do do you you do do do you do do Good to see you all. How are we doing this evening? Hello. We're doing okay this evening? Amen. Excited to be in the house of the Lord with the saints of God. Now, if you're able to rise, we would love for you to join us in singing hymn 472, hymn 472, 472, follow on. And we'd ask you to do as much. Follow on, amen. Follow on as we sing hymn 472, hymn 472. Follow on. Then we'll have a word of prayer. And if you sing really well, we'll let you sit on the next hymn, OK? Amen. Down in the valley with my Savior I would go. I would follow. With his hand to lead me, I will never, never fear. Danger cannot frighten me if my Lord is near. Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on I will follow, follow. I will follow Jesus. Everywhere he leads me, I will follow on. Down in the valley or upon the mountain steep, close beside my Savior would my soul ever keep. He will lead me safely in the path that he has trod Up to where they gather on the hills of God Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on Dear heavenly father, lord, we are so thankful that we have indeed, lord, made the decision to follow you and to follow on lord, the path that you have laid before us and that is for tonight to come to this house of worship. Lord, we're just so thankful to be here tonight. Father, we just pray lord And Father, we do not want tonight to be routine or normal, Lord. We just pray that if it be your will, Lord, that the Holy Spirit of God will just shake this sanctuary, Lord, at the preaching of your word this evening, and that we can take what we have learned tonight and leave this place and share it with others. It is in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen and amen. And you may be seated on this next one, even though this next one is pretty exciting, in my opinion. This next song, this next hymn will be hymn three, two, four. Hymn three, two, and four. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Oh, wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin. How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its grace begin? free. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Oh, wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Higher than the mountain Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus. ♪ Praise His name ♪ Him three, two, four. ♪ A wonderful grace of Jesus ♪ Reaching to all the lost ♪ By Him I have been pardoned ♪ Saved to the utter of amen ♪ A chains have been torn asunder ♪ Giving me liberty for the wonderful grace of Jesus. Oh, wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus Deeper than a mighty rolling sea Higher than a mountain Sparkling like a fountain All she fears, she grips for even me Broader than the scope of my transgression Let's stand on this last verse. Let's stand on this last verse. We need to praise his name. We need to praise his name. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Sing strong in this last verse. Here we go. ♪ Reaching the most defiled ♪ ♪ By His transforming power ♪ ♪ Making us, dear child ♪ ♪ Purchase in peace and heaven ♪ ♪ For all eternity ♪ ♪ And the wonderful grace of Jesus Christ ♪ A matchless grace of Jesus Deeper than the mighty rolling sea Higher than the mountains Sparkling like a fountain All sufficient grace for even me A broader than the scope of my transgressions You may be seated, I think. I'm glad to be here to say amen. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad both Shelton's here. Amen. Let me ask, what's Sunday? Friend Day, absolutely. And man, there's folks have been, I've been hearing good things, folks inviting, they're expecting folks to come. But we still got a few days, so let's not. It's really time to really push hard and invite, encourage, pick up some of those flyers out there and just hand those out and let's have a good time this coming Sunday, but let's pack out the church, amen? Pack out this place and this building and let's get everybody that we can here this coming Lord's Day, so please help me with that. Again, there's still quite a few of those out there, so pick some up. Saturday, we're gonna go out and do the same thing. We're going to We're out of John Roman, so we're gonna go out and hand out some flyers this Saturday and invite some folks to come and be a part of our friend day. So that's still at 9.30, folks, so please come and be a part of that. But we'll make some more of these flyers. Let's get rid of them, okay? And let's hand out as many as we can, invite and encourage our friends, our neighbors, and folks that, somebody said, can we invite our enemies? Absolutely. Those are the ones you ought to invite first. Amen. So just invite them and let's have a good time this coming Sunday. Now, remember 9.30, everybody will meet in here. I'll have Brother Shelton get things started, sing a song, a congregational or maybe two, and then we're going to let our singers sing during the Sunday school time. So until 10.15, And if we need to go a little after 10, 15, that'll be okay. We're not gonna have an afternoon service, so if we go a little long, that's all right. You can get you a little nap later, amen? I think we're gonna have a good day that day, Brother Mark's cooking the brisket and the pork and all those things for us. But remember, folks, we still need you to bring a side dish and a dessert, okay? the meat and the church will take care of all the meat, so please don't forget about that. Bring everything. If you have any questions about the food, talk to Miss White. She'll give you any kind of information that you need about that, so please don't forget. Saturday, soul winning. Going out for friend day. And then Sunday, 9.30, then 10.30-ish, we'll