Let's turn together in the word of God this evening to the Old Testament book of Jeremiah chapter 7. Jeremiah chapter 7, we'll begin reading there at verse 28. Finish the chapter and then Enter into Chapter 8 and there read the first seven verses. The focus this evening is on Jeremiah 7, verse 31, along with Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 35. We're not up to Lord's Day 35 yet in the Heidelberg Catechism, but that Lord's Day is on the regulative principle based on the Second Commandment and therefore Since that's the topic in this part of the series on worship, I'm going to preach the catechism there tonight. The first Jeremiah 7, beginning at verse 28. This is Jeremiah preaching to the Israelites. Before they go into captivity, seeking to, by God's grace, convict them of their sins. Jeremiah 7, verse 28. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places. For the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place. And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth. and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate. At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves. And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought. Whom they have worshipped, they shall not be gathered nor be buried. They shall be forgone upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain in this evil family, which remain in all the places, whether I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts. Moreover, thou shalt say unto them, thus saith the Lord, shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return? Why, then, is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to seat, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming. But my people know not the judgment of the Lord." That far we read God's holy word. Let's read verse 31 again of Jeremiah 7. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Now let's turn together in the back of your Psalters to the Huddleburg Catechism, Lord's Day 35. Lord's Day 35, this is the catechism's exposition of the Second Commandment. We're just going to read question and answer 96 this evening, Lord's Day 35, 96. Page 21 in the back of your Psalter. What doth God require in the second commandment? That we in no wise represent God by images, nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his word. When John Calvin was asked to give his opinion on what were the most important issues in the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century, he said this, If it be inquired then by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence among us, and maintains its truth, It will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place but comprehend under them all the other parts and consequently the whole substance of Christianity. A knowledge first of the mode in which God is duly worshipped and secondly of the source from which salvation is to be obtained. So important was the right worship of God to Kelvin, that it beat out the doctrine of salvation itself as the most important issue in the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church exists for worship. The Church does mission work in order that there might be worship. in a place where there is not now worship. The chief end of man is to worship, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It's for this reason, beloved, that we have taken up a series specifically on the public corporate worship of Jehovah God. So far in this series, we have seen that public worship is a covenantal assembly whereby the assembly meets with Jehovah God face to face. Secondly, we've seen that in that meeting, in that covenantal meeting, there is a dialogue that takes place between God and His people. There's back and forth communication. It's a covenantal meeting. And now this evening, we see that Jehovah God is the one who, in His sovereignty, regulates every element of what takes place in this meeting. That's the regulative principle of worship. It's the principle that ensures what Calvin was concerned about, the mode in which God is duly worshiped. Now, the word regulative sounds frightening and imperialistic to a lot of people today. Nobody really wants to be regulated. We all want to exist without regulation. As we will, the Lord willing, discover this evening, this regulative principle of worship is actually a very freeing principle. And it's a freeing principle because it's a principle that leads to true worship of God, the worship that comes from God's own heart. That's what we discover this evening. Take as a theme, worship according to God's heart, the regulative principle of worship. It's noticed first, the principle itself, second, the application of that principle, and third, the blessing. The principle itself, the application and the blessing. The regulative principle of worship is a principle that says that God, in his word, tells us how to worship him. What God commands in worship must be done. And what he does not command in worship is forbidden. The principle is that God in his word tells us how to worship him and what God commands in worship must be done and what he does not command in worship must be forbidden. This principle arises, first of all, out of the Second Commandment. That's why the Heidelberg Catechism deals with this principle under the Second Commandment. The first commandment of the Ten Commandments is about who we are to worship. God says, worship me and no other gods before me. The second commandment, God tells us how to worship him. Exodus 20, verses four and five, give us the second commandment. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. that speaks to us about how we are to worship Jehovah God. Negatively, from that commandment, we're not supposed to worship Him with images. The Israelites were tempted by this in their history a number of times. For example, at the base of Mount Sinai. You recall in that history there, they built a golden calf. And the purpose of that golden calf was not to worship the golden calf as though that was their new God. But rather, the issue there was the mode in which Jehovah was worshipped. What they said is, we'll worship this Jehovah God whom we can't see through this image here that we make, this golden calf. So that the issue wasn't worshipping a new God, it was rather worshipping God in a way that was idolatrous. They worshipped God in a way that He had not commanded. And God told them then, I will not be worshipped that way. Don't worship me through images. And the Heidelberg Catechism then expands the application of the principle by saying that God determines how he will be worshipped. God is the one who says how to worship him. It's not up to the imaginations of men, but rather he will be worshipped, says the catechism, in no other way than he has commanded in his word. He is the sovereign God. He declares. He has the right to declare. how he will be worshipped. We can state that commandment positively as well. God says, worship me in the second commandment, come and worship me and worship me in the way that I desire. Love to worship me in the way that I desire. That's the regulative principle of worship, beloved. Worship God in the way he wants. It's worship for him after all. Worship Him in the way He declares. Give Him what He desires. That's the question then we ask when we talk about the regulative principle of worship. What does God want? That's the question. What does God want in the worship of His holy name? When people deal with issues regarding the worship of Jehovah God, that's sometimes not the question that people ask. when dealing with issues regarding what are to be the elements of the worship of God. How? What do we do when we have this dialogue, this meeting with Jehovah God? May we do whatever we want? May we add different elements? May we take away some elements? Oftentimes, the question in dealing with those issues is not what does God desire in the worship of his name? Rather, sometimes wrong questions are asked, like, for example, What will be the most appealing to the people? So that's the question that governs the way worship goes. What will allow people to showcase their own individual gifts the best and make them feel the most special in worship? Or what would be the elements that are most like the culture that we live in now on the earth? Or what will be the most fun for us? Or sometimes the question can just be, what are the things or what are the songs I used to sing when I was a child? Or what is the way I'm always used to doing it? But all of these things are not the question, are they? This isn't the question when we come to the worship of Jehovah God. The question is this. What does God desire in the worship of his holy name? What does his word tell us about the public worship of him? In worship, God speaks, and we respond to Him. So how does He desire for us to respond? He's the audience, not us. Our worship is for Him. It's not for you and for me, first of all. Therefore, how does He desire to be worshipped? What will bring Him more glory? I'm sure no husbands here have done anything like this before. But what if, ladies, it was your birthday and your husband came home and he had a present for you and he was very excited about this present. He was really excited for you to open it. And because he was so excited, that made you excited because you thought, if he's so excited for me to open this, this must be something really great. And so you get all excited about it as well. Then you open that present. Turns out it's three tickets to a Twins game. And your husband's all excited because he says, this is what's going to happen. Me and my brother and you, the three of us, we're going to go to a Twins game. It was just going to be me and my brother. We had bought tickets, but now I bought one for you as well. We're going to have a good time at a Twins game. Isn't it going to be great? Your husband says. He's all excited until He sees the disappointment in your face if you're not a Twins fan. And you, as his wife, begin to try to kindly explain to him that you don't really like baseball and that you could maybe go along with it. It could maybe be a nice night out, the two of you, if it was just you and him. But his brother's going to be there, too. It's not even really a romantic night away. But eventually, in the discussion, you get to the crux of the matter. And you say to him, dear, when you bought me this present, you were really thinking more about yourself and you were really thinking more about what you would want when you bought this for me. You weren't really thinking about what I would want when you got this present. And that's really why you were so excited about it, isn't it? Because it was really something that you wanted. You weren't really excited because He knew it was something that I would want. Beloved, I am afraid that the way that God looks at a lot of the public worship of his name in his church is like this. And God says, if you would take the time to discover what I want, If you would take the time to search my word, to know what I desire, to know me, to speak with me, to hear me speak to you, then you would bring me something completely different than what you're bringing me here. Like the erring husband who, if he would speak with his wife, if he would talk with his wife and ask his wife what she wants for her birthday, would give a gift that was truly for her and not really what he wanted. So too, you see, we must search the word of God. And in searching the word of God, ask God, what would you desire in the worship of your name? What do you want? This is for you that we bring this. How do you want your church to respond to your mighty acts as they are declared? What would be acceptable in your sight? That's the regulative principle of worship. In asking and answering this question, Beloved grants the people of God true freedom in worship. People often look at the regulative principle as hampering freedom. But that's not really the case at all. In fact, it's the other way around. The Belgic Confession makes this point in Article 32 when it says this. 