WEBVTT - Skip Heitzig - Oct 28 - 7:30 am 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.300 Thank you for being here, being faithful to show up 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:17.840 after a late night. I'm so excited to bring the 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.000 word to you today. If we haven't had the chance 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:21.660 to meet yet, my name is Caden, and I get 0:00:21.700 --> 0:00:24.160 to be the high school pastor here at Calvary. And 0:00:24.500 --> 0:00:28.680 thank you, yeah, thank you. I'm honored to be bringing 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.000 the word today. Hey, Pastor Skip asked me to fill 0:00:31.050 --> 0:00:34.710 you in on this. He's currently away writing his book 0:00:34.950 --> 0:00:38.400 on biblical ministry. So get excited for that. He's gonna 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.199 bring that one back to you. I'm sure he's already 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:43.420 got it done. I'm just putting the finishing touches on it. 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.419 He's a prodigious writer. But I do wanna let you know, 0:00:46.540 --> 0:00:48.670 high school parents, if you sign your student up for 0:00:48.710 --> 0:00:50.669 summer camp today, we've got a table of people out 0:00:51.010 --> 0:00:53.870 in the amphitheater. They'd love to help you get signed 0:00:53.990 --> 0:00:55.750 up and get you a deal on that. But did 0:00:55.770 --> 0:00:58.510 you bring your Bible today? Good, come on. That's what 0:00:58.530 --> 0:01:01.880 I like to hear. Bible believing, Bible preaching church. Would 0:01:01.900 --> 0:01:03.340 you turn in that Bible to the book of 2 0:01:03.340 --> 0:01:08.600 Samuel chapter 10? 6, 2 Samuel chapter 6. That's where 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.940 we're going to be reading and studying today. And we've 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.180 got some exciting news to share with you that on 0:01:15.380 --> 0:01:19.800 May 14th at 4 p.m., my incredible wife Annie and I, 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.179 she's in the family room, shout out Annie, we got upgraded. 0:01:24.060 --> 0:01:26.900 We got upgraded to the family room because on May 0:01:27.260 --> 0:01:31.600 14th at 4 p.m., our daughter Athens, Renee, Richie, was 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:37.830 born and came into the world. And we've been so blessed. 0:01:37.860 --> 0:01:40.460 We're figuring out what it's like to be parents. You 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.700 got the first time parent anxieties. We still got the 0:01:42.740 --> 0:01:45.920 training wheels on. We're trying to figure all the things out. Yes, 0:01:46.100 --> 0:01:49.940 I'm sleeping. Glory to God. She's a sleeping baby. Praise 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.550 the Lord. But I have some vivid memories of being 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:57.290 in the hospital waiting for our daughter Athens to be born. 0:01:57.610 --> 0:01:59.910 And one of those memories is right when we're about 0:01:59.950 --> 0:02:02.850 to be discharged. getting ready to head out the door, 0:02:02.950 --> 0:02:06.480 and it suddenly dawns on Annie and I that we're 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:11.290 actually responsible for this new life. Remember that realization, parents? 0:02:11.310 --> 0:02:15.310 You're like, oh. It's on me now. Okay, got it. 0:02:15.810 --> 0:02:17.940 And I remember sitting there and so we're starting to 0:02:17.970 --> 0:02:20.840 get nervous. We're starting to hit our nurse with questions left, right, 0:02:20.860 --> 0:02:22.640 and center. You know, well, what happens if the baby 0:02:22.660 --> 0:02:25.260 does this? And what happens if she looks like that 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.800 and says this? And how normal is it for her 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:30.760 to cry for this long? And so we're getting all 0:02:30.780 --> 0:02:33.960 the questions in that we can. And our exasperated nurse 0:02:35.130 --> 0:02:37.540 looks up at us with a very thick accent that 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.400 I'm not gonna try to imitate, but she looks up 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.280 at us through a very thick accent and she said, 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:48.340 you had baby, hard part over. You figure the rest out, amen? 0:02:49.220 --> 0:02:52.080 So whether you're parenting a teenager or a toddler, I 0:02:52.100 --> 0:02:54.900 just feel like I need to bring that advice to you, right? 