start our worship service. We'll have Brother Shelton sing another song or two to get us rolling, and then we'll turn it over to the singers. I've heard them online. I've talked to him on the phone a couple of times, but everything that I hear, they do a fine job. So please, let's get everybody that we can here today. It's about bringing someone that may want to come back. Bring somebody that's lost. Maybe that'll get saved. Amen. So just help us with that. And then, of course, the 28th. The Sunday following, the last Sunday of this month, Brother Jacques Alexander will be here. He and his wife from Haiti, Port-au-Prince. And so they're looking forward to being here. I talked to him on the phone the other day. They're excited about being here. So just please, just a lot of things going on. So let's work hard and just do the best we can and do our part. If we do our part, God will do his part. Amen. Don't forget about that. Garage sale as well. That's coming up 26, 27th. If you have any questions about that, again, ask Ms. Wyatt if you want to help, sign up. That's Friday and Saturday, 26, 27th. Ms. Wyatt, do we have somebody coming and picking up everything that doesn't sell yet? OK, because if not, we're going to take it all over to Brother Robbie's house, OK? Amen. I don't know if he's got any room in his garage left. Anybody got any room in your garage? Oh, okay. Brother Jeff, you got room in your garage? Amen. We'll take you to Jeff's house. Amen. And so, anyway, but we're going to have a good time. So don't forget about all that. If you have some questions about the garage sale, again, see Ms. White, cyber security class, May 4, 11 a.m. We've got about 18 signed up for that, which is awesome. See Brother Clark about that if you have any questions. So a lot of things in the bulletin. If you don't have one of those, get one. It keeps you up to date. So please pick one of those up, all right? Prayer sheet. Anybody need a prayer sheet? Nobody needs a prayer sheet. All right. Well, John was ready. Remember to pray for these that are on our health list. Pray for Brother Gary. He still, you know, they did the procedure on his eye. He says he's doing a little better, so keep praying for him. It takes a couple of weeks for that to really show forth the results, so pray that that'll all be well. He has another procedure Friday, so keep him in your prayers if you would, please. Continue to pray for Brother Dennis and Miss Susie, they're out of town, so pray that the Lord will watch over them while they're gone. Just pray for, continue to pray for Carly and their new baby as well, if you would please. John Avery, just keep them in your prayers, they're doing good. The infection of whatever thing that was wrong is doing well. They took care of that. So pray for them as well. I know they would appreciate it. Continue to pray for Miss Daphne and her heart and things of that nature. Just everyone on our prayer sheet. I want to mention all of them, but just take these home. That's why these are here, for you to take them, ride on them, add to them, and just keep those and put them on your refrigerator with a magnet. Every time you walk by there, pray for somebody that's on our list, all right? So please pray for that. Pray for our country. As always, we need to be praying for Israel, and no, we need to really be praying for Israel, amen? They're doing the best they can to stave off all this nonsense, amen, and now everybody's after them. Best thing that we can do is pray for them. Best thing our country can do is help them. If you want God's help, be a friend of Israel. And so pray again for Israel that the Lord watch over them as well. All right. Just a lot of things on here. And please pray for our day Sunday. I want to encourage you. Let's be like Daniel. He prayed three times a day. All right, can we do that starting this evening when we get home before we go to bed? Let's pray and ask God for a wonderful, spirit-filled day this coming Sunday, and that we see somebody get saved. Listen, if we'll all do that three times a day, no telling what God will do. So I want to encourage, let's do that starting this evening, and then pray tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, and then Sunday morning when you get up, before you head to the church, let's pray again. It's never too late to pray, amen. So I had somebody tell me one time, oh, it's too late to pray. It's never too late to pray. So let's pray and ask God for his blessings on our day Sunday. Let's go with the Lord in prayer, and then we'll get into the rest of our service. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your goodness. I'm thankful, Father God, that you love us. I'm thankful that we can call you our Father in heaven. Lord, as you told your disciples, Lord, when they said, Father, Lord, teach us to pray, you told them to pray like this and said, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I pray God that we will. Lord, just be obedient to you, Lord. And God, follow your perfect will for our lives. And Lord, as we go through this life, I pray, Lord, even so, Lord, come soon. Lord, I don't know about folks, but I believe I can speak on their behalf that we're ready for you to come back, Lord. God, I don't want to stay a moment longer in this place than we have to, and so Lord, I pray that you'd be with us, Lord, though, while you, Lord, till that day comes that we will work hard, that we'll be diligent in telling people about the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that we will tell them how they can go to heaven. Lord, that's why you came, to seek and to save that which is lost. And God, you gave us that same job to do, Lord, in seeking those that are lost. And