Amen. Thank you, young people. You can head back down. I appreciate the young people in our church practicing every Sunday so that they can participate in music and be our choir. We're thankful for them. Pray for them. They're working for Christmas now, preparing things for the Christmas carol singing service. That's another thing that will be taking place on that night. As I mentioned, they'll also be participating in music with the hand chimes as well. So be praying that God will bless that. Alright, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, if they're desired to by their parents, are welcome to go to Crush with Mrs. Schor. And if you want to keep them with you, that's fine. But 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, now's the time, if you're going to that class, you can depart and head with Mrs. Schor to your class. And the rest of us, please, can find 1 Chronicles 478 in the Black Bible, if you're using a church Bible, or 1 Chronicles Chapter 15 in your Bible. Alright, 1 Chronicles Chapter 15. We'll wait until they depart. Isn't it great to see all these kids? Praise God. I've always been thankful to God for the children that he's given to us in our ministry. It's fun to see them growing up. It's actually sad now that as pastor I've got to look up to some of the young people. You may not think it's that sad. I think it's sad. Holly, stay there. Noah, it's great to see these guys growing up. We're thankful for them and look forward to what God's going to do in their lives. 1 Chronicles, Chapter 15. There are three arcs in the Bible, two very significant arcs. One of those arcs was Noah's arc. God preserved life on this earth through the arc. Everything that we have, is human or animal, was preserved by God on that boat. Praise God for doing that. The second ark is the Ark of the Covenant. It's the ark that we read about in our text this morning. And it's kind of a box that had engravings and angels engraved on the top of it. Statues, if you will. That is a the box in which God preserved his word, his law. The tablets of stone that Moses received when Moses received the law were preserved in that box, that ark. And it was a very sacred piece because it was a place where the presence of God was manifest. is that upon which God's being, as it were, came and dwelt. It was originally kept in a tent in the wilderness, the tabernacle. And the tabernacle had two places. It had, as you came into it, the high priest or the priest came into it, it had the holy place, and then it had the most holy place. The Ark of God was kept in the most holy place. King David, you remember, King David had a nice house that he built, a palace, and as he built that, he got burdened about building a house for God, and so he wanted to build a place to put the Ark. It's going to be called the Temple. But God didn't allow David to build it because David was a man of war. His son, a man of peace, built that place. And there in the temple, there was the holy place. And there was a Holy of Holies. I've been to Jerusalem. I wish the temple was still there. I know it wasn't God's plan that it remained, but I'd love to have seen it and seen what it was like in Jesus' day to see the second temple that had been built. But that place was sacred because that Holy of Holies, again, housed the Ark. The Ark was a place where God manifested his presence. There in Jerusalem, when we were there, we went into the Temple Institute. And the Temple Institute is actually getting ready for the third temple. And so they are building things that were used in temple worship. So we saw the altar of incense, and it's solid gold. It's this high, about this wide, and it's just like the Bible describes it in the Word of God. We saw the breastplace that the high priest would wear with all the jewels. that were in it. We saw solid gold bread trays. And you might think that's extravagant, but that's the way the Word of God describes how worship would take place of God in that time period with this Ark of the Covenant, which was also made out of gold. So there, at the Temple Institute, they actually have a replica of the Ark. It's not gold. This one isn't. But it's made as it would appear it was made. back in the time where God had it. And so that's there. There's also interesting things taking place in Jerusalem. And I'm just trying to put this in modern context, what's taking place now with regard to temple worship. They are training The rabbis are training priests now to remove dead bodies from the Temple Mound. It's something they haven't done for millennia. But they reenacted that practice of training men and preparing men because of the bodies that were there on the Temple Mound this past year when the two men were shot dead on the Temple Mound. It's very interesting. And interesting because it has a lot to do with what we're going to talk about today, and that is that these men that are going to get involved in that temple worship again, are not just jumping into it, but that there is a lot of scrutiny and understanding going into what they're seeking to do. Again, not because it's right that they do that, but because they understand from the Old Testament how serious God is about that idea of temple worship. So that's just very interesting and kind of an aside. Where the original Ark of the Covenant is, is a mystery. Was it destroyed in Babylon? Was it preserved? Did God preserve it? It's kind of like the Ark itself that we talked about, the boat, Noah's Ark. Is it on that protected mountainside where nobody can get? Is the Ark of the Covenant where they say it is, which is a place in Ethiopia, that claims that three millennia ago, a son of Solomon brought the Ark to Ethiopia and it's kept under guard. There is one man, a guardian of the Ark, appointed early in his life. He never exits this building where this supposedly is. And whether or not this is true doesn't matter to our considerations this morning. Our story this morning is about the Ark of the Covenant. And the story takes place just before the building of the temple in Solomon's day. And 21 years before our story, The Ark had gone out to battle, and it's a time period of Eli and his two sons that were sinning greatly against God. Samuel is there as a child, and the Ark goes out to battle. The Philistines take it. They don't keep it because when they have it for seven months, their place is plagued. They have sores and things taking place. They realize that there's a curse upon them because they have the Ark of the Covenant. And so they send it back by an ox cart guided by two female cows that had calves. And they put it on that cart and that cart took off and it went to Israel, went to Beth Shemesh. The men of Beth