in Deuteronomy chapter number 12. And I want to begin by saying that worship is not up for debate. Worship is not up for debate. It is not a matter of personal preference. It is not a matter of popular opinion. and it is really not a matter of cultural innovation. Worship is not up for debate. It's not about what stirs our emotions, it's not about what suits our taste, and it's not about what is following our style. When it comes to worship, God does not task Israel to worship like they wish they could. He tells them how to worship, Him. He tells them how they must worship. And he begins by telling them they must tear down false altars, how they must also reject every imitation that rises up in some form of worship and how they must come to the place that he has chosen and prescribed in these offerings. Why, you may ask? God's holy. And he is described and prescribed a way that his people are to approach him and ascribe worth to his name. He is our God and he is jealous for his glory and he will not accept manmade substitutes. You could say that this chapter really does remind us that God is not only the object of our worship, but he also is the designer of our worship. He is not just the one of which our worship is being given, but he's also the one that lays out the way in which this worship is to be offered. This chapter reminds us of that. And so the question before us this evening is not what kind of worship do I want? That's not the question. The question is this, what kind of worship does God require? That's the question. And that's the answer we hope to provide this evening as we walk through Deuteronomy 12. So the first heading I wanna give you is verses one to four. Moses calls Israel to purge false worship. a call to purge out the false worship. Again, verses one to four, as we've just read, that God, Moses instructed the people that when they were to enter the land, according to verse one, which God gave them, and as they stood there, in verse two, that they were to utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods." So every place that had been erected for a worship house was to be tore down in the land that God was going to give Israel. As Israel marched into this new land, this promised land that was given to Israel, God had instructed them to tear down all these places that had been established in order to worship their gods. And these places were on high mountains, they were on hills, and they were under every green tree. And what I understand about all that in the ancient Near Eastern culture, most of these places, especially if you watch some of these things on the History Channel or whatever it may be, I kind of like watching some of that from time to time, but a lot of these what they would call ziggurats were established on top of mountains. They were placed on high places and that's because their attempt was to get to close as they could to their God. And then they would be placed either on these high hills, these high mountains, and even in fertile places where the hills were and under every green tree. We're even told, for interesting, something that may send you off into study on your own, guess where the Garden of Eden was located? According to Ezekiel, on a mountain. So anyway, very well could have been the place where Jerusalem is. I don't know, I'll leave you to that. But that's teaches on. But anyway, that's not even part of the outline. That's why I should stay focused here and not run that rabbit. But anyway, verse three, as we continue to think, Moses has told them to tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and burn the Asherim with fire. And the Asherim, is a little connection to the Asherah, and it was a goddess that was worshiped among Babylonian worshipers, but you could trace it back as far as the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans, which is where you should know Abraham was called out from. So all of that was to be demolished. It was to be cut down, as Moses says here in verse three, obliterate their name from that place. And verse four, you shall not act like this toward Yahweh or toward the Lord, your God. You can really frame this first heading as just simply this, tear down their altars. Tear down their altars. And Moses began by reminding Israel that they were to obey these commands from the Lord. And God, as he issued these commands, he issued these instructions. Central to their call for obedience was the destruction of every false worship. Tear them down, get rid of them. And the first step in doing that, or the first step in worshiping the one true living God, was to remove all the false worships from the false gods. Israel must tear down in the Canaanite land, the high places, the altars, the idols, the sacred trees, all of those things must come down. And you may say, why? Because God wanted every trace of it gone. He wanted every trace of that form of worship gone. It was not just about clearing out some physical space. It was a spiritual battle because worship is war. Worship is warfare. And so what Israel was going in to do is level that place, get rid of all of it because God's people now have inhabited this land. As we know, God has been very clear that God's people cannot mix true worship with false religion. That's not what God desires. He never instructed them to do that in such a way. Every name of the false gods is to be forgotten because there's only one name that is to be worshiped above every name. And we're told that in the scripture. And you say, why would God be so radical about such a thing? Because false worship is spiritual poison. False worship is spiritual poison. God is a jealous God who will not share his glory with another, and Israel's worship must be pure, Israel's