Sermon
The Tabernacle of David
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to the Arise Church Podcast.
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We are so glad you're here and want to thank you for joining us
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today for the audio version of our Sunday morning message.
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We want to invite you to join us in person at our Sunday morning
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celebration every Sunday at 10 AM.
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We are located on Old Jenks Rd. in Apex, NC.
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Of course. All right, if you have a Bible,
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let's grab it. Let's get into the Word.
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I'm going to have to tighten this and go as fast as possible,
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but if you'll go to first Samuel, actually why don't y'all
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go to First Chronicles 13 and I'll just summarize for Samuel.
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But First Chronicles chapter 13 Chronicles is in the Old
1 Chronicles 13 chapter mention
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Testament. Sometimes people get it confused
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with Corinthians, which is in the New Testament.
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But First Chronicles Old Testament verse or chapter 13.
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As you turn there, I want to talk about today the Tabernacle
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of David, the Tabernacle of David.
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And I want to start by kind of giving you a quick overview from
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first Samuel chapter 4, which is where I was going to have you
1 Samuel 4 chapter mention
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turn. But in this instance, this arc
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of God, which a couple weeks ago when I was talking about the
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glory of God and the Tabernacle and how the ark of God was just
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beyond the veil and the holy of holies, that really furnish
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meant that furnish furnishing that piece of furniture which
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was like a wooden box, and inside of it had all kinds of
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things that God said should be in there.
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But it represented the presence of God, represented the presence
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of the Lord. So wherever that was, the
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presence of God was, well, in first Samuel chapter 4, that was
1 Samuel 4 chapter mention
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taken captive. They lost it, they lost it.
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Israel lost the presence of God, God's chosen people, the ones
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whom he said, I want to dwell with you, I want to be with you.
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They've been on this whole journey coming out of Egypt and
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then the promised land. They have the presence of the
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Lord. God gives them their promises
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and they lost it. They lost it.
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Have you ever felt like you lost it?
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Any Christian who has been in this for any amount of time, I'm
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sorry. You may be as holy, as holy as
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holy could be, but at some point you probably lost him.
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And maybe it wasn't taken captive, but maybe you just
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yourself got distant or somehow you found yourself in this
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place. Well, the children of Israel
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lost the presence of the Lord. They lost it was taken captive.
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And in fact, in the middle of all of this happening, there was
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a, a woman who had a child. And because she had had this
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child in the middle of, of Jerusalem being ransacked and
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the the ark of God being taken, she called her child Ichabod for
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the glory had departed from Israel.
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The ark of God had been captured.
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So Fast forward quite a bit. David becomes king and and it is
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hot on David's heart to get the ark back.
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Why? Because it's the presence of
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God. He wanted the presence of the
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Lord back. He wanted the glory back.
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He wanted to experience what Moses had experienced.
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He wanted to experience what all the priests got to experience
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when they had that that that first temple, when they had the
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the Tabernacle before he, he wanted the presence of the Lord
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so badly. Most of the Psalms are written
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about that. His hunger for the presence of
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the Lord. All that I might dwell in the
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House of the Lord forever. That's David.
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So in First Chronicles chapter 13, David has made major moves
1 Chronicles 13 chapter mention
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to bring the ark back. And in fact, after some time,
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the ark of God was in, in a, in, in a certain part of Israel and
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it kind of stayed there. Well, David wanted to bring it
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back to its rightful place to Mount Zion.
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And here we find that in First Chronicles chapter 13, verses
1 Chronicles 13 chapter mention
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one through 8, if you don't have your Bible, you can follow up on
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the screen. This is what it says.
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Then David consulted with the captains of thousands and
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hundreds, and with every leader. And David said to all the
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assembly of Israel, If it seems good to you, and if it is of the
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Lord our God, let us send out to our brethren everywhere who are
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left in all the land of Israel, and with them to the priest and
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the Levites, who are in their cities and their common lands,
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that they may gather together to us.
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Verse 3. And let us bring the ark of our
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God back to us, for we have not inquired at it since the days of
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Saul. Then all the assemblies said
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that they would do so. For the thing was right in the
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eyes of all the people. Notice that, For the thing was
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right in the eyes of all the people.
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What was right that they bring this ark back, that they bring
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the presence of the Lord back to them, that they could inquire of
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God again? Verse 5 So David gathered all
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Israel together from Shahor to Egypt, or in Egypt to as far as
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the interests of Hamas, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath
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Jirium. And David and all Israel went up
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to Bala to Kirjath Jirium, which belonged to Judah, to bring up
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from the there the ark of God, the Lord who dwells between the
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cherubim, where his name is proclaimed.
