Our scripture reading this morning is found in the book of Leviticus, reading Leviticus chapter 10. One thing to keep in mind as we read this passage is that the context for this word of God in Leviticus 10, especially our text, is in chapters 8 and 9, and that is the account recorded in scripture of Aaron and his sons being consecrated, the priestly garments being consecrated, the tabernacle being consecrated, and then offerings being made as well. And so a very significant day in the history of the nation of Israel as the Old Testament church. Let's begin reading actually with the last two verses of chapter nine. So Leviticus nine verse 23 and then we'll read into and through chapter 10. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation and came out and blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, which, when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them And they went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael. And Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eliezer, and unto Ithamar, his sons, uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. The Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine, nor strong drink, though nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them, by the hand of Moses. And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eliezer, and unto Ithamah his sons that were left, take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy. And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy do and thy sons do of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire, for so I am commanded. And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place, thou and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, for they be thy do and thy sons do, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to waive it for a wave offering before the Lord, And it shall be thine and thy sons with thee by a statute for ever, as the Lord hath commanded. And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt. And he was angry with Eliezer and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it as most holy? And God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place. Ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. And such things have befallen me. And if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard it, he was content. That's why we read the word of God. A text for our sermon this morning is found in verses one, two, and three of chapter 10. I'll read that again. And Adab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, And before all the people, I will be glorified. Worship of God, beloved, is a very holy activity for us, one of the most holy activities of the people of God. When we worship, we enter the presence of God. And God is the holy God. And when we meet with God in worship, we stand on holy ground before God. And that requires holiness on our part as worshipers of God. There must be awe and respect and reverence for God in our worship. God is with us. God is watching. And God has high demands and high expectations of those who worship Him. Even as we read in verse three of our text, God says this to those who worship Him, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. Because worship is such a holy activity, it is also possible for very serious sins to be committed in worship. Know, of course, that all sin is serious. Sin against the first commandment is serious, the sin of having other gods. Sin against the sixth commandment is serious, the sin of murder. Sin against the seventh commandment is serious, the sin of committing adultery. But sin in worship is no less serious than those sins against those other commandments of God. What Nadab and Abihu did was to sin against the second commandment of God's law. And what God did to them shows how serious it is to sin in the worship of God. So serious that they were immediately destroyed for their worship, their false, ungodly, unbiblical worship of God. And God speaks to us through this history, especially by means of the severe judgment that God brought upon Nadab and Abihu. And this is not merely, not simply a gentle prod from God, not merely and simply a gentle reminder to us concerning the proper worship of God. We ought to understand this to be a very harsh and pointed and sharp word of God to us concerning our worship of God. Consider then offering strange fire to God. And notice three things, a terrible sin, its presence today, and the serious warning. As I already said, beloved, this was a great day in the history of the nation of Israel. This was the day in which the sons of Aaron were dedicated to the priesthood. This was the day in which the tabernacle of God was consecrated to the worship and service of God. This was the day in which through Aaron the blessing of God came down upon the people of God, and then God appeared before the whole congregation of Israel with the glory of God that filled the tabernacle and then also the fire of God that descended from heaven and burnt up in a moment the sacrifice that they brought to God. And the people shouted and the people fell on their faces in humble worship of God. And then Aaron's two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered incense to God. And what they did may appear at first to be acceptable. Each of them took his censer, his fire pan, put coals in that fire