You Shall Be Careful

Today we are going to talk about something the reformers call the “regulative Principle of Worship.”

A very quick explanation of this is that Christians are not to worship God in any way that He himself has not prescribed. In other words, we are not to invent new ways to worship God and we are not use worship from ungodly religions in our own worship.

This is a concept we see in the New Testament, but in our main text we will see the New Testament charges to worship God’s way echoes what God clearly taught in the Old Testament. Here are a couple example of Paul exhorting the church in what worship should involve:

Colossians 3:16 ESV

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Ephesians 5:19 ESV

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

It is based on the Word. Let the word of Christ dwell in you. Teach, admonish, sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, be grateful, make melody. These charges from scripture guide us in our preparation for Sunday morning worship. We are careful to include a lot of God’s word, because we are charged to do just that. We are careful that our songs reflect teachings from God’s Word, and we reject some songs that are not clearly in line with scripture, even if they are popular on the radio. We are careful to exhort the church in the preaching of the word. Here is what Daniel Hyde wrote about the regulative principle of worship:

Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims The Word and Worship

The Belgic Confession of Faith links the Reformed churches’ belief in the sufficiency of the Word of God to the area of worship when it says, “For since the whole manner of worship which God requires of us is written in them at large, it is unlawful for any one, though an Apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures: nay, though it were an angel from heaven, as the Apostle Paul saith”. “The whole manner of worship which God requires” is found in the Scriptures. This means we come to worship on God’s terms, not ours; that we do in worship what God wants, not what we want.

Continuing in a later section, the Belgic Confession says: “… we reject all human inventions, and all laws which man would introduce into the worship of God, thereby to bind and compel the conscience in any manner whatever. Therefore we admit only of that which tends to nourish and preserve concord and unity, and to keep all men in obedience to God”.

The Word, then, contains all we need in order to know how to worship; therefore, we reject all human-made laws or elements of worship. This is most memorably and succinctly stated in the Heidelberg Catechism, which says:

What does God require in the second commandment?

That we in no wise make any image of God, nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded us in his Word.

Over the centuries, Reformed churches came to call these ideas the “Regulative Principle of Worship.” The Regulative Principle of Worship holds that we worship God in the manner He has commanded us in His Word. As the Westminster Confession says, “But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture”.

In the Reformed churches, we hold to this principle because we take the Bible seriously. It is God’s Word to us for our faith, as well as for our worship and Christian life. Scripture alone is our ultimate rule, and it sufficiently gives us “all things that pertain to life and godliness”. So it alone governs the substance of what we do in worship.

As I said, the regulative principle of worship did not originate with Paul, but is repeated again and again throughout scripture. God has ordained and commanded his people on how they are to relate to him, how they should worship him. We see this in our main text this morning from Deuteronomy. Moses is speaking to the people and I will read in a moment from chapter 12, through verse 28. You will notice as I read that there is some repetition. Remember that this was given orally to a large group. If you listen in and out as most people do, you may miss something here and there, so often important parts are repeated. If you were to miss something or want to hear the message again, you could do so, since it is available on recording. But this was not the case for the listeners, so you will notice some points repeated.

For example, a lot of you shalls and you shall nots are repeated. God’s choosing of the place of worship is repeated. And you will notice other thoughts repeated:

Deuteronomy 12:1–28 ESV

“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you. “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, but you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place that the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake. Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land. “When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. If the place that the Lord your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. But the holy things that are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place that the Lord will choose, and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat. Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

I am going to highlight certain verses, since this is a long passage and it would take more than one sermon to do an exact verse by verse: You see the title of the sermon in verse 1. You shall be careful. This includes not only what Moses is about to say, but what he has already said. You shall be careful to do all the statutes and rules. Then in verses 2-4, we see something that would make many Christians today very uneasy. Deut12.2-3

Deuteronomy 12:2–4 ESV

You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.

How often do you hear people claim that Christians ought to just ignore all blasphemy and false religions, let them run roughshod over your community, even celebrate false religions in the name of patriotic freedom of religion? Now, we are not given this explicit command, we are not commanded to go with violence to other religious buildings and tear them down. The Israelites were given this direct command. We are not, but still, there is a principle here that we must not miss, and that is that though people may be tolerant of all kinds of blasphemy against God, He is not. And further, God is very concerned that His people do not worship in the way that pagan religions do.

People are always tempted by sin, including the sin of worshiping God in a way He has not ordained or commanded. God’s people, whenever they allowed themselves to be at peace with false religions around them, would be tempted and often fall to that temptation to worship in some false way. God forbids it.

He showed how serious he was about worshiping his way when he killed Aaron’s two sons for bringing unauthorized fire. He showed how serious it was when he killed a man for touching the ark, even though the ark looked like it was going to fall. God again and again has commanded his people, and shown them the seriousness with which he takes it, how they are to worship Him. Instead of worshiping like the pagans, God’s people were to seek the place God would choose, verse 5. He was going to give them instructions on where to worship, where to bring their sacrifices, so that they would not give sacrifices in the places of the people they were to replace in that land, the people who worshiped demons.

Deuteronomy 12:7 ESV

And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

Our worship of God should be full of great joy that is fueled by our gratitude towards God! Said Matthew Henry:

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume Deuteronomy 12:5–32

It is the will of God that we should serve him with gladness; none displeased him more than those that covered his altar with tears.