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And they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the House of
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Abinadab and Ouza, and Ohio drove the cart.
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Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their
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might, singing with, on harps and on stringed instruments, on
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tambourines, on cymbals and with trumpets.
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So notice that David, I mean, he is so intense, he called
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everybody together, We're all going to do this together.
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And they're worshipping and they're singing.
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So the Lord and they, they're, they're, they're, they're, they
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have symbols and they have tambourines because they weren't
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forbidden at that time. And those are forbidden in our
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sanctuary. But you know, they had
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tambourines just, unless someone was like, oh, thank you, Lord
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Pastor gave me permission. Please, please, just at home.
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Do it at home, do it at home. But they're doing all of this.
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But verse 7 gives the real nuanced, interesting detail that
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they put the ark of God on a new cart, on a new cart.
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Now, if you know your Bible, you know that the ark of God was
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meant to be carried on the shoulders of priests.
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But David in his zeal and his his such a desire to to have the
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presence of the Lord back, he built a new cart because that's
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more efficient. It's a long journey from Kirjath
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Jerium and I'm trying to get up to the hill.
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So why don't we build a new cart for it?
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Honestly, I think the American church is full of new carts,
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well meaning people, well meaning.
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I think of many people as zealous for the Lord as David,
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but they have built new things that God said will never work,
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they'll never work, they'll never work.
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And you know, it's easy to point the finger at others, but what
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things have you built out of efficiency?
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I know some of us were real efficiency minded and there's a
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lot that's in our culture right now that's trying to make things
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more efficient. But just beware that some old
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things are meant to still work. We call it old school now, like
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the anointing oil it. I just happen to believe it
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still works. I still happen to believe that
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speaking in the language of the Holy Spirit still works.
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I happen to believe that camp still works.
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Hello. There are some things where it's
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like better not change it. Don't put it on a new cart.
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Don't put it on. I was thinking earlier today I'm
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like, oh, do I want to wade into this today?
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And y'all are in luck because I'm going to.
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So I was watching a very popular churches youth conference this
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week and teenagers. OK.
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And I'm watching these preachers up there the 1st and I, I popped
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in a couple times and honestly, I wasn't popping in to like
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critique, but sometimes it's like if it looks like a duck,
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quacks like a duck, smells like a duck, walks like a duck, it's
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a duck. OK.
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So. I look in and these are
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teenagers and there's some man preaching and he's got whatever
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jacket zipped down to here and he has no shirt underneath.
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These are teenagers. It's gross.
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No, but in a new cart world, it works.
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I tuned in again a couple days later.
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And then there's another guy who has basically, you all know,
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like the the like the long underwear that you wear during
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the winter. OK, he was wearing that kind of
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shirt and it was super tight and see through and he's, he had to
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be my age or maybe he could be a couple years younger, but
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somewhere around that and he's teaching teenagers, trying to be
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sexy to teenagers. It took everything in me not to
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throw down in the chat. It took everything.
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I'm Lord. I Lord, I don't know these
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people, I don't know their hearts, I don't know where
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they're coming from. But this is nasty.
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But in a new cart world, it's working.
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And by working, I mean it's rolling for a little while and
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there's all the hoopla, there is the songs, there is the screens,
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there is the smoke, there is all the stuff.
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And it works until it doesn't. Second Samuel chapter 6, verses
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7-8. Then the anger of the Lord was
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aroused against Ouza, and God struck him there for his error,
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and he died there by the ark of God.
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And David became angry because of the Lord's outbreak against
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Ouza, and he called the name of the place, Perez Ouza to this
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day. Why did Ouza die?
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Because the ark, this fancy little contraption that they
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made very efficient to roll the cart, didn't have to be carried
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by anybody. Something happened on the road
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and it began to fall, and Ouza stretched out and grabbed it and
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he died because he wasn't supposed to be touching that.
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He reached out and he touched it and he died.
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I remember there was one time where I was on staff at church
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and there was a ministry that I remember wasn't doing that
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great. And I was in a leadership
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meeting and I wanted to speak up about helping that ministry.
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And I remember the Lord telling me don't touch that.
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Don't touch that, don't touch that.
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And I knew that's not for me. I knew that that one's not for
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me, though I wanted to, I wanted to help.
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I think it was a the right heart was like, I want to help.
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But there are some things that you're not supposed to touch.
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And you better be mindful of the Holy Spirit so you don't get
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involved in doing stuff, building carts that you're not
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supposed to build, being helpful where you're not supposed to be
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helpful because it's not for you.