Shemesh looked in the ark. When they looked in the ark, some 50,000 of them and 75 people died because they looked into that holy instrument of God's. That ark, after that, remained 20 years in the house of Abimelech. What's interesting, I stayed at a place called Yad Hashbanah, and Yad Hashbanah is right next to the place where, it's on the hillside where Abimelech's house was, and it's a Messianic Jewish community that believes in Jesus Christ as Messiah. It's great. God still has a blessing upon that hillside because he blessed that place back in that day. David comes to get it, he's king. But instead of preparing to deal with such a holy reality, they put it on a cart, just like the Philistines did. Some of you know the story, but as the ark shifted, when the ox cart was stumbling, the oxen stumbled, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, and God killed Uzzah. because he had defiled God's holiness. I want us to understand that there are some serious things taking place with the Ark. It's a very sacred relic. Now, we don't worship relics, we don't see that as God. God is God, but that was the place where God, again, would manifest himself. It was very holy because of what it had to do with, it had to do with God. For three months after that, it remains at the house of Obed-Edom. And the Bible says in 2 Samuel 6, 11, the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. And it was told King David, saying, the Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that pertaineth unto him because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with gladness. Now that's a summary. We're going to look at the story. So it says that David goes again three months later, feet on the ground, and he goes to get this sacred relic. But what this text that we just read says is that he didn't do it with simplicity, but that he did it with great soberness. If I asked today, just imagine this, back in the day, I've told you 50,000 people died when they looked into it. The Philistines were cursed because of it. Uzzah died when he put his hand upon it. If I asked you today and said, hey, we are going to go and bring the ark to Jerusalem, do you want to go? I think there would be a soberness in the heart of anybody that would take that sacred task and go with King David. And we'd ask the question, why had God dealt so severely with these people? And the answer is, because God is holy, and his people must be guardians of his holiness. God is a holy God, his people must be guardians of his holiness. And that's my challenge for us today, is that we need to be guardians of the holiness of God. 1 Corinthians 3.17 says, If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Now we'll talk about that last phrase, which temple you are, later. But if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. How serious today is God about His holiness? 1 Peter 1.15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. The Ark was gold, it was beautiful craftsmanship, but what mattered about the Ark was the fact that it manifested thereon the presence of God. And so this morning, I want to challenge us. We need to be guardians of God's holiness as well. Are you prepared to guard the holiness of God? Let's pray and ask God to bless His Word to our hearts. Father, we're thankful for the grace that you give. Father, I pray in this time that the Spirit of God would have His way in every heart. Father, help each one. God, give grace and strength to each one. Lord, we're thankful that everybody's here today. Praise God. But Father, the message has a very specific New Testament application to our hearts today. And Father, I pray that you'd please help me and guide me as I preach. Give us ears to hear. God, I pray that Jesus Christ would be lifted up, that He'd be glorified. And Father, we thank You for what You're going to do this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Okay, guard his holiness. I want us to really think about it today, and we're going to have about six aspects of that idea of guarding the holiness of God. So first of all, guard his holiness by putting him in a prepared place. Guard God's holiness by putting him in a prepared place. Verse 1 of our text, 1 Chronicles chapter 15. It says, 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. Now, the city of David is the old city of Jerusalem. It's kind of on this peninsula of land that goes out, valleys on either side. Nowadays, it runs off the Temple Mound. So you have the Temple Mound, which is massive. The city of David, in comparison, actually is very small compared to that. So the glory of what Solomon did for the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple is incredible. But what David did, David had a tent that he put the Ark in. He prepared a place. I said already, at this time, the Ark had not had a house. David wants to build a house, but it had traveled in a tent called the Tabernacle. It was a prepared place. David's burdened about the future temple that would be built. That would house the Ark and the glory of God. New Testament. We've already read it this morning, but in the New Testament, the temple is not a building. The temple is the church. The temple is those that are born again. The temple is those that are saved. 1 Corinthians 6.19 says, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? Okay, get this. Solomon's temple, I've seen it. I've not seen it. I've seen where it was. It was destroyed. But I've seen the foundations of it. And I might have walked through a water course that was carved, a cistern that was carved by King Solomon because it's from that temple period. There are stones, I'm just talking on the foundation of the Temple Mount, there are stones that run nearly the length of this room that are this high and this wide. It's like a lorry bed. Massive stones. When they were in building of this place, there was not the sound of a hammer. There wasn't the sound of work taking place. They pre-built it and assembled it. It was an incredible place of gold and incredible sanctity of this place. And that was a temple. And this piece of, I don't know how to describe it other than, say, temple worship furniture. was the main piece in that temple. You know, today, if you're born again, you've gotten saved. When you got saved, Jesus Christ came into your heart to live. The manifest presence of God came to reside in your heart. And just like as we look at this Old Testament story and we think about what they did, they had a prepared place for the ark. We need to think today, you know what? I need in my heart a prepared place for the glory of God and the presence of God to reside because God is worthy. You know, we're looking forward to this week. Some