Today’s devotion is Matthew 21:12-17.
“12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant
16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”
17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.” Matthew 21:12-17.
Notice how Jesus did not “only” cleanse the temple of the inappropriate activities of “buying and selling”, He filled the temple with appropriate activities of healing the blind and lame and praising Himself.
“For zeal for Your house has consumed me … ”
Psalm 69:9
The lesson for us is that it is not enough for us to refrain from clearly inappropriate activities during the worship service; we should fill our church with appropriate activities. We should make our church sanctuary a “House of Prayer” that pleases God. We should passionately sing and otherwise praise God. Notice how God was pleased with “the shouting” of praise of the children in the temple. “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.” Psalm 32:11.
As we approach Reformation Day, we should be reminded of the Reformed Regulative Principle of Worship. The following quote comes from material printed from the text of a Reformation Day Speech sponsored by the Lecture Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. The address was given on October 29, 1987, and was delivered by Rev. Barry Gritters, pastor of Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church.
“Reformed believers teach that our worship is to be just what God commands it to be – nothing more, nothing less. This is of utmost importance for us to understand in connection with Biblical, Reformed worship. God does not leave it up to us to determine the manner of our worship of God. God’s Word regulates us in how we must worship Him.
This is the difference between the Lutheran and the Calvinistic branches of the Reformation. Followers of Luther, when reforming the extravagance of the Roman Catholic Church, held to the position that whatever was not explicitly forbidden in the Bible was permissible in church. For that reason, the Lutherans kept a good deal of Roman Catholic practices in their worship. Whether consciously taken or not, this is the position of most churches today. This is not Reformed!
The Calvinists, on the other hand, held to what is called “The Regulative Principle of Worship.” That regulative principle says, “We worship God only as He has commanded us in His Word.” For that reason, the worship services of Reformed churches historically have been limited to prayer, singing, sacraments, preaching, and offerings.” Here is the link to the article in full – Click here: PUBLIC WORSHIP AND THE REFORMED FAITH
There is another article in the “The Puritan’s Mind” blog that may be worthy of your review, particularly because it quotes the Reformed Creed Westminister Confession, Chapter 21 paragraph 1 in the Westminster Confession:
“The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.[1] But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.[2]”
In conclusion, let us review. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is consistent with the Regulative Principle of Worship. However, we saw that Jesus did not “just” remove clearly inappropriate activities (“buying and selling”); Jesus filled the temple with appropriate activities of healing the blind and lame and praising Himself for which Jesus was criticized at one time or another. So, let us not only adhere to the Regulative Principle of Worship and refrain from clearly inappropriate activities, but let us also “do good” to our fellow man and worship God with zeal “in spirit and in truth”. John 4:23-24.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 