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.980 You had baby, hard part over, hard part done with. 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:03.750 You just figure the rest out. And every parent was like, no, 0:03:03.790 --> 0:03:06.829 the hard part is not over. Maybe the hard part 0:03:06.850 --> 0:03:08.590 for my wife, I just stood there. She did all 0:03:08.610 --> 0:03:12.090 the hard work, right? The hard part is most definitely 0:03:12.210 --> 0:03:14.270 not over because just a few days later, we're up 0:03:14.350 --> 0:03:17.049 at 3 a.m. And we're just looking at each other. 0:03:17.660 --> 0:03:20.179 Baby's screaming, baby's crying. What do we do? We're going 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:24.079 down the checklist. Is she tired? Is she gassy? Does 0:03:24.690 --> 0:03:26.989 she need to eat? She just ate five minutes ago. 0:03:27.030 --> 0:03:29.590 There's no way she needs to eat again, right? So 0:03:29.610 --> 0:03:31.070 we go down the list. We're trying to check off 0:03:31.090 --> 0:03:33.350 all the boxes. Do we need to just give her 0:03:33.370 --> 0:03:35.210 a new outfit? Will that cheer her up? Like, what 0:03:35.230 --> 0:03:38.190 do we do? You have weird thoughts at 3 a.m. 0:03:38.230 --> 0:03:40.700 And so we're trying to figure out how to solve this. 0:03:41.580 --> 0:03:44.900 And sure enough, the problem was that she was hungry again, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.650 even though she had just eaten. And this went on 0:03:48.710 --> 0:03:50.990 for hours where she would eat multiple times in the 0:03:51.030 --> 0:03:54.190 hour for hours. And I'm just sitting there. It's 3 a.m. 0:03:54.970 --> 0:03:58.520 and it's 4 a.m. It's 4.27 a.m. Never seen that 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.900 on the clock before in my life. It's 5 a.m., right? 0:04:01.100 --> 0:04:03.560 We're sitting there and I'm just like, oh my gosh. 0:04:04.180 --> 0:04:08.220 I had no idea that this baby could be that hungry, 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.500 that she could be that starving all the time. And 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.390 this is called cluster feeding. If you've heard of it before, 0:04:14.780 --> 0:04:17.289 It's actually very healthy. And any doctor or nurse would 0:04:17.330 --> 0:04:20.350 tell you that cluster feeding within the first few hours 0:04:20.430 --> 0:04:23.370 of life helps the baby to settle in so they 0:04:23.390 --> 0:04:25.719 know how to feed. It helps them settle in and 0:04:25.820 --> 0:04:30.140 kickstart their growth. So that hunger, that screaming and crying 0:04:30.260 --> 0:04:34.630 for that food is actually a sign of health. It's 0:04:34.750 --> 0:04:37.750 a sign of life. And I just think that this 0:04:37.810 --> 0:04:40.070 is the truth for us as believers, that the worst 0:04:40.210 --> 0:04:44.419 thing that can happen to followers of Jesus is that 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:49.620 we lose our spiritual hunger for God. The worst thing 0:04:49.660 --> 0:04:51.880 that can happen to us is that we lose our 0:04:52.060 --> 0:04:57.750 hunger for the Lord. So I've titled today's message, Holy Hunger. 0:04:58.230 --> 0:05:03.270 Holy Hunger. The truth is... That when we're infant, baby, 0:05:03.690 --> 0:05:07.640 new believers, we have this holy cluster feeding, this holy 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:09.720 hunger for the Lord. Think about it when you first 0:05:09.740 --> 0:05:13.280 said yes to Jesus. There was never enough sermons. There 0:05:13.300 --> 0:05:17.540 was never enough chapters. There was never enough verses. You know, 0:05:17.580 --> 0:05:19.599 I remember being a new believer and I was at 0:05:19.820 --> 0:05:23.200 every worship night. I was there constantly. I was serving. 