What is a Reformed Baptist..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. This evening we are going to continue with our Bible study, with a series of different Bible studies that we are doing, and we reach a very important point, beloved. Very important point.

We reach the layer that is going to define that which a Reformed church is. We have already spoken about the five solas, which we consider to be an evangelical church, and we have also addressed the tulip, or the doctrines of grace, which address that which a Calvinistic church is. Now we're just getting more detailed into those distinctives of us as a church, and we reach the level of a Reformed church. And we have defined four different distinctives that we are going to be addressing in this level of what a Reformed church is before we move into what a Reformed Baptist church is. So we are going to be studying something that is called the Regulative Principle of Worship, which is tonight.

Then we are going to be studying together also what Reformed preaching is. That will be the second point. The third point that we're going to be addressing is confessionalism, why a Reformed church holds to a confession and if that is biblical or not. And then the fourth point that we're going to be addressing in the identity of a Reformed church is the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the church. That last point is gonna take us a different number of studies, and we're going to spend some time addressing what is the Reformed view of the work of the Spirit in believers and also for the Church.

So those are the four levels, those are the four points that we're going to be addressing within the Reformed layer of this triangle that we have been trying to build together. So today, beloved, tonight we're going to be addressing the first one of those points, and it's very important. There is a way in that which I could give you the substance and the message of the topic of the regulative principle, which is what we're doing tonight in just a couple of sentences. And I'm pretty sure that most of you will agree with that, which I would say. But it is our duty and it's our responsibility that we have to go into the Bible and show you that these reformed principles that we call the regulative principle is not only something that belongs to reformed identity, but that beyond a Reformed tradition goes into the Bible.

We only hold to those things that are biblical, and at this level, we are just calling those ones as Reformed distinctives. Now, this is very important, beloved, because these things that we're gonna be studying in the Reformed layer will distinguish us from those who call themselves to be Calvinistic, but they might not hold to these things that we're going to be studying, especially tonight. The first one that we're gonna be studying, as I said, is that principle that is called regulative principle, the regulative principle. But before we get into definitions, because we are going to define what that is, let me just give you a little bit of a historical framework, and I'm going to require much of your attention tonight, so bear with me, with my words, with my explanations, and please give me your attention, give me your mind, and give me your heart so you can understand this that we're going to be studying tonight. Let me just give you a little bit of a framework of the Reformation, what happened in the 16th century and in the 17th century, that is the 1500s and the 1600s.

Early in the 1500s, 1517 and 1520, this is when the Reformation starts, when the reformers start to detach, detaching themselves from the Catholic Church. And then they develop the five solas of the Reformation. This happens for probably 20 or 30 years that many people start developing these five solas of the Reformation that we have studied so far. We have already studied. But after the five solas of the Reformation, or after the Church detached herself from the Catholic Church, these doctrines of the Reformation, they start to have a better shape.

Okay, so we have detached ourselves from the Catholic Church, but now we start just to give these evangelical aspects of who we are a little bit of a better shape. And this is when the Calvinistic movement starts to develop. Calvin was born early in the 1500s, and then when he turns 30 is when he detached himself completely from Roman Catholic theology, and now he starts to develop his own way of thinking more clearly and in a structured way. So this is when we have Calvinism taking shape. But it is from the mid of the 1500s, especially 1555 with Calvin and some other people in France, that the Reformed aspect of the Reformation starts taking shape.

So in 1560 we have the Belgic Confession of Faith, which is not only an evangelical confession, it's not only a Calvinistic confession, but also a Reformed confession. So the Reformed was taking just a little bit more shape, and the nuance of the theology that was developed early in the 1500s was just taking now more shape. So we are progressing with our Bible studies through that aspect also of history, because it will be in the 1700s, that the Reformed Baptist theology will take the Reformed theology that was developed in the midst of the 16th century and give that a little bit more shape and will come with the Reformed Baptist distinctives that we also hold. So in the same way that we are building up theologically is how history developed. So our conception of what we're doing is that we are Semper Reformanda, that we are building upon that which others have built already, and then we are defining our identity based on that.