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And the anger of the Lord was aroused and he killed a man
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because of this error. God is no joke.
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And that's why I watch what's happening in the United States
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today. And there's like a fear of the
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Lord that kind of like grabs hold of me because I'm like,
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except by the grace of God, there I go.
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I. Hello.
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And so you're like, Lord help me to not error in any of these
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things as well in haste or in a good heart or being zealous.
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I need to know the difference between what does scripture say
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we should approach it and what is the modern day, you know,
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wisdom of man say I'm supposed to do to approach a thing.
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And if you're not careful, you'll get under the sway of
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this world system and all of a sudden you're building carts for
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God. Lord have mercy.
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Go ahead and just say that Lord have mercy.
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Have mercy. Verse 9 still in second Samuel
2 Samuel 6 chapter mention
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chapter 6, David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said,
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how can the ark of the Lord come to me?
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Imagine his disappointment. He had made all this hoopla.
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He had gotten all of Israel together.
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I mean, they're singing, they're shouting, they're tambourines,
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everything is going. And then you, Can you imagine
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how awkward when the dude dies, the tambourine, you know, it's
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like a, it's like, it's like the, it's, Can you imagine?
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There's the way like you put the tambourine and it just kind of
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like just kind of shakes until you like put it away.
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You're like, you know, I mean, it's just awkward.
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And then poor David, he's like, how can the ark of the Lord come
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to me? How am I going to approach the
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presence of God if if he's like this again, he had a zeal about
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him. He had the right heart, but man
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did he do it wrong. And he was confused about what
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was going on. Verse 10.
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So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the
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city of David. He was like, uh, uh, I ain't
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touching that. The last dude who touched that
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was dead. I am not moving that.
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But I think more than that, he was disappointed, he's
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disappointed and I've noticed that disappointing,
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disappointment will keep you from the presence of the Lord.
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Disappointment will cause you if you're not careful to just put
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that over there. See that's what David did.
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It says that he he he took it inside the House of Obed Edom
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that get tight. I'm like, what did that dude do
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to David where he's like you, you going to keep it because,
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you know, maybe you'll touch it and die too.
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I don't know what Obed Edom did to David, but he was like you,
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it's going over in your house. And honestly, you think about
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it, he was like, I don't want it.
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You can have it over there in your house.
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I'm like, what did you do Obed to David anyways?
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So, but, but, but he's David basically is like, I'm just
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going to put it over there, 'cause I can't, I, I don't know
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what to do with that. Have you ever been through that
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kind of season? I mean, if we're talking real
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today, have you ever been like hot on fire for the Lord and
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then disappointment strike something unexpected and you're
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like, I'm just going to put that over there for now because I
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don't even know what to do about this.
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I'm just going to back up a little bit.
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Oh, I have been there 100%, 100%.
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Do I am I proud of that? No.
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But have you ever felt felt like I got to sort some stuff out
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first? So I'm just going to put you
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over there like on a shelf. I'm just going to shelve that
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for a while. But if you're not careful,
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shelves, things can turn into years, they can turn into years,
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they can turn into long term disappointment.
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And now all of a sudden, you know, you're vulnerable,
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vulnerable to the enemy. But look at this so Obed enum.
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It worked out real good for him. Look at verse 11.
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The ark of the Lord remained in the House of Obed Edom.
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The get tight for three months and the Lord blessed Obed Edom
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and all his household. Now it was told to King David
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saying the Lord has blessed the House of Obed Edom and all that
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belongs to him because of the ark of God.
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I'm pretty sure David was surprised, Like, oh, man, I
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thought that was going to kill him.
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But all right, blessed him. OK.
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I mean, it's funny how this worked out.
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I mean, he was surprised. Otherwise, I'm fairly certain
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David would have brought the Ark of God up to the City of David
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right away. But says David went up and Brock
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brought up the Ark of God from the House of Obed Edom to the
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City of David with gladness. Can you imagine the relief?
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Oh, that's what I thought it would be.
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That's what I thought it would be.
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You know, sometimes it takes someone else and their journey
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to reveal to you what's possible with God.
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Someone else's testimony oftentimes can be the thing that
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will soften a hard heart. Oh, what you're experiencing is
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not what I thought of God. I thought God was harsh and I
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thought God was mean and I thought God wasn't wanting to be
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with me. But because I see you now, it
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makes me know, Oh no, he really is good.
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And what I heard about him before was the truth and was
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real powerful. Powerful what your story could
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do for someone else, maybe undo what they thought about God.