pan, that censer, and then put incense on top of that. And they prepared now to offer incense to God within the tabernacle of God, something that the priests were required to do. And that incense, as we know, represented the prayers of the people of God, The prayers of God's people are sending up to God and being acceptable to God and being pleasing, arising up as a sweet odor to God in heaven. But even though what they did appears to be a good thing, and even though they were doing what the priests were required to do to offer incense unto God, the text states that they brought strange fire to God. They did something that was seriously wrong and something that was seriously sinful in the worship of God. And we may ask the question, Was it wrong of them? What was it that was strange or that was sinful about the worship of Nadab and Abihu? Well, there are different opinions on that, different interpretations of what exactly Nadab and Abihu did wrong. There are some who argue that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was this, that they offered incense that was itself the wrong mixture, the wrong mixture of herbs and spices that they should have used for incense. Or there are those who interpret the sin of Nadab and Abihu to be this, that they offered this incense to God at the wrong time of the day. They were required to offer incense in the morning and in the evening, but now this perhaps took place sometime during the day. And then there are others who interpret the passage on the basis of what is mentioned in verse nine. where we read that the Lord commands Aaron and his son saying, do not drink wine nor strong drink when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation. Some will say their sin was drunkenness. They were drunk when they attempted to bring this incense in worship to God. But I believe the answer is found in the text itself because the text says they offered strange fire to God. And what was sinful on their part and what was wrong on their part was the fire that they brought, the coals that they brought, and the fact that what they brought to God with this incense offering was strange fire that is literally foreign fire. fire that did not belong in the worship of God. To understand that that was the case, you must remember, beloved, that there were two altars in the house of God. There was the altar of burnt offering, first of all, That was where the sacrifices were made in the house of God. That's where the bullocks were sacrificed, the lambs, and all of the other animals slain and offered on the altar of burnt offering, located outside the temple proper, the tabernacle proper. And sacrifices that pictured very vividly and very clearly to the people of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the But then there was also the altar of incense. And the altar of incense was inside the holy place, between the holy place or very near to the most holy place in the tabernacle. And the altar of incense was the altar where the sweet-smelling odors ascended up to God, as we said, that pictured the prayers of the people of God being pleasing to God. Those two altars, we must remember, were very closely related to each other. God made very clear to them that what they must do in their sacrifices to God must be done with the central focus being upon Jesus Christ. And that was made clear to them by God's command to them God's instruction to them that when they were to offer incense in the holy place inside the tabernacle and later the temple, the coals, the fire that they must use for that incense offering to God must come from the altar of burnt offering in the temple. They must not get their coals, they must not get their fire from elsewhere. They must come from the altar of burnt offering because they must understand that there was only one way in which their prayers could be acceptable to God. And the only way was because of and through the sacrifice of Christ which took place typically on that altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle. Everything centered around Christ. Everything centered around God proclaiming to His church through these altars and these sacrifices the gospel of Christ. didn't heed that requirement. They brought strange fire, foreign fire. They brought their own fire to God. They took their coals from somewhere else. And in doing so, they committed serious sin. The strange fire that they brought was first of all, on their part, the sin of rejecting Christ. Rejecting God's way of salvation through His Son as typified by the sacrifices on the altar of burnt offerings And Nader and Abihu, by taking their coals from somewhere else, were saying, the blood of Christ is not needed by us. Our prayers, and thus we ourselves, can be acceptable to God without Christ, without the sacrifice of the Son of God for us. They rejected Christ. And then secondly, the strange fire meant that Nadab and Abihu disregarded God's law and God's ordinances concerning the worship of God. In other words, they did, as verse one says, which God commanded not. God did not command them to take their coals from elsewhere. But they did that. And they said, we are going to disregard the commands of God concerning worship. And we are going to worship God in our way and not in God's way. And as regards the latter, Nadab and Abihu committed serious sin against the second commandment of