Now, this third level of this triangle that we're trying to do is very important, because one of the distinctives of the Reformed theology and later of Reformed Baptist theology is that they took the theology of the Reformation and they apply it to the Church. So the practical life of the Church was one of those things that the Calvinists, more specifically Reformed, had in their mind. It is not only about defining that which we believe in the five solas, that which we hold in the Calvinistic doctrines, but it's now more about the practice of the Church. How do we leave that theology that we leave? And the Puritans will be very famous for the experiential theology.

for putting things into practice. They will say doctrine for life. And the topic that we're going to be addressing today is a topic that is derived from a theological framework but that goes directly into the life of the church. This is called the Regulative Principle of Worship. So we're going to be speaking about something that is practical for the life of the Church.

And as I said before, beloved, there's a way in which I could give you just a summary of what this is, and you said, yes, I believe that. And then we will finish our Bible study in two or three minutes. we have to define the biblical foundations and understand them just to see how we reach to that which we call the regulative principle. So I'm not even going to define what the regulative principle is now, because once I present to you the biblical evidence that takes us to that point, once I give you the definition of what it is and I compare that to the normative principle of worship, you will see how this flows from the Bible and the testimony that is found in Scripture. So I said that the title of this Bible study is the Regulative Principle of Worship.

So we are going to speak about worship. So if we want to define that which the Regulative Principle of Worship is, then we need to know what is worship, who worships, and how do we worship? Because the Regulative Principle of Worship answers the question, how do we worship? in the life of the church. How do we worship in the life of the church?

In order to reach that question and to answer that question, we need to know what worship is, who worships, and how do we worship. Now, let's start with the first one. Before coming here, I asked Jasmine the question of what is worship, and she gave me many different words and many definitions, and I realized that defining worship is not that simple. It is not It's not that easy. It's a difficult word to define.

So I'm going to give you a definition of what worship is, and then we're going to work from that definition. I'm going to show you how the definition is in the Bible, and then we'll move on to the other steps in order to reach that point, which is the regulative principle of worship. So, what is worship? And pay attention to this definition, beloved. Pay attention to this definition because this one is not only going to help us to address the question that we have at hand this evening, but it's also give identity to those things that we have just done.

We have just sang praises and we have just prayed. We are going to be reading a scripture. We come together on the Lord's day and we praise and we worship. If we do not know what that is, then when we do it, it might not have the power that the Bible intends to have in our lives. So what is worship?

Worship, beloved, is an external expression. It's an external true expression of an internal spiritual reality. I have inside of me, I have a spiritual reality. It's an internal reality. And then worship is an external true expression of that, in which God's people come and they offer praises to God acknowledging who He is and what He has done.

And I want you to have this picture in your mind of what I'm saying. Worship is something that is an expression that is external and is true. It is an external expression that is true that corresponds to an internal spiritual reality. And how do I say that is when we come as the people of God and we give praises to God, acknowledging or knowing with our minds who he is and what he has done. If we do not have those two elements, the external and the internal, then we are not going to be worshiping.

Now, I said that that which is external is true and that which is internal is spiritual. is spiritual corresponds to that which is true. OK, so let's open up our Bibles and let's go to John chapter four. Now, beloved, you do not know how important it is for us to have these concepts very clear, not only in our mind, but also in our hearts. that reason I'm requiring from you much of your attention and concentration in everything that I'm going to be saying, because the way that we're going to build the answer of what the Regulative Principle is will define how we will change our worship, not only from today but from this coming Lord's Day, because we will understand what worship really is.

Now, beloved, I've said that this is an external expression that corresponds to an internal spiritual reality. That internal spiritual reality, of course, is the life that I have by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Only those who are in God or in Jesus Christ are the ones who can worship God really. If we do not have the spiritual reality in our hearts, it doesn't matter the external expressions that we have. They are going to be empty of reality.