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Or powerful what someone else's story could do for you.
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Remind, you know, that's who God really is.
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And so it gave David gladness. And he, he goes up and he brings
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Obed the ark out of Obed Edom's house.
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And so it was when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone 6
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paces. So notice this.
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Guess what? David went back to old school.
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Those bearing the ark ain't no cart in this story.
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Did you hear me? They took it off the cart.
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Why? Because he saw the error.
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No, don't put my ark on a cart, I'd said, put it on the
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shoulders of priests. So those bearing the ark of the
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Lord had gone 6 paces, and he sacrificed oxen and fatted
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sheep. Then David danced before the
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Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.
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So David and all the House of Israel brought up the ark of God
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with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.
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What's interesting to me as I was really processing this,
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because sometimes when I'm studying, I'm kind of like on a
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journey, like I just stay curious and I let the Lord kind
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of lead me through scriptures. And I, I, some of you would, I
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don't know if you would be inspired or concerned about the
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way that I study because I kind of like, I just, I just do these
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rabbit trails through scripture and I just allow the Lord to
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show me where they lead. And what's interesting about
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this is they were shouting and dancing and singing and doing
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all that the first time. What was the difference?
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How they carried, how they how they carried the presence of
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God, how, how we as a church arise church carry the presence
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of the Lord is going to really matter.
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If you're not careful, we'll think that it's the singing and
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the quality and all of that stuff, which you know, I love, I
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love quality. But if we're not careful, we'll
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think that's the mark. Like that's what really shows.
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That we're doing it right. But that's not how we carry the
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presence of the Lord is important.
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Well, how how do we know what to do?
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The Bible tells us. The Bible tells us.
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David would often say that he would he he wanted to come
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before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.
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Create in me a contrite spirit like he, he, he, he.
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He knew at some point it the light bulb clicked and he
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realized, oh, it's not all the shouting and the tambourines and
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the cymbals and all of that. That is the marker.
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The marker is clean hands, pure heart.
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Clean hands, pure heart. Clean hands, pure heart.
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And I'm not against a party. God loves a good party, OK?
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He loves a good party. He loves the sound of joy and
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shouting and Thanksgiving. But the marker could be lost in
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all the noise. Verse 16 Now as the ark of the
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Lord came into the city of David, Michael saw his daughter
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look through a window and saw David, King David, leaping and
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whirling before the Lord. And she despised him in her
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heart. So they brought the ark of the
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Lord and set it in. Its placed in the midst of the
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temple that David had erect, or in the midst of the Tabernacle
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that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt
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offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
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There's another account of this in Scripture that says David
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despised him. Michael despised David in her
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heart. And then when he came back and
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she talked to him, she said, oh, there was the king twirling
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about and all of this. And the Bible said she was
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barren from that day forward. And I've always thought we
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better be very careful how we judge someone else's worship.
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I think many churches have become barren because they
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become judgmental, judgmental even.
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I get I checked myself even what I said about the man with the
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the type that the but you know what, all that earlier, you
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know, I have to sort out like, what's me being judgmental and
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what's me saying? No, that's not right, and things
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that are righteously need to be said, but they bring in the ark
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of the Lord. And so this is what I want you
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to see, that verse 17, David erected a Tabernacle.
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What does that mean? David didn't do the Tabernacle
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of Moses. The Tabernacle of Moses was very
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detailed. And by this time, all of those
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furnishings, who knows where all of that even was?
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And so all he had was the Ark of God.
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So there's really no schematic for how the the Tabernacle of
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David laid out. But for most accounts and most
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scholars, it was an open tent and it had no veil.
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So if you imagine if I put up on the platform this tent that just
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kind of arced up, you know, kind of pitched right here and came
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down and the face of it was open right here.
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And you are all looking. And where I'm standing is the
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ark of God. That's kind of how the, the,
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the, the Tabernacle of David was.
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It was an open tent and everybody was singing and
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shouting and doing all of that on the outside of the tent, and
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the presence of the Lord was there.
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Inside of the Ark of David or in the Ark of the Lord and the Ark
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of the Covenant, it was there. And so David was so happy
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because though there wasn't a temple built yet and the full
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Tabernacle wasn't done yet, though that was in his heart to
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do, he was just relieved that I have the presence of the Lord.
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I have the presence of the Lord. In fact, look at Psalm chapter
Psalms 132 chapter mention
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132, verses four and five. It says I will not give sleep to
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my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the
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Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob.
