treasures vengeance is mine and recompense their foot shall slip in in due time for the day of their Calamity is at hand and the things to come hasten upon them for the Lord will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their power is gone and there is no one remaining Bond or free he will say where are their gods The Rock in which they sought Refuge who are the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine excuse me uh who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering let them rise and help you and be your Refuge now see that I even I am he and there is no God besides me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal nor is there any uh nor is there any who can deliver from my hand for I raise my hand to heaven and say as I live forever if I wet my glittering sword and my hand takes hold on judgment I will render Vengeance to my enemies and repay those who hate me I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the heads of the leaders of the enemy Rejoice O Gentiles with his people for he will avenge the blood of his servants and render Vengeance to his adversaries he will provide atonement for his land and his people so Moses came with Joshua the son of nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel and he said to them set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today which you shall command your children to be careful to observe all the words of this law for it is not a futile thing for you because it is your life and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess then the Lord spoke spoke to Moses that very same day saying go up this mountain of the uh abim Mount Nebo which is in the land of Moab across from Jericho view the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel as a possession and die on the mountain which you ascend and be gathered to your people just as Aaron your brother died on Mount and was gathered to his people because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the Waters of merbah Kadesh and uh in the wilderness of Zin because you did not hallow me in the midst of the children of Israel yet you shall see the land before you though you shall not go there into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel amen well let us pray God we thank you for your word we thank you for its Declaration of who you are your glory Your Majesty we thank you for uh what we read here with regards to the uh the assessment of uh uh uh of covenantal unfaithfulness of the wickedness of sin of the wickedness of idolatry we thank you Lord God that though Israel failed in the howling Wilderness that our blessed Christ did not fail in that howling Wilderness when he was tempted by the devil when thric he was Victorious over the devil whilst temp uh whilst being uh tempted and and fasting those 40 days and 40 nights we thank you for the victory of Christ uh that not by our own doings do we have covenantal faithfulness but by Christ's doings alone we have salvation from sin and we thank you so much for the Blessed account of our savior who came as that as that true Israel as that uh Israel from God who did all that Adam couldn't do who did all that Israel did not do in order to perfect salvation for his people and we look to our Christ we look to Christ alone for salvation resting upon the Perfection of his most excellent work and we do pray that as we continue in worship you would fill us with joy a joyful knowledge of the work the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and that we would by your spirit reflect upon uh our blessed god father Son and Holy Spirit giving you all glory and praise and we pray in Christ's name amen our final hymn then before the preaching if you'll stand with me is 122a 122a [Music] Journey to the house of the Lord Jerusalem Jerusalem your are standing in your [Music] together gra of Ro stand [Music] jce you forever sa in your to well and and Jerusalem for the s for my mother s with my sing I pray for the will I will Mery well you can turn back to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12 just by way of introduction for our third message on the regulative principle of worship Deuteronomy 12 I'll read verses uh 29-32 Deuteronomy 12:29 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 thank you for this opportunity to gather together again to worship you in spirit and in truth we pray for your blessing now we ask for your leading and guidance we pray that you would help us as a church to approach you with that that fear and trembling and rejoicing that is so consistent with the blood bought children of God we thank you for so great a Salvation we thank you for the great privilege that we have that you come you the the Father the Son and the Spirit come to dwell in The Believer and we thank you that as we gather together corporately on the Lord's day you are pleased to dwell in the midst of your Saints truly the lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the Dwelling Places of Jacob and this greatly encourages us so guide us now forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness cleanse Us in the Precious Blood of the lamb and fill each of us now with your Holy Spirit and we pray in jesus' name amen well it occurred to me that I had mentioned over the last uh few weeks ago that there might be some changes coming and a couple of people have come to me and said what kind of changes are coming believe you me they are very insignificant uh we're not going to introduce puppets ponies and programs and all those sorts of things I'm not going to bring a tambourine up here or anything like that basically I just want to bring our our practice of the Lord's Supper more consistent with what scripture teaches and with what our confession teaches so I thought I'd lay the foundation in terms of regulative principle