So that which we do externally has to be rooted in a spiritual reality that is in our hearts. So, worship can be defined in at least two different levels. A general worship, because the Bible has called us to have expressions of our life that correspond to an internal reality, whether we eat or drink, that everything might be for the glory of God. So there is a sense in which the Christian spends his life or her life in worship to God, in which we do things, external expressions that correspond to an internal reality, that acknowledge who God is and what he has done. This is a general sense of worship.

But what we are going to be addressing today is a more particular level of that worship. It's that which happens within the context of the church, of that which happens in the private context, when we pray, when we read our Bible, when we sing praises, when we come together and pray cooperatively. I'm speaking about those specific aspects of worship. I'm not speaking about the general aspect of worship. Both of them are expressions of an inner reality.

And the Bible, in John 4, is going to give us those two levels of worship. In John 4, verse 19 to 24, the Bible says, The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. This, sir, is Jesus Christ. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. two elements, Spirit and Truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. I said to you that Biblical worship, it is an external, true expression of an inner spiritual reality. The spirit corresponds to an expression that is a true expression. That which I have inside of me will manifest in an expression. And I hope that this expression of the spiritual reality that I have inside of me is truth insofar as it corresponds to who God is and how he has revealed himself in scripture.

If we are going to worship God biblically, we need to have these two components. the biblical or the spiritual aspect that goes inside, and then that manifestation or expression that has to be true to the character of God. And throughout the Bible, beloved, we see that the important aspect of worship is not that which is done, but it's rather that which is contained in the heart of the person. Even from the Old Testament, God was never interested in just simply practices or traditions of men that were empty of a spiritual reality. And this is fundamental.

This is very important, beloved, because every time that we do things for our church, even as I'm speaking to you, we are worshiping in a certain level. If what I'm doing does not correspond to a spiritual reality of my heart, then it's going to be powerless and it's not going to be as it should be according to the words of God. So we find joy in worshiping our Savior insofar as that which we do within the context of the church and in our private lives corresponds to a spiritual reality that goes inside of us. This is very important. What we do has to be connected to what we have in our hearts.

This has been the teaching of our triune God as he has revealed this in scripture from the Old Testament to the New Testament. So go to Hosea. chapter six, Hosea chapter six, verse six. Hosea chapter six, verse six. What I'm trying to do here, beloved, is just to put in your mind that how we worship God is not defined by a testament, by an Old Testament or by a New Testament, but rather how we worship God is defined by the character of God Himself.

We worship God because of who He is. and the dispensations of time, Old Testament and New Testament, simply gives us expressions of worship that should correspond to a spiritual reality that goes throughout Scripture. So Hosea chapter 6 verse 6 says something very important, for I desire a steadfast love and not sacrifice. Now, these are the sacrifices of the old covenant of the people of Israel. These were the methods or the ways that these people will offer worship to God.

But now here the Lord says, for I desire a steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burned offerings. offerings and sacrifices were the external expression of worship. But the Lord is saying, what I prefer is something that goes inside. So I'm saying to you that worship, it is those external expressions, but they should correspond to an inner spiritual reality. Now, let's go to Matthew 15.

Grab your Bible, go to Matthew 15, because now we're going to see this from the from the lips and from the mouth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Matthew 15, in verse 9 to verse 10, this is what the Bible says. Pay attention to each one of the words, beloved. It says, these people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching us doctrines, the commandments of men.

If we do not have an inner reality, which is spiritual, then our external expressions will be empty. That will not be true. Those two things always have to come together. Go to Hebrews, please. Hebrews 13.

Now here, I'm going to show you now the other aspect. It is not only connecting that inner spiritual reality of the person who is worshiping with a external expression that should be true, but also when we come and worship in Hebrews 13, verse 15, we have to involve our understanding we involve our understanding of who God is. It says, Hebrews 13, verse 15, 13, 15. Through him, that's Jesus Christ, who has made a way for us to get into the new covenant, which is a better covenant. Through him, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. So our worship, which is internal and is spiritual and has these expressions which are external, they are true insofar as we acknowledge who God is and more than acknowledging, understanding who he is, because who he is and what he has done will define the truth of the expression of my worship. I can have an inner reality, beloved. I could have been saved by grace through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in Christ himself. But if I do not know how the Lord wants me to worship Him according to His Word, then my expressions of particular worship, remember, not general worship, what we do on a daily basis, but particular worship, that is, specific worship, might not be necessarily true or correct, because simply I do not know.