of you have heard me say Amanda Baker's coming back up here. She's ministering with a church down in England, and she's coming up this Wednesday through Saturday. The week following, my previous pastor that I was assistant to for three and a half years, his wife is coming, and his wife and my wife are great friends, and it's really a blessing that she can come. But, you know, as guests come, and we enjoy having guests in our home, there's certain things that we do. I mean, we get the office ready. That's the guest bedroom. My stuff comes out of there and it gets made up into a bedroom and it's nice and there's snacks that my wife prepares for that. You know, we try to keep a clean house, we do. If you ever surprise us, I hope that our house will be clean. We try to keep it clean. But it gets especially clean when guests come because we want it to be just right. We think about that and I know you'd be probably the same way. But how interested are we this morning or how carefully are we seeking to prepare the place where God resides inside of us and where he comes in. And so how do we do that? How can we prepare a place? Well, have you removed anything offensive to God from that place? Have you stopped and thought about your life and thought, what is offensive to God? What is there about my life that would be an offense to Holy God? We had some young people come to our youth group. In my teens, I had a good group of young people at the church that we were at in Michigan. I had about 25 teenagers that were in my youth group. And we had a class, a nice big classroom upstairs in the church. But that was being worked on. We were down in a much smaller space. It was just maybe 10, 10 by 15 maybe, 25 kids just packed in there. It was a hot summer and it was hot in there. We had two kids come and I don't say this to be funny. There are aspects of humor associated with this, but you'll get what I'm saying when I use this illustration. These kids came in and they had terrible body odor. It was strong, very strong. So strong that I credit my teenagers. They did very well in not reacting to it. And we talked to the parents, and this is not a joke. I'm serious about this. The parents' olfactory senses had since diminished in their older age. They were older parents. They didn't realize that their kids had that. And we wanted to help them with that, so we let them know. Because obviously, that's good. We don't want that. My point is this. Did we love those kids? Yeah, we loved them. Did we want them to be there? Yeah, we wanted them to be there. But were they offensive? Not because they intended to be. Not because they desired to be. In their ignorance. Do you get what I'm saying? They were ignorantly offensive. And there was an offense that needed to be dealt with so that they could have proper fellowship. Does that make sense? And it isn't this today that God is against you and that God is pushing you away and that God is mean and that God is just saying, you know what? I don't like you. It's this. There are things that come into our lives as men and women and there are things that are an offense to a holy God. Does that make sense? And so what today? You know, we need to look at our life and say, is there anything in my heart or in my life that is offending a holy God? Do you know, it could be the telly. How many people today are really that careful about what they're viewing? How many people have said, you know what, I'm not going to have a telly. Because defilement is just pouring into my house. I'm going to control it. I'm going to just have DVDs and I'm going to know what's on those. I'm going to control it. I'm just going to limit this. How many people have shut off the internet on their phone? How many people have sought to really deal with sin that just creeps into our lives? And we say, well, that's just humankind. Listen, mankind of itself is offensive to a holy God. It's not that God is being mean today and saying, I don't love you. It's that God is offended by that. That sin is what Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for. So, as I'm thinking about preparing my heart, I just stop and say, you know, what's in my life that grieves God? You know, in the New Testament Acts, as the Gospel went out, and a village got saved, there was witchcraft in that village. And you know what they did? They took those books of witchcraft, they brought them out into a pile, and they burned the pile, and it was worth thousands, and it was worth much money. But they didn't sell it. They destroyed it. You know, in heathen lands, when people get saved, you know what's glorious? What's glorious is when they take those idols, they take those things that were empty, that they served, and they destroy them. Why? Because they dishonor God. Have you removed things that are offensive to God? And have you put there what God likes? What does God like? You know, life that stands up for Jesus. 2 Corinthians 7 verse 12 says, Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for a cause that had done the wrong. Paul had written a letter and people thought, boy, Paul's being kind of rough. Nor for a cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Paul had a great desire in his heart, in his life, to stand for what was true. It didn't matter to Paul that, in standing for truth, some people might be offended. Paul said about them, the more abundantly I love you, the less I'll be loved. And yet Paul took that stand in the sight of God. You know, as God looks at you, does he see somebody that stands up for truth? Somebody that adheres to the Word of God, a life that stands up for Jesus, a life that works for Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 1.3 says, Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Paul is writing to people that in the sight of God, God saw them, and they were diligent, they were investing, they were involved, and they were doing something for God. And again, as God looks at our heart and looks at our life today, does He see somebody that is interested in the things of God, that is burdened about getting something done for God? See, that would be a heart and a place prepared, a place prepared by investing in God's work. A life that intercedes for Jesus. 