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Verses 13 and 14 say, for the Lord has chosen Zion, He has
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desired it for his dwelling place.
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This is my resting place forever.
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Here I will dwell for I have desired it.
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This is David. He's he knows he's like I know
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where God wants to be. It's on Mount Zion.
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And so David went after it. Now this I'm I'm I'm prayerful
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that I'll be able to tie all this together because David had
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a zeal for the Lord that I think we're all supposed to have.
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Do you hear me like a hunger for that David said I won't give
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sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place
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for the Lord. You know, I I, I, I can relate
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in a way, though I still I'm like, Lord, help me be like
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this, because that's whole nother level.
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But I have felt that for our church, like I know this is the
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will of God for our church, for this property, but also for us
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as individuals. I've known it.
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So it has felt sometimes like scrimping and clawing and, and
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like commando crawling through the muck and the spiritual
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warfare and all that it takes. Why?
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Because I'm like, I can't rest until we see it.
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I can't stop until I see it, until I see it with my own eyes.
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And I experienced a level of this at our church in
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California. But I think there are other,
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there are other levels. Glory to glory.
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There's a there's more. And so it's like, you know, I
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feel like this Arise conference is part of that.
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It's like it's, it's taking steps, It's just being obedient.
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It's just continuing to. Do what we.
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Have to do and by the way, this is me commando crawling unless I
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look, you know, weird to you, but I'm not going to like lay on
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the ground and do it. But you know what I'm saying?
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Like crawling through the muck to get to where God has for us
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as a church. Psalm chapter 63, verse 2 says,
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so I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and
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your glory. The Lord loved the Tabernacle of
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David because there was something audacious about David
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to think like, oh, I don't need all the other stuff.
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I'm just going to set up the presence of the Lord right here
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on top of Mount Zion because that's where he wants to be
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anyways. And I'm just going to make it
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work. And there was something about
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that, though God didn't like the, the, the new cart that
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wasn't good. But there was something about
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David's heart for the presence of the Lord that pleased God,
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that pleased God. I mean, most of us know it that
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he says that talking about David, that David was a man
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after his own heart. What does that mean?
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David was after it, He was going after it.
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He was that I won't give sleep to my eyes nor slumber to my
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eyelids. It was tenacious.
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And though he's he's suffered setbacks, 3 months, he let the
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presence of the Lord rest over there because it's like, I'm
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disappointed. But yeah, after three months,
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his heart wasn't so hard that he couldn't let a testimony melt.
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All that hardness, that disappointment.
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And he's like, all right, I'm going to go after it again.
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Do you hear me? He, he's not some superhero that
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we can't identify with. I can identify with that.
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I'm like, OK, I can hang, I can hang.
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I can keep going after it. Dave, the Lord loved the
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Tabernacle of David and there was there's something so
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prophetic about about this and who who knows?
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I mean, we don't have indication of did David.
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I mean, David had to have seen some things to know that this
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was really how God wanted to be long term, that the temple and
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the Tabernacle were really set up as as one, one, one way of
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approaching the presence of the Lord.
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But there was something that David caught that was like, but
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there's a different way. There's a different way.
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And it was prophesying of of something to come.
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In fact, Amos Chapter 9, verse 11 says this.
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On that day, I will raise up the Tabernacle of David.
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This is prophecy which has fallen down and it's and repair
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its damages. I will raise up its ruins and
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rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the
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remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my
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name, says the Lord, who who does this thing.
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I will raise up not the temple of Solomon.
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I will raise up the Tabernacle of David.
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Now I love reading about the the the temple of Solomon.
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I mean it was glorious and and so much splendor, but the
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humility and the the the humble nature of the date, the
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Tabernacle of David. God says I'm going to raise that
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up which what was that it was the unencumbered access that
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people had to the presence of the Lord that even the Gentiles
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will one day the other non Jews, which is most of us in this room
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will have access to that place. What we see this show up again
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The same prophecy shows up. I'll start in verse 12.
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Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas
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and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had
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worked through them among the Gentiles, and after that they
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had become silent. James answered, saying, men and
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brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at
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the first visit of the Gentiles to take out of them a people for
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his name. And with this the words of the
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prophets agree, just as it is written.
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After this I will return and we'll rebuild the Tabernacle of
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David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I
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will raise it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the
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Lord. Even all the Gentiles who are
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called by my name says the Lord who does all these things.
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This is wonderful because you know, hundreds and hundreds of
-
years before this was said here, before James said this, Amos had
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said this. And so it's still the intent of
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God that he rebuild the Tabernacle of David.
