Contrast of bringing back the ark

Let's turn in the Word of God to 1st Chronicles, please. 1st Chronicles, it's always interesting just how the Lord will open up a way for what you have in your mind. Read about an experience in the life of David, 1st Chronicles chapter 13.

It has to do with the bringing of the ark up into Jerusalem. Now what's interesting about this little story in David's life is that David made two attempts to bring the ark up into Jerusalem. And something very devastating happened at the end of the first attempt.

And so devastating was the effect, a man died, lost his life, and there's a lot of other issues that happened as well. The ark was taken aside into the house of Obedeum, never made it up to Jerusalem. And then David goes up to Jerusalem with this question on his mind, how can I bring the ark up to Jerusalem? And he thinks upon it for three long months.

And finally, he does discover from the Word of God how to handle things of God, how to do them according to the Word of God. And as a result, the second time works. And the ark is brought into the city, there's much rejoicing, and there's a number of other things that we'll show you from the Word of God.

So really what I want to do is I want to contrast the first attempt versus the second attempt. And I'll just let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. What you're going to discover is on the first attempt, it's done in the power of the flesh.

It's done human wisdom, human thinking. It's done and the people are happy. But when you come to the second attempt, it starts with the Word of God.

There's a total difference. So just in relation to what we've been hearing, we can accommodate our gospel preaching to the point where it pleases people. But that's done in the flesh.

We want things done in the Spirit of God. So with that being said, let's look at 1 Chronicles chapter 13. I'm going to make a short reference back to Samuel, 2 Samuel, but I'll just read the first verse for just one moment.

First, this is referring to the first attempt, okay? 1 Chronicles 13 and verse number 1, and David, King David, consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds and with every leader. That's quite a list. Now just hold your finger 1 Chronicles, but just slip back to 2 Samuel 6 for a minute because we're given just a little bit more information here.

And you might think, oh he's going to tell us that this is a message on new carts. No, it's not. Get the new cart out of your head, okay? We're not going there.

We'll explain that in a minute. 2 Samuel 6 and verse 1. So in 1 Chronicles 13, we had him consulting with all of these people. Now we see the effect of that in 2 Samuel 6 and verse 1. And David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel.

Notice, 30,000. I don't know how many there will be here this morning. I don't know, maybe 150.

Can you imagine a group of 30,000 people and the king's at the head of it and just below him are all the captains of the leaders. This is quite an impressive group, you know. As you start at the top and you go all the way down and then you've got 30,000 of the common people.

How can it be wrong? Look who's involved. I mean, for Pete's sake, the king's involved. He can't be wrong.

The sweet psalmist that gave us all the Psalms. And he's got all his men, all the leaders are with him. He can almost see the logical.

How can it be wrong? Well, you're going to find out in a minute that it was wrong. Look at verse 2 of 2 Samuel 6. And David arose and went up with all the people that were with him from Baal of Judah to bring up from thence the ark of God whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwell between the cherubim. Now let's come back to 1 Chronicles 13.

I told you not to leave your finger. Take your finger. Hope you obeyed me.

Come back to 1 Chronicles 13 and let's pick up the story. So I just was trying to impress the amount of people involved, the leadership involved. Look at what we have in verse number 2. 1 Chronicles 13 verse 2. And David said unto all the congregation, notice if you're taking notes, circle this word, if it seemed good unto you and that it be of the Lord our God.

Now just pause for a minute. Does that sound backward to you? Number one, it's starting off with the word if. I don't know about you, but when someone talks to me and they use the word if, it's kind of like, are we on thin ice here? It's just not a whole lot of confidence in that little word if.

And then you'll notice he put, now this is the first attempt, you'll notice that he puts the people before God. If it seems good to you, oh, and by the way, if it happens to be of the Lord. You get the point? So right off the bat we're seeing, David, David, good, good desire.

We give you a full mark, a gold star for a good desire. I want to bring the ark of God from where it is. I want to bring it up in Jerusalem.