of worship and that's why we're looking at this particular theme or this particular topic so as I said we've looked at this two Sundays previous to now uh just by way of review we looked at the Divine appointment of worship we saw the books of uh Exodus and Leviticus The Ten Commandments we see the regulative principle of worship grounded in the first two Commandments the first commandment describes the object of our worship and the second commandment is the manner in which we are to worship that living and true God we then considered the three-fold division of the law there's moral law ceremonial law and judicial law the moral law is the unchanging Ten Commandments the decalogue that revelation of God's nature and what he demands of all men everywhere at all times irrespective of the Covenant you find yourself in but with reference to Old Covenant Israel they also had ceremonial law which governed worship and I will explain how that's related to into what we call positive law later on and then of course in Old Covenant Israel they have the judicial law which is our confession says expired with that Commonwealth but the general Equity abides in other words we can glean wisdom from old Covenant judicial law for modern civil jurist Prudence as well we saw this in terms of the book of Exodus it's not something imposed upon scripture but rather chapter 20 in Exodus is The Ten Commandments chapters 21 to 23 is the judicial law and then 25 to 40 is the ceremonial law which govern the Tabernacle and the priesthood and the approach of the people to the worship of God most high as well we saw the implementation of corporate worship specifically in The Book of Leviticus we see it positively and we see it negatively When the People abided by the law and the priests offered up the appropriate sacrifice in Leviticus chapter 9 the fire of God uh fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and the people rejoiced because God had approved of their worship on the heels of that naab and Abu then offer up profane fire fire comes down from God but instead of consuming the sacrifice consumes the sacrificers because they did not obey the word of God and then we saw this particular section in the book of Deuteronomy which provides an occasion verse 29 be uh when the Lord your God cuts off from before you the Nations which you go to dispossess and you displace them and dwell in the their land other words God is making good on his promise to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give them a particular piece of land so he says when you go into that land he gives this warning in 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 I also will do likewise so that's the warning don't a the Nations that you dispossess from the land of Canaan then there is this specific command in verse 31 you shall not Worship the Lord your God in that way for every abomination of 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 and then the corrective we call this the regulative principle of worship in verse 32 whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it nor take away from it so God doesn't want Innovative worshippers God does not want creative worshippers God wants obedient worshippers we're supposed to take his written word we're supposed to re receive it as Divine command an appointment and that is what is supposed to govern our worship we then turned to the book of Chronicles and saw several instances where this was fleshed out they worshiped as they had been appointed they worshiped in obedience to God most high and that is consistent with what we saw in the New Covenant if you want to turn back to First Timothy chapter 3 this is where we began our studies in this particular Doctrine 1 Timothy CH 3 the Apostle Paul tells Timothy the reason that he is writing this epistle he says in verse 14 these things I write to you and I think that's everything preceding the statement and everything following other words the entirety of the book of First Timothy these things I write to you though I hope to come to you shortly but if I am delay I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God and the ESS here is not suggestive it's not you know if you so feel so inclined the aess has Divine necessity you ought to conduct yourself this way why because it's the house of God it's the Church of the Living God it's the pillar and ground of the truth and then over in Hebrews CH 12 we see a similar emphasis when the Apostle tells the people of God in verse 28 therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have Grace by which may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear that acceptability is not man's acceptability it is rather God's what God commands God should receive we ought to be obedient worshippers to him and then notice What is punctuated here for our God is a consuming fire that's right out of Deuteronomy 4 and verse 24 not sure why the new King James translators didn't set that off in italics to indicate that it was in fact an Old Testament quotation so the reality that our God is a consuming fire underscores old Covenant worship and it underscores New Covenant worship so there's no change in God he doesn't say well you know just approach me in any old way that you see fit approach me the way the pagans do or the Heathen do approach me the way that the deeon worshippers or the moak worshippers you go ahead and ape those practices just as long as you're bringing to me a sincere heart that's all that's important no God demands worship that is according to his revealed will now tonight I want to finish this brief series by a consideration of the covenantal context of worship in other words when you look at old Covenant worship and New Covenant worship there are some big differences for instance in the old Covenant you have a tabernacle or you have