Thank you, Brother Davey, for the welcome back. It's good to be back and indeed the invite. It's always good to share fellowship with you and to share in the meetings today and a new fellowship with people who've come to know and love over, well, many years now. We're not trying to work it out, but it's good to be back with you this evening. Suffice to say, we're all a bit older. Interesting to hear this morning, Brother Shaw is here. And I said to him on Wednesday night when he was round with us, it's not fair boy. You've got two weeks to make a mess and I've only got one to fix it. But that's the way it is. It's good to be back. The scene this morning seemed to have been humility. Now while I'm not on it this morning, for Bible studies more or less prepared for November and humility will be the theme come November and we look at the characteristics of humility, the Christ of humility, the Christian in his humility and the church in humility and we'll see what we can glean at that time. This morning we're turning to First Chronicles chapter 15 please. First Chronicles chapter 15 and we're taking the first 15 verses and there are a lot of big words in the middle of it and as you know, the only word we know are in two syllables, a nose hamburger, so forgive me if I stumble and stammer my way through them. But First Chronicles chapter 15 and verse one and I should say that we're going back to Krakow to Auschwitz in November and if anybody wants to know more about it, please let me know and we'll talk it through with you. It also has mentioned there and prayer and so on we Harvey and I would value your prayers over the next three months we have a lot on. This day fortnight we start a mission in Carrador following up on the one we did down there last year and we ask you for prayer that God will move down there And we're going to the community centre this time. We try to get out of church buildings and so on and away from labels as much as possible. We find that people will come into those neutral settings where they won't come into a building such as this. When we're finished there, we go from the 22nd of March to the 5th of April, I think it is. That's the Lord's Day on the Thursday, the 9th, then I head off to Ukraine. with faith and action to preach out there again. And over the fortnight, assuming the virus lets us away, we'll preach something like 20 times. And largely, a lot of it will have to be, we'll not know until we get in the environment what we have to preach on. Come back from there. on the 23rd and then Harvey and I start a mission in Besbrook town hall and we ask you again for prayer for that village quite close to where I grew up and then we finish that on the 10th of May and on the 15th of May again virus permitting we take a party off to Israel and come back from there the 20 something of May and a couple of weeks later we start off in a place called Lochgilly and don't ask me where it is, but I couldn't take you to it just at this point in time. I know it's somewhere between Urie and Market Hill, but we're going to be busy and we ask you for your prayers and the Lord's help. He will use all these efforts to bring many souls to himself. It's one thing to go through the motions of having a mission and doing things, but if the Lord's not on, we might as well stay at home. So you pray that the Lord will move. Now we're turning this morning to 1 Chronicles chapter 15 please and the verse 1. And the word of God says, And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it at hand. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God and to minister unto him forever. And David's learned his lessons here, which we'll see in a moment. Verse three. 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, and of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brethren, and 120. And of the sons of Mirai and of Asa the chief and his brethren in 220. Of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief and his brethren in 130. Of the sons of Eliasphan, Shemaiah the chief and his brethren 200. Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief and his brethren fourscore. Of the sons of Uziel, Eminadab the chief and his brethren in 112. And David called for Sadduck and Abiathar, the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Esaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amenadab. And he said unto them, ye are the chiefs of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, into the place that I have prepared for it. 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. So the priests and the Levites sacrificed themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. And the children of Israel experienced the ark of God upon their shoulders with staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. And we know that God will bless the reading of his own inspired and fallible, inerrant, indestructible, incorruptible, and inexhaustible word of truth this morning. This morning I want to do something a little bit different. Sometimes we can find out a great deal by doing a word study and following a word through the scriptures. And that's a little of my purpose today. I want to deal with a little three-letter word that we found in a reading this morning. It's a word that I have no recollection of ever hearing anyone preaching on. But that word's on my heart this morning. And it's the little word Jew, D-U-E, as we find it there in verse 13. At the end of the verse it says that we sought him not after the Jew order. Now this little word occurs 29 times in the scriptures that I can find. And while I'll not turn to them all, we'll turn to some of them and see what lessons we can learn. And as I study this in the study, it's been a great challenge to my heart and it's come with soul searching and I expected to do so this morning. So if I stand on toes this morning, please be aware that it's already hit me hard before I ever get anywhere near the pulpit this morning. So the first thing I want to look at is the dew of observation. The dew of observation. Of course, the context of our reading is 1 Chronicles