0:05:23.260 --> 0:05:25.660 I was doing all the things because I was so 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:31.010 overcome by this holy hunger. It's hunger for God. And 0:05:31.029 --> 0:05:33.620 I get to see this often as a youth pastor, 0:05:33.830 --> 0:05:36.940 this desperation. I gotta tell you, the young generation is 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.060 hungry for the Lord. I get to see this hunger, 0:05:40.100 --> 0:05:48.470 this deep desire, this desperation for Jesus. And I just 0:05:48.510 --> 0:05:52.210 wonder today if maybe we're at risk of losing that 0:05:52.270 --> 0:05:56.330 spiritual hunger. You know, Jesus taught on spiritual hunger in 0:05:56.350 --> 0:05:58.650 the Sermon on the Mount. He said, blessed are those 0:05:58.850 --> 0:06:04.320 who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.520 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for 0:06:08.540 --> 0:06:11.640 they will be satisfied. To hunger and thirst for righteousness 0:06:11.820 --> 0:06:14.169 is not just to hunger and thirst for liberty and 0:06:14.250 --> 0:06:17.550 freedom in our nation, although that is an incredible blessing, amen? 0:06:18.190 --> 0:06:20.450 To hunger and thirst for righteousness is not just to 0:06:20.510 --> 0:06:23.290 want justice, it's not just to want equality, it's not 0:06:23.310 --> 0:06:26.510 just to want a good life. To hunger and thirst 0:06:26.690 --> 0:06:31.950 for righteousness is to be hungry for Jesus. Here's what 0:06:31.970 --> 0:06:34.409 I mean, 2 Corinthians puts it this way, that God 0:06:34.870 --> 0:06:39.480 made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. 0:06:40.210 --> 0:06:43.469 that we might be the righteousness of God. What does 0:06:43.490 --> 0:06:49.740 that mean? On the cross, Jesus exchanged his righteousness for 0:06:49.980 --> 0:06:54.500 our sinfulness. So we became the righteousness of God through 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:59.310 relationship with Jesus. So to hunger and thirst for righteousness 0:06:59.460 --> 0:07:02.830 is to be hungry for him, to have a holy, 0:07:03.470 --> 0:07:08.640 fervent hunger. This is the truth. As we age in 0:07:08.700 --> 0:07:10.560 our relationship with the Lord, that might be a few 0:07:10.610 --> 0:07:12.750 days for you. Maybe you just said yes to Jesus 0:07:12.830 --> 0:07:15.230 at freedom celebration, glory to God, but maybe you've been 0:07:15.270 --> 0:07:17.670 following Jesus for a long time. As we age in 0:07:17.730 --> 0:07:21.890 our relationship with the Lord, we start to believe that 0:07:22.090 --> 0:07:26.270 what a mature believer looks like is someone who has independence. 0:07:27.350 --> 0:07:31.150 Because maturity in the world is what? It's becoming more independent. 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:35.520 But this does not apply to our relationship with Jesus 0:07:35.860 --> 0:07:38.580 because the truth about our walk with God is that 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.640 as we age in him, we do not become more independent, 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:46.490 we become more dependent on him. Maturity in Jesus is 0:07:46.570 --> 0:07:53.090 becoming spiritually hungry. Spiritual formation is having a holy hunger 0:07:53.550 --> 0:07:57.100 for God, for him. Here's the truth, we will never 0:07:57.380 --> 0:08:01.450 grow beyond our need for God. We will never grow 0:08:01.500 --> 0:08:04.180 beyond our need for him and we will never be 0:08:04.340 --> 0:08:08.160 able to grow unless we're hungry for him. So I 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.500 wanna take you to this text today in 2 Samuel 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.300 chapter six because I think this text shows us what 0:08:13.460 --> 0:08:19.020 holy hunger for God looks like. First, that holy hunger 0:08:19.100 --> 0:08:26.119 is being presence-minded. Second, holy hunger is being fear-formed and third, 0:08:26.610 --> 0:08:33.110 holy hunger is being joy-filled. Presence-minded, Fear formed and joy filled. 0:08:33.150 --> 0:08:36.530 Let's read our texts together. 2 Samuel 6, verse 1, 0:08:36.530 --> 0:08:41.970 it says, David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000. 