1 Timothy 2 verse 1 says, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. It's speaking about intercessors. It's speaking about somebody that would plead and ask God, God, the Scottish government needs the help of God. God, the United Kingdom needs the help of God. God, the nations of this world need the help of God. God, we need legislation that assists the cause of Christ. Right? That's what he's asking for. You know, Ezekiel 22.30 says, I sought for a man that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none. See, where are the people today that have a prepared place because they've been on their knees this past week and they've been begging God and saying, Oh God, would you please work in Scotland? Oh God, would you please work in the United Kingdom? Oh God, would you please work in the world? Where's the intercessors? We were listening last night. I recommend you listen to this or watch this. But we watched the memorial service for the man that was killed in Africa, the missionary that was killed in Africa three weeks ago. Watch the memorial service. As you watch it, you'll see Tom Needham stand up and Tom Needham speaks about flying his plane over Cameroon as he challenged the people to give themselves to go in the place of this brother that was slain. And he's saying, as he flies his plane, he puts it on autopilot and he weeps as he looks over the villages that need Christ. See, that's a prepared place, isn't it? There's something going on there that God would love to participate with the heart of somebody that's an intercessor. And then have you given him a great place there? A preeminent place. Matthew 6.33 says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Give them a preeminent place. They would choose a place. I mean, the place would become very preeminent. The temple, that was a cheap place that God got. And it's right there in the heart of this city, this place of worship. What priority does God have in your life? How important is church to you? How important is the Word of God to you? How important is evangelism and God's work to you? How important is investing in God's work to you? That's a place that God would love, a place of preeminence in our hearts. An uncontested place. Ephesians 4.27 says, neither give place to the devil. See, Satan comes, he tries to take back what ought to be God's, and he seeks to get that. And God says, don't give place to the devil, keep him out of it. As the song says, I've decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. No turning back. If any man put his hand in the plow, he looks back, he's not fit, the Bible says, for the kingdom of God. But there has to be in our hearts today a desire to say, God, what I desire to give you is an uncontested place. a governing place. Thomas remembered him as he struggled with the resurrection of the Lord. He said, if I don't put my hand on his side, put my fingers through his hands, I'm not going to believe. Thomas said that, the disciple of Jesus. And when he found Jesus, Jesus found him and they came together. Thomas said to him in John 20, 28, he said, my Lord and my God. We talked about the deity of Christ in Sunday school this morning. Jesus Christ is God. And Thomas said something wonderful. He said, My master and my God. Listen, has God your master? What authority today does Jesus Christ have over you? He's got absolute authority. But are you submitted to his authority? See, my master, have you given him a place of governing in your life? If we're going to guard the holiness of God, we need to give God a prepared place. And then, guardians of God's holiness are a chosen people. It says in verse 2, Then David said, not to carry the ark of God, but the Levites. The Levites were the priests. They were the ones designated by God. They were the ones chosen by God for all the children of Israel to be the ones that ministered to God. And it was a privileged position that they had. For them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God and to minister unto him forever. And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it. And David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites." So he's gathering those that were qualified by God to deal with transporting this sacred relic that the presence of God was manifested upon. And so they had a very specific responsibility. And it lists them there, doesn't it? And down to verse 11, there's a list of very specific individuals chosen by God to have that place of ministry. Now, how wonderful, again, would it be to be chosen by God to participate in handling, as it were, something that dealt with the very presence of God. It's a very sacred task that God has given. Have you ever wanted to be kids on maybe a sports team or something, and people are choosing sides? And I don't really like that. I actually prefer, and if you come to youth activities, I prefer just dividing the kids. I don't like that someone's always left and they're going, oh, please choose me. And that's what I want to focus on. There is that anticipation in your heart, almost apprehension, what if I'm not chosen? What if nobody wants me? And so you're there, you're waiting, and you're just waiting for your name to be called because you want to get on the team, you want to participate on the team, but you just wonder, does anybody want me? This morning, as we think about this, it's a very wonderful thing to be chosen. to be on God's team. And I want to just stop and think about that this morning. Does God want you on His team this morning? Has He called you? Have you heard Him speak your name, calling you to His team? Who does God choose? Because the New Testament does speak about God choosing. God chooses a holy people. 1 Peter 2 verse 9, He says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. And it's not speaking to Jews. You might think, oh, he's talking about Jews, his Old Testament people. No, it's speaking to believers, it's speaking to Christians. You're a chosen generation, a holy priesthood. Again, we're talking about the priesthood. By the way, as a Baptist church here this morning, we believe in the priesthood of the believer. That that is something that God has given to us in our ability to go directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We enter into the Holy of Holies by the grace of God. Right? So we're talking about the same Old Testament reality in the New Testament, but specifically in the New Testament it is dealing with being born again or being saved. But listen. It says that you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness. into his marvelous light. Okay, who does God choose? God chooses a people that when he called them, he called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. What's he speaking about? This is the kind of nation that light has come into the world. And men loved darkness because their deeds were evil, right? Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. Jesus is the light. He's the true light that now shineth, right? Jesus' light shined. It called forth those in darkness from their darkness. If you've heard the call, then your life was back here before you got saved, just like this. somebody that's unsaved, they're in the world, they don't care about sin, they don't care about taking God's name in vain, they don't care about fornication, they don't care about drinking, they don't care about anything having to do with the world. It doesn't bother them. But when the light of God shines, the light says Jesus Christ is true, sin is corrupt, sin defiles, sin destroys, and when the light shines, and I'm called, it's God calling me from that to this. See, that's what God's done. God has chosen a holy people. If you've been chosen by God, then you've heard God say, hey, come out of your sin, come to the Savior. Have you responded? God chooses a weak people. 1 Corinthians 1.26 says, For you see our calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, and the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. It's saying this, as God looked for men to call, God did not look for somebody that is the leader of anything. He didn't look for somebody that is mighty, somebody that's strong, somebody that has great abilities, great talents. As God looked, God by His grace reached down to the lowest. He didn't, by the way, let me say this as well, He didn't look for religious leaders. Praise God, some got saved. But the vast majority of people that got saved were commoners, irreligious, godless people. They were fishermen. They were tax collectors. And by the way, tax collectors were thieves. They were prostitutes. They were immoral fornicators. They were living in sin. But God called them, by his grace, to salvation. The Bible says in Acts 4, verse 13, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. These men would look, these men would look, you guys are fine, just so you know, it's not a problem, they're just saying amen, and it's okay, I appreciate that, feedback is good, not a problem at all. But listen, God, So changed the life of these fishermen that these religious leaders looked at those fishermen and they go, I marvel. They are unlearned. They are ignorant men. And they took knowledge of them, that they've been with Jesus. You know, today... Are you too clever for God? Are you so full of yourself, so self-righteous, thinking you're great and God deserves you, that you don't stop to think that I'm nothing and I need God? It's only by God's grace that we can be what God wants us to be. Paul said it this way, Philippians 3 verse 8, Paul was a great man. He was. He was way up there as far as his abilities. But he became nothing so that he could serve God. Because God didn't need Paul's greatness. And God doesn't need your greatness today. In fact, if you don't get rid of it, you can't serve God. If you think you've got a lot to offer to God, you need to stop and realize you have nothing to give to God. And God has chosen a poor people. James 2, verse 5. It says, Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heir of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him? God didn't choose a wealthy people. In fact, riches are a great hindrance to salvation. A lot of people today are rich, aren't we? We've got great resources, modern day. And that's why we might look around with sorrow and say, God, why aren't you calling more people? Why aren't you choosing more people, God? Why aren't they coming? Because God chooses a poor people. James 2 verse 5, Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor? Matthew 19 verse 24, Again I say unto you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. It's easier, whether you want to think of that as a small gate or the actual eye of a needle, it doesn't matter, either one, it's impossible for a camel to get through. It's easier for that to take place than for a rich man to get saved. Salvation, that's what we're talking about. Somebody chosen of God according to our text. That's what we're looking at. But they're riches. Keeping them out of the reaching hands of God. Francis Crosby wrote a hymn entitled, Pass Be Not, O Gentle Savior. He says, Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry, While in others thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Do you want to see if you can help him with the kids? Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry, While in others thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Let me at thy throne of mercy Find a sweet relief, Kneeling there in deep contrition, Help my unbelief. Listen, I want all of us to hear this today. You need God. And you need to hear the voice of God calling you to Himself. And the scriptural idea that we're looking at, that choosing of God, that taking of God. You need it. I'll be in your heart this morning and say, Dear God, call me. You ought to be this morning like Blind Martimeus. He's by the highwayside. He's begging. And he's crying out, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And finally, somebody calls and says, Be of good cheer. He calls for you. Chosen. Do you see it? See, God is a merciful God. God is a gracious God. And I'm going to deal with biblical truths this morning in the context of what we're looking at. And the context is those that God chose alone could deal with that holiness of who God is. Praise God this morning. God has a chosen people. We are a chosen people by the grace of God. Therefore, we are to be a holy people. God guides holiness, thirdly, by being clean. Verse 12 says, And said unto them, Ye are a chief of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. Okay, sanctifying is to set apart. It's to get it clean. to cleanse it. I mean, how cautious would you be? Uzzah died. Guys, we're going to go up, get the ark. Hey, get clean, get sanctified. I stood on the steps again of the temple mound. And there the guide asked us, said, have you ever thought where they baptized the 3,000 that got saved at Pentecost because that message took place here? And you look around and you go, oh yeah, there's no water. It's kind of arid. There's a little burn that runs along between you and the mountain of olives. But that's not enough water. But what there are, there's mikvahs. A mikvah is a ceremonial cleansing pool. And there's a lot of them. I'm talking 50, 60 of them. And some also bigger pools. But before they'd even go into the temple, they would walk down into this mikvah. They would dip underneath the water and they'd come up. And there was a ceremonial idea that is very good for us to consider this morning and say, Dear God, how dare I enter into the house of God without stopping and thinking this morning, Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure? Because I am dealing with the reality of a holy God. I would suggest that there are many Christians in church today who didn't give a thought to cleansing themselves before going to church. Do you remember that message from Ezekiel I recently preached, chapter 14? And elders of Israel came and sat before the prophet. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart. They put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of them at all? Should God listen to us today? I mean, we're coming to church. This is the house of God. We desire to meet with God today. If that's not our desire, we ought not be here. But should God listen to us today? Have we really prepared our hearts to come before a holy God? Now I want to ask you this. Are we in the Old Testament where people risk physical death by trying to worship God unclean? Now think about it carefully because it's kind of a trick question. Because the answer is two parts. No, we're not in the Old Testament. We're in the New Testament. But let me ask you, do we risk death if we seek to worship God unclean? And the answer is yes. How so? Ananias and Sapphira? Ananias and Sapphira tried to worship God with uncleanness. They lied to the Holy Spirit. They came acting as if they were giving God a sacrifice greater than their giving. Their heart was not right with God. God struck them dead. New Testament, right? 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Also in the New Testament, Paul says, as you take the Lord's cup, as you take the bread, and you break it, and you worship God in the Lord's table, Paul said this, 1 Corinthians 11 verse 30, those that take it unworthily for this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. That's death. We've got to stop this morning and say, how dare I enter into the house of God, into the worship of God, without intense soul searching this morning and saying, dear God, is there anything in my heart that is against you, that offends you today? Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure? John 4.23, The hour cometh, listen, and now is. When the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God doesn't desire us this morning to have theological degrees. God desires a holy people. I've been struck recently by the truth in James, where it says, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to minister to the widows, to minister to the orphans, and to keep himself unspotted. from the world. True religion is a holy religion. I've parked on it recently. I'll speak of it here again. As you read what God did in the 1800s, you read about a people that were really serious about personal holiness. See, we can blame God today and say, God, why isn't your glory being seen? God, why aren't you manifesting your presence? And God, I believe, would have to say this, it's not that we haven't asked, it's not that we haven't prayed, it's not that he's unable, but he's offended by our sin! Right? And so what does God need? God needs us as a church to get on our face before God and say, God, I am so sorry. I said, well, everybody does that. I said, well, that's just our humanity. I said, well, that's just the way it is. When God says, be holy, for I am holy. Are you guarding God's holiness by being clean? Then guard God's holiness by keeping the law. For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order." They put the Ark of the Covenant on an ox cart. They were supposed to carry it with staves, and the high priests were to carry it, and they didn't. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bear the Ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. Can I say it like this? They had grown casual in their worship of God and they thought it was okay. When they went to get that Ark of the Covenant, they just thought, hey guys, let's go do it, God wants us to do it, here we go. They got there, they sought to do it contrary to the law of God, and Uzzah died. See, there's a lot of churches today, and we could fall into this category, or as believers, where we just think, well, it's just the way it is. This is how we do modern day worship. I mean, we're not legalists, so we're not just going to go to the law of God and feel bondage to the law. But God would remind us that God hasn't changed. And that His law hasn't changed. You know, there's a lot of churches today, or a lot of believers today, that think the Sabbath is unimportant. It doesn't matter what I do on the Lord's Day. Just treat it like any other day. and make a mockery of God's Sabbath. I understand. This pastor knows very well Saturday is the Sabbath. But I firmly believe the Lord's Day is God's Sabbath of the New Testament. How could a generation that dishonors God on His holy day... By the way, how can I go home, watch junk all afternoon, come back and pretend to worship God? I mean, that's a mockery. Where's the generation that says, no, God, it's your day. I'm going to do what I ought. I'm going to spend more time in my Bible. I'm going to spend more time in prayer. Maybe I'm going to fast, because I'm going to seek you. They cry against legalism and standards, and they're worldly. Ah, you're just a legalist, as they go do their thing. You're just a legalist. No, wait a second. God's words are still the same. God hasn't changed. God still hates sin. God still doesn't dumb down sin. God's being robbed of his tithes and offerings. The Bible speaks about the tithe as the Lord's. Or look at it tonight, by the way, Health and Wealth Gospel tonight. A true one from Proverbs. Tithe as the Lord's. Yes, God's. Tithes and offerings. Can I come and worship God? God's blessed me and I've just wasted what God's given to me and not given back to God. Too busy to serve God. Imagine me, I'm coming to church, I want to worship God. Not doing anything for God. Have I forgotten the Word of God instructs me about the Gospel? See, by the way, sin is both sins of commission, that's where I break God's Law, and sins of omission, where I omit doing things that God commanded me to do and did not our God say, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. There are so many things that God has given us to do for Him. God isn't pleased with unsanctified worship. Oh, may God help us to look in our heart this morning and say, God, I want to be a guardian of the holiness of God. How? By cleansing. Cleansing. Then guard God's holiness with pure worship. The public worship service didn't just happen. They're getting ready to do something great for God, but it didn't just happen. In 1 Corinthians 14.40, the Bible says about public worship, let all things be done decently and in order. I'll hurry through this section this morning, but what God shows us here is some great aspects of worship. If you want to guard God's holiness, worship is important. Pure worship in music. It says, and David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be singers with instruments of