Just as they were to worship with joy, so should we! Do you ever catch yourself getting ready to come to church and feeling it a bit of a chore? It ought not be that way! We must serve our Savior, Lord and King with joyful hearts.

Next, Moses tells the people things will be different from their time in the wilderness. In the wilderness, the tabernacle moved with them, it was always in close proximity. But in the promised land, there would be one fixed place of worship, and not all would live close by. So in verses 8-15, they are told clearly that all sacrifices of worship should be done only in the place that God was going to choose for them. They were not to decide that they could do it wherever they wanted to. There was to be uniformity in worship. As soon as people start to have their own private worship, things start to get weird. Sometimes people do that in the church. They say they don’t believe in organized religion, so they will just worship in their own way, thank you very much. That is what is meant in verse 8, everyone doing whatever is right in their own eyes.

So through verse 11 they are reminded again that their worship, specifically their burnt offerings and sacrifices, their tithes and contributions, all their vow offerings, should be at the place God would determine for them. John Maxwell:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 5: Deuteronomy Chapter Thirteen—Regulations Concerning Worship

There were seven types of offerings (v. 6). (1) “Burnt offerings” were to be completely burned on the altar. They were to be given at various times to achieve atonement for the offerer. (2) “Sacrifices” were offerings of thanksgiving to God which brought fellowship between man and God. There were three kinds of sacrifices: praise, thanksgiving, and devotional. (3) “Tithes” were to be comprised of grain, wine, oil, and the firstborn of the herds and flocks (see 14:22–29). (4) “Heave offerings” represented a portion that was lifted up from the larger mass and set aside for the use of the priests. (5) “Vowed offerings” represented promises made to God in time of crisis. The (6) “freewill offerings” and (7) “firstborn of your herds and flocks” have already been discussed.

Again in verse 12 we see that rejoicing is commanded! And to be sure the Levites rejoiced with them, they are reminded that part of their sacrifice to God was for the provision of the Levites. If they are worshiping well, the Levites would rejoice with them, their children, their servants, all would be happy and fulfilled in life if they would heed God’s rules and statutes, in particular, if they would obey him in their worship of him.

You will find more repetition in verse 13, Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose. However, they were allowed to kill and eat meat at their own towns, so long as it was not meat that was for the sacrifices or worship. Deut12.15

Deuteronomy 12:15 ESV

“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer.

Then again, they are reminded, as they have already been commanded, that if they do eat meat, they are not to eat the blood. blood is sacred, the life is in the blood, the blood of sacrifices was poured out on the altar, the blood of animals killed for normal food was to be poured out on the ground. More repetition in 17-18. Don’t eat the tithe, or your vow offerings, in your own place, you should eat that in the place the Lord your God would choose. Again, at the end of 18, this is to be done with rejoicing.

In verse 19 again we see the command that the people were not to neglect the Levite. They had not inherited a portion of land, their portion was the Lord, and the people were to take care of them. Their main task was to facilitate the worship and to act as an intermediator, making intercession for the people. They also had the high responsibility of proclaiming the word of God to the people and explaining it to them, and exhorting them to follow God. And as they did this, they were to be well taken care of by the people so that they could do this with rejoicing as well. Matthew Henry:

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume Deuteronomy 12:5–32

It is a great mercy to have Levites near us, within our gates, that we may ask the law at their mouth, and at our feasts to be a check upon us, to restrain excesses. And it is the duty of people to be kind to their ministers that give them good instructions and set them good examples. As long as we live we shall need their assistance, till we come to that world where ordinances will be superseded; and therefore as long as we live we must not forsake the Levites.

In verses 20-22 we see another repeated idea, that God’s people may crave meat, and that is OK! I love the end of verse 20, “you may eat meat whenever you desire”! There is nothing wrong with the physical cravings we may have, so long as they are restrained by a desire to be holy and worshipful towards God. These times where they eat meat, but they are too far from the temple, they are free to eat in their own places, so long as that is meat for regular use, not for sacrifice. Because this would be meat for secular, and not sacred purposes, the clean and unclean alike may eat of it, verse 22. In verse 23-24 the repetition is there. God’s people are prohibited from eating blood.

They are reminded again in verses 26-27 to bring their sacrifices to the altar of the Lord their God in the place that He would choose, and then in verse 28 another reminder to be careful to do these things, with the promise that it may go well with you and your children.

Much of what is found in these verses applies to a specific people at a specific time. But the principles stand for followers of Christ today. We are not to worship Him in ways He has not ordained or commanded for us. We are to avoid trying to imitate other religions or ways of worship that are contrary to God’s ways. By the way, we do not follow God’s instructions for worship to be accepted by him. We do them because He has chosen us. John Maxwell:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 5: Deuteronomy Chapter Thirteen—Regulations Concerning Worship

Israel is to obey these laws not in order to become holy; rather, she is to obey them because she is holy. The observance of law is a byproduct of holiness, not a means of attaining holiness.

4 Characteristics of a place to worship God:

A place where God is present

A place where God’s people gather

A place that is different from the world

A place of ministry

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 5: Deuteronomy Chapter Thirteen—Regulations Concerning Worship

The four characteristics of a place to worship God carry over from the Old Testament to the New. Our place of worship, too, should be: (1) a place where God is present (

WCF:

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition Chapter XXI. Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath-Day

THE light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible re presentation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy scripture.