All right, the second book of Samuel.
Second book of Samuel, chapter six.
To Samuel six we read from verse one.
Again David gathered together all the chosen men
of Israel, thirty thousand.
And David arose and went with all the
people that were with him from Bailey of
Judah to bring up from fence the ark
of God, whose name is called by the
name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth
between the cherubims.
And they set the ark of God upon
a new cart and brought it out of
the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah
and Uzur and Ahio.
Ahio, that's not a state, that's the name
of a man.
The sons of Abinadab drove the new cart.
And they brought it out of the house
of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the
ark of God.
And Ahio went before the ark.
And David and all the house of Israel
played before the Lord on all instruments, manner
of instruments, made of firwood, even on hearths
and psalteries, on timbers, on cornets and cymbals.
And when they came to Nacom's threshing floor,
Uzur put forth his hand to the ark
of God and took hold of it, for
the oxen shook it.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Uzur.
And God smote him there for his error,
and there he died by the ark of
God.
Let's look a minute here in the 25th
chapter of Exodus, Exodus chapter 25.
Remember the beginning of this chapter is where
the Lord is selecting, he's going to do
what I think must have been very strange
to Israel.
They had never had any covering in the
sense of a tabernacle.
They'd been nomads, they'd had no priests, they'd
had the heavens for the ceiling of their
church if you like.
And now suddenly instead of being enlarged, they're
contracted to a small space that's called, has
been called again a tabernacle in the wilderness.
And God gives specific instructions to this amazing
man Moses about the building.
It's very interesting that he had no choice
in this, he obeyed every commandment God gave
to him.
He had no more choice in the colors
of the thing, any more than Noah had
a choice of what kind of a rainbow
he wanted.
You ever wondered what kind of a rainbow
he might have chosen?
If the Lord said you choose the colors
it would have been a mess.
If he'd asked me I wouldn't know the
colors.
But he just did as he was commanded.
And it says in verse 8 of the
25th chapter of Exodus, let them make me
a sanctuary that I may dwell among them
according to all that I show thee after
the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern
of all the instruments thereof, even so shall
ye make it.
Okay come down to verse 17.
Thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure
gold, two cubits and a half shall be
the length thereof, and a cubit and a
half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold,
a beaten work shalt thou make them in
the two ends of the mercy seat.
And make one cherub on one end and
the other cherub on the other.
Even of the mercy seat shall ye make
the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings
on high, covering the mercy seat with their
wings, and their faces shall look one to
another.
Towards the mercy seat shall the faces of
the cherub cherubims be.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above
upon the ark, and in the ark thou
shalt put the testimony that I shall give
thee, and there will I meet with thee.
Now that's the first piece of furniture mentioned
as regards the tabernacle.
It was roughly 54 inches long, this ark.
It was a three feet high and three
feet wide.
And it was a visible presence of an
invisible power.
It was a kind of an earthly resting
place where God put his power between those
awesome cherubims.
Remember how often the psalmist cries, all thou
that dwellest between the cherubim shine forth.
Psalm 80 particularly, before Ephraim and Manasseh, stir
up thy strength and come and save us.
If you talk about the ark, usually people
think you mean the ark where, you know,
the children play with at home, they have
little animals, and they go into Noah's ark.
Well that was an ark all right.
Now do you remember another ark beside that?
Well it was a little thing a woman
made to put a baby in.
She made an ark of bulrushes.
And thirdly you have this ark.
Now the ark, actually the word really means,
if you get right to the bottom of
it, it means a place to preserve something
intact.
It has complete coverage.
You know, I've said so often that faith
does three things, it reckons, it risks, and
it rests.
I think the mother of Moses must have
been, well she sure was a wonderful woman.
And she put that baby in that little
ark and pushed it out onto the waters
of the Nile.
I think it was a horrible risk.
Now did she know a crocodile wouldn't eat
it before she had hardly turned her back?
Or the lid could have blown off and
the sun might have scorched the baby crisp.
Or it could have been carried away on
the on the flood, or somebody could have
stolen it.
But you see when you get a word
from God, you're not going to be shaken
by the Philistines or anybody else outside.
God had told her what to do and
she obeyed.
And again that's the key, that's the anchorage
of spiritual success, spiritual maturity, is obedience.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
Remember King Saul filled a hole of that
that valley with beasts, and yet he retained
a few of the price stock.
And when Samuel came up to him and
spoke to him, he said, well I've done
as you said.
And the little sheep gave the story away,
you know.
Wonderful what little animals have taken important parts
in the Bible, isn't it?
And Samuel said, if you've done what you
said you've done, what meaneth this bleating of
the sheep?
And the lowing of the oxen which I
hear.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
There is no substitute for obedience, none, not
there, not now, not ever.
Again trust and obey, there's no other way,
there's no other outlet.
You either do as God says, all right
there, you begin to shrink, you begin to
wither.
Now here is the ark, and the measurements
are given to us.
Verse 22 says, there will I meet with
thee.
And that was a supreme desire of God.
It's a supreme desire of God today, that
when we come together we meet with him.
As I usually ask people when somewhere in
a meeting, did you come here, or did
you come here tonight to meet God, or
did you come to hear a sermon about
him?