I pray, God, that you'd help us as a church to do that. I pray, Father, God, for our friend day Sunday. Lord, the folks have worked hard, and God, we still have a few days left. and lord be awesome to have a friend day in glory but lord if uh if not i pray that lord that you'd please the lord dear holy spirit of god that you'd move in hearts lord and those that we've talked to and that those that our folks have talked to about coming that lord that you would impress upon their hearts and Lord their thoughts God and there'll just be something God they may not know what it is but Lord may the may you dear Holy Spirit move in their hearts to where they they just have to get up and have to come to Central Park on Friend Day and Lord I pray that you'd help me to bring a clear presentation of the gospel Lord that if there's somebody that's lost they'll get saved and Lord, if they're not right with you, they'll get right. And God, if they need to join the church or follow you in baptism, God, that they'll come and present themselves, Lord, to the church for that. And so, God, we need you. And Lord, we'll just be a sounding of brass and tingling of cymbal, Lord, if you don't come and dwell among us, God, this coming Lord's Day. And so, Lord, we pray, God, for a wonderful day. Be with us, Lord, as our folks go out and knock doors Saturday. I pray, God, that your hand will be upon us. I pray God for our Bible study tonight, Lord, as we continue. God, about David, I pray that you'd help me to preach the message that you've laid upon my heart. And then, God, we pray for our folks that are having some health issues, Lord. I know there's several that haven't been feeling well, some that are not here tonight. God, because they're not feeling well, I lift them up in prayer. Pray for Brother Gary and his procedure, Lord, coming up Friday. I pray, God, that you'd be with his eye, Lord, that, God, that that procedure that he had done, Lord, that it'll be just what he needed, and he'll get his sight back, and it'll not be blurry or anything like that. And God, so I pray that you'd help him, Lord, with that and his sight. God, I pray, Lord, again, thanking you, God, for your goodness to us. I pray, God, asking you to be with the remainder of our worship tonight, Lord. And God, may everything that we do bring glory and honor to your holy name. And I pray, Father God, that you'd help us. God, I pray that you'd be with this offering. Bless the gift and the giver. May everything that's given be used for the furtherance of the cause of Christ in this place because it's in the name of Jesus that we pray and ask all these things. Amen. If you have an offering, please come. you you Amen and amen. Now if you're able to rise, we'd like for you to join us in singing hymn 497, hymn 497. Hymn 497, Dare to be a Daniel. We'll do the first and last verses. We'll do first verse chorus, second, last verse chorus. Amen. Dare to be a Daniel. Hymn 497. Hymn 497. Dare to be a Daniel. At the conclusion of this hymn, please greet our guest tonight. Amen. Sing along. A standing by a purpose true, heeding God's command. Honor them with faithful through our hearts to Daniel's band. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to make it known. Hold the gospel banner high, on to victory grand. Satan and his host depart, and shout for Daniel's band. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to make it known. Amen. Please greet each other at this time. I know, I know. All right, 2 Samuel chapter 6. You know, it may be like the preacher that preached that same message for like five weeks and he said, you know, when you get this one, I'll move on to the next one. 2 Samuel chapter 6. That's in the Old Testament. And it's still relevant, by the way. Amen. Found your place, amen. Again. See there, look at that. Again. David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000. And David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Bailey of Judah to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah and Uzzah, and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark." And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of firwood, even on harps and on psalteries and on timbrels and cornets and on cymbals. And when they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and God smote him there for his error. And there he died by the ark of God. And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, how shall the ark of the Lord come to me? So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of David, but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite. And 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 Father, I pray that you'd bless the reading of your word. God, again, I pray that you'd help me to preach the message you've laid upon my heart, God, in the context wherein you've brought it to us. And God, help me to bring it out in such a way to bring honor and glory to your name. And God, that also help us and challenge us as Christians today. And I'll give you the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. David's been given a lot of different titles. All right? Shepherd Boy is one. Giant Killer is another. The Singer. Israel's Greatest King. All of these names were attributed to David. But I think the one that best characterizes him is the one that says he's a man after God's own heart. And, you know, when I began studying the message, I thought, boy, I pray. And wouldn't it be nice that that could be said of each one of us, that we could put our name there, that we are an individual after God's own heart. And by the way, that's the way it ought to be. You know, sometimes we think just because we think maybe it's out of reach that