Obeying God's Commands God's Way

As I was reading in Leviticus this morning, I came across the passage dealing with the sins of Nadab and Abihu, the oldest sons of Aaron. In chapter 10 of Leviticus, we find these two men offering incense before the Lord. Verse one reads:

"...they offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them."

In other words, they did God's thing (offer incense) their way (strange fire). Verse two records God's response:

"And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord."

MacArthur points out that verses 8-9 may indicate the Nadab and Abihu were drunk. Scripture does not explicitly describe their sin. But we can deduce the general tenor of their sin. They did not obey God's command in the way He told them to obey it. They "obeyed" it their way, which is to say they disobeyed it. They did what God wanted them to do by offering the incense. However, they did not offer it in the way God wanted it offered. Instead, they offered strange fire. The Lord did not recognize it because it was done their way. It was sinful.

Verse three tells us why God considered it sinful.

"Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.""

So Nadab and Abihu were guilty of dishonoring God and not treating Him as holy. They did this in front of the congregation of the Israelites. Obviously, God took this very seriously. His Name and His honor and glory are to be taken seriously.

I think this passage screams to us today. The church is here to do God's thing God's way. We are not to tailor the Lord's work to the culture, as the seeker sensitive movement has done. By omitting essential doctrines such as sin and the wrath of God the church is in essence trying to do the work of the Lord, that is, the work He has commanded us to do, our own way. Some may object, pointing out the sizes of many congregations and the supposed work of the Holy Spirit. I would respond by asking how God is honored and hallowed when we don't say ALL that He has said? How does God's Name, or ALL that He is, receive glory and honor when we don't tell about ALL that He is? The book of Acts describes a man named Apollos who was,

"...a Jew...an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man...mighty in the Scriptures." (18:24)

He was teaching accurately the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Jesus. However, he was only familiar with the baptism of John. Verse 26 describes how Priscilla and Aquila taught him the way of God more accurately. He was teaching correctly about Jesus, but it was not the whole council of Scripture.

In the same way, the church in America needs to teach the whole council of God. We must not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to salvation! We must do God's thing God's way. We must say what God says, no more and no less.

I thank God for a church that preaches His word according to the Scriptures. I thank God for pastors who painstakingly teach God's truth to a very fine detail. The path of truth is as narrow as gate which leads to it. Praise God for working in the lives of men to cut it straight, feeding us the very bread of life!