I talked with somebody today, an internationally known
figure who said, you know, I'm realizing how
little I know of God.
And I had offered somebody a sermon that
there's the most profound thing I've ever heard.
And this person said, I don't, I feel
as though I don't want to preach anymore.
I said, well that's how I felt when
I, when I heard the depth that this
man has.
Talking about Jesus laying his glory by and
being wrapped in our clay.
Oh God pity us, we're so commercialized, we're
so regulated by circumstances, we get up with
the clock, the clock runs our lives that
we lose sight of eternity, we lose sight
of the wonder of God's salvation.
And the chief concern is about the whole
of the building of this marvelous, if you
want to call it, kind of a private
area that was to be roped off, and
again when you think of all the linen
that was put round, and every thread, billions
of them were put in there by hand.
Rather staggering, isn't it?
And then there's to be a place, a
holy place, and then not only a holy
place, but the holy of holies.
And this ark was put not in the
holy place, it's put in the holy of
holies, and it has the chief place in
the holy of holies, and inside of it
you have the rod that budded, and you
have a sample of the manna that fell
from heaven, and it didn't get worms in
it either, and there you have the tables
of stone.
These, this testimony of God has to be
preserved.
And the ark is an abiding place for
God on earth, that is, he manifests himself
there.
Let's skip over a minute here, and read
in the first book of Samuel, and chapter
five, sorry.
We can't go through the whole thing, this
is a fantastic study, I'm going to do
it myself, but I couldn't do it tonight
because it will take up too much time.
But if you want to find a minute,
excuse me, a minute account of this ark,
and God's desire, and the way it moved
around, you'd have to go to the first
book, go to the first book of Chronicles,
and chapters 12 to 16, and you'll find
a very marvelous account of the moving of
that wonderful ark.
And then of course you'd have to read
Psalm 68 and Psalm 101, which also deal
with this and Psalm 24.
You see, this is some little bit of
furniture that's tucked away in a corner that
has no meaning, meaning it's the abiding place.
If you like, it's the seat, it's a
dwelling place.
You have the ark, and then on the
top of the ark, you have a mercy
seat.
The Salvation Army never used to talk about
coming to the altar, they used to sing.
I can remember that years ago, 60, 70
years ago, when the army used to sing,
come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel, here
bring you wounded heart, here tell your anguish,
earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
There's a mercy seat, a blood-sprinkled mercy
seat.
Somebody afterwards removed that lid and looked inside,
and because they did, they got into serious
trouble.
Now if you read those Psalms again, 68
and 101 and Psalm 24, you'll find this
thing grows immensely, immensely interesting.
Okay, we're now in the first book of
Samuel, chapter 5.
The Philistines took the ark of God and
brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
When the Philistines took the ark of God,
they brought it into the house of Dagon
and set it by Dagon.
Now when there of Ashdod rose early in
the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his
face on the earth before the ark of
God.
And they took Dagon and set him on
his place again.
And there rose early in the morning, and
he was fallen on his face, and his
head and his hands had broken off.
Now you see here the peril of toying
or playing with holy things.
There's a verse I didn't look up, but
it talks about the iniquity of holy things.
Now that's something to really turn over, isn't
it?
How in the world can you have the
iniquity of holy things?
These people have captured the ark of God,
they thought it would do them good, instead
it did them evil.
They put it at the side of their
God.
This monstrous God, Dagon, with the upper part
of his body was a man and the
lower part a fish, something like a mermaid
we would say today.
And there he stood in a temple where
people worshipped him, and as soon as they
put the ark of God there, without anybody
doing a thing, big old Dagon fell down
on his face.
So they stood him up again.
And they went in the next morning, he
was worse off.
He not only fell down, his hands had
broken off, his feet had broken off, just
because of God's presence being there.
Now see what happened further in the chapter.
When it was early in the morning, behold
Dagon was fallen upon his face to the
ground before the ark of the Lord.
And the head of Dagon and both the
palms of his hands were cut off upon
the threshold.
Only the stump of Dagon was left.
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any
that came into Dagon's house dare tread on
the threshold of Dagon to this day.
You see just that one visitation, that one
movement of God terrified them.
So in a sense Dagon had to go
out to business.
Verse six.
The hand of the Lord was heavy upon
them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and
smote them with emeralds and Ashdod and the
coats thereof.
And when the men of Ashdod saw that
it was so, they said the ark of
God of Israel shall not abide with us,
for his hand is sore upon us and
upon Dagon our God.
Going to the end of the eighth verse.
And they carried the ark of God, the
God of Israel.
They carried the ark of the God of
Israel out thither.
And it was so after they had carried
it out that the hand of the Lord
was against the city.
Now here you are again, you see the
peril.
What I want to emphasize, two things.
I want to emphasize the peril of having
these holy things and misusing them.
And yet the peril is obviously the opposite
to the to the power.
Remember the children of Israel, one of their
marvelous escapades, they walked around the city seven
times.
What did they do?
They carried the ark of God.
To them that was the very presence of
God.
Can you imagine people on the walls looking
down and say, well who are these lunatics?
I mean what are they doing?
They were not allowed to speak.
That must have been tough on some of
them.
They were not allowed to speak.
They walked around in silence.
They carried the ark.