music, psalteries, and harps and cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice with joy. I'm going to fast forward through the people that were the singers. In verse 22, it says, and Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song. He instructed about the song because he was skillful. It's this, that God gave instrumentalists, God gave singers to temple worship. It's part of worship this morning. I love the preaching of the Word of God. The preaching of the Word of God is to be preeminent, but there is a definite high place for worship. We don't sing as a church just to get through it. We don't sing just because, well, that's what you do in church. We sing because it's part of our worship to God. This morning as we worshiped, how thoughtful were you? as he lifted up your voice, or did not lift up your voice, to sing to God today, pure worship in music. Humble worship. It says in verse 23, Barakaya and Okina were doorkeepers for the ark, and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. That's humble service, isn't it? But you know, David said, a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Are you a humble servant for God this morning as you came to the house of God? Are you a servant? Is there something that you're doing? I prayed this morning in my prayer time, I said, Lord, help me to wash the feet of those that are in our church. You know, I'm just being figurative and probably more figurative than I should be. Do you know what I got to do today? I got to take a wet towel and I smiled to myself as I did it because I thought when I prayed, I took a wet towel and cleaned the sign out there because the kids have been standing on the sign with their muddy feet. I'm not saying I did something great. I'm just saying there's stuff to do. And be careful what you pray for, alright? But are you a servant? Do you begrudge giving God time? Oh, I can't do that. These are humble servants. Humble worship. Then joyous worship. Verse 25. So David and the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy. They had already lifted up their voice in joy. They went with excitement. It's a day of great joy. A song leader in church often has the saddest job. Because he looks at people that are singing songs about the glory of God and the praise of God, and he sees faces that you'd think they're singing a funeral dirge. And you might have the saddest job at times, looking at this song later, singing up here, and you might think, what's wrong with Pastor Ben? We're singing about the joy of the Lord, and he looks like he's about ready to cry. It happens. But we've got to stop and think about it this morning. Listen, in all seriousness, David is going to dance for joy in this passage. I'm not asking you to come to church next Sunday and say, Pastor, I took what you're preaching seriously, and you start jumping and going around. Unless it's the Holy Spirit, I don't want to hinder the Holy Spirit, but you make sure it's the Holy Spirit. Okay? But I am saying this, there ought to be an excitement in our hearts. You've got to say, you've got to not begrudge God, and listen, I know this service is long today, but get me on this. Let's have long services if God wants us to. You get me? Let's say, God, that's too important. We sat last night and we watched a two and a half hour funeral. And there were times where we thought about fast forwarding, we thought about skipping. I'm so glad we didn't. And I, again, encourage you to watch it. Why do we begrudge God time? I've thought about it already. I'm going to go back to the States and I'm going to be preaching at other churches and undoubtedly I'm going to have some say to me, you know, we finish at 12 and I just want to say, if I can kindly say to them, and I'll try to honor that, but can I not say that God is more worthy than what you're going home to? Right? Why do you want to leave? Well, I want to eat. What about feeding on God? I want to watch my sports." And that one just goes, kicked, booted out the window and said, look, that's sin. Your heart's not right. Why? Because we ought to be looking forward to it. I love what somebody that started coming to church, they'll be back, alright? Praise God they'll be back. But I'll tell you what Timmy said. Timmy said to me, I've just been looking forward to the house of God this week. Is there anything in your heart that gets excited about going to church, excited about seeking God? Nehemiah 8 verse 10, Then said He unto me, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them, for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto our Lord, neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy, neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth, because they had understood the word that was declared unto them. If the Spirit of God has spoken to your heart today, there ought to be in your heart a desire to get back to your house and to say, God, I am thankful for the grace of God. I am thankful for the mercy of God. God, thank you for your truth. Nehemiah, by the way, knew not to be sad in the king's presence. He knew that with an earthly king. How much more with a heavenly king? I'll just say, frankly, your heart's not right if you can't get excited about meeting with God. If you can't get excited about spending time with God. Is there anything in your heart that, listen, in the days of revival, when revival came, the people wouldn't go! Because they wanted God. Yeah, that'd be a day. Pastor King preached longer. Pastor, can we just spend some more time in the Word of God? Pastor, I've got a hunger for God! Get excited about God's holiness. Guard God's holiness by being dependent upon Him. Verse 26, it came to pass when God helped the Levites that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. Now get it, before when they had gone, Uzzah had been killed. When they got that Ark this time, they pick that thing up, they don't just go, hey, let's go back to Jerusalem, we've got it. They get on their knees before God and they say, God, thank you for helping. Is there anything in your heart this morning, again, that is just absolutely dependent upon God? Perhaps the burden of modern day Christianity. Why is it so tedious to go to the house of God? Why is it such a burden? It's because it doesn't have God's help. It doesn't have God's grace. It doesn't have God's strength. It's stiff, dead, carnal Christianity that is no Christianity at all. But when the Spirit of God comes in and that life is blessed by God, and you sense the Spirit of God doing something wonderful, is there cause in your heart to just stop and go, God, I just want to thank you. John 15 verse 5 says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. You