In Deuteronomy 12.32, Deuteronomy 12.32, what things soever I command you, observe to do it, thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. In the Hebrew Bible, this is actually the first verse of chapter 13, before the discussion of the false prophets. In the context, we see, however, at the beginning beginning of chapter 12, that when God brought his people into the promised land, he set forth a series of particular enactments regarding their worship. He tells us these are the statutes and the judgments which you shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of your fathers giveth thee to possess it all the days that you live upon the earth. God predicates his granting of possession of the land to the people that he's called out, predicates that upon their keeping this series of enactments regarding his worship. And then, in the second and third verse, he begins by commanding them to remove all of the monuments of idolatry. In fact, he tells them they have to destroy every vestige of these places and every remembrance of the practices of idolatry. This divine command is founded upon the tendencies of human nature. To remove out of sight everything that had been associated with idolatry is necessary so that it might never be spoken of, so that no vestiges of it might remain. You see that's the only way God can keep the Israelites from falling into the temptations. So in verses 2 and 3 he says, you shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which you shall possess serve their gods upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree. You shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars and burn their groves with fire. You shall hew down the graven images of their gods and destroy the names of them out of that place. God is concerned that should these things remain, a people who've been brought out of bondage, the bondage of an idolatrous nation, that they might be tempted, that they might be drawn back into the idolatry through the monuments being left behind in this nation. We see as well in verse 4, Scripture emphasizes here that God is not to be worshipped according to the devices of the heathen. You shall not do so unto the Lord your God. They were forbidden then to worship either in the impure superstitious manner of the heathen or in any of the places frequented by the heathen. Anything that had any kind of association with heathenism was to be purged out of the land. God wants none of that being brought into His worship. God wants all of that rooted out of His holy nation. Now instead of that, we were told that God would appoint a place of His own choosing, under which all His people would come. All the sacrifices, all the offerings, they have to be brought up to the one appointed place to be offered up. Deuteronomy 5, 12 verses 5 and 6, But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put His name there, even under his habitation shall you seek, and thither thou shalt come. And thither you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks." Now this would be Mizpah, the Watchtower. And then there would be Shiloh, which was the place of rest. And finally, this place would be the teaching of peace, Jerusalem. That's what Jerusalem refers to, the teaching of peace. And so in the Old Testament dispensation we see God is leading his people. First he places his name in Mizpah, the watchtower, and then in Shiloh, the place of rest, and finally in Jerusalem, which is the place where there is the teaching of peace. Now it's over this final place, in fact, that we find that controversy in John's Gospel referred to with the Samaritans. The Samaritans did not understand this or rejected it because of the translation that they found in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Nonetheless, what follows then in Deuteronomy 12 are commands and these commands are aimed at making and keeping a distinction between that which is sacred and that which is common. Now there were special rules which were to be regarded with respect to animals used in the sacrificial system. And there were also rules which were used to emphasize the significance of the shedding of blood and the sanctity of blood in that ceremonial system of the Mosaic economy. And so to that end then, God's people at this time are duly instructed to attend to those commissioned by God to teach them in these matters. This is why in verse 19 he says, take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. The Levite is going to teach them to keep this distinction between the clean and the unclean. Between the sacred and the profane or the common. There are a number of rules. There are a number of enactments that God makes under this mosaic economy which have to be followed with great precision. And the job of the Levite is, in fact, to keep track of all of that. Now, finally, and immediately preceding the text that we want to look at more closely, God's people are enjoined in Deuteronomy 12 to avoid being snared by the influence of their Egyptian education. So in verses 30 and 31, they're warned, take heed to thyself, that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee, and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. shall not do so unto the Lord thy God for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods or even their sons and their daughters they burnt in the fire to their gods. Now the point here is this, although the Israelites have been delivered from the physical bondage of Egypt, These warnings are leveled against remaining in the spiritual bondage of Egypt. God may have regenerated you. God may have, in fact, delivered you out of spiritual