God. The second commandment, which God makes very clear that we must worship God only as God has commanded us in his word. And God had commanded them. And God had made very clear to the nation of Israel, and God had made very clear to Moses and to Aaron and to the sons of Aaron, who were in the priestly office in the church then, that there was an exact way in which God must be worshipped in His house. Many laws spelling out exactly how to worship God, and many laws especially concerning the sacrifices to God. Who may sacrifice? What must be sacrificed? When the sacrifices must be made to God? Where the sacrifices should be done? And how the sacrifices should be carried out before God? All spelled out in detail. Much more detail, we would say, for the Old Testament church than for us. But Nadab and Abihu decided to do their own thing. We will decide how to worship God, they said. God won't decide that. And so they offered strange fire to God. And I can well imagine that Nadab and Abihu were very zealous in what they did, and if given the opportunity, would have argued in defense of what they did. And they may have argued this way, that they had the best of intentions in what they did. They may have said, this is a very special day. This is a great day in the history of the nation of Israel and of the church. God has just anointed us as priests, and God has consecrated our garments, and God has dedicated the tabernacle to be used in the worship of God. And God has sent fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifice, and the glory of God has appeared to us today, and the people have sheltered in praise and joy to God. So, this is an occasion for celebration to God. This is a day in which God has done great things for us, and we in offering incense to God will do something to make this day even more special and even more memorable for the nation and church of God. Some new fire. Some new incense of praise and gratitude to God. God will be pleased with that. But regardless of their zeal, and regardless of their seemingly good motives, and regardless of the intentions they may have had, what they did was an abomination to God. a profaning of the worship of God, a profaning of the holy name of God, and even more seriously, a bypassing, a setting aside of Christ. They did not do what we must do and what God's people must always do in the worship of God. They did not sanctify God and they did not glorify God. Verse three, God was dishonored and God was shamed by this strange fire before him. And that is a sin that is committed today in the worship of God. Not, of course, in exactly the same way. We do not have the tabernacle and we do not have the Aaronitic priesthood and we do not have the sacrifices and the shedding of blood and the incense But the same sin is committed in the worship of God. The same sin of not worshiping God as God commands us to worship Him in His word. And the same sin, which is serious sin, because at stake in that unbiblical worship of God is Christ. Let's take special note of that, beloved. When God gives us commands concerning worship, concerning the manner of worship, concerning how we should worship Him, God doesn't just do that randomly, haphazardly, as though God says, well, I think this would be a good way for my people to worship me and this. And then I'll add this because that would be good as well, haphazard and random. Not that. But when God gives us commands concerning worship, as He does first of all in the second commandment of His law, and then as the application of that command is spelled out for us in all of Scripture, God does that so that at the center and heart of our worship is Christ and the gospel of Christ. And therefore, any corruption of worship, any introduction into worship of God of will worship, where man decides how to worship God instead of God deciding how God is worshiped, is worship in which Christ is pushed aside in the worship of God. The word is pushed aside. The gospel is pushed aside and man's ideas of worship take the place of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. It's not a minor thing. It's not an insignificant thing when man starts messing around with the worship of God. It has a direct bearing on the souls and the salvation and the comfort in the souls and hearts of God's people concerning their salvation. Because Christ is pushed aside. And that's why it is so crucial for us to worship God as God commands. A command that God gives for our benefit, a command that God gives for our spiritual blessing as the people of God. And yet, many do not worship God as God commands them. A lot of strange fire being offered to God in worship today. The strange fire, first of all, perhaps, of how many regard God and speak to God. No consideration of God's greatness and no consideration of God's holiness. and no sense of man's nothingness compared to God, and a lack of humility before Him. Speaking lightly to God, speaking down to God, putting demands on God, the strange fire of strange prayer to God, Which strange fire is a bypassing and a denial of Christ? Well, the strange fire of the songs that are sung to God in worship. Instead of singing the Psalms, hymns are sung and praise songs. Instead of singing the God-inspired words, man sings his own words. Instead of singing the Psalms that are God-centered, theocentric, man has in worship songs that