chapter 13. where David has carried the ark in a new cart. He's made a cart to carry the ark of the covenant in. And of course, we read that God's method was that the Levites would carry it on staves on their shoulders. And of course, this cart is in disobedience, complete disobedience to the commands of God and God's methods. And in verse 13 we find he's not, they didn't do it after God's due order. They did not observe God's due order. First Chronicles 13 and verse nine, we find he's put forth his hand, albeit an innocence to steady the ark as it must have wobbled or hit a bump on the road or whatever. But this was completely forbidden by God. And so God smites him much to the displeasure of David. But following the incident, the Ark of the Covenant remains in the home of Obed-Edom for three months. And for that three months, this man enjoys the great blessings of God when the Lord was in his, or the Ark was in his home. And of course, when the Lord is in our home, what a great blessing it is. And we read of one occasion in the New Testament when it was noise to bread, that the Lord was in the house. When we come to chapter 15 here, they're in there bringing the Ark home, but they're now going about it God's way. Verse 15, and the children of the Levites bear the Ark of the God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. David, as I've already said, was big enough to realize that they needed to do things Verse 13, after God's due order. Now, this morning we need to recognize that God has order. All things must be done indecently and in order. And God expects you and I to follow his due order. But the question is this morning, what is God's order for you and for me? Well, the first thing is there has to be pattern in the assembly. God has a due order. God has a pattern in the assembly. Turn away back with me to verses. Again, we've read a lot of stuff we already knew this morning. We're coming to some more. Turn with me to Acts of the Apostles, chapter two, please. Acts of the Apostles, chapter two. And of course, there's pattern in the assembly. God has order, due order, in the assembly. In Acts chapter two and verse 41 and verse 42. And the word of God says, then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day were added unto them about 3,000 souls. and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayer. So we see God's order for the assembly. We see God's due order, God's pattern is salvation, then baptism, And we find if we study the New Testament that the longest time anyone was after they were saved to be rebaptised was three days, not years and years as it happens to be across the province today. But yet salvation and baptism Then they joined the assembly, they became members of the assembly. Then they continued in doctrine, which doesn't seem to matter anymore. Then they had a fellowship and attendance at all the meetings. And they remembered the Lord weekly and being at all the prayer meetings. And the first challenge to me, there is God's pattern for my assembly life. And the first challenge to me is, do I follow God's pattern? I've got saved. but how far down the rest of the list am I going this morning? Now look at it in detail. Baptised, look at verse 38. Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptised every one of you. Now the reality is this morning it's a command. It's not an option, an extra. It's not something, well we'll wait a lot of years and we'll maybe think about it or anything like that. It's repent and be baptized and it says every one of us. No exceptions this morning. And the reality is if I'm not baptized this morning, then I'm not following God's order and God's pattern for the assembly. So first one's baptism, membership. And the reality this morning is we're not New Testament saints. if we're not baptised in a membership of the fellowship and the assembly. We're not a New Testament saint and we cannot say that we are because we have been disobedient unto the word of God. God has due order and God has pattern. And again, is that my position? Am I baptised? Am I a membership? But then the next one is doctrine because it says we live in a day. And we do live in a day in Northern Ireland when doctrine is unimportant. If someone was to come and ask me why I belong to where I belong, I would say a Baptist is four things, fundamental, premillennial, dispensational, and evangelical. I'm sad to say most people today, or most places today, are not like that. They're not a New Testament church. a New Testament assembly. And that's the reality. Some of them might be evangelical in one sense, but they're certainly not evangelistic. And the reality today is if I went round and asked everyone here, don't worry now, I'm not going to ask you. But if I was going to ask you why you came to Shiloh Hall, how many of you would be able to give me a biblical and a doctrinal answer? Or would I just get the old stories off, it's convenient for me and they're nice people and it's a nice building and all the rest of the... Or would you be able to take me to this book and tell me that you belong to this place because you're following a biblical pattern and this place follows a biblical pattern after God's due order? The reality this morning is we need to get back to the days of 1 Samuel 3 and verse 1. where it says, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days. And I have to say in Ulster today, the word of God is far from precious. There are few and far places that the word of God is totally, completely and precious. So you have the baptism and the membership and the doctrine, but then there's the attending. Hebrews 10 verse 25 says, not for shaking the assembling of ourselves together, as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. Not for shaking the assembling of ourselves. Now I say this in love this morning. As I travel round the province and further afield, I cannot understand why so many believers are smokers. Sunday mornings only. And you never see them the rest of the week. And I can't get my head around it. That's not God's order. We should be at all the