we should not even try. We shouldn't even try to attain it. But that's not so at all. I'm never Going to be perfect in this life, never. But listen, but we will, but we are being conformed into the image of God day by day. Amen. I mean, because one day we will be transformed, amen, and given a perfect body. But we're supposed to do our best to become more and more like Him every day. And it's difficult in this world, amen, that we live in. But that doesn't mean that we ought not try. And David was the person who was a man after God's own heart. And it means that David, when we talk about him being a man after God's own heart, that David wanted to honor God in every way possible. And that he was willing to do everything he could to obey the Lord God. And when he took the throne, one of the first things on his agenda was restoring the ark of the covenant to its original place, to bring it back home, if you will. And if you look there in chapter six and verse two, it says, and David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Now the ark was the most important piece of furniture in the tabernacle. Okay? And by the way, Moses constructed it, but listen, God gave him the instructions. God told him how to build it. And it wasn't a very big box. Sometimes we think the Ark of the Covenant was some, it was not. In fact, I'll give you the dimensions of it. It was a wooden box that was covered in gold. And the dimensions were about 2 feet by 4 feet by 2 feet high. It was not, I mean, about 2 feet in depth, 4 feet long and about 2 feet wide. Just a small box. But on the top of the box, now I want you to get this, the cover on the top of this gold covered wooden box, it was called the mercy seat. Okay, y'all still here, say amen. It's called the mercy seat. And on this cover, there were two solid gold cherubim figures that faced each other and their wings were spread out and they met in the middle of this mercy seat, which they covered the mercy seat with their wings. Now, inside the ark, there were three things. Anybody know what they are? One of them was a manna. Yeah, don't forget that. It wasn't just Aaron's rod, but it was Aaron's rod that budded. Amen? And then there was also the two tables of stone on which the law of God was written, or the Ten Commandments. They were also in there. And then they took this Ark of the Covenant and they placed it in the Holy of Holies, which, listen, the most important piece of furniture in the tabernacle was placed in the most sacred and holy place and part of the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies. And if you remember, once a year, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and he would sprinkle, listen, and he would sprinkle the atonement blood on the mercy seat. the cover of this gold-plated box. He would sprinkle the blood of the atonement there on the mercy seat. And by the way, the priest wore a tunic, and on the bottom of the priest there were bells on it. And the work of that priest was never done. He had to continually move around while he was in the Holy of Holies. Because he was back there making a sacrifice, if you will, to roll back the sins of the people from one year to the next. And if he didn't keep moving, See, if you went into the Holy of Holies and you weren't clean yourself, God struck you dead. Now, you say, well, how did you get in there to get him out? They had a rope tied on his ankle. And as long as they heard those bells moving, they knew he was still alive. I'm being serious. Listen. Can you think about this, that if he ever stopped to do something and the bells stopped ringing, you think maybe he had a tug on his leg? I'm telling you, he was always there. Understand, again, his work, though, was never done. But I'm thankful, listen, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin, the Bible says when he ascended back to the Father, what did he do? He sat down. Why? Because His work was finished. He said it on the cross. He said, it's finished. So He ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and He took His rightful place at the right hand of God the Father, and He sat down. Praise the Lord. But one of these days, He's going to get up. Amen. Only for one reason, to come back and take us out of here. Amen. So the mercy seat, it's important. Again, it had the two tables of stone, a jar of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and it was placed in the Holy of Holies. And the thing that made the Ark of the Covenant the most important piece of furniture in the tabernacle was that it represented the presence of Almighty God. Amen. Look in Exodus chapter 25. Turn over there with me. Exodus chapter 25. And I want you to turn to verse 22. Exodus chapter 25, verse 22, find your place, amen. God said, there I will meet thee. Where? He said, and I will commune with thee. Why? Here it is, from above the mercy seat. And from, here it is, from between the two cherubim. You think that's an important place? Absolutely it is. You see, in typology, the ark is also very significant in that it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I just wrote three of them down. You can go into a lot of detail here, but I don't want to do that because I want to stay here in 2 Samuel 6. But just to give you a little snippet here, in three ways that it spoke of Christ. First, the contents of the ark. spoke of Christ. The tables of stone with the law on them spoke of Christ's obedience. Psalm chapter 40 and verse 8, how the Bible says, Yea, thy law is written, or excuse me, thy law is within my heart. So the stones speak of the Lord Jesus. Also, second, the manna spoke of Christ. The Bible says in John 6, 32 through 35, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Amen. And