bondage. But if your education remains in the world you're going to gravitate back to that spiritual bondage. They've been educated early and for a very long duration in what we can only call principles of Egyptian theology. And this is exactly what needs to be remedied. It has to be fixed. Now from all of this we can observe that first of all The great design of God's delivering a people from the Egypt of sin is to bring them to a place to worship it. God delivers people from sin so that he can seek at their hands praise and worship. So in John 4.23 when Jesus is speaking to this woman at the well, this Samaritan, he says to her, the Father seeketh such to worship him. The psalmist tells us that whoso offerth praise glorifieth me. God saves men not simply for themselves, but for himself. And this is the very point of that first question in the Catechism. The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Man's chief end is to glorify God. That's what comes first. Our enjoyment of God must follow upon and be in subordination to our glorifying of God and so the great design of salvation is always that we glorify God. When God brings His people into the Promised Land, that is what He's instructing them to do. But then again, we can observe that the Lord marks it a great sign of obedience in His people to forsake their idols. Paul actually commends the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 9. He says, for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Now on the other hand, it's marked as a note of rebellion and as something which fits one for judgment when those who profess the name of God do not forsake their idolatry. So in Ezekiel chapter 20 verses 7 and following, the Lord says, Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me, and they would not hearken unto me. They did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt." Just as much as God would have his people give up the devices of heathenism, just as he would have them abandon that worship associated with the theology of Egypt, those who refuse to put aside that corrupted worship, those who insist on bringing in all of the accoutrements of heathen idolatry, Those bring upon themselves, those bring upon the church of God, the fury and the wrath of God. It makes God angry to see those who profess His name, to take it in vain by offering up a worship that He has not commanded. But we can see as well here that the Church has nothing at all to learn from the heathen regarding the manner or the manner of worshipping the true God. How could they? Now Jeremiah 10 verses 1 and following, we are told to be not dismayed at the signs of heaven. God tells His people, O house of Israel, be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them, for the customs or the ordinances of the people are vain. The fact is that the heathen are darkness. They're not simply in darkness, they are darkness. There is no light in them. They have, to the best of their ability, put out all of the light of nature that they can. They've given themselves over to every kind of wickedness, to work iniquity after iniquity. And so all of their customs, that is to say, all of their ordinances are ordinances of vanity, because they themselves are vain. They've shown themselves vain. And it should come as no surprise, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The fallen men cannot know how to worship God right. Fallen men don't have the spiritual capacity. It is not a property of darkness to approach unto the light. It's not a property of darkness to open itself up to light because Darkness, when it comes into contact with light, ceases to be darkness. And yet, if it were no longer darkness, they would no longer be heathens. So the things that they continue to do are vain. They're darkness. Darkness can't mimic light. Darkness cannot in any way imitate the light. Any imitation is simply an outline that contains within it more darkness. We can also see that it's a great preventative means to preserve God's worship pure and entire and to avoid the introduction of corrupt and heathenish customs, as well as to reserve a unity and brotherly love amongst the people of God for them to meet together in one place. God, after telling them to cast down all of these monuments of idolatry, after instructing them to stay away from heathenism, tells them to come together to that place which He's chosen, that one place This is why the Apostle in Hebrews 10 emphasizes virtually the same point. He says, Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Under the New Testament, the name of God is placed very clearly in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if we move from Mizpah, the watchtower, to Shiloh, the place of rest, to Jerusalem, the teaching of peace, we finally come to Jesus, which means that salvation is of the Lord. We cannot compromise that principle. And yet, that is exactly the concern. because the purity of the worship of God here is being put in juxtaposition to worshiping God in the one place where he has appointed. If we worship God in the one place where he's appointed, we're not going to hold on to these monuments of idolatry. On the other hand, if we follow these monuments of idolatry, if we're casting ourselves in the way of heathenism, we're not going to be brought to that one place wherein the unity of the truth is held, which now is in Jesus. Again though, we see it's the responsibility of those who profess to be the people of God to come to a right understanding, a right apprehension of the truth of God's Word in this matter of worship. It's not enough to claim ignorance. God tells them to remember the Levite. Why? There are all these rules they need to know, they need to understand. You can't say, I don't understand, and then plead that your lack of understanding is that you ignored the teachings of the Levites. You have an obligation to gain a right understanding, a right apprehension of the truth of God's Word, particularly in this matter of worship. John 4.24, Jesus tells this Samaritan woman, God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. It's to this end that God has appointed teachers to aid his people in this most solemn responsibility. Ezekiel 44, 23, they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. In fact, he condemns those teachers that fail in this regard. Ezekiel 22 verse 26. Her priests have violated my law to profane my holy things. They put no difference between the holy and profane. Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean. They have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I have profaned among them. So if there is a responsibility on the part of the people of God to gain a right understanding, a right apprehension of this truth, there's an equal responsibility on the part of those who would be teachers in the church to be very clear in declaring the difference between what is holy and what is profane, what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. God wants His people to know the difference between what is the acceptable way of worshipping Him and what is not. God wants His people to understand the difference between heathenism and true religion. God wants His people to understand the difference between the obedience of faith and the presumption of their ignorance. They have obligations. It's not enough for them simply to say, ah, I am among those called the people of God. Jesus doesn't say that they that worship Him should worship Him in spirit and in truth. That would be enough that it should move you to be very, very careful in this matter. But Jesus says, in fact, they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. It's not simply a very strong desire that's being expressed. What is being expressed is the absolute prohibition of the contrary. And that absolute prohibition of the contrary could only be upheld and could only be displayed if the people have a proper understanding between what's holy and what's profane. People can't do that without that understanding. And so, what Jesus says should tell us very clearly that this is a requirement of believers. This is why the responsibility is so strong. We must have a right understanding. We must have a proper apprehension of the truth, particularly with the matter of God's worship. It wouldn't simply do just to have a good idea about it. We need to know the difference. We need to be able to show the difference. But again, here we see this. Evil associations and ungodly education, though it were in the past. Yet, those evil associations, that ungodly education that you acquired, continue to wield influence in the present. And that has to be fought. Paul tells us about this in Romans 7. He says, I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Paul is talking about indwelling sin. What is it that has given this indwelling sin such a power in his life? Practice. He's practiced it. He's very practiced in resisting the truth. He tells us again and again how often he was most forward in persecuting the truth of God as a Pharisee. What is it God is worried about, as it were, here in Deuteronomy 12, when he warns the Israelites against following the heathens? He's worried about the influence of their Egyptian education. He knows that there's a difference between being brought out of Egypt and actually forsaking the idols that you were educated in front of while you were in Egypt. He knows that there is a difference between God's deliverance from sin and the mortification of sin that is required in every believer every day of his life. So Peter tells us we must be admonished continually 1 Peter 4 verses 1 and following, For as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness lusts, excessive wine, revelings, banqueting, and abominable idolatries. The apostles are concerned about our previous education just as much as Moses. We've been educated in Egypt. It has an influence. The world has left its imprint We don't think correctly about the prospect in front of us and what is required of us. Now let's look at the scope of God's concern regarding the worship of God here. The first word, actually, in the Hebrew is the word et. It's a word that's not translated, but it is a word that, in fact, is a marker of a direct object. It's a little pointer in Hebrew. And it's pointing in a way that serves to emphasize what comes next. What it's doing, syntactically, is it's making this statement in Deuteronomy 12, 32, an imperative. That's precisely why it appears that way in our translation. What does he say? What's thingsoever? That is, the word is in this place connoting a totality. He's not trying to leave out anything. He wants you to understand in this matter of the worship of God, He wants you to consider the entire thing. The whole of it. There's a focus here on the totality of the object or the idea. What so ever. What thing so ever. It expresses the absolute encompassing nature of the verse. Deuteronomy 12, 32. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it. What thing soever then, have us look at the whole. So in Numbers 5.30, when the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and she'll set the woman before the Lord, the priest shall execute upon her all this law. But things soever, all this law. Now while the immediate and primary reference is to the things that have been mentioned before, the things that come immediately after regarding both the worship of God and the revelation of God's will. Those things which are mentioned, the removing of idols, removing the occasions to idolatry, making proper distinctions between the sacred and the common, sanctifying God in the way he's appointed, The fact is that we must recognize this principle really applies to everything written by God. Which is why in Deuteronomy 4.2 he says, You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish aught from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you. So the word thing here literally, the word devar, it means statement, it's a word or message, a communication. He's concerned about the whole of whatever it is which God is communicating to us here. What thing soever. But then it proceeds by saying, which I. And this is important because in this context, what is being made clear, lest anyone should think that the prerogative of appointing the worship of God had somehow fallen into the hands of Moses. It needs to be very clear that the Lord is the one who's speaking. He's the one commanding. He's doing it in the first person. This is the divine I Am. And He's asserting His right to tell sinful men what they are to do in this matter of worshipping Him. What thing? Soever! Which I command you, or literally am commanding you. He's saying command in the sense of ordering. He's telling them. He's giving instruction or direction. This is a decree. And in the context of this decree, you need to understand it is stated with the force or authority of what others must do, and the force or authority which lies behind this command is the divine I Am. This is a whole word then, this is a complete doctrine. This communication, respecting the divine worship, God does not merely suggest to you here, The fact is, He is authoritatively commanding and directing you to do it. Why should I obey God in this matter of His worship? Why should I worship God in the way He commands me to do it? Because He's commanding you. Those who attend to the hearing of His Holy Word, He is commanding you. Those who profess to be His holy people, He's telling you that you must do whatsoever He's commanded you. Now the fact that God gave such attention, even to the smallest details of His command, regulating the worship of God, that is to say, the fact that He actually put that little marker in the Hebrew, that should move us to a greater appreciation of the importance of the matter. Even in a way that perhaps you don't perceive in that, God's hand is at work. In fact, there is some discussion as to what exactly that et means. It's a combination of an aleph and a tau, which is the equivalent of our A and our Z. And there are some who think that this is an indication that there is a fullness that is being implied in that little pointer. In other words, what sort of thing I command you from A to Z Whatever it is, if it's more than that direct marker, it is certainly a command of universal, perpetual import. Psalm 117, 1, O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye people. God commands us to praise Him, and He has regulated this worship even to the smallest detail. Again, God has not given us a series of disconnected ideas concerning His worship. We need to be very careful that we do not misunderstand this. He's given us a coherent doctrine which is discernible in His Word. Exodus 25 verse 40, "...look that thou make them after their pattern which was shown thee in the mount." Now the word pattern here actually refers to a written or detailed plan. especially a plan that was given for the purpose of constructing a blueprint. And that's exactly and precisely what God has given us in his word when it comes to the matter of regulating his worship. It contains a written and a detailed plan for the proper manner and the proper mode of worshiping the true God. and this plan contains the whole of it. We don't need to go outside of it to find anything substantial for the worship of God. But again, the regulative principle of worship isn't the matter of the opinions of various sinful men. This regulative principle is not coming to us from the mouth of Moses, but God is speaking this direct. This is coming immediately from the mouth of the Most High, the I Am. And if we regard it as that, we will be much more inclined to be obedient. If we think this is just simply some mosaic enactment, We may be more inclined to set it aside, but this is in fact the word of God for all time. If we disregard Moses and his mission, we're told that a greater than Moses sent him. Exodus 3.14, God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you. Even if it were Moses, He only did it because I AM sent Him. But we don't have to stop there because in this command, God speaks in the first person. We see as well that God gave us commandments that they might be kept. He didn't give us His word for our opinion. He gave us His word for our obedience. That's what he tells us in Leviticus 22. Therefore shall you keep my commandments and do them. I am the Lord. When God says, I am the Lord, he is directing you to that supreme authority which overrides all other authority, including your own. The worship of God isn't to be conformed to your desires, to the dictates and preferences of your own taste, or the taste of others, or the taste of some committee. The worship of God, the acceptable worship of God, is in fact that which he's told us is acceptable. Now look at the care that he and joins upon us in the exercise of the matter of divine worship. He says, observe. Keep it. Obey this commandment with