WEBVTT - Faithful With A Few 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:05.280 Hello evam, especially our West Coast family, we have an 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:10.760 announcement for you. Elevation Nights twenty twenty two West Coast. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.040 Are you ready for this? October twenty fifth through November third, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.480 We're coming your way so exciting. You can get your 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.280 tickets right now at Elevation Nights dot com. It's gonna 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.480 be me Holly, elevation Worship. It's gonna be amazing, unbelievable 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.840 these nights. Don't want to miss So if you're in Glendale, Arizona, 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:35.920 Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, California, San 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:41.279 Diego and LA or anywhere near those areas, we want 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.360 to see you. Elevation Nights dot com. Don't miss it. 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.600 Elevation Nights dot com. Get your tickets Elevation Nights dot com. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.800 See let's go to the message, y'all. I feel so 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:56.000 excited to preach this word, but I feel settled about it. 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.760 I don't feel spastic like that. I feel just settled 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:03.680 about so cool, so beautiful what the Lord selected for 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:13.440 us to study today. And I'm excited about it. Since 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:15.440 they're baptized in half of the county, I got to 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.200 go a little quicker today, So y'all listen good, would you? 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.480 If y'all will listen better, I can finish sooner. When 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:27.880 I go too long, it's at least half your fall. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.000 The Holy Spirit selected a text today. It's really like 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.280 a song, and I'm drawn to it, not only because 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.880 I love music, but because there's a truth in it 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:39.800 that I want to point out to you. It's found 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.880 in First Chronicles. Don't have a panic attack trying to 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.000 find it in your Bible. That's not one of the 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.400 books you normally look. If I say Genesis, you're good, Revelation, 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:54.600 I think that's towards the bat But First Chronicles in 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.960 the Hebrew Bible, it was kind of considered the whole 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.760 Old Testament and capitulate some of the things that you'll 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.640 read in First and Second Samuel. But it goes further. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.480 It starts with Adam, and then by the time it ends, 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.040 we're in the exile. In the middle of all that, 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.240 we read a lot about David. We read a lot 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.880 about King David. And there's one thing I want to read. 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.639 I need to read verses seven through at least twenty, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:26.200 maybe twenty four, just to give you the flow of it. 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.160 So let's read this together in first Chronicle sixteen. There 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.160 is a message in this for me. Say it out loud. 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:37.280 There is a message in this for me, maybe not 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.080 for the person next to you. Let's say for me, 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.079 I want you to personalize this today. I want you 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:48.280 to personalize this word today. The scripture says that day 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:52.080 David first appointed Asaf and his associates to give praise 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:56.360 to the Lord in this manner. Give praise to the Lord, 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.079 proclaim his name, make known among the nations what he 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.839 has done. Sing to him, Sing praise to him. Tell 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:09.360 of all his wonderful acts, Glory in his holy name. 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.800 Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.919 Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face. 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:22.400 Always remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, the 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:26.440 judgments he pronounced. You his servants, the descendants of Israel, 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:32.639 his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. He is the Lord, 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.520 our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:43.839 remembers his covenant forever, the promise he may, I love 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.360 that I might come back and nibble on that a 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.000 little later. Y'all hold on to that, the promise he 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:55.160 made for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.640 the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:05.119 Jacob as a decree to Israel, as an everlasting covenant. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.720 Now that was the neighborhood. Let's pull up to the door. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.680 Now these verses are the door to you. I will 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:17.200 give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit. 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:24.800 Shout over what God gave you. Nah, y'all aren't grateful. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:36.800 Shout over what God gave me to you. I will 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.600 give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:45.480 When they were but few in number, few indeed, and 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:50.080 strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:54.320 one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them. 