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Well, what is it? What is it about this Tabernacle
-
of David, this Open Access where God would dwell with us?
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Well, I want you to look at John chapter 1.
John 1 chapter mention
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And I'm going as quick as I can and I hope you're catching this
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and we're going to, you're going to see it plainly in a minute.
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But John chapter one verse 14 and the Word became flesh and
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dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.
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The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of
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grace and truth. See, when Jesus came, it was
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God, Emmanuel, God with us. So think about that wasn't the
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splendor. He didn't come as a, a, a king
-
with the title, with the crown. He didn't come in on the White
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Horse. He came in on a donkey.
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He was lowly, Isaiah said. He was stricken, smitten that he
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was. He was.
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He wasn't anything that any of us would have noticed as a king.
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And yet that's exactly how he came.
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He came very similar to the Tabernacle of David.
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Humble, humble, humble and open. We beheld Him, we beheld Him, we
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saw Him. He moved among the people and
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most people didn't recognize Him as the Son of God.
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Most people didn't recognize Him as the glory of God, and yet He
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was the full glory of God revealed to mankind and there
-
were some who saw him. What does that mean?
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There were some who didn't have a veil over their eyes who
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couldn't see. There were some who's that veil
-
was removed and they could see like Peter who said you are the
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Christ, the Son of the living God.
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To him it was that presence of the Lord was like right there.
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It was right there. There was a there was a temple
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at that time with all the things going on, going on, going on.
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There was the sacrifices were going on.
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The priests were going on, all of their work was going on that
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the the ark of the covenant was inside the temple.
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And yet here's Jesus moving in and out of the people all the
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time. The presence of the Lord that he
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dwelt among us. He dwelt among us.
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I want you to notice that he dwelt among us.
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So the presence of the Lord, the glory of God that we're talking
-
about, it's sometimes you may not even catch it unless the
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veil is removed, unless you have eyes to see, unless you have a
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hunger like David, who says I won't slumber and I will not
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sleep until I see it. There's a connection here.
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David saw something of how this would eventually work out, that
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he was after hundreds of years before Jesus ever walked on the
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earth. He was searching for that, He
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was clawing for that. He was commando crawling for it,
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trying to find it. And yet here John is saying, And
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the word that came flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
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his glory, we beheld his glory, we beheld his glory, we beheld
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his glory. Who, Jesus.
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Jesus. Jesus.
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Jesus Second Corinthians chapter 3, verse 9.
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I'm just pumping you a scripture today.
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Some of you, if you haven't read your Bible this year, I just
-
caught you up. You're just really, you're like,
-
you're right on track. Just start today.
-
Second Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9.
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For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, someone
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call that the law. The ministry of righteousness
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exceeds much more in glory. For I am the righteousness of
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God in Christ Jesus. OK, so that exceeds much more in
-
glory. For even what was made glorious
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had no glory in this respect because of the glory that
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excels. So in other words, when you
-
compare the two, one seems like like no glory compared to the
-
glory that excels, which is to those of us who are in Christ
-
Jesus. I wish we could catch it.
-
Lord help us. There's a lot of revelation in
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here. So I just pray that your eyes of
-
understanding be open. For if what is passing was away
-
was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
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In other words, when we read a couple weeks ago about the glory
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of God that filled the temple with Solomon, the Bible is
-
telling us right now that has passed away, what remains is
-
much more glorious. Like what?
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You and I have the ability, and I'm not saying we've all
-
experienced it yet, but what you have access to what you and I
-
have access to, what we have the ability to experience.
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That kind of glory is much, much, much, much more glorious
-
than that glory we read about in the old temple.
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That's what this is saying. They're explaining this because
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they're having to peel away some from trying to go back to the
-
former, trying to seek after, well, what, what, what, what I
-
want what they had, but they're saying no, for what if, for if
-
what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much
-
more glorious. Verse 12.
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Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of
-
speech. Unlike Moses, who put a veil
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over his face so that the children of Israel could not
-
look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
-
Catch that he he put a veil over his face so the children of
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Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing
-
away. In other words, they didn't even
-
see the full glory. They saw the remnants of glory
-
that was fading from Him when he went up the mountain to Mount
-
Sinai and he met with the Lord there.
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When he came down, His face shone so much it scared them.
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He put a veil over his face to not scare them.
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Well, God's saying that was only a remnant of the glory and it
-
was passing away. And so he, he, he had to put a
-
veil over that. But verse 14 But their minds
-
were blinded, for until this day the same veil remains unlifted
-
in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is
-
taken away in Christ. Notice I said the Tabernacle of
-
David had what? No veil?