What have they got there?
Is that a coffin?
What is it?
It's a casket.
You see they were not allowed to mount
it.
When Moses was sharing out some of the
property of Israel, he gave various things to
various people.
But the sons, I've forgotten his name, Athon
I think it was, his sons were not
allowed to have any cattle or any of
the possessions.
They were separated into carrying the ark of
God.
Now the peril is this.
I think to me it comes home with
great force.
Or let me go to the other scripture.
Where did we read a bit earlier?
I've forgotten that chapter.
Second Samuel and verse, pardon me, chapter six.
Okay.
Second Samuel six and verse six.
When they came to Nacum's threshing floor, Uzzar
put forth his hand to the ark of
God and took hold of it and the
oxen shook it and the anger of the
Lord was kindled against it.
Why?
Now they'd made a new cart for it.
God said it never had to be on
a cart.
God said it had to have four gold
rings, one on each corner and put a
staff through it and men had to carry
this thing.
But they made a new cart.
You know the Jews then, I don't know
about today, they love new things.
Remember what Samson said?
If you fasten me with seven new ropes
then I shall be like other men or
then I shall be weak like other men.
Rather insulting to us isn't it?
Remember it later when Jesus died they put
him in a new tomb.
When Jesus rode an ass he rode one
that nobody had broken in.
It was entirely new.
They love new things.
And these people thought they were doing God
a favor by you know modernizing this thing.
I mean why carry the thing on your
shoulders anyhow?
When oxen can do it.
Now I don't know what happened to these
oxen.
You know it says that when they came
to the threshing floor of Uzzah maybe they
thought it was lunchtime.
You know they could smell hmm that's the
stuff we eat and hmm right now they're
threshing some new wheat.
Hmm we should stay and have some.
And maybe it's a very action of the
those those creatures that swayed the ark.
Now isn't it really awesome?
They didn't decide to paint it another color.
They didn't decide to put a second deck
on it.
They didn't disfigure it in any way.
The men didn't go in front of it
and start blaspheming.
The man somehow thought he do gotta oh
look the the ark is going to topple
over oh I'll hold it.
Somebody once asked Mr Spurgeon if he would
join a society for the defense of the
Bible.
And he said you don't usually walk before
a lion with a sword.
Why do you need to defend the Bible?
All this man did was put his hand
up to stay the ark and immediately he
was smitten.
What do you think we're doing with the
gospel today?
Dressing it up?
Painting it up?
Somebody told me this week of a Christian
group a rock band a Christian Christian rock
band.
Uh but anyhow uh whatever they are they
go around and now they've got sequins on
their coats.
Well why not?
Johnny Cash has them.
And all the other guys have them.
I mean if the world can have them
can't we?
Glitter I mean if we've no other glitter
we may as well stick it on the
inside anyhow.
And we try to steady the ark of
God.
We're trying to put some improvement on the
ark of God.
We try to do that I think with
the translations we make of the word of
God.
We try and make some of those words
just a little bit more easy.
As I said to some preachers I've preached
with this week that that if we go
back and maybe mentioned it here before if
we go back to Bible language and and
call sin what it really is.
Instead of saying somebody you say that girl's
a whore you say no no she's a
cold girl.
Now you say about a dirty filthy sodomite
oh no no he's not a sodomite he's
just gay.
There's nobody wicked they're just weak.
There's no iniquity it's just infirmity.
No backsliders anymore that's a dirty word.
A lot of people out of fellowship but
backsliders you don't use that word.
Oh how smooth.
I remember reading a story of Mr Whitfield
where he was particularly angry one day.
I'd like to have heard Whitfield I think
it had been right up my alley.
He got mighty furious about the possessions the
devil had.
He was always wanting the church to pull
down strongholds.
He was always seeing the enemy doing his
evil work getting people to submit to him.
And one day he says I'm going to
shoot the arrows of God into your hearts.
And he said he mentioned an arrow and
he pulled it the arrow back like this
and the congregation ducks you know and he
was well that's the way to preach if
you can get them to do that.
At least you've got them halfway down to
the ground and maybe when you get them
halfway down you can push them the other
half.
But the anger of the Lord was kindled
against this man and not only smote him
but killed him.
Come on in God's name what are we
doing with the gospel today?
Hmm?
Isn't it getting more emasculated?
Isn't it getting more uh uh hollywood style?
Don't you don't you miss the absence and
the glory of God?
Why they got the they got the they
got the very presence of God inside and
that's all all we need.
There's an old hymn that says God's presence
and his very self and essence all divine.
I'll ask you again I've asked you before
when did you last go out of the
sanctuary?
Tiptoe because God would reveal his holiness and
his majesty.
We go out very much as the same
way we came in.
Go out we say hey I like your
dress.
Someone like that in Sears myself.
Wish I'd got it.
Well I like some other trivial thing that's
got nothing to do with eternity and nothing
to do with God.
Oh my.
Notice in verse five now go back a
minute here.
David and all the house of Israel played
before the Lord and all instruments made of
fur, wood, even hearths and psalteries and cymbals
and coronets and ensembles.
Now that there's his ecstasy.
Now come down to verse nine.
This same David was afraid of the Lord
that day and he said how shall the
ark of the Lord come to me?