meetings. And then there's the prayer meeting. Again, if you look at what we read there in Acts chapter two, and we find at the end of verse 42 that they continued steadfastly on the last one in prayer. I say in love this morning, the worst attended meeting in any assembly is a prayer meeting. As I go around, a hundred people in the Lord's day was as nice as he summed it up. A hundred people on a Sunday morning and you get to the Wednesday evening or whatever day they have their prayer meeting and there's 25% of it. One in four will come to the prayer meeting. And I know sometimes there's legitimate reasons people have to work night shifts or whatever, and sometimes there's a family, but that's no excuse for the two of them to stay at home and wind the children. One's going to go this week and one's going next week. I can't get my head round. And the reality is then when children grow up and go off the rails, then the elders are asked to come and sort the mess out. Be in the place in prayer. on Wednesday night at seven o'clock, be in the place of prayer. Be in the place of prayer at half five tonight. Be in the place of prayer. Just don't come for the Bible study the quarter past eight. Be in the place of prayer. That is the most important meeting in any fellowship. That's the powerhouse behind the fellowship. And we need to be there. The pattern in the assembly. And all of that hit me hard as I considered it during the weekend. Was I being through rituals or was I really following God's order? But then there's the position of authority in the assembly. See, there are roles within the assembly. In the church today, God has specific roles. There's the pastor who is a teaching elder. and he works alongside, not above, but alongside the other elders if there is a pastor in that assembly. And then there's the deacons in the oversight. And sitting alongside them are an evangelist, who Harvey and I happen to fill that role at the moment, but we are accountable to our elders. There's no such thing as freelancers in the work of God today. These boys run around that are accountable to nobody. That's not God's due order. We have to be, and there's certainly none of these so-called self-styled apostles or prophets, those days have long since gone. And anyone sitting outside God's order is not a New Testament believer in the full meaning of the word. So you've got the roles in an assembly, but then there's our responsibility as members within that assembly. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13, please. Book of Hebrews chapter 13. And we're coming to the verse number 17, please. Hebrews 13 and verse 17. And here's the responsibility of the members of any assembly. And it says, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves For they watch your souls as they that must give an account, and that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is improbable for you. So here's two things mentioned. We as the members of the assembly have got to obey the leadership of that assembly. But also, that eldership has to give an account for how they shepherd the flock. And it's a great responsibility. Did you ever realise that your elder has to have a double judgement? You and I will be judged for our service at the beam of Satan that scares the daylights out of me to stand before the Lord and think that all I have done, if it's all I have done, it'll be burnt up as wood hence double. But they have to give a second account as to how they shepherd the flock. And it says, therefore, they watch for your souls. They've got to look out for you. They've got to watch for you, for not only your practical needs, but most importantly, your spiritual needs. And they'll give an account. And that's why there's no freelancers running about in a proper assembly who are living according to God's due order. We are to submit ourselves to our leaders in assembly. That's why, using myself as an example, Every three months, sometimes longer, for six months, every three months I give my elders a list of everywhere I will be preaching and everything that I will be doing over that three month period. I'm accountable to them, but not only am I submitting myself to them and telling them where I'm going to be, those men are then praying for me. It works two ways, they're watching for my soul, they're praying for me. But that's the way it has to be in the assembly. There is our responsibility. There's a pattern in the assembly. There's the position of authority, but then there are processes to accept in the assembly. See, God is very specific. I've already quoted 1 Corinthians 14, verse 40. It says, let all things be done decently and in order. God's due order. The things of God cannot be done any old haphazard way. Things must be done in a biblical way with structure and accountability. That's God's order. Now I challenge myself, as I've done in the week, and I challenge you in this place, are they done decently and in due order after God's order? The Observation, the Jew of Observation. Now I want to move from the Jew of Observation to the Jew of Glorification. Sorry, I should have told you to keep your fingers on 1 Chronicles. Go back to 1 Chronicles 16 this time, the next chapter. 1 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 29. 