Good desire. And you're kind enough to involve people. Wonderful.

Nice not to be a one-man show, you know? Nice to have other people involved in the work of the Lord. David, that is good. But David, you got the order wrong.

God is not at the head. How it appeals to people is at the head. Now the people are easy to sway, dear child of God.

You can, you can get a preacher, you pay him enough, you come up here and he'll whip it all up into a frenzy. And you'll go out of the place going, I don't know what he said, but I'm so excited. Now we can have that type of ministry.

That's what happened in Ezekiel's day. It was spiritual entertainment. That's what, that's how it had degraded.

And, and God said to them, said to Ezekiel, they're not going to listen to you, but I'll tell you what they're going to do, Ezekiel. They're going to talk about you and they're going to compare preachers. Oh man, he was something else.

What did he say? I haven't a clue, but did he ever whip me up? Are we there today? Well, I like so-and-so because he makes me laugh so much. God for service. We heard last night, I thought it was an excellent start to the conference.

We don't want husk ministry, just that outer shell. We want substance. That's what we want in 2016, is it not? Do we want spiritual substance? I mean, I often remember Peter Orszag used to preach a lot with him and he said, Scott, take a person's gospel or take their ministry.

Sometimes he said, you got to, you got to shave off an awful lot of foam off the milk. Just how much are you left with? All right, I'm getting off on a tangent too. I got to come back to the chapter.

Come back to the chapter. First Chronicles 13. So we read verse two again for emphasis.

And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, if it seem good unto you and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere that are left in all the land of Israel and with notice and with them also to the, now just count these, priests and Levites. You'll notice this, dear child of God, in the first attempt, that is the only reference to the priest and the Levites. Three little words.

Now, just quite simply, the priests and the Levites are given 20 verses. So here you got them tagged on at the end. Why? Because it started with men, it went to God, and now the people that God has ordained to handle the ark.

Just three little words. But when you come to the second attempt, after he understood from the word of God, instead of starting with the word if, you're going to notice where he started. He quoted a verse from Numbers.

Nobody is to touch the ark but the Levites. Boy, there's confidence there. It's just clear.

It's pointed. And then he starts and it's almost like what you'll notice in the first attempt is it's David with his hand and everything, moving pieces, arranging. Do you know what he does in the second attempt? Once he starts with the word of God, the word of God instructs him as to who should be handling and then David just hands it right over to the priests and the Levites.

And then 20 verses, the spirit of God lists. That's why the second attempt ended with worship. And this is why the first attempt ended with the death of a man, David afraid and God angry.

Because God's order was neglected. You see the simple point? I'm with my brother. I don't like preaching in circles.

I want you to understand we can learn a tremendous lesson from this man David. And let's go and just read about that little lesson. There's lots that we could read there, but we're going to read it again.

Come over to chapter 15. First Chronicles 15. Now this is David's own words.

Okay. I'm just not going to take time to, well, I could, I'm sorry. Let me, let me back up again.

My wife is always telling me to slow down because my brain goes too fast. Maybe I have misdosed ADD. I don't know.

Come back to chapter 13 for a second. I should read this again. Look at what we have in verse number four, chapter 13, verse four.

And all the congregation said that they would do so notice for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. You can see major holes in that too. Can't you? Okay.

This is the first attempt. Turn the page. If you have a new very Bible, look what you have in verse number seven.

And they carried the ark of God in a new cart. Someone says, Oh, there it is. The new cart.

Nope. Forget. We're not talking about new carts.

You see, I'll tell you why we're not talking about new carts. If you go into the book of numbers, you're going to discover that a certain family had the job of looking after all of the different instruments, articles, parts of the tabernacle system. And there's three boys that come from Levi and the coal pipes.

And there's all kinds of, you take time to study it out. Do you know what you'll discover of those three boys? God gave this particular family certain jobs to do. And this family, certain jobs do, and this family, certain jobs to do.