a temple in the old Covenant you have a priesthood in the old Covenant you have incense in the old Covenant you have all kinds of musical instruments in the old old Covenant you have sacrifice and when you get to the New Covenant you don't have Tabernacle you don't have Temple you don't have all of those particulars involved in Old Covenant worship there's got to be a way that we can explain the significance behind that well I think there is and I think it's covenant theology so Under The Heading the covenantal context of worship we have four things I want to consider tonight first the moral requirement for worship secondly the covenantal context of worship ship third the function of positive law in Covenant and worship and then we'll F uh finish with the distinction between elements and circumstances elements and circumstances fundamental in terms of our discussion of worship but first just broadly speaking the moral requirement for worship now I consider that there are very few preachers who can preach topical series well it's a tough thing I for one like to be Tethered to a particular ular book I much prefer expository preaching there's no guesswork we know where we're going to be God willing next Sunday morning in John's gospel John chapter 14 we are Tethered to the text of scripture topical series are a bit difficult you've got to sort of a mass from the entirety of the Bible and put them into logical formation things that you want to address so as I said I think there's very few guys who can do that effectively and do that well I don't think that's my forte or gift as I said this is our our last message tonight in this topical series we'll probably head to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and 11 and try to consolidate our practice in the Lord's supper with what we find there but with reference to this this approach to covenantal context of worship I want to start more broadly with the moral requirement for worship does God demand worship and here I'm going to lean a bit on our confession of Faith because I think it is most helpful at this particular Point as it summarizes well what the scripture says so the moral requirement for worship in the first place I'd argue that the light of nature or what we might call General Revelation reveals that there is in fact a God you can turn to the Book of Psalms Psalm 19 Psalm 19 just trying to build the case that there is a moral requirement for worship and then we'll set that in its covenantal context but in terms the moral requirement for worship starting broadly the light of nature reveals the existence of god notice in Psalm 19 at verse one to the chief musician a Psalm of David the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handy work when you look at the heavens they speak not audibly not uh in a way that you know words and syllables and syntax and sentences and all that sort of a thing but they reveal something concerning God they reveal the existence of God in fact Spurgeon on this text says he who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself down an atheist Brands himself at one at the same moment as an idiot or a liar so the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork a second passage that illustrates this is Romans 1 you can turn there again the broader context in the argument the moral requirement for worship first the light of nature reveals the existence of God so in Romans 1 specifically at Verse 18 the Apostle writes for the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness now notice in verses 19 and 20 specifically because what may be known of God is Manifest in them for God has shown it to them for since the creation of the world is invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even as eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse so General Revelation or God's revealing himself through the created order to man who is Made In His Image is enough to damn the man it doesn't bring Salvation but it does render him inexcusable when he looks up into the heavens if he's not branding himself as an idiot or a fool a liar then he must concede that there is a God in fact our confession says in chapter 22 paragraph 1 the light of nature shows that there is a God the the the great confessions of Faith all embi this theology belgic confession number two by what means uh by what means is God made note unto us we know him by two means first by the creation preservation and government of the universe which is before our eyes is a most elegant book wherein all creatures great and small are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God namely his power and Divinity as the Apostle Paul says Romans 1:20 all which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse secondly He makes himself more clearly fully known to us by his holy and divine word that is to say as far as is necessary for us to know in this life to his glory and our Salvation so the book of Nature and the Book of God or the Book of Revelation we find the the revelation of God through the created order so the light of nature reveals the existence of God I would argue secondly that the light of nature demands the worship of God the light of nature demands the worship of God so if I continued in our confession it says the light of nature shows that there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all is just good and doth good unto all and is therefore to be feared loved praised called upon trusted in and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might in other words the fact that God is demand that God's creatures worship and praise and adore him and intriguingly the confession invokes Jeremiah 10 verse 7 and the question by the prophet there is who would not fear you oh King of the Nations for indeed it is your due who would not fear you oh King of