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How is that possible? Jesus, Jesus.
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And So what we have access to is much more glorious than what
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they experienced in the 1st and 2nd temple where the Shekinah
-
glory showed up, where the where the Kabat glory fell and it was
-
so weighty. The priest just fell on their
-
faces. What we have access to with
-
unveiled face is so much more glorious than that.
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Come on, somebody say Amen, say Amen by faith, because some of
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us were like, I don't even know what that means for me yet, but
-
I want it. You know, because the veil is is
-
taken away in Christ verse 15. But even to this day when Moses
-
is read a veil lies on their heart.
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Whose they the Jews. That's true today as well.
-
For those that haven't made Jesus Lord of their life,
-
there's there's still a veil. They cannot see that Jesus was
-
the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ.
-
Verse 16. Nevertheless, when one turns to
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the Lord, the veil is taken away.
-
Now the Lord is spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, guess
-
what, there is liberty. What does liberty mean?
-
There means there's no veil. There's no distance, there's no
-
separation. There's no, I'm going to put you
-
over there in Obed Edom's house. Now there's full fellowship.
-
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
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Now most of us have have proclaimed that and I think it's
-
still applicable that, you know, when God's here in this place,
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there's no, there's no oppression, there's no bondage,
-
all of that. That's true.
-
I believe that. But I see this also as very
-
relational. Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
-
there is liberty to fellowship with him.
-
There's no distance, there's no veil, there's no blockages,
-
there's no filter. I'm not held back anymore
-
because of my sin. Why?
-
Because I'm now under the ministry of righteousness.
-
So listen, all of those of you who have made Jesus the Lord of
-
your life, you now have full access to the presence and the
-
glory of God. You're no longer on the outside
-
looking in. You're no longer wishful like,
-
oh, I wish I was a certain kind of way.
-
No, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.
-
Behold, all things have passed away and behold, all things
-
become new. So now you're standing before
-
him, a new creation. So now you have the ability to
-
come to this Tabernacle of David and worship Him freely, worship
-
him freely. You get to worship him in the
-
glory of His Holiness. That's how we get to have these
-
moments in church that just, you can just tell we just ascended
-
somewhere. We just went up.
-
That's the best way I can say is there are times in worship where
-
I'm like, I'm not here anymore. I'm there.
-
I'm like, I ascended, I went up the there's, there's several
-
psalms that are called the Psalms of ascent.
-
And it's like there's these songs that we go up and now
-
you're in the presence of the Lord and you're like in that
-
Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of David.
-
And it's humble and sometimes it doesn't look glorious to man's
-
eyes, but yet to the Lord. Oh, His glory is so there.
-
It's so there. Nevertheless, when one turns to
-
the Lord, the veil is taken away.
-
And now where this now the Lord is spirit, and where the Spirit
-
of the Lord is, there is liberty.
-
But we all with unveiled face. We all, we all with unveiled
-
face. So in other words, who am I
-
relating to the unveiled? I see, I see clearly now.
-
I'm not blinded anymore. I was once blind, but now I see
-
I'm not blind anymore. I with unveiled face, beholding
-
as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord.
-
Me, I'm I'm beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord.
-
Or being transformed into the same image.
-
What image? What I'm beholding, what I'm
-
looking at. So imagine Tabernacle of David,
-
imagine everyone's on the outside and they're beholding,
-
they're beholding the presence of the Lord for us, we don't
-
have this a wooden box anymore with gold in layer or anything
-
like that. We, we come into the presence of
-
the Lord and he's spirit. So now we don't see him with
-
flesh and blood eyes. We, his spirit just here.
-
OK, That's what the scripture is saying.
-
And so we where, there's where his spirit is, we behold him so
-
many times I just close my eyes and I'm like, I just behold him.
-
I just behold him and, and I don't have to make up imagery.
-
My spirit goes there. I don't have to imagine him on
-
the cross. My spirit goes there.
-
My spirit goes to a place of worship of him and beholding him
-
and, and loving him and, and, and, and then this says that as
-
you do that, you're transformed. And then all the sudden you
-
become like him. And all the sudden that glory,
-
the glory of God, that weighty presence of the Lord transfers.
-
And now that glory is not something His presence, not
-
something that's over there. His presence is something that's
-
right here. And that is when you're
-
transformed. Because when you have to still
-
come to this place to be in His presence, you haven't yet been
-
transformed. Because when you're transformed
-
into his glory, Tabernacle of David, when you're transformed
-
like that, then you realize, oh, I become his glory.