then the third thing, Aaron's rod that budded, speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, I want you to understand something, that all these things that are here in our Bible are extremely significant. There's not anything in here that ought to be taken out, changed, or, you know, or accidentally misplaced. They are all here for a purpose. Amen. So, we can see the importance of the mercy seat, the importance of the Ark of the Covenant. Well, here's David in 2 Samuel chapter 6. He has a desire, first of all, to go and bring back the Ark and bring it home. Now, as I already said, the Ark was a piece of furniture designed by God and it represented the Lord's presence among His people and for Literally, decades, if not hundreds of years, it had been the central place of worship in the tabernacle and held a place of reverence among the Jews. But the ark, think about this, has been through a difficult period. During the time of judges, if you go back and read, the ark had been used more or less, if you go back, they were using it for like a lucky charm. It was like a rabbit's foot. Anybody ever had a rabbit's foot? Oh yeah, I've had them. I mean, that's the way that Israel is treating the Ark of the Covenant. They were just, they had no reverence for it. Listen, at one point in Israel's life, that thing was the most important piece of furniture even to them. But it came to be something that they had you know, that it was just a lucky charm. In fact, the people didn't have a heart for God, let me go back, but they wanted to carry the ark around just so they could, you know, make it look like, you know, God is still with them because it represented the presence of God. And so they thought, man, as long as we have this, then God's going to be with us. Listen, I'm telling you, we need to get back to the place today where we reverence God and put Him back in His rightful place. The Israelites didn't do that, and they're gonna get in trouble, and we're gonna see this. So they just carried the Ark of the Covenant around like a lucky charm. Then, if you remember, the Ark also had fallen into the hands of the Philistines. And if you go back and read the book of 1 Samuel, you'll find that they paraded it around their country. I mean, it was a trophy to them. They thought, look at that. They wanted people to say, look, we're the Philistines, we're a pagan people, but we have the Ark. This most important piece of furniture in the history of the Jews, we've got it. Do you understand that I really believe that today when Christians fall, when they mess up, And they become friends with the world. Do you understand that the world will parade you around to the world as a trophy to make it seem like that they have won a victory over not just you, but over God? And look what I have accomplished. Listen, that's the way the world treats a Christian. Listen, we ought not ever give the world the satisfaction of throwing us or making us look something less than who we are. We are a born-again child of Almighty God. Amen. So be careful who you run with. I mean, sometimes we run with the wrong crowd, and then we'll say, oh, yeah, they'll introduce you. Oh, yeah, this is my friend. He goes to Central Park Baptist Church over here, and listen, that's not a compliment. They're doing the same thing with the ark. They have paraded it around, and then after a while, you remember where they put it? The Philistines put it in their own temple where their God was. You remember their God's name? Dagon. And if you look in 1 Samuel, and again read there, there's some great history. Now, I started, I had written stories, there's some great stories about the ark during that period. But, you know, I try not to use that word story because we look at it like it's some kind of a fictitious event. But 1 Samuel tells us some great history about the ark during that period. For example, the morning after the Philistines placed the ark of the covenant in their temple, the Philistines came back. Remember the next morning they came back and the statue of Dagon had fallen over and broke its neck? They picked it up, dusted it off, probably put it back together, and thought, man, well, I don't know, the wind must have blown it over. Well, it might have been the wind, but it was the wind of the Holy Spirit of God that blew it over. Listen, so they put it back, and they came back the next day, and guess what? It was all broken up again. They're lucky that God didn't break their neck. Yeah. And when they came back again, they were afraid. So they decided to move it around the country. But wherever they put it, wherever they sent it, disaster followed. Pagans got sick. Idols were knocked over. And eventually the Philistines decided, listen, I don't know what the best thing that we can do with this thing is to get rid of it. You know, folks, as Christians, When we don't put God in His rightful place in our lives, nothing good is going to happen. We kind of parade Him around like He's our buddy, our pal. Yeah, God's my buddy. You better quit making Him your buddy and let Him be your God. Put Him back on the throne. But listen, I don't want Him to be my buddy. I want Him to be my God, my Father in heaven and the one who directs me and thumps me when I get wrong so I'll get right. That's the kind of God that we need. So the Philistines, they just did away with it. And Christians, we ought not do that. We ought to make sure that God is in His rightful place in our lives and put Him on the throne of our lives. So the Philistines, they did away with it. They didn't have any interest in God. They just wanted to parade Him around. And so they decided to take the ark to Beth Shemesh. And