the Nations for indeed it is your due this is repeated in the Book of Revelation who shall not fear you oh Lord and glorify your name for you Are Holy for all nations shall come and worship before you for your judgments have been manifested so in terms of the moral requirement for the worship of God most high we see it in the light of nature we see it in general revelation we see it in the heavens and in the earth and in the creature around us the co uh the effects rather lead us to the cause to recognize that he is and since he is we as his creatures must fear him we must love him we must obey him and we must adore him but as well the revealed law of God demands the worship of God as well so the book of Nature and the Book of special Revelation both demand worship of this true and living God again first and second commandments Deuteronomy 12:32 1 Timothy 3:14 and 15 Hebrews chap 12 the Lord God demands that we worship him in his written Revelation so when I continue reading in chapter 22 paragraph 1 after saying the light of nature shows that there is a God and therefore creatures owe him worship and fear and adoration it goes on to say but the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself so that there is a God creation testifies that we should worship this God creation testifies but the manner in which we worship this God we go to the scripture which is the r written revelation of God and his mind and heart expressed for us in terms of what we're supposed to do when it comes to the worship of this God so that's the moral requirement for worship secondly the covenantal context of worship I've already sort of introduce this there are similarities between the old and the New Covenant the fact that we acknowledge God and the fact that we worship God so there are obvious similarities between the church in the new C era and dare I say the church in the old Covenant era obvious differences we'll deal with that as we proceed but the similarities are clear with reference to the similarities moral law demands that we worship God most high that we honor that we glorify and that we praise him now the differences between old Covenant and New Covenant worship hinge Upon A Doctrine called positive law and basically positive law is something that God commands in addition to moral law for a specific time that's it the prohibition against eating from the Tree of the knowledge of of the of Good and Evil in the garden that was positive law it's not intrinsically or inherently evil to eat from a particular tree but in that instance in terms of probation God forbade them to eat from that particular Tree positive law affects things in Covenant in terms of worship for instance in chapter 22 of our confession in paragraph 7 it treats the Sabbath day and this is by way of illustration it's it's appropriate but it's just by way of illustration it says in paragraph 7 as it is the law of nature again based on General Revelation that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God the idea being if there is a God we are the creature of God and therefore are bound to worship God then in apparently we know that we ought to cease from our labors at some point whether it's a Saturday or a Sunday New Covenant or or rather positive law will dictate but but that we should cease from our normal activity and worship God that is known to the creature and so the confession recognizes that so as it is a the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God so by his word in a positive moral and Perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages he hath particularly appointed one day in seven excuse me for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him so the moral principle is one day out of seven we worship the true and living God well how do we know which day within the particular co uh Covenant we're in positive law dictates in the old Covenant positive law dictated Saturday in the New Covenant positive law dictates Sunday I can build that case but it would take us far a field there are sermons on on sermonaudio.com dealing with that particular subject just introducing the concept of positive law here one other place that we ought to appreciate positive law in our confession chapter 28 specifically paragraph 1 this is of baptism and the Lord's Supper it says baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and Sovereign institution appointed by the Lord Jesus the only lawgiver to be continued in his church to the end of the world so in the old Covenant you had ordinances or what we might call sacraments you had Passover you had circumcision how do we know that or how did we arrive at that because positive law in the old Covenant demanded the circumcision of babies and it demanded the Passover feast well in the New Covenant there's no longer Passover there's no longer circumcision why because the Old Testament has been abrogated fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ and thus no longer binding upon us so the abrogation of the Fulfillment of the old Covenant takes with it circumcision and and and and Passover so what do we have in its wake we have the New Covenant so what are the ordinances or the sacraments of the New Covenant do we ask Abraham no do we ask Jesus yes and what does Jesus institute for the New Covenant by way of positive law he he institutes baptism in the Lord's Supper so positive law functions in a particular particular Covenant to regulate worship renahan says Jim renahan says positive law is an added commandment given by Revelation differing from moral or natural law in that knowledge of it will only come externally by means of divine disclosure for example circumcision and baptism are both positive laws they are appropriately part of worship associated with specific covenants and would be unknown apart from divine