diligence and in detail. Observe it. The word that's used here doesn't simply mean that we should take note as if we've been instructed, but rather this word means that we should take heed that we do it. We're to conform ourselves with diligence and with regard to detail to the whole doctrine of the Word of God. We're to observe to do it. to do what God has said, to behave or have our conduct in that particular way. We're to take a particular care to the worship of God in order to change our conduct in this matter. We're to do what God says and not what we want. Deuteronomy 17 verse 11, according to the sentence of the law which they, that is the Levites, the teachers of the true God, the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand nor to the left. If we would but consider the nature of fallen man, we would be moved to a realization of the necessity for this command concerning the worship of God. We cannot know that acceptable way. We are sinners by nature. We are darkness by nature. He is light by nature. He is holy and just and righteous by nature. We cannot approach unto Him by nature. We must approach unto Him only in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe then that God is telling us to take heed to perform the whole duty of worship, not by parts or in parts, but in its entirety. Keeping the regulative principle is not a matter of keeping it only in parts. Psalm 29.2, give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. There are proposals that I've seen that call for the churches to all worship God singing songs. And that's good. That's according to the regulative principle. That's according to God's appointment and command. But the same proposals I've seen have asked people who are psalm singers to compromise with people who want instrumental music in the worship of God. They want a compromise that allows the bringing in of Old Testament types and ceremonies to pollute the New Testament worship of God. The regulative principle is not asking us to do it by halves. We're to do it in its entirety. We don't have a right to pick and choose what part of the regulative principle we want to abide by. We don't have a right to tell God, oh, well, we're going to keep these holy days, but we're going to make them properly reformed. We're going to put Christ back in Christmas. We're going to put Jesus back in Easter. We're going to somehow re-infuse true religion into pagan usages as if it had ever been there. Or we're going to try to infuse the New Testament theology into the Old Testament ceremonies and deny that Christ has actually come in the flesh, or we're going to pick up and use the things that please men in the worship of God so that we can, as I've heard some say, be all things to all men so that some men might be saved. That's not a command to compromise the regulative principle of God in his worship. It's not enough for us to know the will of God, we have to seek to do the will of God. Jesus says in John 13, 17, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. And this is especially the case in the matter of worship, I'm the Lord God. This is my name and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Now let me tell you, those people who have low thoughts of this regulative principle of worship demonstrate this. They demonstrate that they have very high thoughts of themselves and they have very low thoughts of God. They think they know better. They think they have some kind of inside line on what God is going to accept, even though He's warned us He will not. Listen to what the psalmist says. Psalm 50 verse 21. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, though thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself. but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes." Again, listen to what Paul told those at Mars Hill. When describing the true God, he says, neither is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything saying he giveth through all life and breath and all things. What is it God needs from you? Well Paul just told you. The answer is nothing. You need everything from him and nothing that you offer to him is acceptable to him apart from Him sanctifying it by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God is not going to work, is not going to sanctify anything that you're doing apart from the Word of God, particularly in this matter of the worship of God. You have no reason to expect that. It's not acceptable worship. It's not okay with God. Listen to the regulatory prohibitions given us here in Deuteronomy 12.32. Thou shalt not add thereto. There's preemptory force in this statement. God, just as much as he's giving us this command in the first person, he's addressing you in the second. Whoever hears this communication, those who are hearers of this law, those who profess to be the people of the true God, thou, what does he go on to say? Shout not. In other words, permission denied. All permission is denied by the Holy One of Israel. You are not allowed to do what? Well, you're not allowed to add. And literally this word means to increase or cause to add to. You're not to add thereto. That is, to the commandments of God concerning His worship. So, think about this now. You don't have a right to add anything to the worship of God that He hasn't commanded. You simply do not have the right. But there's another prohibition here. He says, nor diminish from it. Nor tells us that this is equally prohibitive. The word diminish means to reduce, decrease, subtract, omit, or have some reduction Again, the command or communication of God concerning what is and is not acceptable in His worship. You don't have