0:08:41.970 --> 0:08:44.579 And David arose and went with the people who were 0:08:44.620 --> 0:08:47.760 with him from Baal Judah to bring from there the 0:08:47.940 --> 0:08:50.880 ark of God, which is called by the name of 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.400 the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 0:08:55.230 --> 0:08:57.490 They carried the ark of God on a new cart 0:08:57.970 --> 0:09:00.370 and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which 0:09:00.429 --> 0:09:04.030 was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, you could 0:09:04.070 --> 0:09:06.439 say Uzzah and Ohio, whatever's easier for you, you could 0:09:06.460 --> 0:09:09.860 put that in there. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:12.719 were driving the new cart with the ark of the 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.839 Lord on it. And Ahio went before the ark, verse five. 0:09:15.900 --> 0:09:20.309 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating 0:09:20.390 --> 0:09:25.990 before the Lord with songs and lyres and harps castanets, tambourines, 0:09:26.210 --> 0:09:31.600 and cymbals. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, Father, we invite you 0:09:31.740 --> 0:09:35.300 today to speak to us. We believe that you are here, 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.400 that you're present. And so, Father, we open ourselves up 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.540 to you. We ask that you would speak over me, Lord, 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:43.860 that your word would just touch us, that you would 0:09:43.900 --> 0:09:46.400 reach out to us. Father, I pray today that we 0:09:46.420 --> 0:09:49.190 would leave changed, Lord, that we would not leave the 0:09:49.230 --> 0:09:51.710 same God, we just ask that you'd remove any distractions 0:09:51.730 --> 0:09:55.719 from this place. Let your word sink into our hearts 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:00.570 in the name of Jesus. And everyone said, amen. Amen. 0:10:01.010 --> 0:10:02.670 You know, I want to give you some context for 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.660 what's happening today because we are diving into the middle 0:10:05.980 --> 0:10:09.400 of one of the most important narratives in the Old Testament. 0:10:09.940 --> 0:10:13.900 We're talking about King David. David has recently become king 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.730 and In 2 Samuel chapter 6. And he's conquered the 0:10:17.830 --> 0:10:21.110 city which will become known as Jerusalem or the city 0:10:21.250 --> 0:10:24.050 of David. So David has been winning with God. Win 0:10:24.130 --> 0:10:27.280 after win after win. In 2 Samuel 5.10 it says 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.020 that David became greater and greater because the Lord was 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:35.179 with him. So David is on this high with God. 0:10:35.460 --> 0:10:38.310 And he goes to get the Ark of the Covenant. 0:10:39.030 --> 0:10:42.550 and bring it into the center of Israel. He wants 0:10:42.690 --> 0:10:44.950 the Ark of the Covenant to be at the center 0:10:45.230 --> 0:10:48.230 of the Israelites' lives. Now, what is the Ark, and 0:10:48.370 --> 0:10:51.330 why is it important? Well, if you've seen Indiana Jones, 0:10:51.790 --> 0:10:54.810 Raiders of the Lost Ark, you can skip to point two. 0:10:56.390 --> 0:11:00.930 Just kidding. Don't get your theology from Indiana Jones. It's 0:11:00.950 --> 0:11:05.390 a bad idea. Come to Wednesday night Bible study instead. No, 0:11:05.410 --> 0:11:08.370 the Ark of the Covenant was the visible symbol of 0:11:08.429 --> 0:11:11.349 God's presence with his people. It was a gold-plated box 0:11:11.370 --> 0:11:14.120 that had two angels carved on the lid. It was 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.920 made according to God's direct instructions to the children of Israel. 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.900 It contained the tablets of the covenant that God had 0:11:22.980 --> 0:11:26.229 made with his people, the ones that Moses brings down 0:11:26.350 --> 0:11:29.750 from Mount Sinai. That was contained in the Ark of 0:11:29.990 --> 0:11:34.480 the Covenant. And it represented God's holiness and It represents 0:11:34.540 --> 0:11:39.450 God's throne. It represents his mercy and it represents his presence. 