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:58.400 For their sake, he rebuked, kings, do not touch my 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.719 anointed ones. Do my prophets no harm. Sing to the 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.120 Lord all the earth, proclaim his salvation day after day, 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:12.440 to clear his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:19.599 among all peoples. Go back to verse nineteen. When they 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:26.520 were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.120 I don't know what we'll call this message when we 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.000 put it online, But for now let's call it faithful 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:38.880 with a few. Faithful with a few, you may be 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:50.600 seated faithful with a few. We stepped into a celebration 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:55.600 when we opened first chronicle sixteen. Did you notice they 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:59.720 were glorifying God. They had instruments set up in verses 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.039 one six. I didn't read you that part. Symbols and 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:08.880 harps and liars, stringed instruments, all these sounds celebrating something 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.320 that must have looked really strange if you didn't know 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:18.800 the whole story, all of this commotion, all of this glorifying, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:24.240 and all this praise about something that you may have 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.240 heard of but may not know much about, called the 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:33.359 Arc of the Covenant. The Arc of the Covenant, not 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:38.599 Noah's arc. That's a boat, not a story arc, like 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.919 in a movie where a character development as arc. But 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.640 the Arc of the Covenant was a piece of furniture 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:49.400 made of acacial would only four feet long, two and 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.480 a half feet wide, two and a half feet high. 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:54.120 I wish I could do it in meters for our 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.599 international audience. But see, we're here in the United States 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.599 of America, and we will not convert to the metric 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.640 system until Gus comes back and makes us do it, 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:10.160 and all this celebration over what appeared to be just 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:15.240 the piece of furniture. Of course, we understand that it's 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:21.360 a symbolic representation of the presence of God. Because in 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.800 that acacia wood which was overlaid with gold, with a 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.280 chair of Him on the top of it, with the 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.720 four holes so they could carry it by poles wherever 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.680 they went, was the manna that God gave us people, 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:36.679 the law that he gave us people, and Aaron's rod, 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.440 which represented the priesthood. In that arc of the Covenant, 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:48.600 was represented God's provision, God's protection, and God's precepts. Three 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:53.680 things in that arc, yet it symbolized one thing, which 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:58.200 is this God was with us. They carried it wherever 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:02.560 they went. In their mind it was the actual housing 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.960 place of the presence of God. But really we understand 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.320 that God is everywhere. We know that because of Jesus, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:14.800 Emmanuel God with us. And when Emmanuel God with us, 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:18.120 left the earth, he gave us the counselor the Holy Spirit, 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.720 not just to be with us, but to be in us. 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:23.920 We don't live in the Old Covenant, but we can 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.680 learn from it. We don't live in it, but we 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.800 can learn from it. The presence of God is inside 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.439 of you. It's inside of me. So when the Bible 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.079 says that God was with his people and he did 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.840 all these things for him, how much more will he 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:44.280 do for you? If the spirit of His son lives 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.400 inside of you. This is our confidence in Christ, not 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:54.079 in our selves. It's really not a celebration about furniture. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:09:05.200 It's a celebration about faithfulness faithfulness, not their faithfulness, because 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:11.079 that would have been a sorry celebration indeed, But God's faithfulness. 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:16.360 Big difference what you praise God for. Do you praise 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:23.079 him for the furniture or for his faithfulness? Because if 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.960 you praise him for the furniture, the things that you 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.920 can see, it can be taken away. If you praise 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:32.120 him for the furniture, if he moves it to the 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.800 other side of the room, you might get mad. When 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:38.480 things change in your life, your praise goes down. But 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:40.440 you have to learn what David did here, and I 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.840 think is such a good lesson for us. He made 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:48.400 them praise God. He made them praise God. Reminded me. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:50.560 When I was in college, I was a worship leader 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.360 before I was a pastor. I preached and led worship 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:56.480 all at the beginning of the church. I did all 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.440 of it, and I'm really glad that we have so 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.600 many gifted people who can do it now. But in 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:03.840 a panchroc, I could still get it done if I 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.200 had to, Okay, I promise you. Okay. I don't know 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.559 all the songs anymore, but I remember a few of them, 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.520 and I could. I could get this done if everybody 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:14.920 on the worship team went and ate Mexican food and 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:19.840 it was a bad digestive situation. It kind of gross, right, 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.640 But I'm not saying it would be as good, but 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.640 I would get it done. I could get it done. 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.000 I could get it done because I was doing that 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:30.000 in college. When people ask Colly, when did you first 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.880 know that you wanted to marry Stephen? Sometimes she'll mention 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.080 in reference. She won't say the first time she saw me. 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:37.040 She talked about the first time she saw me. Still 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.240 I was crazy. I was wearing a a big Superman 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.560 T shirt, a DOUBLEXL Superman T shirt, running around thinking 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:44.959 I was Superman or something like that, playing in a 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.120 punk rock band. But then in our college I became 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:53.120 the worship leader for a ministry North Greenville, university, not 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.080 a big school, not a big school. But I believe 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:58.880 God put me there if for no other reason than 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:03.000 to win her. And how I won her through my leadership. 