One of those families, God gave them four carts to carry pieces of the tabernacle. Another family, God gave them two carts to carry different pieces. And this particular family, God gave them zero carts to carry the ark.

God wanted those that carried the ark to actually feel the weight of it. Okay? God says, don't you dare put my ark down upon something where people are looking down upon it. See, that's what happens to your child of God when we water down the gospel.

It doesn't have much of an impact. It loses its reverence. It loses its holiness.

Okay? You get my point? But as long as that ark was being carried the way God wanted to carry, it was on their shoulders, it was always above the people. It was higher. I was taught, and I still would believe it, by gospel preachers, don't get up on this podium and use gutter language to present God's truth.

Be dignified in it. This is a dignified office. We are handling the word of God.

And I believe that goes as well for my dress as well and my language. We are not trying to bring God down to the street level. We want to bring sinners up out of the ditch to a savior.

So that is so important. We learn these lessons from this little story. So let's read a little bit more.

Verse number 8. Look at what we have. We got the new car driven by Ohio. Anyway, it's not my mind.

Verse 8. And David and all Israel played before God, notice, with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with basaltry, and all these instruments. I mean, you can just imagine it. You got 30,000 plus people.

Think of it. And there's all this musical instrument and it says they're just playing with all of their might. I mean, listen, I know David's wrong, okay, because we're going to discover that.

A man dies, but at least I can give him a gold star for this. Man, he's all into it. He's not half there.

I say this, if you're going to be wrong, you may as well be all into it. You ever meet these people at the door and try to shake their hand? They're half dead. They're going to fall down on you.

You listen to some people sing. I mean, if we don't have a reason to sing, I'm so glad I'm saved. What? Get into it.

It's worth it. Sing with your might. But see here, listen, you can be, you can have a good desire, that's David, and you can be into it with all your might, but it's not pleasing to God.

So do you ever sometimes wonder, oh, you know, our meetings are so humdrum. Where's the music? Where's the excitement? Where's the excitement? I mean, look at the crowds that they get out there. You know what you'll notice? First attempt, there's much emphasis on who's involved and how many.

Do you know what you notice when you come to the second attempt? No mention of numbers. Let me challenge you. When you have the word of God for something, does it matter how many are standing with you? No, because I'm standing on the word of God.

I don't need Brody's support me and Murray's support me and look at me and say, yeah, Scott, that's right, we're together on this. What happens if they fail? What happens if I fail? Where I go on a Sunday, where I meet with the Lord? Am I going because my mom and dad are there? Oh, that's a hard one. My brothers and sisters, I'm there because the word of God directs me to Christ.

That's it. Don't get occupied with numbers, brethren. Oh, you get our gospel meetings.

There's so there's hardly what's the point here? What's the point of having a gospel meeting when there's nobody coming in? Do you think God enjoys the gospel being preached? You think the angels enjoy it? You think the saints enjoy it? And by the way, how do you think the younger are going to learn how to preach it if you don't preach it? Preach it. Oh, you say you're getting worked up. Yes, I am.

About 12 minutes more to go. Get y'all good and hungry for dinner. These things are real.

We don't need numbers. We just need truth. Stick to the book.

All right. Getting ahead of myself here. First number nine.

All this excitement now. And when they came onto the threshing floor of Kaidan, Uzzah, genuine man, genuine man, put forth his hand to hold the ark for the oxen stumbled. Notice and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and he smote him because he put his hand to the ark and there he died before God.

And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. Wherefore the place is called Pera Uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of God that day saying, how shall I bring the ark of God home to me? Now, listen, I want to, I want to challenge you.

Here, listen, listen. Are you and I serving a God that is this rigid? Here is Uzzah and you can see it. All of a sudden that, that ark starts to shake a little and in sincerity, he just, he just touches it to steady it.

He didn't want it falling further lower down onto the ground and God strikes him dead. Is that the God that we serve? That is the God that we serve. And who am I to question it? Things weren't being done right here.