worship must be distinct, and Israel's worship needs to be holy, devoted, and committed to the Lord. Now, you say, well, preacher, how do we take that section and apply it to our lives today? Well, I would argue this. May God help us purge from our own hearts any worship That elevates human opinion and cultural trends and emotionalism over what God's word has said. May God's grace help us to be aware of that. Worship is not a matter of what feels right to us, but rather what is right before God. And being in the culture we're in, we have to be careful that we find ourselves standing on the rock that God has issued and prescribing to us what and how we are to worship. The second heading this evening that I want you to notice is verse five to 14. Not only do we see that God gave them the command to purge false worship, but secondly, God gives them a command to realize or to centralize their worship. to make it central, to centralize their worship. Verses 5 to 14, the word of God says here in verse 5, but you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes to establish his name there for his dwelling. And there you shall come. Verse six, you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. There also you and your household shall eat before the Lord your God and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you. Now, Verse eight, you shall not do at all what we are doing here today. Every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance, which the Lord your God is giving you. But when you cross the Jordan and live in the land where your Lord God has given you to the inheritance, to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, then it shall come about at that place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell. There you shall bring all that I command to you, your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, tithes, contribution of your hand, all your choice votive offerings, which you shall vow to the Lord." Now, what do we know ultimately ends up being this place? Jerusalem and ultimately what in Jerusalem the temple right that ends up being the place that they were to come and bring such a offerings and bring such worship. Seek the place where the Lord will choose." And so it's God who establishes the place that they must go to, a place that he's going to make his name dwell. And ultimately, again, we know that refers to Jerusalem, the place where the temple will be. And the key point in redemptive history here is when you think about God choosing a place for his name to dwell, God is teaching his people that it is he not man who chooses how and where he is to be worshiped. It's God who does this, not man, it is God. The Israelites were free to build altars wherever they pleased, but, I'm sorry, were not free, were not free to build altars wherever they pleased because worship was not a private affair in the lives of the people, it was a public act. We gather as a local body, how? Publicly. We assemble publicly. We're not doing it privately. It is a act of the covenant people of God who are gathering together centered around the worship of Christ. Now, this is what Moses prepared them for. He told them this is what God was going to do is to choose a place where his name would dwell, and that's where they would gather to worship. Now for you and me in the new covenant who has these types and shadows now in substance, what does that look like for you and me? How do we know that in the new covenant what that is? Is there a temple that you and I go to? I'll be careful how you answer it. Is there a place of which you and I go? Is there a place of which God comes to receive his worship? Are you ready? The body of Christ, which is the what? Temple of the Lord so in the new covenant guess who houses the Spirit of God now The people of God and we make up the body which Jesus said in John 2 19 Destroy this temple and in three days, I'll raise it up and the Jews said again It took 46 years to build that temple you crazy That's my translation but he was speaking of the temple of his body and In other words, the temple is the body of Christ. It's where God meets with his people. It is the meeting place between heaven and earth. It is the meeting place of the people of God, the assembled people of God. I was thinking about asking you to turn to John 4, but I won't do that. I'll just kind of rehearse it with you. But you remember, Jesus has to go through Samaria. And in John 4, when he goes through Samaria, he comes to the woman at the well, right? And he begins to tell her a lot of things about her life. And she says, wow, you must be one of those prophet guys. And he says, yeah, you've taught right. And she says, well, You know, you people, you Jews, tell us that you do this and that, and our people, they worship at that mountain. And Jesus says, well, I'm here to tell you today that a new day's coming, and which is here right now, that you shall worship God, how? in spirit and in truth. That days now, in other words, there is a transitional aspect that is taking place from a centralized location to now all eyes are on the person, not the place. And the person is Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2, 5, there's one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. We don't worship at the feet of Mary, we worship in the spirit of Christ before the Father. That's where we assemble, is in the body of Christ. Ephesians 2, 21 to 22, in whom, talking about Christ, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. As the people of God in the Old Testament worshiped in a physical temple, you and I in the new covenant, Maybe in a helpful way for you, and covenant theology can get a little confused, and I've wrestled with a lot