Morning By Morning #231

We are disgraced…and shame covers our faces,

because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’S house.

Jeremiah 51:51

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

In this passage the faces of the Lord’s people were covered with shame, for it was a terrible thing for men to intrude into “the Holy Place” (Ex. 26:33) reserved for the priests alone. And all around us, even today, we see a like cause for sorrow. Consider how many ungodly men are now being educated with the idea of entering the ministry! And what a crying sin is the lie being imposed on our entire population that they all are included, at least in some small way, in a National Church! [Editor’s note: Spurgeon is referring to the fallacy of considering everyone in England Christian simply because they have a denomination known as the Church of England.]

How fearful it is that holy ordinances of the church should be forced upon the unconverted, and that even among the more enlightened churches of our land there is such a lack of discipline. If the many people who read this devotion would take this matter before the Lord Jesus today, He will intervene and avert the evil that will otherwise come upon His church. To adulterate the church is akin to polluting a well, pouring water on a stove, or planting stones in a fertile field. May we all have God’s grace to properly maintain the purity of the church as a true assembly of believers—not a nation or an unsaved community of the unconverted.

Our zealous work, however, must begin at home. May we examine ourselves first as to our right to eat at the Lord’s table. May we make sure we are “wearing wedding clothes” (Matt. 22:11) ourselves, lest we become intruders in the Lord’s sanctuary. “For many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14), and “small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:14).

Oh, for the grace to approach Jesus in the proper way—with the faith of God’s elect. He who struck down “Uzzah because of his irreverent act” (2 Sam. 6:7) of touching the ark is very jealous of His two ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. As a true believer I may approach them freely, but as a “foreigner” I must not touch them lest I die. It is the responsibility of each person to “examine himself” (1 Cor. 11:28), searching his own heart, before being baptized or coming to the Lord’s table.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Ps. 139:23).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Not only are unbelievers not to partake of the holy ordinances, but believers as well are to approach God in the proper way. For example, “Aaron’s sons…offered unauthorized fire before the LORD…So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them and they died” (Lev. 10:1 – 2).

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19, 21 – 22).