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Seeking the Lord—or Doing What Seems Right? (1 Sam.7 & 1 Chron. 13) · (Un) Common thoughts of Christ

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take a careful walk for a few minutes through Scripture today to discern what God values in his people as to doing his will with his mind.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: We will look at two scenes a people who truly seek the Lord, and a people who move forward with what seems right.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Same nation, same God, same ark, but very different outcomes many years later.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's begin in first Samuel chapter seven verses three ten.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Then the children of Israel did put away Balam and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mispe, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And they gathered together to Mispe, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there we have sinned against the Lord, and Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mispe.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together, they went up against Israel.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering holy unto the Lord.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Lord thundered with a great thunder, and discomfited them.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we interpret Israel's response, we need to understand the Philistine.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: In Brethren Ministry writers explain that the Philistine represents a man who handles the things of God in the flesh.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: The Philistine is familiar with divine things, he moves among them, he may even organize them.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: But the Philistine has never passed through death in self-judgment.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: He has never crossed the Jordan.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what do you get?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: A man who uses divine things without ever judging himself before God.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now go back to the verse.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Israel had come under that character.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: They had lost power, because they had lost self-judgment.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So Samuel begins here.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, return.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, put away.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, prepare your hearts.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then the turning point for the hearts of the people.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have sinned against the Lord.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is what the Philistine never says.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, God acts.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord thundered.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: No ark.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: No system.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: No visible strength.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, God is fully present.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now pause here.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Between this moment and the next scene, decades pass.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Samuel's generation fades.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Saul's reign comes and goes.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: David becomes king.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Forty, fifty, maybe sixty years later.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: We arrive at a new moment.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Same nation.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is the same ark.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: But something has changed.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Let's read first Chronicles thirteen.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And David said, If it seem good unto you, let us bring again the ark of our God to us.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And all the congregation said, For the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So David gathered all Israel, and they carried the ark of God in a new cart, and David and all Israel played before God with all their might.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when they came, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, and the anger of the Lord was kindled, and he smote him.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And in Second Samuel, they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and Uzzah put forth his hand, and God smote him for his error.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now walk back through this carefully.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: David begins with consultation.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: There is agreement, but no seeking of the Lord.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Then it was right in the eyes of all the people.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is dangerous ground.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now here is the turning point.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: They carried the ark in a new cart, because God had already spoken.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: In Numbers chapter four we read They shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And in Deuteronomy ten we continue to read The Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: The ark was to be carried on shoulders by men, with exercise, with reverence, bearing the weight of his presence in the ark, but a cart pulled by cows does the carrying for you.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: It removes the weight.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: It removes dependence, it removes the need for care.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: It is efficient, but it is not obedience.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is against what God had commanded them to transport when Moses gave the instructions.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And more than that, it is the Philistine method of moving the ark.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Israel is now handling God's things, without going through the process of self judgment like their grandfathers did in first Samuel seven.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they are outside of God's order.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the result?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: God smote him for his error.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And later, David contemplates what happened later.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: In first Chronicles fifteen, David admits that the Lord made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: To acknowledge that we sought him not, that is the dividing line.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Back to first Samuel seven we recall God is sought, and there is power.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But now later in first Chronicles thirteen we see God is not sought, and there is judgment upon a man that meant well.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: In the Gospel of John four twenty four, we hear from the Lord Jesus that God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: So the question is not Did it seem right to bring the ark up from where it had been parked for so many years?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And was the desire to sincerely please God?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the question really is, was it in spirit of inquiry of God with truth?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: They should ask, were we before God in this action, or were we moving with what felt right to us?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Did we carry his things the way he has said?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or did we quietly, subtly replace his order with something easier?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: We always look for something easy instead of bearing it on our shoulders.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Paul could tell a young Timothy in Second Timothy two hundred fifteen to study to show thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It takes work and diligence to be approved of God and understanding truth.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: God is not asking if it worked to carry the ark that way, but he is asking us, was I sought in the matter?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And was it done?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: My way like I instructed?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: We close with another verse our Lord explains for our understanding today, found in John 7 17.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.