0:11:40.350 --> 0:11:43.190 This is how David would view the ark. The ark 0:11:43.410 --> 0:11:47.679 is the meeting place between God and humanity. Once a day, 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:50.340 or sorry, once a year on the day of atonement, 0:11:50.940 --> 0:11:52.880 a sacrifice would be made and the blood of a 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.850 bull or a goat would be sprinkled across the lid 0:11:56.390 --> 0:11:59.170 of the Ark of the Covenant. And then God's presence 0:11:59.230 --> 0:12:03.050 would literally dwell with his people there. The blood of 0:12:03.090 --> 0:12:06.540 a sinless sacrifice and the presence of God met right 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.640 there on the Ark. Now, why is that important to 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.359 us today? Why does that matter? The ark was significant 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.920 to Israel because it's the meeting place between God and man, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.290 but the ark is significant to you and I because 0:12:18.330 --> 0:12:23.410 it points towards Jesus. How? Because it is only through 0:12:23.550 --> 0:12:27.550 the blood of the sinless sacrifice that is Jesus that 0:12:27.710 --> 0:12:33.270 you and I can meet with God. So Jesus today 0:12:33.410 --> 0:12:36.250 is the meeting place between God and man, just like 0:12:36.309 --> 0:12:38.709 the ark was the meeting place between God and man 0:12:38.770 --> 0:12:43.140 in the Old Testament. So why is David so eager 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.540 to get the presence of God back into the city? 0:12:45.620 --> 0:12:48.310 Because he has a holy hunger for the Lord. He 0:12:48.370 --> 0:12:51.390 knows that God's presence is what has made him successful 0:12:51.650 --> 0:12:55.150 and he wants God's presence to be central in Israel. 0:12:55.170 --> 0:12:57.690 He wants God's presence to be central in his life. 0:12:59.470 --> 0:13:00.980 Now I wanna pause here and give you a warning 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.260 because sometimes we read the Old Testament and we're like, wow, David, 0:13:06.100 --> 0:13:10.650 great guy, just awesome, right? Right? I wanna be more 0:13:10.670 --> 0:13:17.530 like David. Well, you know, not so much. Not a 0:13:17.630 --> 0:13:20.850 whole lot. David is a human and the Bible is 0:13:20.890 --> 0:13:24.230 very honest about humanity and our weaknesses and our failures. 0:13:24.530 --> 0:13:26.490 If all you take away from this text is be 0:13:26.550 --> 0:13:30.000 more like David, that interpretation falls apart when you get 0:13:30.030 --> 0:13:34.199 to 2 Samuel 11. Because David loses his holy hunger 0:13:34.260 --> 0:13:37.280 for God and develops a hunger for somebody else's wife. 0:13:38.530 --> 0:13:42.410 And not only that, he kills the husband of that woman. 0:13:42.650 --> 0:13:44.729 So by the time you get to 2 Samuel chapter 11, 0:13:44.710 --> 0:13:47.990 you no longer wanna be like David. His holy hunger 0:13:48.030 --> 0:13:51.050 has left him. So what's the important lesson in this 0:13:51.110 --> 0:13:53.530 text today? The question is not, how do I be 0:13:53.580 --> 0:13:57.940 more like David? The question is, do I have that 0:13:58.100 --> 0:14:02.980 same holy hunger for the presence of God? And how 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.870 do I keep it? And so I told you, holy 0:14:06.910 --> 0:14:11.469 hunger is being presence-minded. That's our first point for today. 0:14:11.510 --> 0:14:13.400 If you're taking notes, you can write that down. If 0:14:13.420 --> 0:14:17.079 you're taking notes, we can be best friends. There's a 0:14:17.220 --> 0:14:21.040 parallel account to what we're reading in 2 Samuel 6. 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.200 And this is important. It's why it's essential that you 0:14:23.220 --> 0:14:25.870 study all of your Bible and not just the parts 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.070 that are easy to read. Because in 1 Chronicles chapters 0:14:29.070 --> 0:14:34.229 13 through 16, we get essential details about this event. 0:14:34.690 --> 0:14:37.989 We get some context. We get some background details about 0:14:38.050 --> 0:14:41.150 David bringing the ark into the city. To us, it 0:14:41.190 --> 0:14:43.510 seems kind of sudden. David's winning battles. He's winning battles. 