You see, that was the place that later
became the house of God.
This is the place that Solomon built that
magnificent temple to God.
It was also the place, according to this
verse, where Abraham offered up Isaac.
Again, the place of testing, the place of
sacrifice, the place of separation.
You see, I believe again that the church
is at the threshing floor right now.
God is asking us to separate ourselves.
That's what this conference is all about.
It's about holiness.
It's about purity.
It's about righteousness, integrity.
It's about doing things according to God's way
of doing things.
And there is a separation, I believe, that
is coming in the house of God.
I think also we can learn from this
lesson of David that God is going to
deal very severely with the realm of pride.
Again, we've had the understanding, you know, adultery
and homosexuality and all the sins of the
flesh, they're so terrible.
And we've seen that, of course, manifest in
Christian leaders in the last couple of years
in this nation.
But the next thing that God is going
to deal with, I believe, and deal very
severely with is the area of pride because
pride is self-sufficiency.
Pride is saying, God, I don't need you.
Pride is relying, again, upon our own methodology,
relying upon our own strength and our own
sufficiency.
And God says, I'm not going to allow
that to happen.
No flesh is going to glory in My
presence.
And if we're to have the presence of
God, there'll be no flesh there.
And I think Paul Cain has said very
aptly that this next generation that God is
going to raise up is going to be
a faceless generation.
Individuals, again, that have one supreme longing, and
that's that Jesus Christ might be exalted in
their lives.
They're not drawing attention to themselves.
They're not building empires with their own name
on it.
But the men that have one supreme longing,
and that's that the Lord Jesus Christ, again,
may be exalted.
And so David, again, has a very severe
judgment of God resting upon him because of
his methods.
And Uzzah, again, simply because he put forth
his hand immediately is destroyed.
It's interesting that the name Uzzah means strength.
It means strength.
There's a lot of Uzzahs, aren't there?
We're trying to do things in our own
strength.
Uzzah thought, listen, I'll give God my strength,
my ability.
I'll help Him out.
I'll do it my way.
And God says, listen, I don't need your
help.
It's amazing that on that particular, in this
particular occasion that the Philistines had the mind
of God a lot better than David.
Remember, they said, listen, if this is really
of God, if this God is the God
that is the real God, then all we've
got to do is make a new cart,
put the Ark of God on it, put
some cows in front of it, and it
doesn't need any leadership whatsoever.
If this is God, it will go by
itself in the right direction.
Boy, the church needs to learn that lesson.
And yet David comes along and says, listen,
if this is God, we'll help Him out.
We'll drive the cart.
Interesting that the Hebrew word where it says
as a drove the cart, it means to
pent, or to exert energy.
To pent because of the exertion of energy.
I think that's the way in which it
is in the Hebrew.
In other words, he was penting, he was
straining, he was using all his strength, all
his resources, all his energy, trying to accomplish
the purpose of God.
And how many of us have gone through
that?
We got through the end of the day
and we've been exhausted.
Instead of saying, God, what's Your program?
I was impressed on Sunday morning that John
Wimber was with us there in Kansas City
and he called a number of people forward
that had back problems.
I guess maybe 15 individuals that came forward.
And as the presence of God began to
settle on them, one of our men was
ready to sort of help God out a
little bit.
And I'm sure again that his motives were
right.
I don't question that.
But he was going to, you know, just
go and pray for somebody.
I guess they were shaking a little bit
under the power of God.
And John was standing there.
He says, hey, leave it alone.
Just leave them alone.
God is wanting to get the glory out
of this.
In other words, he says, listen, the cart
is able to look after itself, so to
speak, at least in the terminology of the
Philistines.
We need to learn, don't we, to take
our hands off and to say, God, have
Your way.
God, You take control of this situation.
But as I again decided, I'll give God
my strength and my energy and I'll help
him out a little bit.
Interesting, again, if you're following in my notes,
I'm not doing a very good job of
keeping you on track, but in H there,
that Uzzah was one of Abinadab's sons.
And it's obvious that he was born while
the ark of God was in his father's
house.
After all, they'd been there for 60 years.
He'd been raised accustomed to, if you like,
seeing the ark of God, maybe having to
bump up against it as he made his
way through the house.
You know, going round it, maybe occasionally showing
his friends.
And the Bible says in 2 Samuel 6,
no, sorry, 2 Samuel 6 and verse 3,
or verse 7, that God struck him for
his irreverence.