a right to add to it nor detract from it. You don't have a right. Why? Because, you see, you're to observe what God has commanded you to do. He's already told you. He's given you exactly what you need to do. Remember, He gave you a blueprint. He gave you a pattern. Now there are three ways that we add or increase that which God commands in His worship. First of all, we can add in our thoughts. And we do that whenever we join to the meaning of the Word of God any vain notions of our own. And we can say as well, whenever we join to the worship of God, any vain notions of our own. When we try to impose our thoughts on what God has commanded, we've added to it. Isaiah 55, verse 8 and 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts and your thoughts. The customs of the heathen are vain. Thoughts which arise from your fallen nature, from indwelling sin, are vain. You have no right to add your interpretation or your meaning with your own spin or twist on what it is God has commanded. Let us therefore not cease to strive against these vain imaginations. We need to seek to bring all of our thoughts in line with God's thoughts. which is what the Apostle tells us in 2 Corinthians 10, 5. We are to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We're told, we know, if you've ever stopped to reflect, you know, very often your thoughts are contrary to the thoughts of God. How often has the Word of God caused you to stick? You hear something, and you just say to yourself, that can't be so. And you hear it again, and you wish it were not so, but finally you must bring your thoughts into conformity to and submission to that Word. And you have to do that in the realm of worship. We add or increase what God commands in His worship in word when we join to the teaching of the Word of God, doctrines of our own devising. That is, when we move from these vain thoughts and we begin to construct elaborate defenses, we try to come up with reasons why it's okay. What? Why is it okay? for us to use musical instruments? Why is it okay for us to sing hymns of human composition? Why is it okay to observe these holy days? We can come up with all kinds of doctrines of our own devising, but all of these doctrines stand condemned in Jeremiah 29-23 which says, they have spoken lying words in my name which I have not commanded them. And Jesus, in Mark 7, how be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. It's a false teaching, and it leads to a false practice. We're in violation of this regulative principle, and we bring it into the worship of God when we construct false doctrines to justify false practice, which is the last way that we, in fact, add or increase the command in the worship of God, when we do it in deed. Once we've devised a doctrine, the next logical step for fallen men is to bring it into the service of God. And so men construct ceremonies and rituals of their own devising, which is exactly what Needhab and Abihu did, and it did not end well with them. We're told in Leviticus 10 verse 1, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them as censer and put fire therein, put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not." What did they do? They didn't detract. They added to the Word of God. They added to the command. They didn't follow through and observe what God commanded them to do. They thought that it might be okay if they jump-started their ritual with a little fire from somewhere else. And God killed them for doing it. Likewise, there are three ways in which we can diminish or decrease from what God commands in His worship. Again, we can do it in thought. And that is whenever we worship God with mere formality. When our minds are afar off. Matthew 15 verse 8, This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. God complains about formal worship, which fails to join our thoughts to what we're doing, we're diminishing. We're not observing to do what God has commanded, we're diminishing. But we do it in word as well. Whenever we neglect to receive the whole word of God in this matter of worship. You know, every failure in this respect is dangerous and sinful. Proverbs 5, 7. Hear me now, therefore, all you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. There are a lot of people who find this idea of a regulative principle simply too restrictive. It's not to their liking, it's not to their taste. It seems to them to be a deadening thing. It seems to them to be very off-putting. And certainly it will not serve a very useful purpose in evangelizing the world. Again, that problem is rooted in a very large misunderstanding of the purpose of the Church. The public worship of the Church is for the people of God, it's not for the evangelizing of the world. We need to receive the whole Word of God in this matter of worship. We need to obey this regulative principle. We need to be careful that we don't diminish from this regulative principle by refusing to heed its very Word. We do it indeed whenever we neglect to make use of the whole service of God as detailed in His Word. In our confession in chapter 21, section 5, we're told that the reading of the Scriptures with God we fear, sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the word and obedience unto God with understanding, faith and reverence, singing of psalms with grace in the heart, as also the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ, are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God, beside religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are in their several times and seasons to be used in a holy and religious manner." There are a lot of things there that are deeds which are