0:14:43.550 --> 0:14:47.170 He's winning battles. Pause. Let's go get that golden box, 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:48.220 the ark of the covenant of the Lord. We need 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:49.520 to bring it back into the city. It seems kind 0:14:49.540 --> 0:14:53.300 of sudden to us. But David actually in 1 Chronicles 0:14:53.300 --> 0:14:57.359 13 reveals his motivation behind wanting the presence of God 0:14:57.380 --> 0:15:00.250 to be back with his people. In 1 Chronicles 13, three, 0:15:00.300 --> 0:15:03.650 David says, then let us bring the ark of our 0:15:03.730 --> 0:15:07.610 God to us for we did not seek it in 0:15:07.670 --> 0:15:11.630 the days of Saul. I love this because David is 0:15:11.750 --> 0:15:16.800 admitting the nation's sin. He's admitting their failure and their shortcoming. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.160 He's admitting that their hunger for God had been diminished 0:15:20.300 --> 0:15:25.470 under Saul. And he says this, the ark of our God. 0:15:26.290 --> 0:15:28.830 What he's saying is we have the title. That's our God. 0:15:29.030 --> 0:15:33.320 We're God's chosen people, but we forgot about God's presence. 0:15:34.980 --> 0:15:38.080 So they wanted the title. They carried the title, God's 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.350 chosen people, but they had no presence. I want you 0:15:42.370 --> 0:15:44.740 to keep that in mind. You know, Annie and I, 0:15:45.370 --> 0:15:48.150 We were married in 2022, so we're celebrating four years 0:15:48.190 --> 0:15:51.010 of marriage. So come ask me if you need marriage advice. 0:15:51.070 --> 0:15:54.810 I have so much to give to you. That is 0:15:54.850 --> 0:15:59.790 a joke. No, we're still learning. We're still getting the 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.520 wheels on our marriage. But four years, it's been incredible. 0:16:02.540 --> 0:16:05.979 It's been amazing. It's flown by so quickly. But I 0:16:06.020 --> 0:16:07.640 still remember a lot of things about our wedding day. 0:16:08.300 --> 0:16:10.160 And one of the things I remember about that day 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:12.340 is how hot it was. It was July 22nd. It 0:16:12.380 --> 0:16:16.380 was very warm outside. And I remember wearing that suit. 0:16:17.370 --> 0:16:20.510 I'm starting to get very sweaty. I'm starting to get nervous. 0:16:20.530 --> 0:16:23.510 I'm starting to get anxious. And I don't know why, 0:16:23.590 --> 0:16:25.690 but the thing that made me the most nervous in 0:16:25.730 --> 0:16:27.730 that moment was the marriage license that was sitting on 0:16:27.750 --> 0:16:30.500 the other table. I'm like, man, I'm gonna drip sweat 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:32.320 all over the marriage license and then we won't be 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.100 married and it's all gonna fall apart. And I also 0:16:35.140 --> 0:16:37.960 have terrible handwriting, okay? I'll just be honest. It's the 0:16:37.980 --> 0:16:39.600 house of God. That confession is safe with you. I 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.710 have terrible handwriting and I'm a lefty. Any lefties in 0:16:42.730 --> 0:16:45.239 the house? Come on, shout out. Love you guys. Knew 0:16:45.260 --> 0:16:48.280 my people were in the room today. I'm a lefty, 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:50.660 and so lefties, we know this. When we write on 0:16:50.780 --> 0:16:54.570 thicker paper with those gel pens, here's a recipe for today. 0:16:54.590 --> 0:16:56.570 We smear it, right? You've got to write over the words, 0:16:56.850 --> 0:16:59.550 unless you can write backwards. And so I remember being 0:16:59.610 --> 0:17:02.250 so nervous that I'm going to smear this important document. 0:17:02.430 --> 0:17:04.230 This is the title of our marriage. It says husband 0:17:04.290 --> 0:17:05.909 right there, and you're going to read it, husband. And 0:17:05.930 --> 0:17:11.700 I'm terrified. I'm terrified. So I go, I sign the 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:15.210 marriage license. Sure enough, I'm hot, I'm sweating and I 0:17:15.270 --> 0:17:17.250 smear the lettering. And I don't know why I was 0:17:17.290 --> 0:17:19.510 so freaked out. I guess in my mind, I thought 0:17:19.530 --> 0:17:21.610 that like the marriage license is something you like hung 0:17:21.670 --> 0:17:26.010 up in your living room, like proof, married. I guess 0:17:26.050 --> 0:17:27.989 I was nervous. It turns out you only see that 0:17:28.030 --> 0:17:30.450 if you're like rifling through