you ever saw the old Indiana Jones? Some of it got out of here. I mean, I know Hollywood, I'm not a big fan, but some of the stuff, listen, and I know that they embellish things a lot, take away, add to, but I want you to understand that the part when you remember that, and I'm trying to think about where they wanted to look inside the Ark of the Covenant, well, If you look over in 1 Samuel 6 and verse 19, 1 Samuel 6 and verse 19, you can turn there, and while you're turning there, you can see it for yourself. There was, when the Philistines took the ark to Beth Shemesh, some of the, or say some, a lot of people, or some of the people took the lid off and looked inside. And as a result, God killed 50,070 people. Do you know why? Because it violated the holiness of Almighty God. Oh, man. Listen, you know, when I thought about this and thought about the holiness of God, do you remember Moses when he wanted to see God's holiness? God said, Mose, you can't do that, not live. And he said, but there's a cleft in the rock over here. I'll put you in there and I'll cover you. And when I walk by, I'll let you get a glimpse of my holiness. That was by God's permission, by the way. Listen, we cannot violate the holiness of Almighty God. If anybody would have went in that holy of holies when they weren't supposed to, God would have killed them. Yeah. I mean, it's dire consequences. So David, he wants to go get the ark. The Philistines, they finally take it and they put it in Kirhath-Jerim where everybody could just, you know, they just wanted to forget about it. And then when David became king, the ark had literally been out of Israel for about 50 years. In fact, it had been out of Israel for so long that the people in Israel had forgotten about it. And the Bible tells us, in fact, I was reading this earlier. I'll have to, I'll get to, I can't, I didn't write the verse down, but I think I may have it somewhere else. But the Bible says that during Saul's day that no one bothered to inquire about the ark. Listen, you know, I thought, are Christians like that today? Are we just after some kind of a religious experience? And I wrote myself a little note. Are we just after some type of religious experience but not interested in the presence of Almighty God? You know, I think churches have forgotten about that. Listen, I'm not here for just some type of a religious experience. You understand that Friend Day today is not just about getting people here and having a big day and, you know, and having a, you know, a group up here to sing. All that's well and good, but there's a purpose behind all that. The purpose is to tell somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our purpose. But I think sometimes, like Israel, they didn't inquire about the Ark of the Covenant because out of sight, out of mind. But David is committed to placing God back at the center of his country. You know, there's things, and you may or may not even think about this, But I'll give you an example. I'm a little bit persnickety, I guess, if that's a good word, about some things. And some of them is about our hymnals in the Bibles. If you ever notice, Brother Coy's seen me. I'll make sure that the hymnals are on the outside. But I always, when I come through, I'll try to do my best to make sure that this is right in the middle of them. Why? Why do I? Why? Oh, it's no big deal. Well, it is to me. Because I think the Bible ought to be the center of everything that we do. Yeah, even in the little things. You see, the Bible says it's the little foxes that spoil the vine. Listen, so I come through and I'll I'll, you know, make sure that those things are right in the middle. Listen, the ark at one time was the center of the lives of the Israelites, but they'd forgotten about them. You know, sometimes we come in and we see that stuff and we don't even think nothing about it. If you've noticed in some churches, the pulpit's not even in the middle anymore. Some of the churches, the pulpit is off over to the side. Why? Because the preaching It's not the center of what's going on in that church. So they move it off to the side. There's more important things going on besides what's happening right here. Listen, this is what's most important here at Central Park Baptist Church. Regardless of whether it's me preaching, Brother Marco, or someone else, listen, this is the focal point right here. Listen, everything that we do ought to center around the preaching of the Word of God. The Bible says it's by the foolishness of preaching that people get saved. It's not the preaching, but it's the gospel that changes the lives of people. Well, at one time, the ark was just that way. It was the very center of everything that they did. And David had a desire to bring it back, but then there was a difficulty about it. David makes up his mind to bring back the ark, which brings us to, again, verses 3 through 5. And I'll not take the time to read that, but you go back and read it again real quick. And if you notice that it says that the Bible teaches that David consulted all the chosen men for this major undertaking. I'm going to take you to a verse of scripture in a minute. David consulted all the right men to go get the ark. He gathered all his people together, developed a huge choir, a big orchestra, and the entire group went back to get the ark. Now all that sounds well and good, but there's at least two things wrong with what's going on and what David has done. The first thing is, he made a mistake by doing the right thing the wrong way. Are y'all still here? Say amen. Listen, God did not intend for David just to put together a group of people and go grab the ark and bring it back to Jerusalem. God didn't intend