revelation any positive law is a command given by God for a particular purpose Andor time it requires obedience beyond what is required in natural or moral law so positive law comes along in the Covenant to orchestrate or legislate rather what is appropriate in that covenantal context for the worship of God I hope this makes sense because I think it makes perfect sense and I hope that it's conveyed over to you as well that brings us then thirdly to the function of positive law in Covenant and worship the function of positive law in Covenant of wor in in in Covenant and worship so first the positive law in the old Covenant I've already mentioned Tabernacle Temple priesthood sacrifice incense uh a a calendar a pretty detailed calendar by the way what's the calendar in the New Covenant Lord's Day worship you mean not Ascension not Christmas not East NOP Lord's Day worship that's the calendar in New Covenant worship ship not so with old Covenant old Covenant you had all kinds of Feasts old Covenant you had all kinds of Demands old Covenant if you had a calendar on your wall you had you know certain dates circled all throughout that calendar that had religious significance well why is that because of positive law positive law in the old Covenant dealt with Tabernacle Temple priesthood incense sacrifice days of worship feasts for worship all sorts of things that were entailments to that old Covenant people in their approach to a holy God and again the argument isn't that it's bad the argument isn't that it wasn't good the argument is that it was for a time it was for the old Covenant people of God but built into the old Covenant was its own obsolesence built into the old Covenant was the announcement of a coming New Covenant where God through the prophet jermiah says I will make a New Covenant with that not like the Covenant that I made which their fathers broke but in this new covenant I will write my law on their hearts I will I will forgive them of their sins I will be their God and they shall be my people so to say that the old Covenant is is no more to say that it's been abrogated or F fulfilled by Jesus Christ is simply to say what the book of Hebrews says again it's not a condemnation of that Covenant it is simply to acknowledge that it functioned for the purpose in which God intended and now that Christ has come now that the the the substance has come we don't need to go back to the types we don't need to go back to the prefigurement we don't need to go back to all those things that pointed forward to his coming in the language of our confession relative to Old Covenant worship it describes ceremonial law which is positive law ceremonial law governs the worship of the old Covenant people and it says in our confession chapter 19 paragraph 3 besides this law commonly called moral so it's a discussion after the discussion concerning the Ten Commandments it says besides this law commonly called moral God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws containing several typical ordinances a type is something that announces something to come A type can be a person it can be an event it can be a place it can be a whole host of things so it says containing several typical ordinances partly of worship prefiguring Christ his Graces actions sufferings and benefits and partly holding forth diverse instructions and moral duties all which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation have often cautioned us that's not the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century that's the coming of the Messiah and his new covenant we'll see that text in a little bit are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and only lawgiver who is furnished with power from the father for that end abrogated been taken away so in this new covenant era there's no Tabernacle there's no Temple there's no priesthood there is I mean the Tabernacle priest uh Temple thing is is the Lord Jesus I mean again type and anti-type the the priesthood of all believers but I think you understand what I mean a priesthood dedicated to the house of God to offer up sacrifice and incense in the worship of God that kind of priesthood is no longer the the the the Roman Catholic priesthood they're patterned after an old Covenant regiment and they are engaged in absolute Folly when they do that and so we don't duplicate that error we respect positive law or ceremonial law that governs the old Covenant secondly the abrogation of the old Covenant and thus the requirements of old Covenant positive law in other words if the old Covenant has been abrogated or fulfilled and I would suggest it was abrogated because it was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ but if that that Covenant as a covenant is no longer binding then those elements involved in worship are no longer binding so I guess what I'm trying to convey is just because something is in the Old Testament doesn't necessarily mean it belongs in the church right it's pretty simple observation well they had a priesthood why don't we because we're in the New Covenant they had sacrifice why don't we because we're in the New Covenant they had incense why don't we because this is the New Covenant and the lawgiver Christ has legislated relative to his church that instead of all those things that were built for a carnal people we have a spiritual emphasis in our worship today Worship in the New Covenant is very simple Worship in the New Covenant is not calculated for a carnal people we walk by faith and and not by sight and if you get upset that he's referring to those old Covenant Jews as carnal people read our tradition read the guys who write the Puritans that we love on Old Covenant and New Covenant worship they all to a man will say the Jews got that kind of worship because of the absence of faith and God had to hedge them in