old documents, you're like, oh yeah, 0:17:30.490 --> 0:17:34.590 that's fair. I've never needed the marriage license to remind 0:17:34.650 --> 0:17:38.429 me that I'm a married man. Never needed that. And 0:17:38.470 --> 0:17:43.399 here's why. What makes my relationship with Annie real is 0:17:43.580 --> 0:17:47.520 not the title. It's her presence in my everyday life. 0:17:48.460 --> 0:17:51.859 You following? Annie is with me. We live together. We 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.110 share a home together. We're raising our daughter together. We 0:17:55.140 --> 0:17:58.939 work through things together. We talk together. Her presence in 0:17:59.030 --> 0:18:03.890 my life is what makes the relationship real, not the title. 0:18:03.970 --> 0:18:07.790 And Christian, what makes your relationship with Jesus real is 0:18:07.830 --> 0:18:11.770 his presence. not just the title. It's his presence in 0:18:11.790 --> 0:18:16.690 your everyday life. That is the sign and ceiling of 0:18:16.710 --> 0:18:22.530 your relationship with Jesus. To take us back to the text, symbolically, 0:18:23.170 --> 0:18:26.690 Israel has kept the title, God's people, but they left 0:18:26.780 --> 0:18:30.859 the most important artifact just on a hill in some country, 0:18:30.940 --> 0:18:34.619 Bumpkin Village. They literally left the Ark of the Covenant 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.760 where God's presence dwelled, just in a village on the 0:18:37.940 --> 0:18:42.010 edges of the city. Why would they do that? Because 0:18:42.050 --> 0:18:45.070 they had forgotten. They had lost their holy hunger for 0:18:45.109 --> 0:18:49.510 the Lord, as David admits. The ark has been on 0:18:49.550 --> 0:18:52.190 a hill in a small town at the house of Abinadab, 0:18:52.260 --> 0:18:54.649 is what we read in verse three. What had happened 0:18:54.730 --> 0:18:57.220 is the ark had been taken captive by the Philistines. 0:18:57.820 --> 0:18:59.960 That was bad news for them. They tried to place 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.740 it in the temple of the false god of Dagon. 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.640 The statue of Dagon falls and breaks before the Lord 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:10.000 because God is all-powerful. The Philistines who mock God begin 0:19:10.020 --> 0:19:12.060 to get sick because the ark is in their presence. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:13.740 So they kind of push it off into other cities. 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.260 They're like, give it to that city. Give it to 0:19:16.300 --> 0:19:18.700 that city. And the people continue to get sick. So 0:19:18.780 --> 0:19:21.100 at some point, the Philistines go, we gotta get rid 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.980 of this thing. We have clearly angered the God of 0:19:24.020 --> 0:19:25.980 the Israelites. So they put it on a cart. They 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.159 tether it to some oxen and they just say, all right, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.700 wherever it goes, if it goes back to the nation 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.350 of Israel, then we'll know that we're satisfying the God 0:19:33.369 --> 0:19:34.910 of the Israelites and he won't be mad and we'll 0:19:34.930 --> 0:19:36.970 stop being sick. And they tie it onto the cart 0:19:37.070 --> 0:19:40.470 and immediately, The cattle go straight to the Israelite territory. 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.920 And they end and land at the house of Abinadab. 0:19:43.940 --> 0:19:47.350 But the ark has been there for years. One of 0:19:47.390 --> 0:19:50.500 the most significant things the people of God, and they 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:54.680 had completely left his presence on the peripheral but now 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.740 David goes to make his presence central in their lives 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:05.440 he is presence minded Christian Jesus did not save you 0:20:05.500 --> 0:20:08.040 just to carry a title he saved you to carry 0:20:08.100 --> 0:20:12.199 his presence This is what 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:15.440 20 says. It's beautiful. It says, or do you not 0:20:15.540 --> 0:20:19.420 know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.940 who is in you, whom you have received from God? 