That's a big switch.
He's excited they have their band music everything
and having a whale of a time and
then suddenly God intervenes and suddenly his all
emotional life does a somersault.
He realizes what an awful God he serves.
What a God of majesty.
What a God of glory.
One minute everybody's excited the next minute wouldn't
that be something it'd be like going into
the uh that experience you know when Ananias
and Sapphira went to church.
That must have been a great morning.
I would have enjoyed that I think.
I said well Lord why do you why
did you stop with two hypocrites?
I'm sure half the congregation you could have
wiped them out at the same time.
It would have been more spectacular but God
doesn't do it that way.
But I what I'm trying to say rough
as and tumble as it may be because
I've had such a hectic day today but
the anger of God was kindled for a
very simple thing.
He did not take a hammer and break
the ark.
He didn't say this old piece of furniture
we can do without.
Do you know the ark is the only
thing that was taken out of the original
tabernacle and went into the temple of the
most high God?
Do you know afterwards in the book of
the revelation it says let's preserve the testimony
of God in an ark?
Now scholars will tell you that the ark
was destroyed in the uh second invasion and
the burning of Babylon and what have you
got and maybe it was.
And yet God's presence and that's what it
matters.
It isn't a case of having a wooden
box here.
What it's telling us is that God makes
their place his habitation.
Now as I said to somebody today this
is this is awesome.
This is breathtaking when when you say well
I'd like to go and I wish we
had a box and you can say God's
presence is there.
He's there in his holiness.
He's there in his majesty.
He's there in his glory.
Be careful how you handle this thing.
Well we don't need a box.
We don't need a presence.
Why?
Because he says you're the habitation of God.
There's only so much of God's holiness in
this meeting as you and I fill with
the spirit of the Holy Spirit of God.
The pure spirit of God.
He doesn't dwell in temples mate.
Oh you can make him a thousand crystal
palaces like they've done on the west coast
there.
So what?
You can't sanctify a building in the New
Testament sense they didn't do that.
Why even Solomon said and I guess he
built the most expensive building ever made.
Man of my life.
He used gold to walk on.
He used gold on the walls.
He was the most extravagant building ever made.
He used gold more easily than we use
cement.
And he built the altar and he had
all the priests in total correct display there.
And yet when he made his intercession to
God he says look I've put up this
building.
I've done everything according to your commandment.
We've even got an altar.
We even got a sacrifice on the altar.
Now what's missing?
Nothing except the fire of God.
What good is a house that I've built
it if God's presence isn't there?
What's the good of making a showpiece and
saying we've got the best choir.
We've got the most brilliant preacher.
We've got this one.
So what?
In God's name does it matter?
Don't you think we're putting our hands on
so many things these days?
You've got to start this way and finish
that way and do something else.
We're getting so mechanical.
Since when did the gospel need trimming up?
I would have to go to a meeting
this week.
There's a five-piece band there.
It was band B-A-N.
If I had to do it it would
be B-A-N-N-E-D.
Band.
I'd have banned the whole thing.
Oh how they swerved and jazzed and what
not.
They didn't do that too long after I
really got going.
The preacher said amen for 10 minutes then
he lost his all his pump uh what
does he say his energy and somehow lost
his voice.
Who's touching the ark?
David was afraid of the Lord.
He hadn't been afraid before.
And isn't it incredible that this people that
knew God in such an intimate way this
people had gone round a city without a
gun.
The most despised people of all and they
went round one day, round another day, round
another day, round another.
On the last day they went round seven
times so 13 times they went round.
That's pretty unlucky isn't it?
And they kept down and they stood all
the criticism of the people that were watching
and all they had to do on the
last day was shout with a great shout.
Why?
Because God was there and I don't see
any fun in shouting and carrying on in
a meeting.
Oh you can clap your hands that's okay
but mercy if that's all you have to
do.
If you have to whip people up.
You know I thought my dear friend there
Dale there and his father belonged to a
tribe called the Quakers.
And I thought of that when God says
I want a tabernacle and there at the
mercy seat will I meet with thee.
God wants me to meet with him.
It's more than me preaching for him.
It's more than me being a missionary for
him.
He wants to meet with me.
He wants to reveal himself to me.
He wants to talk to me.
He wants to to come and work in
this being of mine.
A lady called me from the border of
Mexico today and she said she was weeping
and she said that God has called us
here we're hispanic.
God has really blessed us but oh we
do want to be such great soul winners.
And she went on I said my dear
look the first commandment is not thou shall
be a soul winner.
The first commandment is thou shall love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart soul
mind and strength.
There are lots of missionaries that don't love
God.
There are lots of missionaries should have returned
to the from the field six months after
they got there.
They're doing a thing mechanically and it's hard
to enjoy that kind of burden when you're
doing it mechanically.
But when they do it under the anointing
of God when they do it with the
love of God.
Can you imagine this procession stopping?
They had harps and psalteries and timbrels and
cornets and they're having a great time.
And suddenly death came.
Do you wonder that David was angry afraid?
And he said how shall the ark of
the Lord come unto me?
Verse 12.
It was told King David saying the Lord
blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all
that pertaineth unto him because of the ark
of God.