that. God had given some very specific instructions on how to move and take care of the ark, and when the people tried to move it and take care of it, listen, when they tried to move it without paying attention to God's command, disaster took place. Look, turn to Numbers, chapter 4. Numbers, chapter 4, and let's look at verse 5 and 6. You know, we'll see what... David, listen, again, David made a mistake by doing the right thing the wrong way. Numbers, chapter 4, look at verse 5 and 6. Now what? Let me go ahead and tell you what's going on. God's given instructions here on how to move the Ark. They were to make a covering made out of badger skins. Then they were to cover it again with a blue cloth. And they were going to take these long staves or poles. And if you remember and go back and read about the way the Ark of the Covenant was made, there were rings on the corners. And they would take these staves and put it through those rings that were on the corners. And then the priests were to take up that ark, and they were to bear that ark, listen, on the staves on each corner, and the ark was in the middle. Listen, they were to obey God's way implicitly, I mean, to the very jot and tittle the way God said to do it. Listen, Israel had obeyed these orders, listen, for years. When Moses carried the ark, when they moved the tabernacle, they carried it just this way. But now watch, from Moses to David, it's been about 300 years. But listen, but God said, I'm God and I change not. And if God changes not, His ways change not. Are y'all still here? Amen. But the people, they're doing what David said. They're moving the ark on a cart, a new cart. They're doing things the way they wanted to rather than the way God intended for them to do. Now, David's motives are pure, but his method is wrong. You think methods are important? They absolutely are important. Amen. I've seen this happen in people's approach with things in the church, thinking that it's the goal that's most important. But listen, I understand something today, that God is just as interested in how we do things as in what we do. Come on, say amen. Listen, God is interested in how we do things. If you don't believe me, look what happened to the ark. The second mistake David made is that he asked the right question to the wrong person. Now think about this, two times David has asked God about going to war with the Philistines. Y'all remember some of that? We've talked about that. He inquired of God. He said, God, should I go up and fight the Philistines? And he said, yes, go up. It was important and David wanted to do the right thing. But this time, instead of asking God, he asked somebody else. Turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 13. 1st Chronicles, chapter 13, and we'll read verse 1 through 4. Remember, David asked the right question to the wrong person. Find your place, amen. And David consulted, here it is, with the captains of thousands and hundreds and with every leader. 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 them also to the priests, the Levites, which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us, and let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul. There's that verse. And all the congregations said that they would do so for what? Here it is, the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. Bad mistake. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. He's asking all these people, what happened, David? When it came time for war, you went right and asked God, God, should we do this? Should we go to battle against the Philistines? But here, this time, when they thought about going to get the ark, David did not ask God about what to do. Can I tell you something? Listen, anytime we do something here, I go to our men. I don't ask them, And listen exactly, I don't go to them and say, should I do this or should I do this? Are y'all still here? I go to them and I say, listen, there's a decision that needs to be made and I need you to pray with me about it. We've got to do our research, we've got to get in the Word of God, we've got to get on our knees and ask God if we should do this or not. Why? Because it's He who gives us direction about the church. It's not me, it's Him. Are y'all still here? Listen, when we do things outside the will of God, we're headed for disaster. That's exactly what's going on here. David asked all the people, you know, you think we ought to get rid of the choir and have a praise band? Oh, Brother Coy, you think we need to get a drum set up there? You think that'd be okay? You follow me? Listen, that's the wrong people to be asking. You know why? Because God's concerned about our method. Yeah? So here's David. He goes and asks all these people about what to do. Maybe, and think about this, just maybe they saw how the Philistines moved it. Because after all, it was the Philistines that came up with the idea of making a cart. It's in there. You know, and maybe they followed their pattern. You know, when it comes to maybe the way we worship, maybe we should, I don't know, look at some of these other churches, see how they do it. Maybe we should, I don't know, read all the church growth expert books. You know, there's one. I'm telling you, there's enough different books where we could all have a different one. And ask all these big business people who write the books on church growth. Maybe we ought to ask them how we ought to have our worship. Or maybe we can just ask, I don't know, the founder of the church. You know, Jesus Christ. Maybe we can ask what He thinks. Maybe we ought to ask the Holy Spirit of God to lead and guide us into all truth. Listen, He still talks to us. How does He do that? Right here. We don't