by providing all this accouterment for them so that they would stay on the beaten path well in the New Covenant we're Blood Bought Children of the Living God what's the Mandate John 4 to Worship in spirit and truth so that brings us to John 4 when it comes to the abreg of the old Covenant and the requirements of old Covenant positive law look at Jesus in John 4 a passage that speaks specifically to worship remember the Lord Jesus is dealing with that Samaritan woman tells her to go and call her husband and she says I I have no husband and in verse 17 Jesus said to her you have well said I I have have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband and that you spoke truly then the woman wants to discuss worship okay the woman said to him sir I I perceive that you are a prophet I guess when somebody tells you that kind of pinpoint accuracy about your life you'd perceive that he was a prophet too our fathers worshiped on this mountain and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship Jesus said to Heroman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father well that's fundamentally different than old Covenant worship Deuteronomy 12 the section that I read follows the section that emphasizes Central Sanctuary the people of God in the old Covenant were told to come to Jerusalem they were told to respond in that particular fashion they were told later to come to the temple why because if they didn't and they broke out worshiping wherever they had a hankering to they'd end up in Idol olry so the emphasis on a central Sanctuary loomed large in Old Covenant history and so for Jesus to say in verse 21 woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father he says in verse 22 you worship what you do not know we we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth if I was the translator here I'd capitalize the S and the I think he's talking about trinitarian worship the father is worshiped in the spirit the Holy Spirit and in the truth the Lord Jesus Christ now that's obviously open for debate I realize that even good men disagree on that but I think that's the emphasis the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and Truth for the father is seeking such to worship him God is spirit and those who worship Him must Worship in spirit and Truth again doesn't give us every detail about positive law doesn't give us every detail about the old Covenant and the New Covenant but it does announce for us by our Lord the lawgiver that there's a change coming in terms of public worship turn over to the book of Hebrews where we see this shift in positive law from old Covenant carnal worship and by carnal I don't mean bad Wicked sinful or evil but that there was more emphasis on the external there was more emphasis on the Pomp and the ceremony there was more emphasis upon those things because a nonas spiritual people would need those sorts of things that's why I've always thought in Roman Catholicism they have all those trappings for the most part they don't walk by faith they walk by sight and by scent they still use incense by priesthood by Sacrifice by all those trappings that you see in the old Covenant or all those things that you see in the old Covenant so notice specifically in the book of Hebrews you have the the end of the the old Covenant priesthood that's the bulk of chapters 5 to 10 remember Paul's point I think Paul wrote Hebrews is to set forth the superiority of Jesus Christ over everybody else he starts off by saying that he's over the prophets he's over Moses he's over the Angels he's over Joshua he's over Aaron and the levitical priests he summarizes that very specifically here in chapter 7 when he tells us that there is a change in the priesthood and then specifically at verse 23 he says also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing but he because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood therefore he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for us for such a high priest was fitting for us who is Holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners and has become higher than the heavens who does not need daily as those High priests offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the peoples for this he did once for all when he offered up himself for the law appoints as priest men who have weakness but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever so the idea that the Apostle would be advocating for a continuing priesthood to offer up continual sacrifices is an affront to what he says here the Lord Christ and his priesthood is final there's no place for another priesthood there's no PR place for Aaron or for Levites or for papist priests as well the end of the old Covenant is here because of the com of the shity of a better Covenant look at verse 22 here in chapter 7 well verse 20 again note the appeal to Psalm 110 it was built into the Old Testament that the old uh old Covenant was going to come to an end so the the argument isn't bad wretched horrible thank you know thankfully we don't have to go back in in Redemptive history no it functioned for the purpose for which God had ordained so verse 20 and in as much as he was met not made priest without an oath for they have become priests without an oath but he with an oath by him who said to him the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are priest forever according to the order of melkisedek by so much more Jesus has become shy of a better Covenant see Brethren this attempt to flatten the Contours in Covenant is is wrong it's misguided if you need to smuggle in poed baptism by by denigrating the New Covenant bringing it down a bit on par with the old Covenant you've missed the point the glory of the New Covenant is that it's the New Covenant the glory of the New Covenant is that it's anti-typical of