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. What the Belgic Confession is saying there is that the church should not allow human inventions and human ideas and human laws into the worship of Jehovah God, because that puts people under the tyranny of man's opinion. It binds the conscience to do something in worship that God has not commanded. The regulative principle ensures that I have the freedom to worship God in the way that God wants me to worship Him and not in the way that some individual or some band leader or some worship team wants me to worship Him. Do you see? It saves me from being subject to a worship that's governed by the opinions of an individual or the desires of an individual or a specific group of individuals. It saves me and it saves the church from this because what I, first of all, desire myself and what other people desire as individuals isn't really the issue. It's not really the concern. The concern is what does God want in the worship of his name that saves me from the tyranny of man's opinion, do you see? Without the regulative principle, we are all subject to whatever somebody decides is the best way to worship God. The regulative principle saves us from the regulations of people's opinions, and it places me directly under the desire of the heart of Jehovah God. It's the only source of true freedom in worship then to ask and to allow God to answer in his word. God, what do you desire in the worship of your name? And beloved, God has not been silent in telling his church anyway that this is the principle of worship. All throughout Scripture, this principle is clear, that God commands what is to be done in the worship of His name. It's clear in the Old Testament, in Exodus 25, verse 40, where God is telling Moses how to build the tabernacle. God doesn't say to Moses, just build whatever you want, and build the furniture of the tabernacle in any way. But rather, God says to Moses, Exodus 25, verse 40, that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount. It's as though God gave Moses the blueprint when he was up on Mount Sinai. And God says, make it this way. God gave specific instructions about how the tabernacle was to be built, how the worship in that tabernacle was to be carried out. That's the regulative principle of worship there. God commands how worship must go. Secondly, in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 12, verses 29 through 32, God commands Israel to worship Him according to His will, the way He has commanded. In Deuteronomy 12, the Israelites are not yet in the land of Canaan, but they're about to be. And God says to the Israelites there, Israel, I know what's going to happen. When you get into Canaan, you're going to be tempted to worship Me in the way that the pagans around you worship their gods. So he says in Deuteronomy 12, Take heed to thyself. This is verse 30. Take heed to thyself that thou be not sneered 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. Thou shalt not do so. unto the Lord thy God." In other words, God is preparing the Israelites for the fact that their right worship of Jehovah God is going to go against the grain. It's going to be counter-cultural in a lot of ways. It's going to go against the prevailing notions of worship that are around them. And He tells them this because He says the question in worship is not, what is everybody else doing? or what's going to most fit in with the world around us. But the question is, what does Jehovah God want? And Israel, when you get there, you need to remember this. Because it's going to be a temptation for you. What does Jehovah desire? And then God states the point positively in verse 32. Deuteronomy 12, 32. What thingsoever I command you, observe to do it. Thou shalt not add thereto. nor diminish from it. God doesn't just say, if I don't forbid it, then consider it wide open, but do what I command you and do nothing else and don't take away from what I command you. That's the principle you must follow. Do what I desire in the worship of my name. And then, beloved, also in the Old Testament, the words of our text that we read this evening are a striking example of God giving this principle of worship to his people, Jeremiah 7, the end of that chapter. Jeremiah 7, verses 30 to the end, records the pollution of the public worship of God by the Old Testament Israelites. The Israelites had not listened to what God had said in the passage we just read in Deuteronomy 12. They were going after the pagan worship that was around them, and they were mixing that pagan worship into the worship of Jehovah God. And horror of horrors, they were even offering their own children, their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to Jehovah God. Old Testament scholars say that at this time the Israelites were not only offering their children to pagan gods, but even to Jehovah God. They had come up with some sort of syncretistic worship, and they offered their children as sacrifices to the pagan gods, yes, but also to Jehovah God. They were doing that in the Valley of Hinnom. That's the valley just south of the city of Jerusalem. They thought they could just sort of lump Jehovah in with all the other gods around them and worship him the same way that they were worshipped. They thought if the other gods like this, then surely Jehovah will like this also. That's the implication when God says in verse 31 that what they are doing was not in his heart. That implies that there are people there who were saying, this is in the heart of God. This is something that God will like all the other gods around us like this. So why wouldn't Jehovah God like this? Let's do this for Jehovah God as well. So that in that way. The worship of God was corrupted with this horrible pagan practice, it got so bad they were actually offering their own sons and daughters in worship to Jehovah God. Beloved, what is so instructive for us is the way in this passage God responds to this situation. You would expect God to say here, What are you crazy? Are you kidding me? You're going to offer your sons and daughters in worship to me. You're going to kill your own Children. What are you thinking? And although, of course, God did react that way, and this was, in his mind, such a horrific and pagan practice. God doesn't respond to the practice itself. But rather, he views the fact that they're offering