And then I'm using my mind and the standard to define what are the external expressions that will correspond to my inner reality. How do we know who God is and what he has done? We know it in his word. His word is what communicates to us who he is and what he has done. And then worship and knowledge of God is always connected in the Bible.

Not only in the church age, or let's go back, not only in the old covenant time and in the church age, but also in the eschaton, in the last days. So go to Revelation and let's see how these two concepts come together. Revelation 14 verse 7, it says, And he said with a loud voice, speaking of the Eschaton, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. It is because of the works of the Lord. It is because of the things that he has done that our worship is empowered.

We know that everything that we see and everything that has been created has been created by the God who saved us. And when we see these truths, we are not like the atheists that will say this is the result of evolution or any other thing. When we see those things, we see this is the product or this is the work of the hand of my Savior. So this my worship, my inner reality will have an external expression. And this is what will happen in the eschaton.

Turn your page and go to chapter 15, verse 4. Revelation 15, verse 4. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. all nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed.

Remember what we said in the in the sermon that God glorify himself when he manifests his or when he reveals his righteous judgment the revelation of who he is and what he does fits the worship that we have that corresponds of course to an inner reality and to an external expression. Now, I've spent a little bit of time defining that, beloved. Why? Because we can understand the concept of a regulative principle. But if we do not drive our worship to make it correspond to something inside of us that is real, that is substantial, everything that we will do will be void.

It will be just for us. So as a church and as a family, as an individual, each one of us, We should come close to God so in our hearts we should have a spiritual reality that produces external expressions that are true according to the Word of God. This is why when Paul is speaking or he is praying, for the churches in Colossians and Ephesians, he prays that they might be filled with revelation or knowledge of who God or who Jesus Christ is. He prays that the church might grow in the understanding and the revelation and wisdom of who Jesus Christ is. Beloved, because the more that we know him, the more that we want to decide to worship him.

And I don't know if you, All of us have done this, that when we're going through scripture and we read this passage that we've read many times, and then our eyes are enlightened by the Spirit of God, and then we see beauties in scripture that we have not seen before, and all of our being is shaken and moved to worship our Savior for the things that He has done, even if we've read those things many, many times. So, beloved, that is worship. Worship is an external, true expression of an inner reality that is spiritual, spirit and truth that acknowledges God, acknowledges with understanding and with our mind who He is and what He has done. So if we know what worship is, beloved, now we can know who worships, who are the ones that worship. And let me submit to you, now pay attention to this because this is very important also, not only the definition that I have given you of worship, but also the people who worship are also very important.

Worship is foundationally, foundationally, it's personal and individual. OK? Worship is foundational, personal and individual. But worship is manifested and is confirmed at a corporate level. So my private prayers, my private worship, my private singing, my private reading of scripture is confirmed, even established in the corporate aspect of worship.

Why is this? This is because the eschatological or the ultimate or the final purpose of each one of the Christians is exactly the same to the purpose of the Church. Each one of the Christians were saved with a specific purpose, and that purpose is exactly the purpose of the Church. So that means that for the church to accomplish the eschatological, or the ultimate, or the final purpose, each one of the members of the church will need to achieve that eschatological, ultimate, or final purpose. The church is a body, and the body has members.

If each one of the members worships in spirit and in truth, then the church will worship in spirit And in truth, spiritual realities internal will correspond to expressions that are true. Now, my duty is to prove to you that the individual purpose of the Christian is equivalent to the eschatological purpose of the church or the ultimate purpose of the church. So you're going to take your Bible and you're going to go to Ephesians, please go to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians 1, we're going to be reading from verse 1 to verse 4. And I mentioned this during the sermon, but we're just going to mention it again.