the old Covenant the glory of the New Covenant is that it's realization and fulfillment of what was anticipation and promise the glory of the New Covenant is that the old Covenant has been fulfilled and this is the apostles point so again if the old Covenant is fulfilled and abrogated no longer does temp Temple and Tabernacle and priesthood and sacrifice and incense find their way into New Covenant churches notice as well uh verse 28 for the law I'm sorry chapter 8 verse one notice now this is the main point of the things we are saying just just in case you've missed all this we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man for every high priest priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer for if he were on Earth he would not be a priest since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law who serve the copy and Shadow of the Heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the Tabernacle for he said see that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain but now he Jesus has obtained a more excellent Ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better Covenant which was established on better promises to flatten the distinction between old and new so you can smuggle in pedal baptism is to go against what the Apostle says here in terms of the betterness of the New Covenant why would we want to do that God gives you a better Covenant you take the better Covenant and you thank him for it and then I think he summarizes this argument in terms of the old testament's abrogation in verse 13 notice in that he says a new Covenant he has made the first obsolete now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away I'm just going to gloss that verse a bit so that I that can convey what I think he's talking about here without having to do a detailed ex aesus of the passage in that he says a New Covenant he has made the first obsolete at the cross through the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world when Jesus died on that cross to after that offer up animals in terms of sacrifice is to denounce renounce and to reject the once for all sacrificed it's about this time that I go off on my tiate against dispensationalism and I think that's a very important tiate because dispensationalism teaches us that in the millennial Kingdom there'll be a reaeration or a reinstitution of animal sacrifice well why what in the world would drop that why would you possibly think that in some Millennial Kingdom we offer up animal sacrifices in light of the once- forall sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ that is to go backwards in Redemptive history it it makes no sense so in that he says a New Covenant he has made the first obsolete now when I say that I'm not saying that dispensationalists are in Hell or reprobate or anything like that I'd like to think that a dispensationalist could hear that and not lose his ever loving mind brethren we need to be able to debate like men we don't cancel each other we don't avoid each other we don't say you're dead to me because you disagree theologically when did we become such ncies in the church when did we get so delicate and so easily offended Brothers fight over theology not fist fight I guess they do or have in some point in history I think some dudes D dueled over a theological point in the history of the church I'm not advocating that but I'm advocating that we ought to be able to disagree and we ought to be able to do so with a bit of heat we ought to be able to push back on one another if our system can't be pushed back on by another Pastor what are we going to do when the Heathen come what are we going to do when the hordes are at the gate what are we going to do when when crunch time comes again I'm not putting them in hell I am saying they ought to adopt a better hermeneutic though so back to 8:13 in that he says a New Covenant he has made the first obsolete at the cross through the blood of Jesus now what is becoming obsolete and growing old the Jewish economy with its sacrificial system I think Paul wrote Hebrews before ad70 and before ad70 the temple was standing before ad70 there was a priesthood operative before 8070 there were people being put pre having pressure put on them the Jewish Christians the people amongst that Nation who believed on Jesus we facing oppression and we're facing pressure from families or work Associates you need to forget about this Jesus you need to go back to the tabern uh the temple and you need to go back to the sacrificial system so he says now what is becoming obsolete and growing old the Jewish economy with its sacrificial system is ready to vanish away at the destruction of the temple in ad70 when that Temple is destroyed that is the the the the the demonstration of the reality that the old Covenant is no longer it was rendered obsolete at the cross but because this Temple still stands because there's a sacrificial system in play because there's still a priesthood people didn't get the memo so when that Temple was desecrated and destroyed then they would have hopefully got the memo though I realize they still haven't but that's what I think the apostles emphasis is in Hebrews 88:13 so we have the end of the old Covenant because of the Redemptive work of Jesus one more passage here in Hebrews you can turn to Hebrews 9 Hebrews chapter 9 notice the contrast between the covenants that the Apostle sets forth verse 6 now when these things had had been thus prepared the priests always went into the first part of the Tabernacle performing the services but in the second part the high priest went alone once a year not without blood which he offered for himself and for 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 note the language imposed until the time of reformation it's the language picked up in our confession chapter 