their children upon altars as a symptom of a deeper issue, and God here reacts. and responds in such a way that he attacks the root issue. He attacks the problem at the heart in verse 31. He says this, You have done in worship which I commanded not, neither came it into my heart. He says, this would have been prevented if you followed the regulative principle of worship. If you would dig into my word and ask the question, Jehovah, what do you desire in the worship of your name? What is God's heart? What is his heart's desire as we bring worship before him? If you had asked that question, this wouldn't have happened. That's the root of the problem. As horrible as it is, and it is absolutely astounding that you are offering your own children upon an altar as sacrifices. The root of the matter here is that you don't bring worship that I command, that you don't ask, what do you desire? You are going against the desire of my heart. Why don't you worship in the way that I commanded, in the way that I told you in my word, if you are truly interested in what I desired and what I would want, then you would come to the word and you would find what I have commanded you. This is how you got here. This is how you got to this point, offering your children as sacrifices. You asked the wrong question in worship. That's a street extreme example, of course, beloved, but it makes the point the point of the importance of the regulative principle, because after all. When it gets right down to it, are we really that much different from the Israelites? Wasn't Calvin right? When he said that our hearts Even the hearts of us know that we are redeemed in Christ. And our hearts are idol factories. But it doesn't take very long for us to twist God into something that He's not. For us to twist things into idolatry and to bring worship that is, in fact, idolatrous worship. We must have a healthy fear, beloved, of our idol-making capabilities and that leads to a desire for the regulative principle of worship. Besides this, in the Old Testament, there are many examples where God enforces this principle. I won't go through them in detail, but just a few. Nadab and Abihu were punished in Leviticus 10 for bringing strange fire before the Lord, fire that God did not command. God punished them. He enforced the regulative principle there. You think of Uzzah. transporting the ark who touched the ark, and his motive was even honorable and right. But God killed him. And there are many other examples as well. This is the principle, beloved, and this principle stays as God moves his church into the New Testament. Though many things change about worship from the Old Testament to the New Testament, this principle stays. The civil and ceremonial laws pass away and much of Old Testament worship passes away as well. But this fundamental question, what does God desire in the worship of his name does not pass away. That doesn't change. Why would that change? It remains the question of worship in the New Testament. Only now it is God. What do you desire in this New Testament era from your church bringing worship? The principle itself is restated in the New Testament as well. For example, Mark 7 verse 7. Here the Pharisees are pressing their own desires upon the people as far as how the people live their life and how they worship Jehovah God. And Jesus responds to the Pharisees this way. How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men? Jesus says, These Pharisees are imposing their own desires upon the people of God, and they're completely ignoring the commandments of Jehovah God in worship. This is not what is needed. This is vain worship. What is needed, says Jesus, is the commandments of God and not the commandments or ideas or whims of men. Again, the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2 verse 23 describes worship that's not according to this principle. The worship that's according to the imaginations of men as will worship. Worship according to man's will and not God's will. And here, what the apostle is actually teaching is that the issue is not whether or not you're going to have a regulative principle of worship. The issue is, what is that regulative principle going to be? The apostle says, No matter who you are and what worship you bring, you do have a regulative principle of worship, whether you know it or not, or whether you say it or not, you do. Everybody does. The question is, what's going to regulate your worship? The will of man or the will of God? Everyone has a regulative principle. Is it regulated by man's desires or by God's desires? Will it be man's will worship? Or will it be God's will worship? That's the question. God, what do you desire in the public worship of your name? That question God answers in the New Testament by saying in his word, there are specific elements that I require in worship. And I require those elements to be carried out in a way that is consistent with who I am as the great, holy, mighty and gracious God. We see this in the New Testament as God explicitly commands us certain things with respect to worship, and also as we observe the example of the New Testament church as they worship God. By those two ways, we discover what are the elements of the worship in the New Testament, the explicit command regarding those elements and the example of how the New Testament church worships as recorded in the New Testament. In the New Testament, God specifically, through command and example, tells us what are the elements of worship. There's a difference between elements and circumstances. Perhaps you've heard this before, the element and the circumstance. The elements of worship, beloved, are the what in worship. They're the actual things that we do. They're the singing, praying, reading and proclaiming Scripture. Things like that are the elements of worship. They're the things of worship. The things that we do. The circumstances are what attend those elements. They are what assist the elements of worship. Some circumstances would include tunes of songs. It would include how long a prayer is, how many times you pray, how many times you sing, musical accompaniment to the songs, what