Ephesians 1, verse 1 to 4. Pay attention to each one of the words of the words of God. It says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints speaking to the members of the church right to the saints who are in ephesus and are faithful in christ jesus grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us in christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Even as He chose us in Him, that is, Christ, He chose us before the foundation of the world, that this is the purpose, this is the purpose of the choosing or the salvation of the saints, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Each one of the saints of the church achieved the eschatological or the ultimate purpose of their election in becoming holy and blameless or on becoming righteous, not only judicially righteous, but also practically righteous. We will be raised up with Christ and we will be glorified.

It's a full righteousness that each one of the individuals will have. But now, if you go in the same book to chapter five, we will see what is the purpose of the church. So now you take your Bible, you go to chapter five, to verse 25. And then here, the apostle is giving us a comparison between the relationship of husbands and wives. And he's going to speak of the relationship of Jesus Christ and the church.

And he says in verse 25, husbands love your wives as Christ. loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself this is the purpose so that he might present this is the eschaton the church to himself in splendor without a spot or wrinkle or any such a thing that she might be holy and the Bible says here without blemish but the Greek word is exactly the same words that are used in verse in chapter one holy and blameless exactly the same words so the purpose of the individual Christian is exactly the same purpose as the church so those who belong to the church are Christians, right? Now I'm saying to you that worship is for the individual as it is for the church. So we distinguish there between a private worship, that is what happens in your own time, in your private time, but this corresponds to a corporate worship. So foundationally worship is individual and is personal, but this worship that is individual and that is personal is manifested at a corporate level.

So that means, beloved, that you cannot be a Christian without or apart from the context of a biblical church. You will not grow as you have to. You will not develop your faith. You will not serve others. You will not serve your Lord if you are not within the context of a biblical church.

Belonging to a biblical church is crucial and vital for the worshiping of the individual. That which we do in the private place will correspond and be manifested with that which happens at the corporate level. Because the purpose of our union and our choosing, as Ephesians 2 verse 10 will say, is that we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works that were prepared beforehand. beforehand the Lord prepared good works and he created us in Christ Jesus for those good works. Growing in conformity to Jesus Christ will produce in us a way of living.

That way of living corresponds to an inner reality and we will not grow in that external conformity, internal and external conformity to Jesus Christ apart from the context of the biblical church. We need our brothers and sisters to worship together, and to grow in the purpose for which we have been chosen. So go to Hebrews, and I'm going to show you that. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 23.

It says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Neglecting the coming together as the Church of Jesus Christ affects the development of the individual purpose of the Christian. The purpose, the eschatological and ultimate purpose of the Church is that of the individual members, beloved. So we need our brothers and sisters.

We need to exhort one another. We need to encourage one another in good works so each one of the members will grow. And then our church will grow, not in numbers, but it will grow in a spiritual reality that produces external manifestations of worship that are empowered by the Spirit, testify to the unbeliever, and glorify the Triune Savior or the Triune God who saved us. This is who worships. And beloved, this moves from a personal level to a corporate level.

It moves from the individual to the church. We worship, yes, in the private place. And when you pray, go into the secret place, shut or close the door, and pray to God the Father who is in the secret place. Each one of us, we pray. But also, it goes a little bit more corporate, to our families.

I will serve my house. I and my family will serve the Lord," Joshua says. So there is a duty not only in individual worship, but also in family worship, where the family comes together as members of the body that live together, that spends many times together, and they worship the Lord together in prayer, in singing, and in reading of scripture. And then it becomes more corporate, more social, because that goes to the assembly of the saints when we worship together with the church. So now, the regulative principle of worship beloved will address not that which happens in the private or individual level, but rather that which happens in the corporate level.

So we've taken from general to particular worship. In particular worship, we define what worship is. Once we define what worship is, we have said who has to worship, that is, the individual, the family, and the church. And now I'm saying to you that the regulative principle of worship addresses how the church should worship. So now we are going to answer the question of how do we worship?

But before we answer the question of how do we worship, Let me just remind you that I said that the definition of worship is that spiritual reality that we have inside of us that corresponds to a true external expression. And I'm going to finish very soon, like in 10 minutes, so I really need your mind because this is the most important part of the Bible study. This is when I'm going to build my argument to teach you and show you how we worship in the private place and how we worship as a congregation. So I need your attention. We're just going to finish soon.