are all about man and all about man's feelings. and all about man's experiences. Strange fire that bypasses Christ in worship. Oh, there is the strange fire of what takes place in the worship service. What is the central focus in worship? And so much of worship today focuses on entertainment. So much of worship today is taken up with such things as dancing and acting and choir. Strange fire of testimonies, the strange fire of movies in worship, the strange fire of music, music, and more music. And all of it strange fire because it displaces the word of God. It pushes the gospel aside. God says preaching is central in worship. God says my word must be heard. because that is the chief means of grace for the salvation of my people." And man comes along in his wisdom and he says, not preaching, not the foolishness of preaching. Preaching is foolish. It doesn't work. And so we need other methods. We need to use other things in worship that is much more effective in gathering the people of God on Sunday. Strange fire which denies and bypasses Christ and His Word. And men may have good intentions. And men may be very zealous. And men may say, we want people to come to church. We want to fill up the pews. And we have a desire for their salvation. And this works to get them there. But it makes no difference. God is displeased. God is angry with that strange fire in worship. Strange fire that dishonors God and strange fire that dishonors Christ, his son. A terrible sin and a terrible offense against God. And of course, we could spend a lot of time today talking about and thinking about how others offer a strange fire to God. But the more important question is, what about us? What about you and me? What about our worship? of God. What about our strange fire to God? By the grace of God, our churches have been blessed and led by Him to have a worship that is in accordance with the second commandment, and the regulative principle of worship, including in worship only those things which are commanded by God in Scripture. The elements are biblical. We have an order of worship as that is printed on the bulletin. as we use it every Lord's Day that reflects what the scripture commands us to include in worship. But it is possible, beloved, to have all of the right elements in worship and still to be guilty of offering strange fire to God. Think about that. Perhaps we are guilty, you are guilty, of offering the strange fire of disrespect to God. The failure to realize whose presence we are in when we worship God, not having the proper reverence and respect and awe that should characterize the people of God because God is holy and God is almighty and God is a glorious God. Strange fire of that kind of disrespect. Not approaching God in worship as we ought with the words of scripture God is everything and all the nations of the world compared to Him are nothing. Or perhaps it is the strange fire of outward formal worship going through the motions of worship, a vain worship, an empty show, a worship that is conducted by us simply with a view to what men might see and notice. A worship concerning which the words of Christ in Matthew 15 apply. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, God says. In vain do they worship me. A worship where our hearts are not engaged. The worship is from our heads only. And in close connection with that, perhaps the strange fire of being focused so much on what others think, what others see of us, that we give no thought to the fact that God is here and God is watching. And the Lord seeth not as man seeth, man looketh on the outward appearance, But the Lord looks at the heart. And yet we offer the strange fire of being concerned about how we look. on Sunday, how we appear as far as our dress and clothing, how our children appear to others, what evaluation others are making of us and our family in the house of God, how our singing sounds to the person in front of us in the pew. Strange fire. bypassing Christ and not focusing on Christ in worship. Or the strange fire of being consistently late to church, as though we have the right to say to God, God, there are more important things in my life than you. And so, God, you will have to wait for me this morning. I'm going to be late. All the strange fire of not being attentive in worship, easily distracted, sleepy, thinking about the activities after church, reflecting upon what you were doing last night. And God is speaking, and we say, God, there are things more important in my life right now than what you have to say to me. And so we ignore the voice of God. Strange fire. and bypassing Christ. These are not small matters. Don't ever think that they are. They are serious matters because they go contrary to what God commands and requires of us in the worship of God. But they are serious matters especially because, as we have already said, when we are guilty of worship before God that is not in accordance with God's Word, that is not done in spirit and in truth, then, like Nadab and Abihu, we are guilty of bypassing Christ. Any corruption in worship involves that. Not interested in the Word of God, not interested in what Christ has to say to us, not listening to what Christ is telling us today, and thinking we are wiser than God, as to what we need for our souls. So we all need to ask ourselves that searching question, what strange fire do I offer unto God? and