So David went and brought up the ark
of God from the house of Obed-Edom
into the city of David with gladness.
And it was so that when they that
bear the ark of the Lord had gone
six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
And David danced before the Lord with all
his might and he was girded with a
linen ephod.
Now notice what he danced with.
He danced with all his might.
Doesn't say dance with a girl.
He says he danced with all his might.
He danced in the presence of God.
There's nothing sensuous about it.
He isn't linked up with some woman in
his arms.
He's dancing in God's presence.
God has turned his sorrow into joy.
He started off in joy.
There comes bereavement.
There comes sorrow.
They've disobeyed God.
They've hurt God.
They've transgressed against God.
Do you ever wonder if you're getting insensitive
to what God's trying to say to you?
Hmm?
Do you ever wonder when when a certain
thing has happened that somewhere in your nervousness
you put your hand up to steady the
ark and somehow the sensitivity went and the
compassion you had went and the concern you
had went?
Again this man didn't take an axe and
split up the ark.
He didn't say we've carried this thing wrong
enough.
We need no no no no.
All he did was try to steady the
ark of God.
Oh mercy how we're trying to steady the
ark of God these days.
We want to do some new thing.
We wouldn't we wouldn't just steady it.
We'd paint it.
We'd put a musical box inside of it.
We'd put the priests in some new garments.
We'd try and make it more acceptable.
You know there's nothing nothing this generation needs
more than a baptism and old-fashioned hellfire
preaching.
I'm sure of that.
The power and the presence of God were
resting on that tabernacle.
And while they were obedient they had success.
Doesn't matter if you have to get a
city down.
Again the most ridiculous thing.
And they stood all the criticism and scorning
and they're on that final day when because
they'd obeyed God the whole place came tumbling
down.
Well let's not be too critical about them
because you know you and I again have
more um we've more to answer for than
they have.
We've seen the mighty workings of God.
I don't know anybody that's pulling Jericho's down
do you?
Can you think of our obligation that we
have as a nation with all our Bibles
all our broadcasts?
Well aren't we studying the ark of God
in the way we're presenting the gospel these
days?
The gospel is still the power of God
unto salvation to all who believe.
And when I hear people I heard somebody
say well you know there's a different approach
today isn't there?
Isn't there really?
You go tell a woman who's just lost
a child.
Well these are modern days you don't have
to weep over it and groan over it.
I mean they did that in the Bible
days but of course women were women then.
But nowadays it doesn't matter.
All they've done is lost a child.
Is there any difference between the grief of
somebody who's heartbroken today than there was in
the grief of somebody who lived 3,000
years ago?
We say human nature's changed.
Human nature has not changed.
Human nature is still sinful nature.
Human nature still needs God.
And I think there are times when God
tries to stop the business you know.
When I think of again they all they
did was put his hand up to the
ark.
He didn't curse God.
He didn't take a hammer and smash it.
He didn't say now you're all lunatics for
going this way.
Uh this is too old-fashioned.
Well do you think that God maybe has
been speaking?
Have you noticed how many tragedies we've had
this winter?
One whole town swept away with a mudslide
just like that.
People went into eternity.
Mississippi has covered more area than ever.
We came down past there just the other
day.
Acres, hundreds of acres.
Just just little bits of roofs standing up
out of the water.
And all you could see it looked like
you could see for 50 miles just stretching
the water.
And some farms just uh standing on a
little island.
They'll never get any crops in there this
year.
The sludge will be left behind.
They can't do with cattle.
It seems as though God is trying to
check us but we we won't take the
checking.
We won't take the warning.
And again I say to you the most
distressing area I believe is the area of
the church itself.
We're trying to study the ark.
We don't want God almighty to govern the
whole thing.
We want a little bit of flesh in
it.
Want a little bit of humanism in it.
Want a little bit of organization in it.
Want some of our skill in it.
And God holds off.
Want to do it in the flesh?
Why the word of God says some trust
in chariots and some trust in horses.
But we will trust in the name of
God alone.
Oh I'm aching on the inside to see
somebody that will really really really have no
confidence in the flesh.
Won't try to organize.
Isn't it horrible when we try and subsidize
God's cause with a few dollars in, a
collection there and something else.
Now either God is God or he isn't.
As I've said before this book is either
absolute or it's obsolete.
There's no middle cause.
It either has all the answers or it
has no answers.
I've got to get to the place where
I say Lord you can strip everything else
away from me and on Christ the solid
rock I stand all of the ground is
sinking sand.
I'm not going to study the ark.
I'm convinced God's going to do a new
work.
I've talked the last two or three days
with a brother I love very dearly and
he's at the crossroads in his life and
I know others who are men that you
think are at the top of the tree.
You think they should be satisfied with what
they've got and they're not.
They're suddenly realizing there's a new dimension that
God wants to bring to our generation.
A new revelation.
A new unfolding of the word of God.
If you like men that don't try to
study the ark by organization and saying you
must do it this way and you must
do it that way.
You must do it this way.
Say no listen say we're going to follow
if it takes us we have to follow
those lowing oxen.
They look pretty scruffy things.
But before long you remember that David he
went and slew the oxen and and he
took the fatlings and he made a sacrifice
to God and then he danced before God.
Why?
Because he got rid of many of his
obstructions.