of stuff over the last couple years, just trying to zero in on some things in my own study, but you need to basically look at the old covenant like scaffolding. You put scaffolding together in order, because you're building something, right? And then when you finally get through this building, you take the scaffolding down. So the old covenant, you could say, surrounds the new covenant, and that old covenant was used by God to kind of build up the new that has come. Well, now we've taken the old scaffolding down and we're finally come to the substance of the new covenant, which is Christ. Christ is the ultimate picture and substance of which the old was pointing to. So where the people of God would gather and worship in the physical temple, you and I do so now in the presence of the body of Christ, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And you say, well, how do we apply this section to our life? Well, I would say this, just as Israel was not free to invent its own worship, Neither are we. Neither are we. The worship of God must be governed by the word of God. That's just central. The church gathers on the Lord's day not to be entertained. but to hear his word, sing his praises, partake in the Lord's supper, pray in the spirit and give of our earnings and fellowship with the saints. That's what we do. That is the ordinary means that God has given to his people to strengthen your faith and sustain your faith. We've not come to be entertained. We've not come to look for fuzzy feeling. We've come because God said, get there and worship me. Now that's not popular, but I'm not trying to win a popularity contest there. Third thing I want you to see this evening, verses 15 to 28, I want you to see the contrast that Moses now deals with between sacred meals and secular meals. Now, I'm not gonna put down on McDonald's or anything, so just hang out. We're not talking about that kind of deal. But for these people, worship was centered. It was everything they did. Worship was their life. They followed the instructions of the Lord in many different ways. And here in verse 15, once we finally get there, he says in verse 15, however, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates. whatever you desire according the blessing of the Lord your God which he's given you the unclean and the clean you may eat of it as of the gazelle and the deer only you shall not eat the blood you are to pour it out on the ground like water you're not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or the new wine or all or the firstborn of your herd or your flock or any of your votive offerings which you vow or your freewill offerings or the contribution of your hand, but you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose. And you and your son and daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is within your gates, you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. When the Lord your God extends your border, as he has promised you, and say, I will eat meat because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat wherever you desire. If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock, which the Lord has given to you as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates, whatever you desire. So I'm not going to continue on, but you see what Moses is implying there. You come here to worship, but if the situation occurs where here is too far away, then there are changes. So there's something different between a sacred meal and the secular meal. There's something different between eating a meal in the presence of gathering of God's people at the place that he's chosen versus just simply eating a meal at home. This section contains different kinds of instructions about eating meat. That's really what we have. And I used to go here when I first started dating Kayla. I kind of snicker when I got here to chapter 12. Because when I met her, and her daddy loves to eat steak, and he eats it basically raw, you have to chase it around on a plate to cut it. And I was like, man, ain't there somewhere in the Bible that you ain't supposed to do that? Cook the steak, you shouldn't have to hear it moo and running around. Let's let that thing cook just a little bit longer. I used to go here and pick with him. He would say, don't eat it if it's got blood in it. Cook it! But anyway, so after being around him a while, I'm not too far off from where he is. But anyway, I just, that's a little funny. But anyway, when you think about that, what do you do when it comes to these instructions? You know, especially when it starts talking about blood and the animal, whether it be a gazelle or a deer, what do you do? You pour out the blood like water into the ground. All these different things. And some of us may read this and think, man, that's just strict. Well, it is, but God's holy. Like we shouldn't minimize the meticulous instructions and cast them off as something that, man, God shouldn't, no, God's holy. He requires a way that people approach him, even down to the very way in which they eat meat. And so ordinary meals are not the same as sacred. The presence of the Lord makes the difference. And so what we see, I'll give you a few things about this section. I'm not gonna read the whole section to you, but a few things. Sacrifices must be centralized. So in other words, if you're gonna act in worship, sacrificing an animal, that cannot be just offered anywhere, not even at your home. It must be brought to the sanctuary so that the blood that is shed when you kill the animal to prepare it for a meal, that blood is able to be sprinkled on the altar. That's number one. Sacrifices must be central to worship. If it's going to be for a sacrifice, it must be done at the place where God