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:11.000 Through my leadership. Through my leadership, I found out spiritual 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:18.160 leadership is sexy to a spiritual woman. So, not that 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.400 I was thinking it, but y'all, I made a praise 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.520 team and I put her on my praise team. I 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.560 didn't audition her for her vocal ability. That really wasn't 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.560 why she got the job, but it was okay to 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.440 me if she thought that, and she could sing pretty good. 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:35.960 But we had a good time because when I first 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:39.000 told her about it, the worship team was just two people. 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:40.840 I don't know if y'all were around in the nineties 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:42.920 and churches, but everybody was beaten on a gym bay, 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.000 big drum like this, and everybody was beating on a 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.199 gym bay. Everybody was beating on Jim Bay's in the 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.600 nineteen nineties, and so it was just a Jim Bay 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.160 and an acoustic guitar. And I told her when I 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.240 take it over next year, it's gonna be huge. I'm 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.839 gonna have a choir. It's gonna be probably one hundred 0:11:57.840 --> 0:11:59.680 people in the choir by the time I'm done with it, 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.120 and I'm gonna have a band, and it's gonna be 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.839 real drums, not percussion. I'm go'a have a kit, a 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.319 drum kit. I'm gonna have bass guitar. I'm gonna have 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.000 maybe two keyboards, maybe one with a synth and one 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.360 with a piano. Sound getting wild and crazy. Believe in 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:15.240 God for big things. Now went to him who was 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.199 able to do and measurable anymore. I got big vision, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:23.040 you know what I'm saying. And I did that because 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:28.120 God helped me do it, because he called me, and 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.000 because he helped me, and because he was with me. 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.319 There were one hundred kids in that choir by the 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.120 time it was over, and the school wasn't that big. 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:45.320 But God did it. But God did it. I preached 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:50.400 two weeks ago about but God. And I'm telling you 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.400 when I told her that, I didn't know how, I 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.080 didn't know who, I didn't know, I had no idea 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.720 how I would accomplish it. But I spoke it by 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:03.080 fail and I worked toward it, and God did it. 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.240 And so I heard her telling the kids the other day. 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.760 I never doubted something that your dad told me he 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.000 was going to do after that, because when he said it, 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:15.320 I thought he was crazy. And then guess what, it 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.800 came to pass. And we've seen God do that just 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.000 over and over again now in our ministry, in this church. 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:23.840 Some of you have been here for a lot of it, 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:25.640 some of you have been here for all of it. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:30.160 You have seen God do that over and over and 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.440 over again. So when the baptisms were happened, why were 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:38.120 some people sleeping through it and some people were weeping 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:43.160 through it? Why? Why on that screen was somebody crying 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.280 about somebody getting in water? How many of y'all got 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.640 in water before you came to church today, or at 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.800 least in the last twenty four hours, your neighbor hopes. 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.280 So watching online, it doesn't really matter. But if you're 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.679 in the building, please have the consideration with some water 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.800 and some soap and some shampoo. And yet none of 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:10.120 that really made you cry? Did it? Did you cry 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:11.880 in the shower? I mean maybe you did, but that's 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.480 not the common thing. Is it singing the shower? But 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.320 cry in the shower? But why are they crying? They 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.680 didn't hit me. I was watching the baptisms. I thought 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:24.240 we gotta be careful where we dumped that water. We 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.000 ought to have a special you know, they have these 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:30.800 big containers for radioactive stuff, not the dirt off the people. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.320 I'm not am not physical. I'm talking about all the 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:38.560 shame that Jesus washes away, all the bad choices that 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:43.120 he steps into, all the things that you did that 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.400 you couldn't get over, but his blood forgave them. There's 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.840 a lot in that water. There's a lot in that water. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:51.960 Somebody put it in the chat. There's a lot in 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.560 that water. When Jesus saved me, he saved me from 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.600 a lot. And I don't even mean that I was 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.440 on drugs and in prison. I mean even from the 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.560 people who lived so good. You weren't so good. You 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:10.280 weren't so good. You were not so good. I know 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.400 you weren't so good. How do I know that you're 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:19.280 not so good? Because Jesus did not die for pretty 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:23.560 good people or really bad people. He died for really 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:27.040 dead people who needed to be made alive in his name. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:36.000 So when we celebrate, we're not celebrating I got a race, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:41.880 because tomorrow I might get a drop. When we celebrating 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.240 God's presence, we're not celebrating because I got a lot 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.880 of sleep, because tomorrow we might be tired. Y'all. The 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.320 dog woke Cally up at three point thirty in the 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.240 morning this morning. I just had to tell you that. 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.520 So when she was praising God today, she wasn't doing 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.560 it on much sleep because she had to have a dog. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.880 And she's got a dog. Now, yes, she's got a dog. Now. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.520 When I preach to you, I'm not preaching these things 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:14.760 because I always feel them. I'm preaching what I believe 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:22.000 by faith. If I could teach you one thing, it 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:27.560 would be to celebrate by faith, to praise by faith, 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:33.800 to worship by faith, to decree by faith, to rejoice 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:38.520 by faith, to walk by faith, to talk by faith, 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:42.600 to live by faith, to give by faith, to structure 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:47.760 by faith, to establish back faith, to stand after you 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:52.440 have done all, to stand back faith on the faithfulness 0:16:52.480 --> 0:17:02.560 of God. This is not about furniture. He's celebrating the 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.560 faithfulness of God. And he made them praise God because 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:12.520 sometimes you've got to make yourself you don't believe me. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.480 David made Asaf praise God, and he wrote the song 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.280 and he said, praise him like this. I want you 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:22.360 praising him just any way. You can't talk about his glory, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:26.680 his name, his strength, his face. Don't start talking about 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:28.800 how good you didn't oh oh oh, they just got 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.120 the arc back to Jerusalem, and He didn't want them 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.800 celebrating their strength when they did it. They did a 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.159 good job, but that's not what they glorified. Is the 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.000 good job that they did. And I'm not saying don't 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.840 patch yourself on the back or get yourself a cupcake 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.520 or a crumble cookie or whatever you do, do it, 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:58.720 but don't forget to praise God. Can I say it 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:05.400 this way? For the few? For the few, every day 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.040 is not going to be an amazing day. Every day 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.720 is not going to be a special event. Every day 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:17.680 is not Field Day. Every day is not Field Day. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:22.720 But every day needs to be Faith day. Kind of corny, 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.119 but I'm trying to help you remember it when you 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:30.040 get out of here. Because they got the arc back. Now, 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.679 the Ark of the Covenant had been in Shiloh for 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.719 a long time, the Philistines, the enemies of God. They 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.760 got the Ark of the Covenant, and then God started 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.439 cursing everything because they weren't supposed to have it. It 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:47.480 is always a curse to carry what God did not 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:53.040 call you to. Remember that the next time you start 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.560 comparing yourself, I wish I had theirs, or I wish 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:57.399 I did that, or I wish I did this. It 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.080 is a curse to carry what God did not call 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.840 you to. God spoke to the Jewish people. He said 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.240 to Abraham, remember I will bless you, and you will 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:12.160 be a blessing. Remember they were meant to carry the blessing, 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.440 not to contain it. God said, I'm gonna bless all 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:21.800 the earth through you, through you, So what you're carrying 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.080 is not meant for you to contain. And that's why 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.840 David said, you need to praise God for what just happened. 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.919 They go get the ark, they try to bring it 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:36.480 back on a cart because that makes sense because it's heavy. 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.040 And while they're busy making sense, not doing what God 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.560 told them to do, which was carry it on your shoulders. 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.199 And the Levites, the priests were supposed to be the 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.600 only ones who could carry it, and nobody could touch it, 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:50.480 and you couldn't just walk around looking at it because 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:52.720 it was too special for that. So when they tried 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:56.320 to put on a cart what God called them to carry, 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:01.720 something terrible happened. The oxen stumbled, and when the oxen stumbled, 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.359 a man named us Are reached out trying to help God. 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.240 Have you ever tried to help God? Have you ever 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.600 manipulated somebody trying to help God? Have you ever held 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.440 onto something you were supposed to take your hands off 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.680 of because you were trying to help God? And when 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:21.120 he went to help God, he died, and David was angry. 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:24.960 He was mad because I need the presence of God back, 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.000 because he's just been annoyed King of the whole kingdom. 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.600 Saul is dead. He's not fighting Saul anymore. The kingdom 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:33.960 is united for now. There'd been a civil war when 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.000 he was rising to the king shop, but now he's 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:40.480 settling into Jerusalem. Yet he doesn't want to be there 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:44.560 in the seat of his power without the ark of 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:49.520 the Covenant, which represents God's power. I don't want it 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:53.440 without you, God. I can't do it without you God. 