time to meet, things like this. Those are not the things themselves, but those are the things that allow us to carry out the things themselves, elements and circumstances. God specifically in the New Testament tells us what the elements of worship are. And the regulative principle applies specifically to the elements of worship. You can see that distinction between elements and circumstances going all the way back to the Old Testament, for example, the command to Moses to build the tabernacle. When God gave commands to Moses to build the tabernacle, he gave specific commands for what to be built and how it was to be built and how the tabernacle was to be used. But God did not give commands for every last detail in the building of the tabernacle, did he? There was still some freedom for Moses in those building the tabernacle. He told Moses the exact dimensions of the tabernacle. He told Moses what materials to use. But he didn't tell Moses, for example, what trees to cut down or what mines to find the gold in. There was some freedom yet, and that's the difference between elements and circumstances. God specifically ordains elements and the circumstances are not specifically prescribed. There is absolutely no liberty with regarding the elements of worship. There is some liberty. regarding the circumstances. So let's take up the elements, first of all, what are the elements of New Testament worship? Worship of the church, as recorded in the New Testament scriptures. And as recorded in history, leading all the way up to the corruptions of Rome, was the worship of the Jewish synagogue modified by the truth of the coming of Jesus Christ. And in the Jewish synagogue, the elements were basically what they were in the early New Testament church. In the New Testament, the elements are either commanded or clearly seen then in what the New Testament church does. They are these. Prayer. The reading and proclamation of scripture. Congregational singing. The celebration of the sacraments. And the giving of alms. Those are the elements of New Testament worship. Most of these elements are given or commanded in one verse, Acts 2, verse 42, where Luke records the worshiping life of the New Testament church and says this, and they continued steadfastly. That is the New Testament church in the apostles doctrine. That would be the reading and preaching of scripture and fellowship, part of which is later explained as the collection evolves. Breaking of bread, that's the sacrament. And in prayers, that is prayer and singing. Prayer, first of all, is an element of worship. Besides Acts 2, verse 42, we discover that from First Timothy 2, where the Apostle Paul, in giving commands for the church, tells Timothy, I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks be made. for all men. Prayers commanded in the public worship of the church. Secondly, the reading and exposition of scripture. That was a regular part of New Testament worship in the church. Acts 2 verse 42 says that as well as the Apostle Paul's commands to Timothy and to Titus to labor in the word of doctrine, to exhort, to proclaim that word. Third, there is congregational singing. That too was a part of the Jewish worship in the synagogue and became a part of the early church worship. That's commanded explicitly in Colossians 3, verse 16, and Ephesians 5, verse 19. Sacraments, as instituted by Jesus Christ, are an element of worship. That was not a part of the Jewish synagogue worship, of course, because that was instituted by Christ. Acts 2, verse 42, makes that plain. That was done in the public worship of Jehovah God. Lastly, the giving of alms. The giving of alms is an element of public worship, as commanded by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth to collect alms and to do it on the Lord's Day. First Corinthians 16, verses one and two. These, beloved, are the biblically mandated elements of worship. God desires this in the worship of his name. This is what God desires from his heart to be in his worship. And these are the elements that the Reformed Church has always understood, as recorded in Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 38. In its exposition of the Fourth Commandment, the Heidelberg Catechism says this, that it's my duty on the Lord's Day to frequent the house of God, to hear his word, that's the reading and preaching of scripture, to use the sacraments publicly to call upon the Lord, that's song and prayer, and to contribute to the relief of the poor, the elements of worship. These, beloved, are the necessary and required elements of the public worship of God. There are not to be then anything added. There are not to be skits. There are not to be dramas. There are not to be bands. There are not to be high church rituals. These things are worship that is an abomination to God. Jehovah commands the elements of worship. There are also circumstances. Circumstances. As I said, the job of circumstances is to facilitate the carrying out of the elements. Setting a time for worship, how long to meet, what tunes to use, how many songs to sing, things like this. God does not specifically mandate these things in His Word. He doesn't tell us you must sing this tune to this song and you must have three songs and no more and no less. These are circumstances. God does not specifically tell us these things in His Word. That's not to say, though, that these things are not regulated. They are just not specifically. God governs these things and he does so generally in two ways. First of all. He governs them by the other principles of worship. Principle of reverence, principle of simplicity, things like that. And secondly, he governs them by the fact that these circumstances must not become themselves elements. governs them by the other principles of worship and by the fact that the circumstances must remain circumstances and must not become elements of worship. Let me give you a few examples. The tunes of songs are not mandated by God in the word. There is freedom there for the Church of Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean there aren't principles that we follow. The circumstances, the tune must be subject