So I said that is a spiritual reality, beloved, that is inside of us that corresponds to produces an external expression. This external expression, I said that it has to be true. And for it to be true, it always is regulated. It is always regulated by the scripture. Scripture is the only parameter that tells me that which is true in relationship to God.

Every time that I'm going to define something that relates to God, the Bible and Scripture is that which defines that which is true. So I have my spiritual reality that produces an external expression that is true insofar as it corresponds to Scripture. Now, let's see that in the context of the individual. Beloved, because my manifestations of worship at a private and individual level, even though they are regulated by Scripture, might differ and have different nuances and different shapes to your private worship, to the things that you do in the private place. So my inner reality might have expressions that are regulated by scripture, but also are defined by some other variables.

So I'm going to read, my brother is going to read a chapter of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 14. So if you can go to that one, we're going to read that passage, this whole chapter very carefully. And then I'm going to build the theological point that I'm trying to explain here. So before we read the chapter, I'm going to give you some parameters, beloved. I'm going to give you some parameters that will define our individual worship, the worship that happens with the person at a personal level.

And this is what the word of God says in Romans 14. Brother, please. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another person esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. the one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord, and the one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother?

Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13.

Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. But by what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil." For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God.

Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.

For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." Fundamental statement, the one that is made in the end. Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Now, this is when I require your attention, beloved. This is speaking of practices of each one of the individual Christians.

Some eat, some hold particular days, some do a particular thing. And then here, the word judgment, do not judge your brother, do not judge your brother, do not judge your brother, goes many times throughout the text, or at least the idea goes throughout the text. Now, beloved, pay attention to this. The worship of the individual happens foundationally in the heart with this spiritual reality. But this spiritual reality will have external expressions that are true.

The truth of those expressions will be always defined and regulated by scripture. But the understanding of scripture of a person will grow as that person grows in faith. So there is a level of what we call the liberty of conscience. I'm just translating from Spanish. Is that how you say it?

The freedom of conscience or the liberty of the conscience of the person. The conscience of the person is submitted to scripture, of course, but they are connected with faith. So when a person is saved, that person might not necessarily know everything that he has to do. Now, it doesn't mean that because that person does not know, it is not wrong. Scripture is that which defines which is good and which is bad.

but I might have brothers around me who do not have the same understanding of scripture that I have, so I'm not going to involve myself into practices that will bring them to sin. I will not push them, I will not bring them to the point in which my practices bring them or condemn their private life of worship in this case. So, The expressions of worship of the individual Christian are regulated by the truth of Scripture as it is manifested in the maturity of that person and their faith. That's why what does not proceed from faith is sin. And some things for me might be sin and for you they are not sin.

Because there are many things in my mind, there are many things in my experience, there are many things that I've done that probably you have not done or you have not experienced. So those things might not be a sin to you, but if I get involved into those things, those things might be a sin to me. Scripture always regulates the external manifestations of my worship. But when we're speaking of the individual level, we have to take into account the level of maturity of that person and also the faith that that person has. Now, theoretically speaking, I remember that when we were in Mexico, we were having this conversation with a couple of brothers.

We were having a coffee and we're having this conversation about the sanctification of believers. And my brother said, and taught me there, that theoretically speaking, if you have two Christians, theoretically speaking, this doesn't happen, and I don't think that it will happen, but theoretically speaking, if you have two Christians who have had similar lives, and they are saved by grace through faith, and they are exposed to the same teachings, they live together, they coexist together, they are nourishing their faith with the same services, with the same teachers, within the same context of the church, very likely they are going to develop similar consciences. So they are going to develop a sensitivity to seeing or sensibility to particular things that are very similar because their faith, their minds and their hearts are being nourished and informed and communicated by the same source. Now, I'm saying that this is theoretical. This does not happen because we are all different.