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:56.560 It's impossible for me to do it without you God. 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.960 About every time I try to prepare a message, I 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:02.520 come to a point where I say I can't do it, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:09.320 and the Lord usually says, finally, would you like me 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:15.160 to do it? Through you. God is just waiting for 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.679 you to get to the point where you take your 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.800 hands off of some stuff. I'm not gonna being irresponsible. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.040 This does not apply to your steering wheel unless you 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:29.439 drive a tesla, keep your hands on that. But at 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:32.800 the same time, we got to understand that the glory 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.119 goes to God. It has to, it's too heavy for you. 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:42.119 Must have seemed strange to see all this celebrating David's wife. 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.000 Her name was McCall. She was so appalled that David 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.960 was dancing because he was happy when they finally got 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:51.160 the arc back, because they did it God's way, because 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:56.320 they did it God's way, not the logical way, God's way, 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:00.399 not the way that made sense, but the way that 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:05.720 takes faith. Two different ways, the way that makes sense 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:11.280 and the way that takes faith. One is called self 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:18.760 sufficiency and it's a sin. The other one, the faith way. 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:22.960 It is when you understand that for you to carry 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.120 what God has given you to carry in this life, 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.760 you will have to do it His way, even when 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:33.640 his way seems strange, even when it makes no sense. 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.360 You know what David did that must have seemed strange. 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:41.119 Every time they got the art six steps, he stopped 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:45.600 and sacrificed a bull every six steps. Now, want you 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:49.640 think about this. This is the representation of the presence 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:52.720 of God, and we already had it start to fall 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:57.800 one time, and now you're making us stop every six steps, 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:02.000 which every time we stop it increases the chances that 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:05.119 we'll have another stumble. But David said, I have faith 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:08.800 that if we do it like this, and we take 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:15.080 only six steps and then stop and praise God and 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.800 offer to him the sacrifice of praise, he will give 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:25.679 us the strength, the wisdom, the protection, the direction. God 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:31.840 will sustain us if we stop and celebrate every six steps, 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:35.600 because if we wait until we get to Jerusalem to 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:38.919 do it, we might not make it. If I wait 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:42.439 till I get there to thank God, I may not 0:23:42.640 --> 0:23:47.760 make it because there is a long way. Now, when 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:50.000 I get to heaven, I'm gonna follow his feet. You 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:53.359 better follow at his feet before this Friday because the 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:55.639 devil will be in heaven and you won't have to 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.000 fight him there. But you're going to fight him now 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:03.640 and if you don't stop, you might stop. So let's 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:10.480 do it. Six steps praise him. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 0:24:10.520 --> 0:24:14.160 Oh wait, that's six days. This is Sunday. Let's praise 0:24:14.200 --> 0:24:17.800 him right now. Let's praise him. If you do six 0:24:17.880 --> 0:24:22.240 steps this week, he was with you six steps. This week, 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:25.840 he was with you on the job. This week he 0:24:25.960 --> 0:24:30.439 gave you your daily branch. Sixth week sat up from heaven, 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:33.800 had a run and a scat pad. If praise him 0:24:34.040 --> 0:24:45.120 every six whoa, oh the Philly. They get to art, 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:47.360 they get to art, they get to art the presence 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:49.440 of God, and they get six steps. And there was 0:24:49.440 --> 0:24:56.480 a stop. How far we have to go? We just 0:24:56.520 --> 0:24:59.359 took a few, there was a no. But he was 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:06.080 faithful for those few. He was faithful in those few. 0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:11.199 He was faithful with a few. I was meeting with 0:25:11.240 --> 0:25:14.439 a pastor one time, and Chunks and Buck were with me. 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:17.960 Y'all know, Chunks and Buck sound like a WWF tag 0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:20.879 team from nineteen ninety three. Sound like they thought the 0:25:21.200 --> 0:25:23.879 Legion of Doom, don't they? But they didn't. They're just 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:28.560 church staff members, that's all. And the man was going 0:25:28.720 --> 0:25:31.320 on and on about everything he had done. And he 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:33.919 is a great man. So it was a long list. 0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:37.959 The in and out burger was getting cold, and we 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:39.960 don't have those in North Carolina, and I wanted to 0:25:40.000 --> 0:25:49.400 eat mine anyway. The man says this, he says this line, 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:52.760 He says, how do we do this? He's talking about 0:25:52.920 --> 0:25:55.119 world peace or something like that. He said, how do 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:59.960 we do this? Well, there are nineteen ways? I thought, nineteen. 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:02.960 Here's a fly buzzing around the burger by this point, 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:05.879 because we can't eat because he's still talking. He's already 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:09.439 been going two hours. He said, there are nineteen ways. 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:14.400 I won't list them all. I said, shit, he said, 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:19.960 but let me name a few. And an hour later 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:26.280 he was on number nineteen and he stopped and he said, 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:29.040 I think I should stop now. It looks like I 0:26:29.160 --> 0:26:32.040