God struck him for his irreverence.
I'm not sure how accurate that rendering is
from the Hebrew.
But I think we have had a tremendous
irreverence for the house of God.
I think there are two extremes.
One is that we can become so sort
of stiff and starchy.
The other is that we can become so
loose.
And somehow there is a balance.
I believe we need to understand the moods
of the Spirit of God.
There are times of celebration.
There are times when the Spirit of God
wants to come in stillness and quietness.
He wants to begin to brood as He
did in the beginning.
He wants to bring conviction of sin.
And many times there's a tendency to sort
of in times like that to try and
bring it into celebration.
We need to understand that balance.
There are times of reverence.
There are times when we need to simply
be on our faces before Him and wait
in His presence.
There are other times, if you like, where
we can kick up our heels and enjoy
the presence of God.
After all, in His presence is fullness of
joy.
But again, there is a divine sort of
tension there between those two extremes that we
need to ask the Spirit of God to
give us wisdom in and understanding in.
David's frustration, number six.
It says David was angry with God.
Again, if you're in 1 Chronicles chapter 13.
First of all, you've got God who's angry
in verse 10.
The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.
And then you've got David's anger in verse
12.
And David was afraid of God that day.
Sorry, no, verse 11.
And David became angry because of the Lord's
outburst against Uzzah.
You see, David did not fully understand what
was going on.
Again, his motivation was right.
His desires were genuine.
They were pure.
He wanted to bring back the presence of
God.
Sixty years in which he had been missing
from the house of God, from the center
of Israel's worship.
And all of a sudden, in the midst
of this time of bringing it back, suddenly
an individual is destroyed.
And David is angry with God.
I looked up the Hebrew word there.
It means to glow.
It means to blaze.
I mean, David was not just a little
frustrated.
David was red hot with anger.
Something whelmed up within him.
There was a blaze that came over him.
That's how frustrated David was.
What on earth is God doing?
And I believe that the church is at
that stage again where because of the shakings
that are going on, there's an anger, if
you like, in the people of God.
What's happening?
Where are we going?
What is God doing?
Why is this happening?
It seems to be such a setback, doesn't
it?
Again, to have men that are broadcast over
television night after night after night after night.
You know, just as the church is beginning
to sort of emerge into a good realm,
so to speak.
And we think, listen, we're losing ground.
There's an anger that rises in the people
of God.
But you know, something good came out of
it.
You see, I believe that God is saying
this to David, and I believe He's saying
this to the church, that those that He
loves, He chastens.
I believe He's saying to the church, listen,
I cannot let you go on the way
you've been going on.
You have enjoyed My presence.
I've permitted My presence for a period of
time to rest upon the sort of the
cart mentality.
But I'm not going to let you get
by any longer.
This is the threshing floor.
This is where there's coming a stop, if
you like, in My divine plans.
And notice what David learned from it.
In verse 12, it says David was afraid
of God that day.
The literal translation according to Young's translation, it
says David feareth God on that day.
David feareth God on that day.
What did it produce?
It produced the fear of God.
I believe that if there's one thing that
certainly I have learned from the others, those,
if you like, that have been destroyed, it's
a new fear of God.
The way in which we handle our finances,
the way in which we build our programs,
and so on and so forth, I believe
it's been beneficial or should have been if
we are learning our lesson that God is
not going to permit those things any longer,
that the fear of God, which is to
hate evil, to hate that lack of integrity,
those wrong motivations and so on, all of
a sudden David had the realization, listen, I
have not feared you the way I should.
It's the same verse that David uses there
in Psalm 86 where he says, Unite my
heart to fear thy name.
It's the same verse that is used there
in Exodus 15 and verse 11.
Who is likened to the glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises.
You know, I've heard many seminars on praise
and worship, and I am not a sort
of a praise and worship leader as my
parents and anybody at Kansas City can vouch
for me.
Somebody said I am a prison singer behind
a few bars and missing the key.
And so I don't know too much about
music.
But in all the seminars I've sat through,
I've never once heard a message on fearful
in praises, fearful in praises.
I've heard people expound all the Greek words
to spin around, to throw out the hand,
you know, to dance violently and so on
and so forth and, you know, try and
get that whole sort of orchestration going, that
sort of music of tremendous liberty and freedom
and so on.
I've never yet once heard anybody talk about
fearful in praises.