But my point is that each one of us will receive the truth of his scripture, and as we progress in our lives, we will become more sensitive to those things that we should do and those things that we should not do. Now, it happens to all of us that sometimes we realize, wow, I shouldn't do that. I've been doing that for a while, but I should not do that. The Spirit is convicting us through His Word and He's teaching us so our faith is more conformed to the truth of who God is. So then our manifestations of private worship will be more and more according to the Word of God.

So when we speak of private things that we do, we always should have these things into or take these things into account, that we are all growing in different ways. But now, saying that, Saying that, here I want to show you the importance of the unity of a biblical church. The importance of us as family, not only as people who come to church and just be here from time to time, but how important it is for us not only to submit to the same teaching, but to co-exist one with the other, because then our understanding of Scripture will grow in the same direction. Our faith, even though we are different, will grow with the same shape. Our understanding of things will go into the same shape, into the same form.

So then, even though we have differences, then we will know how to treat each other. We will know each other. And then even I will say to you, I will submit to you that even our private worship will start turning without knowing because it's private, similar to what we do. Because the private life of the Christian will then define the worship that happens in the corporate level. So beloved, in the individual level, Scripture regulates our external expressions through our faith and our conscience, but this is not the same what happens in the corporate level.

I cannot make my conscience of my level of maturity that which regulates worship at a corporate level, because in the moment that I say to you, we are going to worship this way because we think that is the best way, I'm submitting you to our understanding So God has decided that worship at a corporate level does not go through the mind or through the faith or through the conscience of the person, but it is clearly stated in Scripture. So Scripture becomes the means, the absolute means that will tell us what to do as a church. So now I'm going to show you how Scripture and how the teachings of the scriptures are those upon which the church is built and it grows. So take your Bible and go to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter two.

Ephesians chapter two. Verse 18 and 22. For through him we both have, speaking of Jews and Gentiles, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are members of the household of God." Verse 20, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.

The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit beloved. The church is built upon the cornerstone Jesus Christ, but also the apostles and the prophets. And what did the apostles and prophets give us? Scripture.

They have given us the Word of God. Everything that the church builds and therefore does is founded in the revelation that has been given to us the Father through the Son, in the teachings of the prophets and the apostles. This is why, and this is just a parenthetical comment, there cannot be prophets anymore. Because if there are prophets in the contemporary days, then they are feeding the foundation that was already established. So the church is built upon the prophets and is built upon the teachings of the apostles.

Peter will say in chapter two that just as Jesus Christ is the chosen stone, the living stone, the precious stones that was rejected by the builders, we, the members, are living stones. This is first Peter chapter two, that we are living stones that were being built up in a spiritual house, and we offer spiritual sacrifices. So, beloved, the Word of God is that what defines what we do in our worship. Everything that we do in worship in the church has and must be defined by that which is contained in Scripture. What is the whole thing about the Regulative Principle of Worship?

The whole thing about the Regulative Principle of Worship, beloved, is this, that there is not only a Regulative Principle of Worship. If something exists, it's because something else exists. The Regulative Principle of Worship exists because there's something that is called the Normative Aspect of Worship. The Regulative Principle responds or relates to the Normative Principle of Worship. and the Reformed Tradition, or the Reformed Theology, or Reformed Churches, hold to the Regulative Principle of Worship, and the others, they hold to the Normative Aspect of Worship, or the Normative Principle of Worship.

So what does the Regulative Principle of Worship say? The Regulative Principle of Worship says three things. that we should do, in the positive sense, that we should do as a congregation, as a church, as a... when we come corporately to worship, that we should do that which the Bible says that we should do. Right?

That's clear and easy. We should do that which the Bible says that the church should do. Now, second point. It's a negative one. It says that we should not do we should not do those things that the Bible says that we should not do.

Easy, right? Then, the third one of the Reformed principle of worship says that we should not do the things that are not clear in Scripture, or that are not mentioned in Scripture. Let's say it that way. That we should not do, we should not do the things that are not mentioned in Scripture at all. And this point, the third point, is the one that we differ with the normative principle.