1 Chronicles 16 and verse 29. And this time we read in 1 Chronicles 16 verse 29, give unto the Lord what? The glory due unto his name. Bring an offering and come before him, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. But to give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. You know, in today's liberal church, we have worship leaders, whatever they really are supposed to be, and worship bonds and all the rest of it. Now I heard one fella say not that long ago, our worship bond was really anointed last night. And the reality this morning is the word worship or derivatives thereof occur 188 times in the word of God. And I took time to look them all up. It took me a bit of time. But as I found it, not once, not a single once was the context of making a racket noise and all the rest of it. But tragically today, so many people flock to that kind of thing believing there's life. There might be life, but it's not biblical life according to God's due order. You see, this morning, true worship is an attitude of heart. True worship is not coming into the house of God and making a den. True worship is not coming into the house of God and sitting full in your arms and saying, well God bless me now if you can't. It's nothing to do with me. It's all to do with Him. And this morning, true worship is what I give to Him. And in the doing so then, He blesses me. But it's not what I get out of it, it's what He gets out of it. You know in Exodus chapter 34 in verse 8, it says, and Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. Bowed himself, didn't make a racket. Joysha 5 verse 14. And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? Fell on his face. Job 1 verse 20, And Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped. So this morning, just as an aside, you see all these televangelists and all this nonsense and they come and they zap people and they fall on their back. Very strange. All the verses we read there, and there's many, many more, that came to worship the Lord or were slain of the Lord in that sense, they fell on their face. Anybody that falls on their back, the Lord will slay him. Kill it. We need to learn the lessons. We need to do things after God's due order. But come back to 1 Chronicles 16, 29. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, and bring an offering, and come before him, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. So how do we worship? Well, firstly, we glorify him. Give unto him the glory due his name. Where to glorify him? Self-explanatory. Secondly, giving. I'm not discussing money this morning. That's none of my business, what happens in this place. But suffice to say, we're to bring our tithes and our offerings as we worship. Now, before someone jumps onto me at the door, tithes and so on apply to the Old Testament. But, if that's what was demanded under law, how much more for you and me under grace this morning? Yes, the tithe and then the sacrificial giving, and that's all I'm going to say. But glorify him, our giving, but then we're to bring before him and recognise his great holiness and humility. Two things that are largely lost from the New Testament church in Northern Ireland today. We often hear people talking about revival, and we'll get into this in November if the Lord spares and the Lord tarries. You know, we hear people talking about revival and the Lord healing the land and all the rest of it. But we can't get past first base. If my people which are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and so on and turn from the wicked way and so on. We can't get past the humble. We can't even do the humble bit. So what chance have we got? But if we're going to worship him this morning, we have to give him the glory due his name. The Jew of observation, the Jew of glorification. I want you to see the Jew of crucifixion. Turn with me please to Romans chapter five and verse six. And again, it's a verse we can all quote, but let's turn to it this morning and then we don't misquote it. Romans five and verse six, and we're looking for this little word Jew again, and here it is in the midst of the verse. Romans five and the verse number six. For when we were yet without strength, and there it is, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. And I don't want to labour this one this morning. Time's beginning to run away, but praise God, in due time, the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. And he died for me. And I don't understand why you would even want to do so. or what he would even say. But in due time, the Lord Jesus Christ, he suffered the anguish of Gethsemane, the awful humiliation of Gebatha, the agony of Golgotha, the abandonment of the Father. Why hast thou forsaken me? The acceptance of the wrath and the absolute claiming of death, all for me. in due time this morning. And all I want to say is praise his wonderful name. The Jew of observation, the Jew of glorification, the Jew of crucifixion, the Jew of humiliation. We've talked, it seems to be cropping up quite a bit this morning, one way or another. Turn to 1 Peter 5 and verse 6 please. And again we're following this little word Jew and we're after God's due order and so on. And this time we're after the Jew of humiliation. 1 Peter 5 and verse 6. And it says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. And it's much better to humble ourselves than to have him humble us. That's a different thing altogether, far safer to do it ourselves. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, what? That he might exalt you in due time. What a challenge that is. So easy to get puffed up. So easy to get proud with the places that have been for the Lord across the world and the things that I've seen and done. But if that's what it's about, that's all about me. And that's a waste of space. It's all about me being to every continent, bar Australia and serving God and preaching most days and all the missions and all the rest of it. Friends, if that's what it's all about, that's a waste of time, a waste of space. And that's what fears me when I get to the great white, or I'll never be the great white stone, when I get to the beam of seed. If that's what it's all about, now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hen, stubble in 1 Corinthians 3 and 12. And if it's all about what I did, then it's wood, hen, stubble, and it's worthless, and it's useless, and it's valueless, and it just burned up under that trial by fire. It needs to be the gold, the silver, and the precious jewels. Gold is spiritual service. The cost of spiritual service. Silver is the price of redemption. Has my service cost me? What did it cost me? Time, money, effort, and everything else. Precious stones. It comes from the word obelisk. It's the pillar that held up the temple. If I wasn't about, what have I missed? I'm a pillar of the thing. And this morning, what is really important, it's not what I do for God. The important