need... Listen, I'm all about ideas and things. I mean, I'm looking forward to Sunday. But we got to keep the main thing the main thing. Yeah. And so when it's time to make a decision here at Central Park, you know what? We better be doing some praying about it. And by the way, before one's made, you know, listen, there's been weeks already of prayer, not just by me, but by our deacons that help us and pray and ask God what to do. Come on. Yeah. David wanted to do the right thing, but he did it the wrong way. Let me get you started on this. There was a disaster that took place. The people followed David to where the ark was at. They put it on a cart. Choir started singing. The orchestra started playing. The oxen started pulling. And off to Jerusalem they went. The procession is led by Abinadab's two sons. They drive the cart, Uzzah and Ahio. And then we come to verse 6 and 7 of 2nd Chronicles. Excuse me, 2nd Samuel. Turn back over to 2nd Samuel chapter 6. Let me get back over to my place. 2nd Samuel chapter 6, verse 6 and 7. It says, wherefore... Oh, excuse me, that's 1st Samuel. I knew that didn't sound right. 2nd Samuel chapter 6. Verse 6 and 7, it says, And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error, and there he died by the ark of God." Now, to me, this is interesting because when you read that verse 6, and the Bible says, "...for the oxen shook it." Personally, I don't believe they stumbled by accident. I do not. I think God did it. And the reason I think that is because what's going on is an abomination to God. Because I really think if they were to got back where they were going and they had handled the Ark of the Covenant just like that, listen, everything, God would have allowed something outside His holiness. I mean, they were carrying the Ark of the Covenant in the strength of this flesh. Not God's way. They were doing it the way they wanted to. That wasn't the way God told them to do it. And I think, listen, God caused those beasts to stumble. Listen, if you remember, the Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence. Y'all remember that? And God's not happy with the way people were handling the Ark. They were handling the Ark according to the dictates of the flesh and not according to the words of God. They were taking the ark lightly. In fact, Uzzah felt so comfortable about the ark, the Bible says he reached up. Listen, when we get that comfortable with the holiness of Almighty God, we're in a bad place. And God struck him. Struck him dead. Listen, why? Because God told him, don't touch the ark. God's serious about His holiness, amen? Yeah. I've heard people say, well, preacher, that's unfair. Listen, when it comes to being disobedient to the ways of God, fair has no place. In fact, I wrote down a couple of verses. This was in the Sunday school lesson that's coming next in the adults that Brother Shelton, he's back, thank the Lord. If you look in Deuteronomy, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32. We're talking about God being just. Deuteronomy 32 and verse 4. It says, He is the rock. His work is perfect. And for all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity. What? Here it is. Just and right is He. Now turn to Psalm chapter 19. Let me give you this, and I've got to be done. Psalm chapter 19, and look in verse 9. It says, The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. In other words, God is right. He's just. Everything He does is right. When people say, Preacher, I don't think that was fair. He was just, listen, that wasn't God's fault. And I don't have time to go into this, but David got mad at God. And he made another bad decision. Listen, when it comes to God doing the right thing, He always does the right thing. Was it right for Him to strike Uzzah down? Yep. You know how I know that? Because God did it. Who am I to question God? Because the Bible says He's just, He's righteous, and He's right. Listen, when we question God and say, Well, God, you should have done that. Be very careful. Because again, you're attacking the holiness of God, just like Uzzah. Sometimes we get so familiar with the things of God, we think we can put our hands on God and it'll be okay. Uzzah didn't get away with it, and neither will we. Listen, God needs to be back on the place where he's supposed to be, high and lifted up. When Isaiah saw him, the Bible said he saw him high and lifted up. And man, he fell on his face and he said, I'm a man of unclean lips. Woe is me. That's where we need to be. When we come into the presence of God, we need to take our rightful position. And that's on our face with a bended knee. The world today, churches, I think we've gotten away from really, you know, experiencing the presence of God. I like to know that God is somewhere, especially here when we worship. I've preached sermons before where it's like, man, Lord, man, I have to apologize. And I think, Lord, I'm sorry. I had somebody tell me here a while back, man, I preached a message and I fell flat on my face. And I said, good. because God's just letting you know that it's not about you. It's about Him. Everything we do, whether we're here doing it or whether we're out there doing it, needs to be all about Him so that He can receive the honor and the glory for it. Father, help us speak to our hearts. God, David, he did the right thing. The Lord just did it the wrong way. He asked the right question, Lord, but he asked the wrong people. God, I pray that you'd help us to always consult you about everything that we do. God, with a humble heart. God, with a contrite spirit. God, I pray that you'd help us to seek your face in all things. God, we need you. And the cause of Christ is far too important, Lord, for us.