know, we need to stop what we're doing and say thank you to God. Do you know, I praise God, I don't know if they've left or not, Sean and Jade, I praise God they're here. Do you know that we've prayed for their family for five years? Do you know that two months ago in a church prayer time at the end of a service, we had a very special prayer time and I know we called their names in prayer. Do you know we've seen other things since then? Very specific things that God has been doing. We've seen Jade get saved. We prayed for Jade in that service as well. Do you know we stopped to say to God, God, thank you. Why? Because Romans 8.31 is true. If God be for us, who can be against us? What this church needs more than anything, and I hope in our hearts there is a deep sense of this, we need the grace of God that we're We need the grace of God to work. How we need the Spirit of God to stir us up. And then guard God's holiness by being a truly righteous person. Guard God's holiness by being a truly righteous person. Verse 27, And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen. And all the Levites that bear the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the master of the song with the singers, David also had upon him an ephod of linen." And what it's saying, if you study it there and just look at it, it's saying David's robed in white. He's got on white linen. All these men with him have on white linen. It's a picture of the righteousness of those that would deal with God. Let me ask you this morning, do you have on the righteous robe? Are you wearing today the white linen? You might desire to help God, you might desire to be on God's side, you might desire to hear His call, but as we talked about, you can't in the world. You've got to have a garment change by God. You've got to be robed in the righteousness of God. And so Matthew 22 tells a story about the wedding feast It says, Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, find him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called but few chosen." It goes back to our terminology that we were using, that those that are not chosen do not have that robe of white. It's a robe they must have or they'll be cast out in outer darkness. God has given us an incredible privilege of carrying within us God. The manifest presence of God is here. It's in our hearts. It's in our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every person that is born again. But you'll never deceive God. You could deceive pastor, you could deceive family, you could act as if you've got on a righteous road, but if you do not, God knows. And so today, if in your heart you're not holy because you have not His holiness, then may God help you to find His righteousness today. 2 Corinthians 5.21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness. of God in him. If we were back there in the day of David and it was our job to go get the ark, what would you do? Would it just be any other day? Would it just be kind of like, okay, I'll go? And not any thought given to the fact that this is a very serious reality because we're guardians of God's holiness. And so today I ask you, has the Spirit of God spoken to your heart? Is there a specific decision that God desires you to make, whether it's salvation, baptism, church membership, church attendance, devotions, cleanliness, sanctification? And if so, may the Spirit of God give grace for us to worship God and guard His holiness as He desires us to. Isaiah 52, verse 11. It says, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from fence, touch no unclean thing, go ye out of the midst of her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. And so this morning, we need to do some soul searching and ask God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure? Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would speak to hearts today. Father, the most important reality is that we are guardians of God's holiness. If His holiness is not seen, His glory is not seen. We are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Father, a verse I meditated on this week is a way to righteousness and sin not. For some have not a knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Father, I praise you that you're willing to go out with us to battle. I praise you that you desire to manifest your presence. But Father, this idea of sanctification and guarding your holiness is so important to our church today. And so I pray, Father, would you have your way in the invitation? I do. I pray, Spirit of God, would you work? Father, give us grace to bow the knee before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I thank you for what you're doing in our church, even this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's stand please and sing, 389 is your all in the altar. 389. Standing please. 389. You have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase and have earnestly, fervently prayed, but you cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all on the altar is laid. You have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase and have earnestly, fervently prayed. But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all on the altar is laid. Is your alm on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the spirit control. You can only be blessed and have peace and sweet rest as you yield him your body and soul. Verse four, who can tell the love he will send from above? who can tell all the love he will send from above and how happy our hearts will be made. Of the fellowship sweet we will share at his feet when are all on the earth. The altar is laid. Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the spirit control. You can only be blessed and at peace and sweet rest as you yield him your body and soul. Amen. It's good to have you with us today. Praise God you're here. Hey, it was great to have Sean and Jade here today. Praise God. And pray for them. Just pray that we can help them somehow. Obviously it's hard with kids in church. And so just pray for God's grace for them. And good to see the Locksleys. Glad you guys are here. And praise God for that as well. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your power. And Father, I pray, may God have his way in our hearts. God, may you do what you desire to do at Free Baptist Church. And Father, we praise you that Shawn and Jade were here. So thankful, Lord. And I pray that we could just make them understand that, that we love the fact there were kids here today. And that's fine. And God, I pray they come again. And I pray you'd be glorified to bless the Word of God to our hearts, as you did. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Did they head out? Yeah.