Oh, there was lots of people involved, lots of excitement, lots of dance and lots of music. Like you said, lots of whatever, but behind the whole thing, God could see wrong environment. This is not being done in a spiritual environment.

There was no blessing. A man died. David is displeased.

God is angry. That's an awful way to go home, isn't it? From a meeting, just totally displeased over the whole thing. Well, you know, David goes back up to Jerusalem and this fear got ahold of him.

You know, dear brother and sister, isn't it sad? I'm not that old, but I am just over 50. But even in my short little life, I can see a lack of fear. We are losing that today.

My, you're all looking either so stunned or so angelic. Which is it? We are losing fear of a holy God, be it in our meetings or be it in the way we preach the gospel. If your gospel message consists of one story after another, do you know what you've lost? You've lost the fear of God.

So where are we today? We're going to end up like David. God is angry. We're displeased of results.

Now what a total difference when you come to the second attempt. Let's come to the second attempt. I want you to see how David started this second attempt.

I find this beautiful. Go to chapter 15. Look at verse number 13.

I'm going to start just a little off because this is what starts the whole process. Remember this fear. Now notice what it produced in verse 13.

Here's what it says. For, this is David speaking, for because ye, he's referring to the Levites, did it not at the first, that's what we read, the Lord our God made a breach upon us. For that we sought him not after the due order.

Can I shout this at the top of my lungs in 2016, it matters how we serve God. It cannot be done any way you like. It can't just because it might seem good to you and you might have a whole group of people around you that make you feel like you are doing it right.

If it's not according to the Bible, it's not after due order. Just a very simple thing I've been thinking of the last couple of days. My love to my Savior is not based on a feeling, but it's based on obedience to his word.

Do you want to know where that's measured, brothers and sisters? Every truth that we have given to us in the New Testament, how dear do I hold them? Some places are starting to remove the seed of the unlearned. That's a commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ. My adherence to that truth will determine my love for him.

You could start going through all, I'm surprised. Some assemblies are starting to question. Do sisters need to wear a head covering midweek? The truth of a head covering in every gathering of the people of God is a truth that will test my love to Christ.

Oh, it's not popular in the world. I understand that all of these different truths, and that even comes down to this, how faithful I am to preach the gospel, will test my love to him. Stick to the book that will prove my love to him.

It regards what the world says. Okay? So let's read this a little bit now. This is David now.

This fear has made him understand. And you know what I like about David? Isn't that wonderful? David was big enough to admit he made a mistake. Wouldn't that be a day, first of all, to shout hallelujah? If maybe some of the oversights in some assemblies, back there, we want to inform the assembly, we made a mistake.

A few things we neglected in the word of God. But that's where it's going to start, brothers and sisters. Individually.

Maybe I'm speaking to someone, and maybe your Christian life has been taking just a little drift from the word of God, but hey, it feels good, and everybody's patting me on the back saying it's good. What a wonderful conference if you were to stop dead in your tracks and say, I've been making a mistake. Haven't been following the book.

God's not happy. Oh, I feel good, but God's not happy. All right.

Enough on that. 1 Chronicles 3, 15. Look what we have here now.

Verse 1, and David made him houses in the city of David and prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched for it a tent. And David said, here's the quote, Numbers chapter 4, none ought to carry the ark of God, but the Levites for them have the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God and to minister onto it. And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord onto his place, which he had prepared for it.

And David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites and the sons of Kohath. Those were the, those are the family, the children that had to carry this thing. And what you read now from verses four, all the way down to, to the end of verse 24, 20 verses.

It's all about the position and the order amongst the Levites and the priests, how they're going to be in front of the ark and behind the ark and where the arc's going to be and who's going to hold onto the ark. And it's just like David's on the outside, just watching this while God given order is being obeyed. You see, you know, it's not too simple in 2016 to simply follow the word of God.