thing is that I get to the place by humbling myself and all the rest that I need to do, that I get into that position that God can do things for himself through me. And that's a different thing. I'm just a vessel. Now this morning, Am I? Because if so, according to that verse there in 1 Peter 5 and 6, if I can get to that place, then he will exalt me in due time. And the same for you. Are we doing it after God's due order? Are we running about at our own charge? Because there's a world of difference. The due of observation. The Jew of glorification, the Jew of crucifixion, the Jew of humiliation, the Jew of continuation. Turn our way back to Proverbs 3 verse 27, please. Proverbs 3 verse 27. I'll try and get through this last wee bit as quickly as we can. Proverbs 3 verse 27. And it says, withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. withhold not good from them whom it is due. The reality is this morning that there needs to be a continuation and a consistency in our walk. You will not withhold something from somebody. How often is it pointed out to us, see that boy Thompson, that boy's a Christian and I don't want anything to do with it. And you see them on the Lord's day with a six foot square Bible under their arm And you wouldn't think that butter would melt in their mouth like perfect angels. But see Monday to Saturday, it's a different way. I knew one man and no names mentioned, but he makes a big deal out of reading his Bible up early in the morning, reading his Bible for two hours before he goes to work. And then he goes to work and he fleeces his customers all day long. It's testimony shock. Friends, that ought not to be. Calling a spade a spade, that's a disgrace. The reality is we're to be consistent and we're to do good and we're to do it to them whom it is due because that's God's order and I'm not preaching a social gospel this morning even though there's a social side to it. So the observation The due of observation, the due of glorification, the due of crucifixion, the due of humiliation, the due of continuation, the due of completion of judgment. We'll not turn to it. Deuteronomy 32, 35, for the sake of time. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 35, for those taking notes. To me belong of vengeance and recompense. Their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them ne'er cast. their foot shall slide in due time. Of course, the context this morning is the judgment of God's people, but I want to make application. We often hear the question, why does the evil doer prosper? And the reality is this morning, frequently they do, but have they escaped? Perhaps the judgment of man and the rigor of the courts and earthly justice. But brothers and sisters never forget that they have to meet their creator, the God of heaven. The absolute holy one, the one who will judge justly, fairly, and dispense equitable and fair justice. The one who knows all things and with whom there will be no technicalities. The one who will do right and will judge right and will have vengeance and recompense for their calamity at God's due time. and never forget it. Just because man hasn't got to them, they haven't got away with it. We'll do one last one. The Jew of Observation, Glorification, Crucifixion, Humiliation, Continuation, Completion of Judgement and finally the Jew of Condition. Leviticus chapter 26 and verse 3 and 4. It says in Leviticus 26, three and four, for those taking notes, if you walk in my statues and keep my commandments and do them, then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees over a field shall yield their fruit. Due season. You know, so often we quote a promise of God. Let me mention the one in Chronicles where it talks about if my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray. We take a promise of God. Yet we're very good as believers this morning for getting that every promise of God has a condition attached to it. If you will do this, then I will do that. And here it is again. If you walk in my statues and keep my commandments and do that, then, then I will give you rain and dew season. But it starts with the if. They had to walk. after God's dodges. God's promising rain and harvest and fruit if the people obey his word. Yet so often we find them in disobedience and sometimes in famine. Indeed, whenever they despoil a place and they were banished from the land for 1,800 years, the place was a howling wilderness in a desert when they came back to it. And that's the reality. I am convinced in Northern Ireland this morning We live in days of great spiritual famine and days of death. Why? Because I fully believe that we no longer comply with God's due order and the conditions of God's word. And we're running around doing our own thing, whatever our own thing might be. And we're not following God's due order and meeting God's conditions for blessing. For example, when did we last hear someone preach on holiness? When did we last hear someone preach on separation, or sanctification, or the will of God, or humility, or self-sacrifice, or any of those things? You preach in those places, most places in Northern Ireland, if you're not throughout, you'll certainly never be back. We need to get back to the old paths, the old ways wherein is the blessing. We need to get back to doing the old things and meeting the conditions of God's word and getting back after God's due order, because only then will this nation turn around. So in conclusion, we followed the little word Jew. I hope it stirred you up to follow and find the rest of them and see what they teach us. But this morning, it's been a challenge to my heart. I hope it's been a challenge to your heart and that we'll get back to following God's due order and we'll leave it there and we trust that the Lord will bless his word this morning. Going to close with singing a few verses of the hymn number 459 in Redemption Songs, the Red Book. 459, when we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, What a glory he sheds on our way, where we do his goodwill, he abides with us still, and with all he will trust and obey.