-
Therefore, when I walk away, He's with me.
-
And when I get in the car and I drive home, He's there.
-
And then I sense His glory in the car.
-
I can sense it in the cubicle. I can sense it in the delivery
-
truck. I can sense His glory, manifest
-
presence there. Why?
-
Because we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror,
-
His glory, the glory of the Lord.
-
We're being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
-
just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
-
Are you all catching what I'm saying today?
-
Oh, this is deep. I know it's deep.
-
So I know like put on your face mask and go submarine with me
-
today. We're going a little deep.
-
That's OK. John, chapter 17, verse 22.
-
And Tim, if you'll come, and in fact, if you just be Tim, not
-
the rest of the team, just Tim, the glory which you gave me,
-
this is Jesus talking. The glory which You gave me, I
-
have given them. The glory which You have given
-
me, this is Jesus talking to Father God.
-
The glory which You have given me, I have given them.
-
The glory which you have given me, I have given them.
-
We as with unveiled face, beholding Him, beholding Him,
-
beholding the glory of the Lord, we are transformed to become in
-
the same image. The glory you have given me.
-
I have given them the glory I see.
-
Most of us, we're not here yet. And I pray in the name of Jesus
-
that veils come off today so you can see.
-
Oh, I have been living subpar. I've been living on the outside
-
looking in. I've been living, appreciating
-
the presence of God, but not beholding to where I become
-
transformed, to where I become like that.
-
And something is transferred, something is transmitted and
-
then I'm transformed. I'm not, I'm not the same
-
person. I'm different.
-
I'm, I'm like Moses whose face shone.
-
My countenance is different because I've been in his
-
presence, because I've beheld him.
-
I've taken time to to be, to be changed.
-
See, honestly, we don't have enough time in Sunday morning
-
services for that level of transformation to take place.
-
This beholding has to happen on the regular.
-
It has to happen at home. It has to what's, what's the
-
time frame on it? I don't know, but it's probably
-
more than we're doing. And there's a beholding that God
-
is saying, OK, you really want my glory.
-
You have to behold me. You have to look at me.
-
You know, it's like a child if they were to come up to you and
-
you know, you're like doing the dishes and they're wanting your
-
attention. You're like, you know, I'm just.
-
And they kind of take you and they take your face and they
-
steal it and they're like. Look at me, could it be that God
-
is? Taking a rise church and he's
-
taken us by the face. And he's all Look at me.
-
You want my glory, look at me. Look at me, behold me, take it
-
in. Stop rushing.
-
Stop. Stop being distracted.
-
Stop. Building new carts.
-
Behold, behold me, behold me. So as I was preparing for this,
-
it was like our foundational scripture made a whole new made
-
sense in a whole new way. Arise, shine, for your light has
-
gone, the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, the glory of the
-
Lord has risen upon you. How Jesus?
-
And you behold him, and you look at him, and you, you worship
-
him. And we don't have to go to Mount
-
Zion anymore. We just pause and we welcome
-
him, and then wherever we are, he comes.
-
Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I
-
am there, I'm there, I'm there in the midst.
-
And right there in that place, the two or three gathered, you
-
behold Him, you worship Him. We honour Him.
-
So if you would close your eyes, arise, shine, for your light has
-
come in the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
-
For behold, darkness will cover the earth, in deep darkness the
-
people, but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be
-
seen upon you. Listen to me with your eyes
-
closed, His glory will be seen upon you.
-
I prophecy that over you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
No matter how deep you feel you're in it, no matter how
-
discouraged it's been, the glory of God Himself will be risen
-
upon you. The days of oppression are over
-
in the name of Jesus, the name, the, the, the days of
-
hopelessness are over because the Lord arises over you and His
-
glory will be seen upon you. All he asks of you today is look
-
at me, look at me, look at me. That's all he asks.
-
He just wants you to look at him.
-
Behold him. His eyes are eyes like fire and
-
his hair is hair like wool. His clothes are white as
-
splendor. Thank you, Jesus.
-
This is the place of transformation.
-
This is the place where you're no longer you.
-
You're the Christ in me, the hope of glory.
-
So I'll stand to our feet and Justice, lift your hands.
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We want to thank you again for joining us for the Arise Church
-
podcast. We hope you were encouraged by
-
what you heard today. You can find
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[email protected] and on Instagram at Arise Church NC.
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If you need prayer or support or are interested in learning more
-
about Arise Church, we encourage you to connect with us online or
-
in person at our Sunday morning service.
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Thank you and God bless.