to the other principles of worship. Tunes must be reverent. They must be simple. And they must not take attention away from the word itself, because the word is the power, the spiritual power in the worship of Jehovah God, as we have seen in previous weeks. The tune must not become a thing in itself, do you see? It's to stay in the background. It's simply there to facilitate the words that are sung, to allow them to be sung. Musical accompaniment is a circumstance of worship. God does not say have a piano in the worship of my name. God does not specifically govern the musical accompaniment of the songs of the church, but there are principles. Must be reverend. Must be simple. It must not distract from what is the power, the spiritual power, the words itself that are being sung. And it must not itself become an element of worship. It's there simply to facilitate the element which is singing. Circumstances attend the elements. It's not to be the thing itself. It's simply to allow the thing itself to happen. A rock band, therefore, becomes an element of worship. It's not there simply to facilitate the singing in the church. It becomes a thing in itself. It attracts attention to itself. And circumstances always point to the element, do you see? They always point to the thing. They never point to themselves. Having something like a rock band in worship points to the circumstance and therefore makes it an element of worship. Circumstances are only there for the carrying out of the elements. You aren't supposed to really even think about the circumstances or even really notice them. The elements, where the word of God is, because each element takes up the word of God, is the thing in worship. It's the spiritual power in worship. Circumstances never point to themselves. And as soon as they do, they're no longer circumstances, but they become elements. In this way, you see, there is liberty. There is liberty. There's freedom in the church in these things. Yet it is still governed by Jehovah God. We must, beloved, apply the principles then to the circumstances, and we're going to do that as we go through more in this series of worship. But let me say now that we must recognize, first of all, that there are Other ways of applying the principles that are not exactly the same way we apply them in our worship service. We must recognize that. We must also recognize that there are many ways in which churches worship today that are absolutely contrary to the word of God and are not at all the desire of his heart. We must judge wisely. We must have biblical discernment. When we analyze worship according to the elements and circumstances, we must do so asking these four questions. There are other questions to ask in evaluating worship, but I am limiting myself now to questions regarding the regulative principle specifically. First of all, ask this question. What are the elements in this worship? Because the elements are non-negotiable. God commands them specifically in the in the word, they must be there and there must be nothing besides. Second. Are the circumstances in this worship and specifically the music becoming themselves elements of the worship? Third. Are the elements in this worship being carried out in reverence and simplicity, recognizing the holiness of Jehovah God? And fourth, is there a distraction from the word or is the word truly the center and the power of every single element of this worship service? Not only the sermon, every aspect of the service is the word held up front and center. By this, God regulates the worship of his name. Worship, beloved, is a means by which we reflect God back to himself. Our understanding of God, then, is going to shape our worship. Our theology not only produces doxology, our theology not only produces worship, but it shapes doxology. It shapes worship. Therefore, It is when we stop caring about God Himself and truths concerning Him that we will stop asking the question, God, what is it that you desire in the public worship of your name? In other words, it's when we have no regard for truth and the truth of the Word of God that we have no regard for God Himself and worship decays into an idolatrous worship. That's what happened to Israel in Jeremiah's day. Did you notice that? In Jeremiah 7, verse 28, before God even gets to the issue of worship, what does He say about His people there? Jeremiah 7, verse 28. God says of His people, truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. That is what led to the decay in worship. They did not care about the Word of God and discovering who God really is. And that led to idolatrous worship, a twisting of who God is, and a twisting of the worship of His name. The Israelites twisted God into something that they saw around them in the pagan culture. And for this, for this desecration of worship, there was the chilling judgment of Jeremiah 7, verse 29, where God says, The Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath. And this too is the reaction, beloved, of God to false worship of His name today. And this judgment you see in many parts of American Christianity. But for those who buy God's grace, for all those who buy God's grace, all over this world. Seek to answer this question, God, what do you desire in the public worship of your name and carry out their worship according to God's commandment. There is peace and there is true joy, beloved, in the worship of God's name. As the husband who brings home to his wife a gift that he knows is truly for her, something that he knows she will truly enjoy because he has communicated with her, because he has asked her, what do you desire for your birthday? Just as that husband bringing a gift that he knows his wife will truly enjoy, has a joy himself in the fact that he knows his wife will enjoy what he brings. So too, worshippers who worship God according to his word have the confidence and the peace and the joy to know that they have offered worship that He has commanded, and worship that came from His heart. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful for Thy Word, and give us to ever seek thy good and thy blessing, the worship of thy name. Amen.