They say that we should do what the Bible says that we should do, that we should not do what the Bible says that we should not do. But they say that we can do what the Bible does not refer at all. Now there is a little bit of a problem there, beloved, because when I remove the standard that regulates my worship, namely the words of God, then I have to decide upon what standard I define the things that we will do that the Bible does not refer to at all. And then that standard becomes the leadership of the church. This normative principle of worship is derived from the Catholic tradition.

The Catholic tradition will define many things that the church will do. Then the reformers or the reformed people come and they say, we only do the things that the Bible says that we should do. We do not do the things that the Bible says that we should not do. But when there's no clear information, we don't do anything. We don't do those things.

We don't even think about it. Why? Because when we are going to define who does it, in the best case scenario will be the church leadership, the ones who define. Now, Beloved, there is important relationship between the individual and the church, because even as we as a church define the things that we think the Bible says that we should do, and the things that we think the Bible says that we should not do, and we follow our parameters by those things, is the responsibility of the church, not of the leadership, not of the elder, not of the pastor, not of those who are leading the church, is the responsibility of the church to go to a scripture and then say, is this which we are doing according to the Word of God? Is this which we are not doing according to the Word of God?

You see that when we remove the possibility of someone deciding by us, we protect ourselves from personal preferences, because these personal preferences at certain level within the boundaries of scripture are left only for individual worship. It's only at individual worship. Imagine if I get here or we get here and then we vote about the things that we should do. If we vote about the things that we should do, we might probably end up doing things that the Bible says that we should not do. So we take this book And we make the book the standard that regulates not only when the Bible speaks clearly, but also the silence of the Bible is sufficient.

When the Bible does not speak, I will not dare to open my mouth and say that I will do something. Because when I dare to open my mouth to say that I will do something, not only for myself, but for the Bride of Christ, a stricter judgment for those who think and want to teach those things. So the Reformed Church will say, we only will do the things that the Bible says that we should do. We will not do the things that the Bible says that we should not do. And we will not do, they are not commanded, the things that are not clear in the Bible.

And usually the passage that people take is found in Leviticus 10. So let's go over the Bible to Leviticus 10. And we're going to finish very soon. Leviticus chapter 10, verse 1 and 3. And I don't know if you remember, beloved, but I said that worship is not defined by a testament, but is defined by the character of God himself.

He is the recipient of our worship. So then in Leviticus 10, verse 1, it says, Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered an authorized fire before the Lord. They were coming to offer a sacrifice of worship or they were coming to worship. And the Bible says that they offer an authorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from from before the Lord, and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Let me just read it from the King James. It reads a little bit different. It says, And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incest thereon, and offered a strange fire before the Lord, which the Lord did not command. The Lord did not command. that sacrifice or that manifestation of worship that was offered and they died.

The Word of God is sufficient for everything that we need when it speaks and when it's silence. Even when we have clarity about the words and when we don't know, that no refers at all, the Word of God is sufficient Now let me just take you to another passage and we finish there. Go to James. Go to James chapter four. The reason why the Lord in his sovereignty, in his wisdom, in his knowledge has decided that the church should worship according to what is written and not according to personal preferences is because when we act and live according to preferences this is what happens chapter 4 verse 1 what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you is it not this that your passions are at war within you the reason why we do not ask anyone of us from our mind and our understanding, what do you like and what would you like that our church has and does in our worship service?

It is because, yes, we don't trust your criteria. We don't trust your criteria. For that reason, we come to this book. And as long as we come together and we define what is contained in this book, we do. And then the things that we've defined for our church to the best of our limited ability, we'd say, where is that contained in the scripture?

Because even from the announcements that are made before the service officially starts, because I don't know if you've seen this in the message that we sent, announcements, and then we have a letter that says, service officially starts because we don't think that announcements belong to the service of the church. They are done before it. every aspect that goes inside of the service to the best of our limited ability, we try to connect to this book so it is not our minds or the best, the limitations of our minds, what defines what we do as a church. And then it's your responsibility to always come to this book, not only to conform your faith to what is written, but to take responsibility for this, that is your family and that is your church. So when you see that something is not done according to what is written, you come and say in love, brother or sister, I think that this should be done this way.

We go to scripture, we see it. And if it's there, we will implement it in love and joy. Amen.