The Lord is very merciful.
Do you know merciful he is?
He's so merciful he'll strip us right down
to the place where we haven't a thing
to stand on.
We haven't a thing to lean on.
We're cast in nakedness and we say in
despair.
You know the church that was rich and
increased in goods?
That's where the church is today.
She's rich, she's increased in goods, she's in
need of nothing.
Which church was it Jesus spewed out of
his mouth?
I would I was either hot or cold.
So then because thou art neither hot or
cold I'll spew.
He didn't spew the cold one out of
his mouth it never been in.
It was his church that he spewed out
of his mouth.
It wasn't a heathen religion.
It was his church.
They were neither hot or cold.
They were kind of midstream.
And because they were neither one thing nor
the other he vomited them out.
Didn't vomit the cold church out.
He didn't bother with it.
God will not stand for mediocrity.
I think I need to sit down.
In fact I've said to somebody today I'm
going to do less preaching in the next
few months.
As little as I can.
And I'm going to meditate on certain things.
I'm not young anymore.
I'm getting older and older but that doesn't
mean you can't.
I mean Moses was 80 when he started
and I'm not 80 yet.
So maybe when I'm 80 I'll wake up
and start doing something.
But there's a hunger.
There's a there's a the class we talked
to the last Saturday morning there's some five
young men maybe about 30 of them 32
or three.
And half of them were zealous.
They were sitting on the edge of their
seats at all prospects.
Most of them there were seminarian fellows.
Eager keen.
Even asking afterwards well Mr. Rayleigh what's the
secret really of abiding?
What's the secret of abounding in the Christian
life?
What's the secret of not being a failure?
What's the secret of not letting your branch
get withered up?
I had so many calling today for prayer
again.
Every day they call.
I'm sorry for the situation some of them
are in but it's the only way they'll
grow in grace anyhow in the knowledge of
God.
They've been leaning too much on what they
have and now God's going to dry up
their sores so that they only have God
on whom they can lean.
They've had so much flesh.
They've had so much ability.
They've had so much organization.
They've had so much security.
God says well let me pull it all
away.
Doesn't the word say trust in the Lord
forever for in the in the Lord is
everlasting strength.
I think one of the shocks in eternity
will be to discover how little we've ever
used of the available power of God.
Not for our own mean silly self but
there's a world out that's dying there.
Does God have resources to meet this generation?
Come on.
I learned to my horror just while I
was in Brooklyn that a man who is
a professional in this realm, a very fine
Christian man.
Last year the churches in America spent close
on two billion dollars on radio and tv
preaching.
Two billion.
Do you know how many people we reach?
Less than four percent of the of the
national family.
Less than four percent of Americans listen to
a gospel and we spent nearly two.
Can you imagine how many how many mission
stations that would have built?
How many churches that would have built in
some other country?
I think we're putting our hands on the
ark.
We're rather afraid that we might go a
bit overboard you know.
Doctrinally somebody comes and says hey well steady
a minute and he hardly knows he's putting
his hand on the ark anyhow.
We're just afraid it seems of some new
revelation some new some new demand that God
will make upon us.
Not just individually well it is individually of
course and collectively.
Now I guess I didn't get this over
to you as it came to me but
I'll tell you when I read it the
other day I was shocked to realize that
again this man did not smash up the
ark.
He didn't tell all the people to rebel.
He didn't tell the priest to do it.
All he did was thinking he was doing
God a favor.
All he did was disobey.
Is that all?
Well that's all Adam did in the garden.
All he did was disobey didn't curse God.
And it seems the hardest thing that we
have in our lives to learn is how
to obey in the very very very simple
things that God challenges us with.
I still say you know if I were
a kind of protestant pope I'd close every
church down for a month.
We're preached to death.
We heavens why do we keep going to
conferences?
You can't handle the light you've got.
Why do you want some more?
Huh?
Turn it on when you go home tonight.
The next conference you go with it's this
weekend the next week you'll have more light
therefore you'll have more to answer the judgment
seat.
Haven't you got enough to answer for?
Aren't there areas in your life where you
still are not obeyed even though God said
do this you put your hand on the
ark because it was coming toppling over on
you?
It's a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of a living God the word of
God said.
Robert Louis Stevenson said I only know one
thing and that's when you fall out of
the hands of the living God.
And that happens it comes a time when
God says to a nation all right you've
been putting your hand on my truth.
You've been withholding my truth.
Job says I have not eaten my morsel
alone.
You say well we've given money to missions
so we have.
You know this came to me I mentioned
it last night before there were a lot
of number of preachers in that place and
I said this I said you know we
had a national day of prayer last week.
No we didn't have a national day of
prayer.
We had a national suggestion.
If we had a national day of prayer
the president would have said every factory is
closed down.
Every school is closed down.
Every shopping mall is closed down.
Everything's going to stop.
It's time we listened to God.
It's time we humbled ourselves before God.
But when God wants it that way which
he does we put our hand on the
ark and say well we'll steady it and
make it a little bit convenient.
Dear God there was a time when they
were so concerned about revival they even put
remember they put what sackcloth on the animals.
If you wear sackcloth they think you're a
crackpot.
If you don't think so get a sack
get an old potato sack and cut a
hole in the top put it over your
head and get your wife to cut some
holes so you can put your arms in
and go to church like that and say
this is an outward sign of an inward
sorrow I have.
I don't care about the style of my
clothes.
I don't care what you think anybody else
thinks.
We've got to have revival.
We've got to have a move of God
and we haven't had it by all our
financial efforts and all our geniuses at evangelism
all the other things.
We get so far that we put our
hands on the ark.
There's going to be a conference shortly and
I am not in any way troubled that
I wasn't invited but I know some of
the godliest men in the world and they're
not invited to that conference in Amsterdam.
2500 itinerant evangelists.
I guess that's why they'll get they say
well they're not itinerant evangelists.
They're going to meet and they're going to
go through a rigmarole again.
Workshops, workshops, workshops.
There's a workshop for this and there's a
workshop for that.
The hardest work in the whole world is
prayer.
Do they have workshops on prayer?
No.
The ark is falling.
We're going to study it.
We've got a new idea.
Every magazine I pick up now Christian magazine
is how to make your church grow.
I'm looking for one that says how to
take your church deeper.
Somebody said to a preacher you're the biggest
church in.
How big is your church?
He said three miles wide and an inch
deep.
I think that's true of a lot of
them.
Three miles wide and an inch deep.
And while it's humorous it's tragic.
Are we going to change the style?
Are we going to keep studying the ark?
Are we going to say no no no
we're not going any further like this?
This old cart you've got it on with.
New cart we're taking it off.
We're going to do it God's way.
And it looks silly to carry it on
your shoulders.
It looks silly to walk around when you
can mechanize the thing or organize the thing
or paint it up or make it more
attractive.
How can you make God's presence more attractive?
That's about the height of insanity.
Isn't God himself in his holiness attractive?
For some reason I don't know why I
thought about Westminster Abbey.
They recently redecorated it.
Oh they climbed up there and they put
pure gold leaf.
It's worth millions of dollars now.
I don't think God ever enters the place
to tell you the truth.
You know the less of the glory of
God we have the more showmanship we need
inside.
A fancy good-looking choir with marvelous robes
on.
Lovely church building everything.
And the more we get of that it
seems as though God says I don't dwell
in temples made with hands.
I'm not comfortable here anyhow.
You know what we need to do?
We need to do what David did.
We need to take all the implements.
We need to take the cart and break
it up and we need to get hold
of the bullets and chop them up and
have one big holy ghost bonfire and say
Lord God I'm going to live on the
stretch for you from now till I die
whether I die tomorrow or 10 years from
now.
I'm going to meet with you as I've
never met with you before.
I'm going on the stretch for God as
I've never been on the stretch before.
We have some requests for prayer.
We have this request from the border that
we pray for this fellowship.
I told them to contact Joe Foss.
It's near Hidalgo where the last days of
an outreach that Joe took over.
It was impressive when we got to Moody
one of the students came up chairman of
the students I think and he said you
know you came at a real opportune time.
I said why?
He said well a few days ago we
got a big bundle of the last days
magazine and it's got your article on the
judgment seat so it's been a problem of
discussion in the dinner times and the other
meals that we've had this week so that
was great.
Now I was amazed how many people didn't
know lots of the fellowships around here but
everybody seemed to know at least two.
Dave Wilkerson's work and last days.
I won't mention the others but anyhow they
didn't know the others somehow.
Everybody went it was last I get last
day Dave Wilkerson yeah yeah yeah it's wonderful
that from this is where there's so much
food is going out to people you know
people take hold of the magazine as though
it were a prize as though it dropped
out of heaven and it's become manner to
them.
It's wonderful how God is using it.
Our neighbors had a new baby this week
and the little thing as I understand a
kind of a serious case of jaundice it
has to be put under a lamp is
that what they do put them under a
lamp and turn it every so many minutes
they have to turn it over and it's
in it's not a case of life and
death but it's a case of the fact
that the child is pretty sick and we
need to pray for that which remind me
again that Tony and Kathy's little boy I
think still needs some prayer.
A brother called to say where's he from?
West Virginia I think that the other day
he went to fill his car with gas
and um he hadn't got his he left
his wallet at home and so he said
to the man I'm sorry but I don't
I don't have any money but I'll see
you get it.
Now I don't know how he messed the
thing up but he drove away and he
still had the gas uh nozzle in the
back of the car and he pulled away
and the thing burst into flames and the
fire department came and so they took him
to jail for a night and he has
to go face the um some felony charge
he has to face a juror or something
and he's very upset he asked for prayer
tonight he said when you go to your
prayer class remember me.
This is the last class we'll have until
I guess about September a lot of us
are going off um different places the Browns
are going as missionaries we don't know when
they'll come back but they're going down to
Belize which is a wonderful thing to do
we need to pray for Belize Bob Roberts
is going back there a week on Saturday
he asked for prayer uh it's it's amazing
how many people know that we pray and
they they send requests for prayer and that's
what we're here for but again there's a
great ache in the hearts of so many
people I I found it I've been away
practically a month here and there and there's
a great ache there's a consciousness that something
has to give either God is going to
come in wrath or he's going to come
in mercy we have to get to the
place where we say Lord I'm not interested
I'm not new clothes I talked to Dave
Wilkerson yesterday said something about Gary he said
I can't get that guy to buy himself
a coat now Gary could be living in
that lovely house by the lake he's gone
to Detroit of all places to live and
his sister's gone up there with her husband
too they're going into that that place for
the whole of summer and maybe for two
or three years sitting in a nest of
corruption I learned a lesson again in and
being in the um in the meeting in
Brooklyn that young fellow took that big old
dirty rat infested ex theater and cleaned it
out he lived on three to four thousand
dollars a year for the first two or
three years I don't know how he did
it and now it's packed 1500 people they're
just praising and making over a thousand in
the prayer meeting it was it was magnificent
and he won't move out of it doesn't
want to go anywhere else this is where
the fish are where do you fish your
fish where the fish are and there they
were all kinds of say you see Japanese
and Chinese and all these other folks and
there they are just seething as we went
in the quietness that there was there were
hundreds and hundreds and we went in about
40 minutes early to pray and there must
have been seven or eight hundred and you
know you could almost forget all of atmosphere
like that it was so beautiful so sweet
and that word came to me in quietness
and in confidence shall be what your strength
we think it's noise and bustle hallelujah everybody
stand let's sing have a marvelous time that
doesn't mean anything in quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength sure there's a time
to clap your hands there's a time to
be still and know that I'm God and
we've lived on the other stuff so long
that if we had a quiet meeting with
most of us would think we were dead
I look at the trees at the back
of our house I'm glad they don't crack
when they're growing wouldn't it be terrible if
every time a tree expands an inch it
went yuck like that mercy I'd have to
sleep with eardrums something on my ears the
flowers open without a noise the sun gets
up every day noise is not power there's
an ache in the hearts of lots of
people to see God displays power in our
generation something we have never seen to see
the church really get into it what God
wants you to do to pull down strongholds
and see the powers of satan destroyed it's
all here in the word it's available for
us and the good book says they that
know their bibles no it doesn't it says
they that know their God shall be strong
and do exploits and that's your job of
mine to get to know God not to
be a famous speaker preacher missionary what have
you got to know God and after all
his amazing achievements Paul is saying after he's
established churches he'd been through deaths after he'd
be he's a miracle man and yet he
says that I may know him and the
power of his resurrection still reaching out there's
no graduation in the spiritual class beside of
eternity so forget it just as there's no
graduation in the school of prayer there's always
more land ahead to be possessed there's always
more revelation that God wants to give us
there are almost almost always more challenges that
God wants to bring to us and we
need not only to be challenged we need
to be changed that God will make us
adequate for this day I got a letter
yesterday from a certain man well I guess
how many of you know George Burwell most
of you know George Burwell I got a
letter from you know where he was of
all places trust George to be there he
was in Gdansk in Poland now who in
the world would go to Gdansk in Poland
but George Burwell and he says you'll be
amazed how God is working here there's not
the freedom sure enough and there's a whole
atmosphere of terror and uh Wellenser and all
the other guys are standing up against the
Russians and so forth but oh there's a
sweetness here you know I felt like to
pick him up and kiss him give him
a big hug and say there you are
oh you're just a man after my own
heart he goes where the trouble is he
goes where the difficulty is he goes where
the adversary is dear God why don't you
ask God to make you a giant tonight
and then pardon me to make you a
David tonight and then ask him where your
giant is where your Goliath is and go
out and slay him hmm one head is
nodding thank you nobody else got any courage
who wants to be a bit further up
the road you want to be an Elijah
and and challenge 800 priests of Baal isn't
it time he looked up and saw the
glory and majesty of God I say again
all the preaching this Sunday 90% will
be about a man who died 2,000
years ago and all we'll defend the virgin
birth and the resurrection and what have you
got and the other 10% 9%
of it will be about a man who's
coming very soon to rapture us and thank
God we can leave all our bills behind
us and I'm not sure he'll take you
to heaven if you've got bills says oh
no man anything so you'll be left behind
you wish you paid the money on that
tractor or that sewing machine you got what
did you get Betty but anyhow uh whatever
you get you wish you'd pay your bills
oh the do you know what I wouldn't
like to go to heaven right now in
one sense I would in another sense I
wouldn't I want to see this sleepy lazy
Laodicean church just have one more shaking by
God and then go in turn and shake
the world and pull down the strongholds after
all the word of God says the bride
hath made herself ready doesn't say he makes
her ready she makes herself ready she purifies
herself she puts on her wedding garments she's
so excited about his coming she wants to
obey every commandment she wants to say well
darling here I am after all the church
is supposed to be the bride of Christ
spotless pure excited about him returning and then
give him a present giving him giving him
a present of the last revival before the
wrath of God is poured out wouldn't that
be great yes well don't just say yes
do it I heard a man last night
he kept saying I want to tell you
what God can do I want to tell
you what God could one of these dramatic
fellows when I got up I thought I
was very kind I said I'm tired of
hearing what God can do show me it
don't tell me what God can do show
me everybody's got books on how to do
it how to do it how to do
it show me you know what children say
you start telling they say well daddy show
me mummy show me come on show me
that's all the world is waiting for it's
sick of our paper theology sick of all
our graphs and charts