| Beloved, As new covenant priests, there is arguably nothing more fundamental to our vocation than public worship, as we “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Old covenant priests were not free to offer up whatever sacrifices suited their fancy. God had clearly spelled out the precise sacrifices they were to present as they drew near to God. So too with us under the new covenant. We don’t bring whatever sacrifices we please, but only engage in the ordinances He has ordained for His worship. As we saw last week, this is called the regulative principle. It is the conviction, based upon the second commandment, that we are only to worship God by way of the elements He has prescribed. His word regulates what we do in worship, and to go beyond His word is idolatry. To put it simply, the Lord whom we worship is the Lord of worship. Too often, however, the regulative principle is understood to only refer to the elements of worship (word, sacraments, prayer, etc.). But what we saw a number of months ago as Moses expounded the second commandment in Deuteronomy 12 is that God’s word not only regulates what sacrifices are to be offered but also where they are to be offered. Israel was not free to offer the proper sacrifices in just any place, but only at the place God chose to put His name: V. 5: “But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go…” V. 11: “…to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you…” Vv. 13-14: “Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes…” While the entire land of Canaan was a garden-temple wherein God communed with His people, there was a particular place among the tribes that God’s theophonic presence would dwell and where the formal worship of God would be carried out. It was the place of God’s choosing – the tabernacle and later the temple. God told Israel to make sure that they didn’t bring their sacrifices to any old altar, but to His chosen altar in His chosen place. The habitation of God’s house and the place where His glory dwelt under the old covenant was a physical structure set up on a physical piece of land. But under the new covenant the place where God has put His name, where God especially dwells, and where God has willed His worship to be formally carried out is His gathered people. We together form God’s new covenant temple (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:21-22). The temptation facing the Israelites in Canaan was, out of convenience, to worship God by the sacrifices He had prescribed but not in the place He had prescribed. It was far easier to do it from the backyard or the neighborhood altar. Friends, what a sober warning this is to us today who are no less tempted by the idol of convenience, temped to think we can worship God through the public means of grace but not in the midst of His gathered people. It’s much more convenient to sit at home on the couch and watch livestream. And post-Covid, how many professing Christians have succumbed to that? When we say that we are about God-ordered worship, one of the things we are saying is that we are about assembling. Assembling is not an added bonus that can be lost while still upholding God’s will in His worship. Failure to assemble at the place God has chosen (or in our case, as the place God has chosen) is a violation of the second commandment. Biblical worship necessitates the public, embodied assembling of God’s people in His holy presence. Of course, there are providential hindrances that may legitimately prevent us from gathering on a given Lord’s Day. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about those who willingly neglect gathering as God’s new covenant temple because livestream can deliver the sermon to them from the comfort of their living room without the inconveniences involved in gathering. I’m talking about the mentality that says assembling is a take-it-or-leave-it kind of thing. It’s not! The very word church means assembly, and it is impossible for us to fulfill our eternal vocation of worship without such gathering together. Though it certainly is inconvenient and our flesh sometimes finds this holy assembly uncomfortable and undesirable, there is no better place to be in this wilderness world than in the midst of His gathered people in His special presence! “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Ps. 84:10). Already eager to assemble with you this Sunday, Pastor Nick |
