the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Discovering Christ Day by Day
Today’s Reading: Numbers 15-16
“Thus shall it be done.”
Numbers 15:11
If we would worship and serve the God of heaven, we must worship and serve him in the way he has prescribed in his Word. He will not be worshipped in any other way and will not be served in any other way. He says, “Thus shall it be done.” And it shall not be done another way.
Due Order
Read 1 Chronicles chapters 13 and 15 and learn the importance of worshipping God “after the due order.” We must learn to worship and serve the Lord our God after the due order. That which is done in the name of God must be done according to the Word of God and for the glory of God, or it will never be accepted before God. In our worship of God, everything must be done after the due order. Our hearts must be right, trusting Christ, motivated by the love of Christ and the glory of God.
And our doctrine must be right. We must be careful that we form our doctrine by “Thus saith the Lord.” If our doctrine is not the pure doctrine of the gospel of Christ, our worship cannot be accepted before the Lord (Isaiah 8:20). That which is plainly revealed in the Word of God must be plainly declared from the pulpit. God never has blessed compromise and never will.
There are some things plainly revealed in the Scriptures. — God is God. That means he is sovereign, absolutely sovereign in all things (Psalms 135:6). — All men are guilty, helpless, ruined, totally depraved sinners (Ephesians 2:1-4). — God has a people whom he has chosen, a people who must and shall be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). — The Lord Jesus Christ effectually redeemed those people chosen of God (Isaiah 53:8-12). — Salvation is accomplished by the irresistible, effectual power of God the Holy Spirit (John 6:63). — All who believe on Christ are saved forever (John 3:36). — Christ is Lord of all. He has ascended up on high and led captivity captive (John 17:2; Romans 14:9). — Christ is coming again in the fulness of his glory to judge the world (Revelation 1:7).
Our worship must be right. All that is done in worship, particularly in public worship, must be according to the Word of God. We must omit nothing which the Word of God requires; and we must add nothing which the Word of God does not require. The honor of God and reverence for him must be first and foremost. Our ordinances must arise from the Word of God and be observed according to the Word of God. One innovation leads inevitably to another. One compromise will bring another compromise. Hear and heed God’s warning. — “Seek not after your own heart and your own eyes” (Numbers 15:39). If we follow our own hearts and our own eyes, they will cause us to “go a whoring” after other gods.
Trust Christ
Gods command requiring all the congregation to stone the man to death who dared to pick up sticks on the sabbath day (Numbers 15:32-36) was a visible demonstration of the fact that anyone who attempts to do anything to make himself righteous and holy before God will perish under the wrath of God. Christ is our Sabbath. We find rest in him. We dare not even pick up a stick to give ourselves rest and peace! The Lord killed Uzza for putting out his hand to steady the ark, because that ark, like the sabbath, represented Christ’s finished work (1 Chronicles 13:12). And the holy Lord God will send all to hell forever who put their hands to Christ’s work, who attempt to make themselves righteous and holy before him. And when he does, all Israel (all God’s elect) will say, “Amen. The Judge of all the earth has done right.”