Regardless of what preacher comes along and says, well, I know the verse says this, but I think it means this. No, go back and says, but that's what the book says. Oh, I think this method might work a little better.

No, go back to what the Bible says. You know, a sure sign to me, maybe this is just something that happens in Canada. Gospel halls that used to have a two roads and two destiny chart up don't longer have it up.

I preach the gospel. Why is that? You say, well, here's what one preacher said to me. How do you expect a center to come in and that big word? Hell to be right there in front of them.

Let's let that soak for a minute. That's happening. Do you know what it is? It's like trying to bring the arc up the first time in the flesh.

Oh, we want the results God, but we don't want to do it your way. Oh, and how someone's going to hit me at dinner and say, Oh yeah, show me a verse in the Bible for the two roads. Well, I'll take to the gospel of Matthew and the Lord taught it very clear.

Listen, whatever we can use, because you know what I'll admit to you as a preacher. Sometimes I don't always get the big belt in the wheel up here and sometimes the second boy doesn't either, but I'll tell you what that chart does. He never misses a beat.

He is one loud preacher and I've actually seen people come into a tent, into a building and actually before it even starts, you know what they're doing? I'm going to the Bible. I say, praise the Lord. Good way to prime them for the message.

I don't know that. All right. Keep reading.

Come back. First Chronicles 15. We get all the priests mentioned.

Then we come down to verse number 17. So the Levites appointed that's wonderful. David is letting them do their thing.

Nice. Look at verse number 25. So David and the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands went up to bring up the Ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obadiah with joy.

Amazing verse 16 of this chapter. You read joy. Verse 25 you read joy.

Do you know what you will read in vain in the first attempt and never find the word joy, but the second attempt done in a completely different attitude spirit, you read the word joy twice. Isn't that nice? Why? Because you're following the word of God. All right.

Come a little further. Verse 26. This is beautiful.

And it came to pass when God noticed helped the Levites that bear the Ark. Never read that in the first attempt. You see, when things are done God's way, God will help us.

We can expect it. And there will be joy. So God never, even though back in numbers, God asked, told those men, when you lift up that, I want you to feel the weight upon your shoulders.

But you know what God knew all along? You do it my way, brethren. I will help you with the burden. Do we not all want help in our gospel preaching? Do we want help in our ministry? Do we want help in our assemblies? How are we going to get it? Stick to the book.

Just follow the book. Can I emphasize it? Just follow the book. Follow the word of God.

Keep reading. And then they offered these bullocks as a number of things. Notice this.

Now this is injury. Verse 28, even though David has stepped back and he's allowed this one tribe to do it, notice what you read. Thus all Israel brought up the Ark of the covenant of the Lord.

You almost think the Lord made a mistake there. No, no, Lord. It's just the Levites and the priests that brought it up.

No, no, no, no. When you do things God's way, the entire company is included. Entire company.

Now this is something I never noticed because there's a couple in this meeting that heard me speak on this at a conference a couple of weeks ago. Now this one I'm going to give you is fresh, okay? I never saw this before, okay? Go into chapter 16, verse 1. So they brought the Ark of God and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it. Notice the effect.

Verse 3, and he, referring to David in verse 2, he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread and a good piece of flesh and a fragrant, a fragon of wine. I don't know how to pronounce that word. A bottle of wine, okay? Verse 4, and he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord.

Verse 7, and then on that day David delivered this psalm to thank the Lord into the hands of Asaph, his brother. Give thanks unto the Lord. How did the first attempt end? David was afraid.

David was displeased with God. God was angry, and a man was dead. How did the second attempt end? David is worshiping God, and as a result, every single man and woman were sent home with three things to feed on.

The people were blessed. Is it too simple? Can I challenge my young people, my middle-aged people, my older people? In 2016, could we simply return or revive simple Bible principles and challenge anyone who comes and wants to change it? And just in humility say, I am just going to rest on what the Word of God says, period. That will produce joy.

You'll experience the help of God. You'll be able to worship God, and the people will be blessed.