then confess and repent and seek forgiveness and seek strength and grace to offer true fire to God in worship. God takes strange fire seriously. God was very quick as well as very severe in the judgment on Nadab and Abihu. Verse 2 of Leviticus 10, and they went out fire from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord. One moment, there is the fire of God that descends from heaven and burns up the sacrifice, and the people pray, and the people shout, and the people fall with their faces to the ground in humble worship of God. In the next moment, there is the fire of the judgment of God on Nadab and Abihu. Immediately, God sent fire on them. They were not excused because of their youth. They were not excused by God because of their good intentions, perhaps. The fire devoured them in the courtyard of the tabernacle before they could enter into the tabernacle proper. Imagine that. Struck dead. Killed right there in the presence of the church. And all the people saw it. and no doubt tremble before the judgment of God. And we may be tempted to say, why did God do this? This seems too severe a judgment. The church is in its youth. These young men still had to learn. But the judgment of God is not too severe if we consider how holy God is and how holy a thing the worship of God is. And the judgment of God is not too severe when we realize how serious a sin it is to worship God as man wills and not as God commands. And especially, we will acknowledge that the judgment of God is not too severe because the sin, the most serious sin of these men was they rejected Christ. And God, therefore, through this judgment, this severe judgment, spoke to the nation of Israel as he speaks also to us. And God said, when you enter my holy presence, you may not do that lightly or flippantly or casually. There is only one way to worship, God says, and that is you worship as I require and you do exactly what I command you concerning worship. Strange fire dishonors me and dishonors my son. It's worse than a child slapping his father in the face. And God has not changed since then. That doesn't mean that God will smite you dead in the worship service if you're guilty of strange fire. But he does see, and he does notice, and he knows what we are offering to him. He is watching. And if he sees strange fire, there is one reaction from God, and that is the reaction of holy anger from God, also with us, the people of God. holy anger for outward worship, holy anger for disinterest in the Word of God, holy anger for the strange fire of making God wait for us, holy anger for the strange fire of ignoring the speech and the words of God, and strange holy anger for the strange fire of introducing into the worship of God or even simply wanting to introduce into the worship of God those things that are not commanded in Scripture. God is not pleased with that kind of worship and with those kind of worshipers. And those kind of worshipers will not be blessed in worship. God is a God who blesses. God uses means for the blessing of his people and for the blessing of his church and people in worship. And the means that God uses to bless his people is the means of worship that is God-honoring worship. We come to church, beloved, not chiefly to be blessed, but we come to church to honor God, to glorify God. And when we come to church and by the grace of God correctly honor and glorify God in God is pleased to bless. To bless, to comfort, to speak to the souls of His people in all the troubles of life, in all the struggles with sin, with the gospel of Christ. But in the way of proper worship. We all fail. We do. It is not only difficult for us to worship God without strange fire. Perhaps we would even say it is impossible for us. Does that mean then that we simply give up? We say we can't do it, so why even try? No, of course not. But instead, it means that we see that we need, and thus we seek, and we rely on Christ and His Spirit. Realizing our weakness and sins, we see we need the grace of God, we need the grace of Christ. We seek the forgiveness for our sins of strange fire, and we seek the strength we need to worship God as God wills for us to worship Him. We say, I cannot do it myself. I'm helpless to worship God, but through prayer and meditation and heartfelt requests to God, we say, Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight through Christ. Then we thank God. Thank Him for Christ through whom we are forgiven, and thank Him for the Spirit who sanctifies us, makes us thankful worshipers, who strive to worship our great and our gracious God as he commands us in his word. Then, through Christ, the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart is acceptable to God. And God is praised. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are thankful for thy word, the word that warns, the word that instructs, the word that points us to and shows us the blessedness of Christ. Continue to bless us through him also as regards our worship of thee, our God. so that we, through Christ, may worship thee in spirit and in truth. In his name, amen. Let's turn in our Psalters now to Psalter number 241. Based on Psalm 89, We will sing stanzas 1, 6, 7, and 9. Stanzas 1, 6, and 7, and 9 of 241. Oh Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Jehovah bless thee and keep thee. Jehovah make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.