commanded in the Word of God. And yet there are a lot of professing Presbyterians who don't follow these in deed. If we move simply beyond the issue of psalm singing and people who want to add to that, by the way, when they add to the singing of psalms, what they're really doing is detracting from the singing of psalms because every time they sing a hymn, they're not singing a psalm. And so it's not as if they're doing one or the other, they're doing both. They're adding to and diminishing from what God said to do. But if we move beyond that, we have all of this talk of religious oaths and vows, solemn fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions. It used to be the practice of the Presbyterian Church to have appointed days of fasting, appointed days of thanksgiving. It used to be the practice of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches to engage themselves in religious oaths and vows. When we fail to do this, when we try to make the case that these things belong to another dispensation, the Old Testament, We're denying this regulated principle of worship. We're failing to observe to do everything God has commanded us to do. That doesn't say that these things are ordinary parts of religious worship, but they still are part of religious worship. And their neglect is, in fact, a neglect that calls into serious question those very churches which would profess to hold to the regulative principle and even outwardly to appear to be very strict in their adherence. The fact is we must adhere to this whatsoever thing God has commanded we have to observe to do it. We can't add to it, we can't diminish from it. So, what should we do? Well, we need to be admonished that it is very important that we take heed how we hear. We need to be very careful that we exercise a godly diligence in these matters of worship, that we be not found guilty of adding to nor subtracting from the acceptable worship of the living God. God has given us a means and he's given us his word and we are without excuse if we do not worship him according to his command. Finally, we need to consider and be comforted knowing that Christ our Savior is the end of the law, including the regulative principle. Just as there was only one place where the people of old could meet with God, the place where He said His name, so too in our day there is only one place where we can meet with God. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He is the only place where we can meet with God. He is the only one that can make all that we do acceptable before Him. We have to be acceptable in Him or we will not be accepted. And so although it is our responsibility to observe to do it, we know that it is the failure of our nature and we will not do all that we ought to do in this matter either. The presence of indwelling sin in the spots of the children of God are no excuse for us to ignore this principle altogether. We need then to come together and reason with God and ask Him to have mercy upon us and accept the offerings of our lips, the fruit of our lips in thanksgiving to Him, not for our sake, but for Christ's sake. And know that the only way that we will find acceptance with Him is when He joins with us in the singing of His praises, because we're told in Hebrews 2, He offers up a song of praise in the midst of His brethren. And if He's offering up that song of praise, we can be assured He's doing it in the words which He's indicted and by the Spirit which He's given. And that is the way we ought to do it as well. Let's observe then to do the things He's commanded us and not seek to add to nor diminish from it in any way. Amen. Still Waters Revival Books is now located at PuritanDownloads.com. It's your worldwide online Reformation home for the very best in free and discounted classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, mp3s, and videos. For much more information on the Puritans and Reformers, including the best free and discounted classic and contemporary books, MP3s, digital downloads, and videos, please visit Still Waters Revival Books at PuritanDownloads.com. Stillwater's Revival Books also publishes the Puritan Hard Drive, the most powerful and practical Christian study tool ever produced. All thanks and glory be to the mercy, grace, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ for this remarkable and wonderful new Christian study tool. The Puritan hard drive contains over 12,500 of the best Reformation books, MP3s, and videos ever gathered onto one portable Christian study tool. An extraordinary collection of Puritan, Protestant, Calvinistic, Presbyterian, Covenanter, and Reformed Baptist resources, it's fully upgradable and it's small enough to fit in your pocket. The Puritan hard drive combines an embedded database containing many millions of records with the most amazing and extraordinary custom Christian search and research software ever created. The Puritan Hard Drive has been produced to assist you in the fascinating and exhilarating spiritual, intellectual, familial, ecclesiastical, and societal adventure that is living the Christian life. It has been specifically designed so that you might more faithfully know, serve, and love the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as to help you to do all you can to bring glory to His great name. If you want to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, then the Puritan Hard Drive is for you. Visit PuritanDownloads.com today for much more information on the Puritan Hard Drive and to take advantage of all the free and discounted Reformation and Puritan books, mp3s, and videos that we offer at Still Waters Revival Books.