has prescribed. Secondly, meat for food, if you're just eating for food because you're hungry, it can be eaten anywhere, is what Moses said. In Leviticus, there was a debate about whether all animal slaughter had to happen in the sanctuary, but Deuteronomy clarifies and says you can kill animals for food wherever you live, you don't have to travel to the tabernacle for that. But if you're gonna do it as an act of worship, get to the tabernacle. If you're doing it because it's time to eat a ribeye, stay at your house, that's all right. Just don't make it out to be a worship service. The third thing is the blood belongs to God. Now that may sound a little weird, but I want you to think about this. The blood belongs to God. While the meat could be eaten anywhere, The blood must never be eaten, is what Moses said. Why? Because blood stands for what in the Bible? Life. Life. And who does life belong to? Belongs to the Lord. So blood was not to be consumed, but rather it was to be poured out on the ground like water, and then in Leviticus 17, it says you cover it with dirt. Well, why would you do that? Because you're showing respect. You're showing respect. You're showing respect for that life. Why do you think we practice some things the way we practice them? People get it from somewhere. Where do they get it from? They get it from the Bible. And so if you killed an animal, you must pour all the blood out on the ground, and then you take the dirt and cover over the dirt because you respect the animal that gave its life for you to have food. Fourth, meat was a special treat. So in ancient Israel, domestic animals were very valuable, whether they were used for working or to eat. So meat wasn't eaten regularly. It was used on very special occasions. That's why that these texts here for Moses and Deuteronomy, non-sacrificial meat can be eaten apart from the sanctuary without a need for having it purified. But sacred food was to be brought to the sanctuary. Also, fifthly, God still requires reverence. So God, even though he permitted them to eat meat locally at their own home, so to speak, but the warning was about the blood. It was repeated that they respect the blood. And the section here in the second part, or the next part of what we're looking at, ends by reminding the people to carefully follow God's commands and do not grow carelessly. Do not grow carelessly. Moses continued to warn them that. And you say, well, preacher, how does that apply to us today? Well, the church and the new covenant now continues also with a meal, do we not? And that meal is called the Lord's Supper. And as we approach the Lord's Supper, we may by God's grace not approach the supper casually, but we do so as a covenant meal, and we partake of Christ by faith as we come to the table, as we come to the Lord's table. First Corinthians 10, 16. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing of the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there's one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. So just as Israel came before the Lord with their offerings, we come in Christ remembering his sacrifice. And so when we come to the Lord's table now in the new covenant, may we come with reverence and may we come with joy. The fourth thing, picking up in verse 29, a warning against imitating the other nations. A warning against imitating the other nations. Verses 29 to 32. The Word of God says here, when the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed before you, that you do not inquire after their God, saying, how do these nations serve their gods? And I may also do likewise. In other words, this is a sober warning. Don't you go in there and tear all their stuff down and not tear it down and begin to wonder, well, I wonder how they did that. I wonder what they did. Don't do that. That's what Moses said. Don't do that. Don't inquire how they worshiped false gods. After all, after the Lord cuts all of them off, don't do that. They are not to say, well, how did they do that? That Moses is offering a Prohibition, you could say. He's prohibiting them from taking worldly methods and incorporating it into the worship of the one true living God. That's what he said. Don't take of something foreign and incorporate it into the worship of the Lord. Look at verse 32. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do, and you shall not add to nor take away from it. That's pretty clear, is it? Pretty clear. And this is the heart of worship. This is the heart of what many in church history would call the regulative principle of worship. And that's what I want to argue for this evening. We are called upon to worship God as God commands. not coming up with new gimmicks or new theatrics, not with some emotional manipulation, but whether worship God with simplicity, with reverence and joy. That's the means by which God has given to us to worship him. And under that heading, many theologians call it the regulative principle of worship. In other words, we are called to worship the Lord as the word prescribes, not make stuff up along the way. That's the definition. And you say, well, what is the definition of the regulative principle of worship? Well, it teaches us that we must worship God only in the ways that he has commanded in his word. If it's not commanded, then it's not permitted. And you say, why is such a thing important? Why should we even consider how we worship? Have you read the story of Nadab and Abihu? If you hadn't, I'd encourage you to do so. Aaron's sons there in Leviticus 10, verses one to three, they offered what the Bible calls and labels strange fire. And the fire came out and consumed them. God takes seriously how his people approach him, and so should we. I think, you know, And