You see, I believe there is a dimension
coming in our praise and our worship where
the fear of God is going to come
down.
We're going to end up on our faces,
not end up dancing around.
And again, I'm not opposed to that because
I believe the Bible teaches that very clearly.
But you see, I believe there are two
dimensions.
I believe there's times when the awe of
God comes into the sanctuary.
I believe there are times when we almost
tremble because of the majesty of God.
And that's what it talks about here.
Suddenly, David is struck by the fear of
God.
And he sees God in a whole new
light.
You see, it says before that, that David
was playing before the Lord.
It literally means to play.
I mean, he was having a great time.
And God permitted it, but then he says,
listen, David, because of my love for you,
I cannot permit you to go on any
longer.
And I believe God is saying to the
church, listen, because of My love for you,
I've allowed you for a period of time
to know My presence.
But now I'm beginning to adjust things.
Now because of My Father's heart, I'm beginning
to chasten the church of Jesus Christ.
You see, I believe we're in a corporate
chastening right now.
And we need to learn what God is
saying.
We need to ask the right questions.
And David's question was, in verse 12, how
can I bring the ark of God home
to me?
You see, it raised a question.
Lord, how do I do it?
He should have asked that at the beginning.
He never did.
He simply went to his leaders and he
says, isn't it a great idea?
How do you feel about it?
You feel okay?
Okay, let's do it.
But all of a sudden, David says, listen,
God, how do I do it?
How do I bring back Your presence?
I love the way in which he says
this because he says, how can I bring
the presence of God home to me?
You see, David is not speaking simply about
bringing the presence of God back into the
corporate life of Israel.
He's saying, how can I know Your presence,
Lord?
Remember, David many times asks those sort of
questions.
Lord, who can abide in Your tent?
Who can stand up and dwell where You
dwell?
Who can dwell in Your holy hill?
And then he answers the question.
He either has clean hands and a pure
heart and so on and so forth.
And so he's asking the question, how, Lord,
how do I bring back the presence of
God?
It says that David had three months to
think about it.
Verse 14, the ark of God remained with
the family of Obed-Edom in his house
three months and the Lord blessed the family
of Obed-Edom with all that he had.
Three months in which David has time to
reflect.
Three months in which he questions God and
seeks to know the mind of God.
And in chapter 15, in verse 1, it
says David built for himself houses in the
city of David and he prepared a place
for the ark of God and he pitched
a tent for it.
You'll notice that I think it's three or
four times in this particular chapter that it
says David prepared a place for it.
Verse 3, the place which he had prepared
for it.
Verse 12, to the place that I have
prepared for it.
Chapter 16, verse 1, which David pitched for
it or again, which he prepared for it.
You see, the one mistake that David made,
he failed to prepare a place for the
presence of God.
Imagine, if you will, with me, what would
have happened if David had been successful.
Let's assume that Uzzah never put forth his
hand.
Let's assume that the oxen never unsteadied the
ark.
Let's assume that David made it all the
way back to Zion.
And let's assume when he got there, all
of a sudden he thought, my goodness, what
am I going to do with this thing?
There was nothing prepared.
You see, I think a lot of us
are so anxious for the presence of God
that if the presence of God came, there's
nothing to contain it.
You see, one of the things that God
is saying today, He's looking for a wineskin
that will hold, if you like, the presence
of God.
And I believe what God is doing today
in the church of Jesus Christ, He's putting
together a wineskin.
We have to prepare a place for it.
God is not going to put new wine
into an old wineskin.
He's looking for a new wineskin, a new
order.
We don't have time, but I can say
this about a wineskin, that a wineskin is
only possible after something dies.
You see, these days, of course, we've got
plastic bottles that contain everything from shampoo to
perfume to perfume, you name it.
In those days, things, you know, were either
put in earthenware jars, but the wine was
put in a wineskin.
Not a wine bottle, but a wineskin.
And a wineskin came from an animal that
had to be killed.
Something had to die.
I believe God is putting, if you like,
putting to death some of the things that
you and I cherish in order to produce
a wineskin that can contain the wine of
His Spirit.
And so David had to prepare a place.
David also had to prepare, again, as we
draw this to a close, there had to
be a prepared people.
It says in verse 12, And you are
the heads of the father's household, of the
Levites, chapter 15.
Consecrate yourselves, both you and your relatives, that
you may bring up the ark of the
Lord God of Israel to the place that
I have prepared for it.
Notice that they had to be a consecrated
people.
Part of that consecration process was that the
priests had to first of all go in.
They had to wash themselves.
They had to lay aside their old garments.
They had to put on those garments of
glory and beauty.
Part of that consecration again was that the
blood was applied to their ear, to their
thumb, to their foot, and so on.
And David said, Listen, these men are not
consecrated.
Even though they're the right men, they're not
consecrated men.
I believe what this conference is all about
is to try and bring about an awareness
of the fact that God is looking for
consecrated men and women.
Men and women, again, that are willing to
lay aside their old robes, put on the
robes of glory and beauty, the robes of
purity and righteousness and holiness.
Remember that they had a turban, if you
like, that said holiness to the Lord over
their minds.
And then we find that David himself was
not properly prepared.
In verse 27, And David was clothed with
a robe, a fine linen, with all the
Levites who were carrying the ark, the singers
and Chenaniah, the leader of the singers with
the singers.
And David also wore an ephod of linen.
You see, we have no record of David
being properly clothed in this other portion of
Scripture in chapter 13.
And so David takes time.
There's one portion of Scripture there where it
says we did not seek Him according to
the due order.
I think maybe that's in the account in
1 Samuel.
I don't have time to turn to it
right now.
But David says, listen, we failed to seek
God according to the proper order, the proper
way of doing things.
And as a result of not seeking Him,
therefore everything went wrong.
But David now, because of this time, these
three months, he begins to seek God.
He begins to wait upon God.
He begins to inquire of God.
And God says you need men that are
consecrated.
You yourself need to be clothed in the
proper garments.
You need to carry it instead of transporting
it on a board and so on.
You need to prepare a place for it.
And David prepares a place for it.
And then it says, just as we close,
in verse 26, and it came about because
God was helping the Levites who were carrying
the Ark of the Covenant to the Lord,
that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
I love that phrase there in verse 26.
It came about because God was helping.
You see, I believe when we do things
according to the right order, God helps us.
It says in Mark chapter 16, verse 20,
the Lord was working with them.
Isn't it time that we allowed God to
work with us?
Isn't it time that we began to seek
Him and wait upon Him?
Isn't it time that we did things according
to the divine order and say, God, we
need You.
I'm tired of doing things in my own
strength.
I'm tired of exerting all this energy that
causes me to pant like others.
Lord, I long that You would have Your
divine approval on what I do.
Father, I long to be clothed again in
Your holiness and Your purity and Your righteousness.
Lord, I long for Your presence.
I want to be a people and part
of a people that prepare a place for
the presence of God.
Let's close in prayer.
Father, we pray right now by Your Holy
Spirit, You would take, Lord, the principles of
Your Word.
Father, seal them in our hearts.
Father, we ask that even this morning, Lord,
the birds of the air would not come
and take away that which has been sown
by Your Spirit.
Lord, we ask that in the weeks and
the months and even the years to come
that, Father, we would not rely upon man's
methods.
Father, give us one cry and that's, Lord,
how do we do it?
Lord, do we want to consult books?
Do we want to consult men?
But, Father, we'd be on our faces before
You saying, Lord, teach us Your ways.
Give us divine revelation.
Give us divine understanding.
Father, we long that You would come and
work with us.
Father, we're tired of toiling all night and
catching nothing.
Lord, we long at Your bidding to let
down the nets, to bring in that last
great harvest of souls.
Father, bring us that place where we can
carry Your anointing.
Again, Lord, we ask for that new wineskin.
Teach us, Lord, how to build it, how
to make it, how to construct it according
to Your divine pattern.
And then, Lord, fill it with Your wine.
Lord, we think of that wedding at Cana
of Galilee where the wine gave out.
And, Father, we're at that place where the
wine has gone, where, Lord, we're empty, but,
Lord, we're thirsty.
We thank You, Lord, You saved the good
wine until the end.
And, Lord, we believe that, Lord, even as
we are at the end of this particular
dispensation, Lord, even as the wine in the
natural and the spiritual seems to be running
out, we thank You, Lord, there's still the
best wine.
And, Lord, we wait for that.
We long for that.
We ask You, Lord, come fill the wineskins
of Your making, we pray, of Your design,
that, Lord, You and You alone would be
glorified.
In Jesus' name, Amen.