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.350 You are not your own for you were bought for 0:20:27.390 --> 0:20:32.649 a high price. Therefore glorify God in your body. God 0:20:32.730 --> 0:20:35.970 no longer dwells in the ark today. God dwells in 0:20:36.310 --> 0:20:40.210 you if you are in him. His presence is alive 0:20:40.310 --> 0:20:42.670 in us. So let me just ask you the question, 0:20:42.950 --> 0:20:48.500 do we live in the Spirit? Or do we sometimes 0:20:48.540 --> 0:20:52.119 feel tempted when our hunger is being diminished to leave 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:56.480 God on the peripheral of our lives? When in reality, 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.659 he wants to be central in you. You are the 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:03.010 temple of the Holy Spirit. Come on, I believe this 0:21:03.050 --> 0:21:05.770 today that God has called us as his people, not 0:21:05.810 --> 0:21:08.629 just to carry the title, but to carry his presence forward. 0:21:10.890 --> 0:21:12.790 Can we be the ones in our families and in 0:21:12.830 --> 0:21:15.110 our cities who say, you know what? God has been neglected, 0:21:15.150 --> 0:21:17.130 but I wanna bring him back to the middle. God 0:21:17.150 --> 0:21:18.629 needs to be at the middle of my work. God 0:21:18.650 --> 0:21:20.550 needs to be at the middle of my education. He 0:21:20.590 --> 0:21:22.470 needs to be at the middle of my finances. He 0:21:22.490 --> 0:21:24.609 needs to be at the middle of my family. I 0:21:24.650 --> 0:21:26.830 do not want God to be peripheral. I want him 0:21:26.869 --> 0:21:29.550 to be central. This is what holy hunger is. This 0:21:29.590 --> 0:21:32.909 is what a mature believer does. They take God's presence, 0:21:33.150 --> 0:21:36.409 they make it central in their lives. So practically, I 0:21:36.430 --> 0:21:38.050 wanna leave you with this. If you're taking notes, again, 0:21:38.090 --> 0:21:42.230 you can write this down. Practically, how do we become presence-minded? Well, 0:21:42.250 --> 0:21:44.510 here's what I have for you. If you wanna be presence-minded, 0:21:45.050 --> 0:21:50.109 invite God into the ordinary places. Now, some of you 0:21:50.150 --> 0:21:53.710 shrewd theologians are going, well, wait a minute. Invite God, 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:58.340 is God not omnipresent? Doesn't that mean God is everywhere always? 0:21:58.500 --> 0:22:02.750 And you are correct, shrewd theologians. God is everywhere present always. 0:22:02.790 --> 0:22:04.070 So the question, well then why do we need to 0:22:04.170 --> 0:22:07.629 invite him if he's everywhere always? Here's why, because we 0:22:07.750 --> 0:22:12.570 forget that he's everywhere always. The invitation is more so 0:22:12.650 --> 0:22:15.730 for us to become aware of his presence, to be 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:21.379 presence minded. I am fully capable of convincing myself that 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:24.220 the presence of the Holy Spirit is only there when 0:22:24.260 --> 0:22:26.820 Hillsong is playing. Man, that's the worship song for me. 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:32.600 Spirit is here. I'm fully capable of convincing myself that 0:22:32.619 --> 0:22:35.629 the Holy Spirit is only present in goosebumps. That the 0:22:35.670 --> 0:22:38.550 Holy Spirit is only at this church or that church. 0:22:38.770 --> 0:22:41.570 The Holy Spirit is only in the word. He's only 0:22:41.630 --> 0:22:46.830 there on Sunday. That is incorrect theology. God is everywhere 0:22:46.890 --> 0:22:49.920 present always, but we can invite him into the ordinary 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:55.020 places and remind ourselves that he is everywhere always. You know, 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.040 when you actually start believing that God is with you, 0:22:57.080 --> 0:22:59.930 that you're the temple of the Holy Spirit, you live differently. 0:23:00.970 --> 0:23:07.250 You drive differently. Just let that one sink in. It's 0:23:07.290 --> 0:23:11.210 for me. It's mainly for me. I'll confess. You live 0:23:11.270 --> 0:23:13.909 differently when you believe that you are the temple of 0:23:14.210 --> 0:23:16.990