you may say, well, give me an everyday example. Well, I think we need to be careful, especially in our formal gatherings to worship the Lord as a gathered assembly, that we don't take away from things that have been prescribed in the Bible. I don't think we need to add a drama team to the stage. I don't think we need a puppet show, so to speak, to add to Sunday morning worship. I don't think we need any types of those things to add along to what God has prescribed. Now, can those things be utilized as fun and so forth for vacation Bible school, not necessarily on the stage in a formal church? Sure. But when it comes to formally gathering as assembled people of God and we enter into his presence to worship the one and true living God, I think we should be very careful that we did not incorporate into our acts of worship anything that is not prescribed already written down. I think we should be careful with that." And you say, preacher, why do you say that? I just read it to you. Deuteronomy 12, verse 32. It says, everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. Don't add to it and don't take away from it. I can't get any more clear than that. That's what God says. There's two ways of thinking about this. There's two schools of thought in theology when you go to churches, and you can definitely tell who believes what when you attend certain churches. There's either the regulative principle of worship or there's the normative principle of worship. Now, the regulative principle of worship says only what God commands goes. The normative principle of worship says anything is allowed unless the Lord just flat out forbids it. You see how that can get a little gray. And so that's how you end up with a lot of things you see today. Well, why does it matter that we argue for, or that I'm arguing for, the regulative principle? Only doing what God commands. Number one, God's holy. God has shown that he really does care about how his people approach him. And number two, God is jealous for his glory. I'm not against clapping, okay? But there's a lot of preachers that emphasize don't clap, you know, because we're not in here to be entertained. You know, clapping is a sign, well, you made my heart joyful type thing. You know, you did great. Yeah, you did great. You performed well. I'm not calling for the church to stop clapping. But I'm saying, you know, be careful. Just be careful, be aware. Matthew 15, nine, in vain do they worship me, teaching his doctrines and commandments of men. We just have to be careful. I don't think it's appropriate for us to enter the presence of God by saying, well, anything's allowed unless I can read where it's forbidden. Eh, I think you can get well off track that way. I would say I only want to do what he said I need to do. Not just kind of leaving it open-ended, so to speak, for me to fill in the blank and make decisions on interpretations based on what's provided in the service or not, but rather just do what he says. And so by this time, you're probably asking, well, preacher, what does he say to do? I'm so glad you're asking. You ready? Here's your list. Preach the word. Preach the word. Pray. He says also to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Read scripture, baptize, observe the Lord's Supper, give of your offerings, gather on the Lord's day, and fellowship one with another. That's a pretty simple list to me. I don't have to add anything else to that. I'd be afraid to. Well, as you think about that, I just want you to be aware of it. We call this the regulative principle of worship. I love the old Baptist history and the Baptist confession of 1689 that a lot of guys gathered together to sign. Chapter 22, it says this, the light of nature demonstrates that there's a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all. He is just, he is good, and he does good to everyone. Therefore, he should be feared, loved, praised, and called on, trusted in, and served with all the heart and all the soul and all the strength. but the acceptable way to worship the true God is instituted by him, and it is determined by his own revealed will. Thus, he may not be worshiped according to human imagination, or inventions, or the suggestions of Satan, nor through any visible representations, nor in any other way that is not prescribed in the Holy Scripture. To that I would say yes and amen. I wanna encourage us this evening as we think about worship, how do we apply it today? Well, church, I would encourage all of us to beware that we make certain we reject self-made religion, that we reject self-made religion. Colossians 2.23 says there are self-imposed religion. It has the appearance of wisdom, but in the end, it lacks power. It may look good, but it has not the spirit. Secondly, let us pursue simplicity and reverence. Simplicity and reverence. Being simple is not always bad. Being simple is not always bad. Hebrews 12 says, worship God with reverence and awe. With reverence and awe. And thirdly, I would say rejoice in God's wisdom. We don't need to invent worship. We don't need a fresh reset, so to speak. God's already said what he requires. Follow it. Thankfully, God don't leave worship to human imagination. He's spoken clearly. Brothers and sisters, worship is not a stage for a performance. It is a throne room for us to enter with reverence and joy. I pray that we can return, not that we hadn't, but I pray that we would be mindful that we stay simple, that we be very clear. and that the power of worshiping God in that way is very evident. I'll end with Hebrews 12, 28 and 29. Let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let us worship him simply and let us worship him joyfully. and reverently because our Lord is a consuming fire. Let's pray.