19 paragraph 3 ceremonial law is binding until the time of reformation and then the contrast is verse 11 but Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood he entered the most holy Place once for all having obtained Eternal Redemption for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God cleanse your conscience from dead Works to serve the Living God and then note this retrospective action of the co of the work of the Lord Jesus verse 15 and for this reason he is the mediator of the New Covenant by means of death for the Redemption of the transgressions under the first Covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the Eternal inheritance see that old Covenant system cleansed the flesh it purified them to a state of of cleanliness or Holiness such that they could go to the Tabernacle such that they could go to the temple but it didn't redeem them didn't make them believe Christ's blood is the only means by which any any sinner will ever enter into the Heavenly Jerusalem so we have built in to the old Covenant obsolesence for the old Covenant we see in the New Covenant the Fulfillment of the old Covenant and thus its abrogation and so when we ask the question that I want to end on what is it that governs our practice in the New Covenant it's Jesus Christ the only lawgiver so where do we go to find instruction with reference to New Covenant worship do we go to Chronicles no do we go to Deuteronomy no now we can go there to see the obedience to Divine appointment but we go to the New Covenant documents we go to where the Divine lawgiver speaks again not that Jesus doesn't speak in the old Covenant the old Covenant is no longer binding upon the people of God it's the New Covenant so when we survey the New Covenant we see a simple approach again no Tabernacle no Temple no priesthood No sacrifice no incense as Johnson says to put it simply in worship we pray the Bible sing the Bible read the Bible and preach the Bible and see the Bible in the sacraments if you ask the question where are those things in the New Covenant prayer 1 Timothy 2 1-7 singing Ephesians 55- 21 reading 1 Timothy 4:13 preaching 2 Timothy 4 1:2 we see the Bible in the sacraments Matthew 28 and 1 Corinthians 11 those are things that are commanded and then the final point is the distinction between elements and circumstances elements are those things commanded by our Lord to be done in worship circumstances are matters of indifference circumstances are how big will the pulpit be what particular book do you use to sing the Praises of God from what time are you going to meet that's circumstances those things vary those things are built into light of nature or general Revelation things and those things will differ from church to church and that's okay but the elements of worship are those things that I just specified when it comes to the worship of the Triune God in the New Covenant positive law dictates prayer singing reading preaching and sacraments those El elements cannot be compromised those elements cannot be traded in those elements cannot be added to those elements cannot be taken away from again circumstances are things that aren't elements circumstances are things that are not commanded by God to be done in worship but things that are incidental so when we come to the worship of God it's the elements governed by or or stated by the positive law in the New Covenant that demands our obedience to the Lord most high and may God bless and enable us as a church to continue steadfast in this pattern because as we've seen over the last 100 years it's not the pattern amongst all the professing people of God we have seen the in introduction in mass of profane Fire To The Lord things that are never stipulated things that are never commanded things that are never even suggested in the pages of the New Covenant have found their way into so-called Christian worship services such that some some so-called Christian worship Services have more Affinity with bail Worship in the old Covenant than New Covenant worship that is simple that is in spirit and in truth so may God keep us may God protect us and may God help us for if you're like me you want to have a church that is here long after you are dead you want a place for your children for your grandchildren and for their children and children after that we have something here worth fighting for worth preserving and may the Lord keep us and the only way to ever know true worship of this God Is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ if you are not a Believer if you have not come to the Lord then all of this will make no sense but when by Grace you've tasted and seen that the Lord is good you will sing Psalm 122 with joy in your heart I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord and when you come and you do those things that are commanded you're not going to be tempted to say well you know this is boring I'd rather have a preacher repel from the the ceiling and and wear a superhero costume and preach Jesus as the best superhero no you don't want that believe you me you don't want that you want what God has commanded with nothing more nothing less and nothing else so believe on the Lord Jesus Christ learn what it is to worship and then learn what it is to worship a right will let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for its Clarity at the point of worship and we pray that you would bless this local body help us to be faithful help us to glorify you and indeed God we pray that there would be a church here for subsequent generations for children and for their children and for many many who will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior King go with us now watch over us in this coming week help us to glorify you and we pray in jesus' name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation