The Ark That Wasn't 5-12-96 PM

5-12-96 PM

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

1 Samuel chapter 14, if you would turn there. And I'm going to try to move quickly through the message and through the scriptures, if you would, because I know we have different things that need to be taken care of after the services tonight. But brethren, preaching is still going to take preeminence around here. I realize different people traveling and up to see mom and some traveled to LA today and different things. And uh we certainly understand that. But thank you for being in church tonight and thank you for participating. And let us give these announcements. We need to keep the momentum of our service for Him and our growth and our depth and our roots going down so we can bear fruit upwards. 1 Samuel 14. I want you to uh see that there's something that happens here. And if you would, let's begin uh reading in verse 14, verse 14 of 1 Samuel 14. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men within, as it were a half acre of land, which the yoke of oxen might plough. And there was a trembling in the host. What has happened here is the Philistine army has surrounded Saul, and there's a trembling in the host in the field, and among all the people, the garrison and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked. So it was a very great trembling. What's happening here is God is helping them after they began to do battle themselves. Verse 16. And the watchmen of Saul and Gibbe of Benjamin looked, and behold the multitude, and by the way, that's the multitude of the Philistine army there, the enemy, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another. Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. And look if you would in verse 18 very carefully. And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. And it came to pass while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased. And Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. So he calls thee for the ark of God, and while they're utilizing the ark of God with the priest, God continues to work. I want to give you a sad commentary. I've studied, I've looked, I've read, I've searched. To my knowledge, that's the only time Saul called for the Ark of God through his entire leadership reign. You say, well, I don't know what the big deal is about that. Well, the Ark of God is where the mercy seat is. The Ark of God was, if you would, a shadow of things going on in heaven, and where the mercy seat is, and where the throne of God is where God sits, and it's where God showed up in the Old Testament, if you would, when the tabernacle was erected, and the glory filled where the ark was, where the mercy seat was. And this is the only time recorded that I can find where Saul called for the ark of God. Look, if you would, uh, and to bear this out, look at 1 Samuel chapter 7, 1 Samuel chapter 7, and also pick up 1 Chronicles 13. 1 Samuel chapter 7, and 1 Chronicles chapter 13. Now I know God began, if you would, calling Saul to the kingship, and God honored him at the start. But if you know what happened here, Saul got away from God. Look at 1 Samuel, if you would, chapter 7, and then holding your place in 1 Chronicles, chapter 13. In 1 Chronicles chapter 7, in fact, let's back up to 1 Chronicles, I'm sorry, in 1 Samuel chapter 7, let's back up to 1 Samuel chapter 6 and get a little running start, if you would, as to what's going on here. In 1 Samuel chapter 6, notice, if you would, with me, verse 19, brethren. And he smote the men of Bethshemash because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Even he smote of the people 50,000 and threescore and ten men. And the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. Verse 20 of 1 Samuel 6. And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before his holy Lord God, this holy Lord God, and to whom shall we go up from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjith Jiram, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord. Come ye down and fetch it up to you. And the men of Kirjith Jirem came, fetched up the ark of the Lord, watch it, and brought it into the house of Abinanab in the hill, and sanctified Eliezer his son to keep the ark of the Lord. And look at verse 2. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kurgith Jirim, that the time was what? Say it, long. For it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. Brethren, that ark of God, which, if you would, was a replica of what was going on in heaven, where God's Shekinah glory was, and where God's mercy seat, the Bible says that the ark was brought after it came back from the Philistines to Kirgith Jirim, and it stayed there for 20 years, and as far as I can see, Saul only called for the ark to inquire of the Lord before the ark once. Now let's bear that out. Look at 1 Chronicles 13. 1 Chronicles chapter 13, you say, I don't see the significance of this yet. You will in just a minute. 1 Chronicles chapter 13. Look, if you would at verse number 1. And David, he's now taking over and he's the king. And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with what? Every leader. He talked to every leader. And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, if it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priest and Levites, which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us. And let us bring again the what? The ark of our God to us. Now look at it, for we inquired not at it in the days of who? Saul. Something was missing in the days of Saul. That ark was down there abiding in Kyrgyz Diram. It was there 20 years. As far as can be depicted, Saul only called for it once. And here David says, You know what? First thing I want to do, I'm your new king. Let me consult with you. Let me talk to captains of thousands and hundreds and every leader. And let's gather all Israel together, and let's bring up the ark, because you know what, brethren? We've not asked God and we've not inquired at it all the days of Saul. Verse 4. And all the congregations said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David gathered all Israel together from Sihar of Egypt, even unto the entering of Hemeth, to bring the ark of God from where? Kirjith Jirim. By the way, that's where it sat for 20 years down there. And by the way, God blessed the house of Abinadab, and then God blessed later on when David tried to bring it up and it stayed at the house of Bob Eidem. The opportunity here was for Saul to call on the ark of God, but please look up here, he just didn't do it. I thought about this and I thought, man, Saul had the opportunity to go to the Ark of God and have the priest of the Ark of God. He had the opportunity to be in the presence of God with the Ark of God there, and he just didn't do it. The other day I got something in the mail that I thought about, and I thought about in our nation a little bit. I read it to you and I want you to listen. As the members of the Kansas House of Representatives stood and bowed in prayer at the opening of a recent session, many were shocked and offended by what they heard. A heartfelt prayer of corporate confession, forgiveness, and divine guidance. One representative, again, this is the Kansas House of Representatives, walked out. Another and sat down in protest. The Wichita Eagle reported, and the house came alive with a flutter of agitation that comes from a fence and its often loud response. One representative said, I have never heard in ten years as divisive, sanctimonious, self-serving, overbearing prayer as I heard this morning. Reverend Joe Wright, who offered the prayer, said, Prayer is prayer. I'm praying to God when I'm praying. I'm not up there to put on a show. I'm there to pray. I don't do it differently in public than in private. The full text of Reverend Wright's prayer. Heavenly Father, and this again was prayed before the Kansas House of Representatives within the last month. We come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your word says, woe to those who call evil good. But that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it a lottery. He's praying to God, but he's kind of preaching obliquely too, amen. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unboard and called it choice. We have shot abortionist and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it free expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefather and called it enlighten us. And then he says this: search us, O God, and know our hearts today. Try us and see if there be some wicked way in us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas and who have been ordained by you to govern this great state. Grant them your wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the name of your Son, the living Savior. Jesus Christ. And then he said, Amen and amen. You know what? That's some kind of prayer, amen. No wonder some got offended. No wonder some walked out. May I say this to you though? When this country was set up, nobody would have walked down. When this declaration of independence was made, and when you go back and read what was put down there by our forefathers, nobody would have walked down. People would have been saying, Amen, and would have shook his hand, and now we're to a place that if we're not careful, brethren, our nation, when someone prays a prayer like that, they'll never have him back again. That's right, is that true? May I say this to you, brethren? We talk about things as a church, but as a nation, I see some similarities in that Saul had the ark of God there all that time. Yet the Bible says, and David said, we've not inquired of it. Our country's in a mess when we stop asking God what to do. Our country's in a mess when our leadership stops asking God how to guide and direct their minds for the day. And may I say to you, we may say amen to all that, but let me ask you a question: how's your prayer life? I talked to myself tonight, too. The ark was available. He could have called it up any time. He did once. And God honored him for doing it. Yet he stopped going to the Ark of God and he stopped having it brought forth. Look at 1 Samuel 23. 1 Samuel 23. Let me contrast just a little bit. With 1 Samuel 23, would you also pick up 1 Chronicles 28? Please stay with me tonight just for a few moments. 1 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 28. I want to do something tonight, and it's certainly not to be critical, but I'm going to ask you to do something in a moment, and these scriptures will lead up to it. 1 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles chapter 28. In 1 Samuel 23, we see the difference between David and Saul. Saul had the ark available, but David was a fugitive and couldn't get to it and couldn't go to it. But David didn't stop inquiring of the Lord. In fact, look what he does in 1 Samuel 23 and look at verse 6. Verse 6. And it came to pass when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, 1 Samuel 23, verse 6. The son of Ahimelech fled to David to Kelah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. If you remember the story, the only one that got out of the city of Nob that was destroyed by Doeg the Edomite was a man named Abiathar. And when he came out, he brings in his hand an ephod, which was what the priests wore. Verse 7, when they ministered to the priest's office. And it was told Saul that David was come to Kelah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand, for he is shut in by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. And Saul called all the people together to war to go down to Kelah to besiege David and his men. And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him. And look what he says. And he says to Abiathar the priest, look what he says. Read it with me, brother. The next four words ready. Begin. Bring he ther the ephod. He couldn't get to the ark, but he got to the closest thing he could, and he said, Bring me that ephod from the priest that's been sanctified. And I understand in our days that we don't put a whole lot on religious relics or anything like that. But in those days they had the ark of God. And he had that ephod, and he said, Bring it up. Bring that ephod up. And it represented the priest offers, verse 10. Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant had certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Kelah to destroy the city for my sake. Look at it. He asked a question with that ephod right there. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into the hand of Saul? Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee. Tell thy servant. And you know what the next four words are great words? And the Lord said. You know what's so great about that? God spoke back. God answered him when he asked a question. Are you listening to me? How long has it been since and the Lord said something to you? Has it been a little silent recently? Maybe the silence isn't from God's end. Maybe the silence is from Arian. And the Lord said, if you would, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul. The next four words, would you say it? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Don't you see David began to ask definitive questions and specific questions of God. And the great thing about that is, God answered him. Now, brethren, I don't know about you, but sometimes we get to the place, and I get to the place when I'm not asking God for everything, as far as what do you think about this? This was a major decision, and what do you think about that, and that's a major decision? Because here's what happens. After we've been Christians for a while, we kind of start taking that all for granted. God, uh, God, God guide my mind, and there's nothing wrong with that. But you know what? That ought not to be a prayer for a month. It ought not to be the prayer for the week. Now, now, God, I'm not going to talk to you anymore this week about anything. Just guide my mind for the week. Now, we don't say that, but let me ask you something. What's your prayer life been like? How has it been if there was an ark of God in your house, would you have shoved it away in the closet and not been to it for a while? Or would it be coming out every morning and every afternoon and every evening and saying, let's get the ark of God out of the closet. Let's see what God wants us to do next. Let's bring out the ark and let's see what God wants us to do. Bring hither the ephod, son, and let's see what God wants us to do next. Now we don't have an ark in our closet, and we don't have an ephod or anything like that, my brother. But my point is, how is your prayer life? How is my prayer life? What are we doing in the way of asking God for direction? Or are we just kind of taking it for granted? Well, God, if you don't want me to do that, then I just take you'll guide me. You know what God does, and I know something about him, and I've worked with him for a little while, and I've read his book. Sometimes God just stands back and says, That's what he says. Nothing. You didn't ask me? I'm not telling you. And we go out our things for a while and we make these decisions and that decisions, you know, and sometimes we get ourselves pinned into a corner and say, Oh, God, oh God, please get us out of that one. And I think God stands back sometimes and says, You wouldn't even have to have been in that corner. Yes, I can bear you out of that thing, but if you just would have come and asked me in the first place, I would have given you direction. We get to the place where we just think that God's just gonna guide us and direct us because we're his children, and yes, we have the Holy Spirit in us, and yes, we have the word of God, and yes, we have all that. But brother, we can grieve the Holy Spirit to where God sits back and says, I'm gonna let him do it on his own for a while. He's not asking me anymore. Hey, Saul is for our ensemble, to whom the ends of the world are come, it's for our admonition, a general warning. And he put that in there for us to know. Saul inquired of the ark one time, but for 20 years that ark sat down there, and when David couldn't get to the ark, he said, Bring me an ephi. Look, if you would at 1 Chronicles 28, stay with me. 1 Chronicles 28. In 1 Chronicles 28, I want you to see this very quickly. He's getting ready to tell Solomon something here. And look what David says in verse 5. Are you okay tonight? Everybody still with me? Say amen. Verse 5, and all of my sons, for the Lord hath given me many sons. He hath chosen, verse 5, Solomon, my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. And he said unto me, Solomon, thy son, he shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. Moreover, I will establish his kingdom forever. Now it goes on down to give a little running category of verse eight. Now, therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the Lord, and the audience of our God, keep and seek all the commandments of the Lord your God, that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for inheritance for your children after you, forever. Verse 9. And thou, Solomon, my son, look at it. Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. Look at this next little statement. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Now you say, well, that I don't have to worry about that because God will never leave me or forsake me. But may I say this? As Christians, we can get to the place where our fellowship with God, we're not seeking him anymore. We're not asking his opinion anymore. We're not asking him for the decisions that we should make. We're not asking him to guide our mind anymore, and we've stopped seeking him. And say, now, wait a minute, I'm in church tonight. Well, praise the Lord. So I know we're not totally reprobate yet, amen. We come tonight seeking him, and many of you in here probably have a great prayer life. But you know, every once in a while, for those of us who've been around, if we're not careful, our prayer life can begin to stagnate. And the Holy Spirit of God is to say, now wait a minute. I said, if you seek me, and later on he says that, look if you would at Deuteronomy chapter 4, Deuteronomy chapter 4, and 2 Chronicles 15. Deuteronomy 4, stay with me. And 2 Chronicles 15, because I want to bear this out in the book. And you say, well, you can't use the Old Testament, stay with me. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Look at verse 29. And this scripture smoke my heart. Verse 29 of Deuteronomy chapter 4. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt what? Find him. Now you say, now wait a minute, I'm a child of God. I'm saved. The Holy Spirit's in me. What do I need to be seeking God for? We need to be seeking God for our fellowship. We need to be seeking God for wisdom. We need to be seeking God in decisions that we have. Have to make, and not when it's a crisis, we ought to do it before. Thou shalt find him if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Honestly. Sometimes I analyze myself and I say, you know what? I've got a half-hearted prayer life right now. No, uh really, if if if I analyze myself, uh my my prayer life, my talking with him, my coming before him is kind of half-hearted. Getting kind of mechanical with it. I'm uh presuming upon him a little bit. And really, if I read the Old Testament and start looking at some of the leaders in there like Josiah and Hezekiah, and start studying some of those leaders, you know what? I I might find myself that I'm not seeking him with my whole heart. Have you ever ever analyzed your fellowship with him? Have you ever analyzed your your prayer life? I mean, if the ark of God was was somewhere where you could get to it and that ark was viable for fellowship with God, I wonder how many times we would be going to the ark. I wonder how many times we'd be saying, bring hither the ephod. I want to talk to God. Or I wonder if we would be coming somewhat like Saul. And even though it was there, not utilizing like we should. Look, if you would with me, stay with me. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 15, please. 2 Chronicles 15. And I'm leading to something. 2 Chronicles 15. In 2 Chronicles 15, look at this, brother, in verse 1. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is what? Say it with you, while ye be with him. And if you what say it, seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Say, now, preacher, he'll never leave me or forsake me. But I want to ask you something. How is the lines of communications between you personally, and I'm not talking about ladies your husband, I'm talking about you, ma'am. I'm not talking about men, your wives, who have that sweet prayer life. I'm talking about you, sir. How does your lines of communications tonight with God? Now before long season, verse 3, Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord. Now, does that sound like us? Come on, yes or no? You when our prayer life gets real intense again? When we in our trouble turn to God, amen. But when they in their trouble did turn into the Lord, the God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them. You know what? We ought to look in this Bible and say, wait a minute. I don't need to wait for trouble to come my way to intensify my prayer life again. I don't need to wait for crisis to come to go back, if you would, spiritually and get back to the ark of God. I don't need for for these big, huge tragedies to come to say, bring the ethot. I ought to systematically, by faith, get a prayer life and get systematic with this thing. And even when I don't feel like go have some fellowship with God, and not just one time a day or two times a day. I'm gonna do it in such a way that he's my friend. And we can stagnate sometimes, can't we, brother? We can get so busy with things that after a while it's like, you know, we we don't have that running fellowship with him. You say, well, well, how would I know? Let me ask you to do something right now. And you may think this is silly. And I don't want teenagers, young children laughing at each other or giggling or passing notes while we're doing this. Right in your seat, right there, I'm gonna ask you to do something. And you may feel a little uncomfortable with it, but that's all right. That's good. In just a moment, I'm gonna ask you to bow your head. And I'm gonna ask you to have some personal prayer with the Lord. And it's just gonna be quiet in here for a span of a little bit of time. It's not gonna be long. And you may say, well, I feel uncomfortable doing that in in a church in public. Well, that may be part of it. But you know, if your prayer life and your fellowship with him is not what it should be, when you bow your head, you'll either talk to him or you won't. You'll either talk to him like a running conversation with a friend that you've already talked with sometime today, or when you bow your head, you're just gonna feel as uncomfortable as can be. Because really, the friendship and the fellowship that you once had isn't there. It's a good way to examine ourselves from time to time. You say, now, wait a minute, preacher, I do that when I eat. You know what we do when we eat sometimes? God bless this food. Amen. Let's eat. We didn't even think about him. We didn't think about the throne, we didn't think about what was going on up in heaven, we didn't think that he had supplied it for us, we didn't think how good he was, we didn't think that that even though he's cursed the earth because of what we mankind has done, he still graciously provided our food. We don't think about that all the time. Amen. Sometimes it's just a quickie prayer. But it's not really communicating, it's just I do this out of habit. Let's bow our heads. Just bow your heads. Don't leave. This is not a break. And just take a few moments right now and talk to the God of this universe. I would understand this if you say, Well, in a public place, I just didn't feel comfortable with the quietness I I just didn't quite know. But please look up here. If in those two minutes you ran out of things to say, you need to work on your prayer life. If you said everything you know to say to your friend and you ran out of words, you need to grab some tapes on the Holy Spirit in prayer. And you need to begin to study. Or if when you bowed your head, and maybe it's just because of the surroundings, but if it's been a while since you've been able to connect, connect with who? Connect with the Lord. I'm talking about a conversation. If it's been a while. Don't go out of here depressed. Go out of here and say, that just showed me something. You say, well, I just trust my husband to make prayer for our family. What happens if he dies? Well, I trust my wife. She seems like she's just real connected and she takes care of all that. Hey, you know what? We're supposed to individually have a personal walk with God. And may I say this to you, teenager in here tonight? Don't you dare think that you can't have a walk with God in a prayer life. And may I say to you, junior, in here tonight, don't you dare think that it's just daddy and mommy that prays. You can have a walk with God. You can have a prayer life too. And it got to be to the place Samuel, when he was young, began a fellowship with God. And may I say to you, it doesn't matter the age, when you're old enough to understand this message, you're old enough to pray and speak to God. If there's anything needed, maybe in our church right now, I mean, we're busy and you're giving money and you're involved in so many different things. But brother, if we let our prayer life go down, it will hinder what we're doing for the Lord. If when you bowed your head and because you were in a public setting, maybe you just couldn't focus in. But let me ask you a question: when's the last time you've been alone? And and either walking or kneeling or sitting or whatever manner it was, and when you prayed, you knew that you were before the throne of God and he was listening. How long has it been? I'm not scolding anybody. I'm saying we hear a prayer like this before a Kansas uh, if you would, state assembly, and we go, wow, he really prayed. And then they were offended. May I ask you this? Are you offended because I asked you to bow your head and talk to him and you felt uncomfortable? We shouldn't be. Sir, have you? Have you had prayer with your children? If your wife asked you to pray with her, would you? Could you? I mean, if your wife said, honey, I'd like to have some prayer and listen, could you pray out loud for us? Would you stumble and not know what to say and how to talk to God? Maybe it's been too long since you went to the Ark. Maybe it's been too long since you called for the Ark. Maybe it's been sitting down at Keirjus Jirum too long. Amen. You see, uh, someone says, Man, I come here to feel good about myself. If you get your prayer life back, and you get your walk back, and you get your talk back, and God says something to you, you will feel better about yourself. Man, the whole point of coming to church is to grow, and sometimes we need to stir up the former things, even though we know them. Even though we've known them for years, even though we've done it for years, every once in a while things get a little dry and things get a little coarse, and we're going along, and God says, wait a minute, stop. You're getting to be like Saul. The ark's just sitting down there. And now your heart's hardened more and more. My presence isn't with you as much as it used to be. And you know the problem with you, son? You don't miss me. You don't know recognizing. Brethren, don't you like when you bow your head and you're about ready to pray? Don't you like to connect with the Holy Spirit inside of you? And first of all, get the Holy Spirit and say, guide me in our prayers to the Father. And the Holy Spirit somehow begins to, through perception or communication, you say, We need to we need to think about praying about this, and we need to ask about this. We need to we need to thank him for this. Remember what he did for us there? And we need to and that's what the Holy Spirit does. But he won't do it if he's grieved. You say, how do you know that? By my own experience. Look at 1 Samuel 28. And 1 Chronicles chapter 10. Not too many scriptures yet, but just a few things to bear out now. 1 Chronicles 10 and 1 Samuel 28. Well, you say you can't use the Old Testament. I think we can in type. In fact, I know we can in type. 1 Samuel 28 and 1 Chronicles 10. God put all these stories in that Old Testament to teach us something. He put all those characters in there, even the names that appear, and there's a little paragraph about them, and there's, or there's a there's a chapter about them. He put them in there for us to read and reflect upon ourselves and see ourselves in some of those things. Look up here, please, as you're holding your place in 1 Samuel 28 and 1 Chronicles 10. In the Old Testament, uh, uh, sometimes they were spoken to by prophets, and sometimes they were spoken to in dreams. Now, please look up here. I I'm not out looking for prophets and I'm not looking for dreams. In the New Testament, we have the completed word of God. Where there used to be prophets and there used to be dreams and that kind of stuff, and I know God can perceive different things to us and everything, but brethren, instead of prophets and dreams, we've got a book. Is that right? Yes or no? I mean, in the Old Testament they had the Ark of God and the and maybe an ephon, and they had the Urim and Thummen. I'd like to see when we get to heaven how that thing works. You say, Well, I got it all figured out. Yeah, I want to see it. I'd like to say, God, could I just see how that thing works? I mean, they went to the urine and then thummen, and you say, What was that? It was a row of panels, uh, twelve panels, four rows of three with different colors, and each one represented one of the tribe, and then and they would pull that thing out to get God's leadership. Now I've got my thoughts, but I'm wondering whether they're gods or imaginations, amen. I'd like to see how that that thing works. But they had the urine thummon, they had the ark, and they had an ephod and they had all that kind of stuff. Please look up here. Well, what do we have today? We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. It says he'll guide us and teach us. They would call out the ark and call out the urm and thummon. They had the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, and what do we have? We have the Holy Spirit. Well, there's one thing we have in common, old and new. They prayed and inquired of God, and we're supposed to also. And look what the end result of this thing is after years and years and years of being in this role and not calling up the ark. Look at 1 Samuel 28. Verse 3. Now Samuel was dead. That was his prophet. And all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Rhema, even in his own city, and Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched in Shunim. Watch it. And Saul gathered all Israel together, they pitched in Gilboam. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly what? Say it, trembled. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not. Neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. And said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit. Please look up here. You say, Well, this doesn't apply to us. I wonder how many Christians tonight are seeking their guidance through the television. I wonder how many Christians will can't wait to hear the radio psychologists tomorrow morning and tell them what to do.

unknown 41:11

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

I wonder how many Christians can't wait to read the horoscope tomorrow to see if they're going to have a good day or not. And yet by God's grace go away if we can't get God's direction. And yet by God's grace, if God's not answering in us, and I know we don't want to have the prophets, and we don't have the dreams, and we don't have the yard, and we don't have the God's word and the Holy Spirit, and we shouldn't have a prayer time. I think one of the things about church is we come and God sometimes gives direction through a message. And the messenger doesn't even know it. Tomorrow might fly to Michigan. Tomorrow night I'll be in Gaylord, Michigan. I get in there about six in the evening, and I got about an hour ride, and I preach at 7:30. I get off the plane, go and walk in, and I'm preaching at a camp meeting. You know what? I'm not gonna get there and have the opportunity to hear the music and get stirred up and get the feeling of the people and find out what's going on and I've got to walk in there and I'm gonna have God's message for those people, and not do something that works, something that I can come here tonight and stop God. Give me something that will just smooth them over to one tonight so I can get out of town of a mess of God. And maybe sometimes the messages aren't just for you, and maybe sometimes I need to work on a mower or something like that. But might I say sometimes the reason the messages are dry is because you're dry. And the ark's been put in the closet. It can't even be found. Nephod? It's in the laundry somewhere. Where is my Bible, anyways? It's Sunday morning. Where'd I put that thing last week? Children, where'd you put my Bible? I gotta go to church. I want my Bible. Where's my Bible? Well, one of the children is reading on Monday. I I I I don't know. I uh I don't know. Maybe they put it up on the shelf. Well, go see if it's over there. Something's wrong with that, sir. Something's wrong with that, ma'am. Something's wrong with that teenager. Let's see, what time's church on Wednesday? Do we want to go to that thing? Careful. But you know we're the type of church that we just put it out direct. I'm not trying to honeycoat this tonight. The whole reason you're here is because you like stuff coming out from the pulpit. I don't want to spin up the water and split over. I've got to win the woman. I've been following the points. Don't talk to your witch. So he goes to see the witch. Verse eleven. Then said to the woman, Who shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring up Samuel. Verse 14. And he said unto her, What form is the of? And she said, An old man cometh up. He's covered with a man, and Saul perceived that it was Samuel. And he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed himself. Oh yeah. You would too if a dead man come up, amen. And Samuel said, To Saul, why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed. And he tells them, What is going on? The Philistines are upon him. And Saul knows what's going on, because look what he says. And Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me. And answereth me no more. Neither prophets nor by dreams. Therefore have I called thee, that thou makest me known unto me what shall what I shall do. And said Samuel, wherefore then dost not thou ask of me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee and become thine enemy. And I'm not saying tonight that the Lord has departed from you, Christians, become your enemy, but look at it. And the Lord hath done to him as he spake by me, for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David. Watch it, because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord, nor executed his fierce wrath upon Amalek. Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Watch it. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines. And here's a great type of inspirational little statement. And tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. You know what? That's a dead man saying. You'll be with me tomorrow, Saul. And your sons. What would you do? Verse 20, probably something like this. Saul fell straight away all along on the earth and was sore afraid. Says there was no strength in him. Brethren, please look up here. Why let it get to the place where we get so distant from the Lord. That if we even decide to pray for a couple minutes, it's just not there. There's no connection. It's just words going up into the top of our head and returning. It's just an empty voice inside of our head, and there's no communications back and forth. Let me make a statement. It does not have to be that way. Well, I've been there. I've been there when times when I prayed, and I'd have to say, now, Lord, honestly, uh I haven't been walking with you and talking with you like I should, and really there's no good reason that you should even answer me. And I know I'm supposed to come to you in thy name of thy son. And you said that if I asked forgiveness, that you would, and I'm asking forgiveness, but I know I don't deserve it. And really, uh if you do anything today, because I pray and you communicate with me, it'll probably be on the merits of thy son and him alone, not anything I've done. I've been there before. But please look up here. It's better to go to him honestly and say, I'm way, way, way away. Even though I've been in church, I'm way, way, way away. But it says, if thou seek him, he shall be found. Believe me, as much as in your mind you say he doesn't want to communicate, he doesn't want to talk, I'm so far away, that's a lie. And God is not the author of lies. You don't think he would have his child wanting to come back? And if the child said, Lord, it's been a long time, and I'm coming back, and I want to talk to you again, and I want to fellowship with you, after he put the story of the prodigal son in there, and after he put the story of Hezekiah, and so many in the Old Testament where he took them back, you don't think he'd take you back? He absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, would. Absolutely. But first of all, we have to come to a place where we recognize I'm away and admit it. Now, here's what goes on. If you're in that situation tonight, please look up here. Right about now. Okay, I know it. Um I'm gonna take care of that. All right, just just get on with this thing. Let's get this message over. Come on, hurry up. I don't want to hear about it anymore. Let's let's just go on. I'll I'll get that thing right. And I and I know, I I know. I'm not gonna hurry. We're gonna pause. We're gonna let the Holy Spirit have a little time to work. Because right now, he's the one who's bringing conviction. And he's the one who's saying, Yeah, you bus captain. You just went up there, or yes, you driver, or yes, you this, or yes, you Sunday school teacher, or yes, you I mean, you do all those things, but let's look at your prayer life. Let's look at how you inquire at the ark. And by the way, you say, well, where's what's the ark? What's the what's the yearmont thumb? Where's the ephod, my brethren? The veil has been rent in twain. We have boldness and access straight into the holiest of holies through the Holy Spirit of God. We don't have to go through some ceremonious type of thing. We go straight in through the blood of Christ. What a shame if we don't. Look with you with me if you would at 1 Chronicles 10, and we'll finish. 1 Chronicles 10. Last scripture, and we're done. Done with the preaching. Not done with the praying. 1 Chronicles chapter 10. And look at verse 13, brethren. So Saul died for his transgression, which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not. And also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit. To what? Inquire of it. You know what? We have a jealous God. Saul had the opportunity to go down and say, Bring up that ark. Let's find out what's going on. Let's find out what the Lord wants. But he didn't, and he didn't, and he didn't, and he didn't, and he didn't. And may I say this to you? While he was going over to consult with that witch, the ark was down at Kyrgyzdiram. Still sitting down there. Verse 14, and inquired not of the Lord. Therefore he slew him. And they turned the kingdom to David, the son of Jesley. And please look up here. And one of the first things that David does is he gathers all the leaders together, the captains of hundreds, and the captains of thousands, and the captains of fifties and all Israel, and says, Hey, let's get everybody together and let's bring back the ark. And let's place it back in Jerusalem. And let's put God right back in the center and let's inquire of him. And may I say, if your family consists of just you, it'd be good tonight to bring prayer back in the middle. If you're a single parent, head of the home, it'd be good to bring prayer back into the middle. If you're a family of a husband and a wife, it'd be good to bring prayer back in the middle. If it's a husband, a wife, and children, it'd be good to bring prayer back to the middle. It'd be good to go back and inquire of the Lord again. This is there for our ensemble. And may I say to you, God was not pleased with Saul. And he put that in there for a reason, for our admonition. Is God done with us tonight? Absolutely not. Has God forsaken us? No. Well, preacher, uh, does anybody else here have have problems with this? I mean, do you think anybody else here, their prayer life is dry or non-existent, or they they've never learned to pray? Maybe so. And may I say this to you? If you're in that situation tonight, you can go back to God. He can teach you to pray, you can inquire of him, we can teach you to pray, but you must seek him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Set your affections on the things above. The Bible says in the book of Ezra, so we fasted and besought our God. It wouldn't hurt to take a day of fasting and say, God, I need to get back in line again. I need to get back to where our friendship is what it once was. Or, Lord, I want a stronger friendship with thee. Brethren, tonight, I say this in closing. Let's just not go through the motions. They say, I feel like a terrible Christian. I wouldn't feel like a terrible Christian. I'd just look at one area and say, you know what? I need to shore that thing up. I need to get going with it again. Don't make this to be a message that makes you to lay down and give up and quit. Make this to be a message that picks you up and says, all right, I need to get back to that again. So we fasted and besought our God. And he was entreated. You know what that means? He listened. He got back involved again with them in the days of Ezra. Tonight, there's no doubt in my heart and mind that our country, when they hear that kind of prayer, is going to be offended. But lest we judge what the country is doing, maybe we should start by judging ourselves. And let the judgment begin at our own house, at our own doorstep.