So 2 Samuel chapter 6, part of the passage I want to focus in on at the beginning of verse 10 where the Bible reads,
So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him and into the city of David,
but David carried aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite,
and the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months.
And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household, and was told King David,
saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that percaineth 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. The title of the sermon this morning is The
Blessing of Obed-Edom. The Blessing of Obed-Edom. And what I want to look at here specifically is
several statements in this passage that we just read there in the beginning of verse 10
that will show us just some statements regarding Obed-Edom and how he was blessed and why he was
blessed and just look and see some of the things that will help us see how Obed-Edom was blessed
and how that we also might be blessed as well so that the blessing of Obed-Edom could be said
that we are blessed as he is. That we could be blessed just as Obed-Edom was blessed.
Now of course in this story if you recall the back story of the ark here where
if you've been reading through your Bible up to this point you would know that
the ark had been taken away in the days of Samuel when he was just a boy. That it had been taken by
the Philistines and remained there all of Samuel's life and through the reign of Saul and now King
David is coming on the throne. So the ark of God has been away from Israel for some time and in
the story David is trying to retrieve the ark from the Israelites or from the Philistines excuse me
and bring it back in into the land of Judah and we know that of course that famous story there
with Uzzah and Hiyo. Uzzah reaches out and touches the ark and is slain and that's where we are in
the story here with Obed-Edom and they turn aside the ark as it says there and they go into the
house of Obed-Edom and leave the ark there and while the ark is there abiding in the house of
Obed-Edom Obed-Edom is blessed and one of the first things I want us to notice is there in
verse 10 where it says so David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of
David but David carried aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. Now it's very specific here
that the Bible mentions that Obed-Edom was the Gittite. It wasn't just Obed-Edom. Now if you
can continue on in your reading just a few chapters later there is another Obed-Edom who's
mentioned and doing work in the service of God. You know I believe he was a Levite and he was
I believe one of the singers if I'm recalling it correctly but it's very this is a different
Obed-Edom that's mentioned later actually quite quickly after the next few chapters
but it's very specific that it mentions that this Obed-Edom is a Gittite not just to distinguish
him from the fact that you know he's not the Obed-Edom that we'll read about in a few chapters
but I believe more importantly to show us that Obed-Edom the fact that he was a Gittite that's
very telling it tells it something. Now you say well who are the Gittites? Well if you recall
Gittites throughout the Bible are Philistines. They're one of the one of the peoples that lived
within the land of the Philistines and to prove that if you want to turn over to 2 Samuel keep a
bookmark there in 2 Samuel 6 but we'll be coming back to it looking at several phrases there.
But turn over to 2 Samuel chapter 21, 2 Samuel chapter 21 and we're going to look at the fact
that the Gittites were Philistines. While you're reading a second turning to 2 Samuel chapter 21
I'm going to read from Joshua 13 where the Bible says now Joshua was old and stricken in years and
the Lord had said unto him thou are old and stricken in years and there remaineth yet very
much land to be possessed. This is the land that yet remaineth all the border of the Philistines
and all Geshurai from Sidewort which is before Egypt even under the borders of Ekron northward
which is counted to the Canaanite. Five lords of the Philistines the Gazzathites the Aftonites
the Echelonites and the Gittites. So the Gittites we see were of the Philistines. You're there in
2 Samuel chapter 21 and there was a battle there was again a battle in Gath with the Philistines
where Elhanan the son of Jerahoram a Bethlehemite slew the brother brother of Goliath the Gittite.
So if you recall who Goliath was Goliath of course was the was the champion of Gath
who had David slew with with a with a stone and it says here that Goliath was the Gittite. Now
Goliath we all know was a Philistine. So the point I'm trying to make here at the very beginning of
this passage is that God is willing to bless even a Gittite he's willing to bless even a Philistine
he's willing to bless somebody that in a great deal of passage and many other passages in the
scripture would be considered of a people who are the enemy of God. And what we can draw from that
is that salvation or having the presence of God in your life or the dwelling of God in your
tabernacle we know that today you know we are the tabernacle of God we are the temple of God
and that when we are saved the Holy Spirit dwells with us and in the Old Testament here in this
passage we know that the ark is a is a picture of the presence of God we can see that salvation is
something that's available to everybody. Having the presence of God in your life the blessing of
God in your life is not something that's just limited to any one group of people it's something
that God wants to bestow upon all people. And if you would just turn over to Romans chapter 3
and I want to just really drive this point home in that Obadiah excuse me Obadiah
Obed-Edom was a Gittite and I think this is something that people need to grasp in scripture
because we can see that all the way back in the book of second Samuel God is showing us something
that salvation is free to everybody and it's the theme throughout all of the bible and we need to
drive let these things sink in today because we're living in a time when people different people
groups want to claim God all to themselves or they want to say that God deals with people
but certain people differently than he does other people but God is consistent God has always been
the same and we see that here in this passage you're turning over there to the book of Romans
in verse three I'm gonna read you some verses second Peter 3 verse 9 the Lord is not slack
concerning his promises that some men count slackness but it's long suffering to us we're
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance how many people does
God want to come to repentance to salvation wants everybody to come first Timothy 4 says
for therefore we want labor and suffer and reproach because we trust in the living God
who is the savior of all men he is the savior of all men the bible says there in first Timothy
and it says especially of those that believe so it's not that God is the savior of only those
that believe God died for the sins of the whole world God wants to be the savior of all men but
it's only those that believe that will know him in heaven even the people that reject and refuse
the Lord Jesus Christ God is still their savior they've just refused it they've refused that
salvation first John 4 we have seen and who testified that the father sent the son to be
the savior of the world that would include everybody first John 2 2 and he is the propitiation
for our sins and not for our sins only but for the sins of the whole world that's a great verse that
I like to use out so many to show people that Jesus Christ is the substitute or the propitiation
for not just our sins but for the sins of everybody we'll ask the question did Jesus
Christ die for some people or everyone and most people say yeah everybody and that's a great verse
to back that up say yeah he died for the sins of the whole world and of course that great verse
that we use often John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life for God said not his son in
the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved who is it that God
wants to save he wants to save the world God wants to save everybody so we see that how consistent
God is in scripture of wanting people to all people to be saved even all the way back in the
book of second Samuel where Obed-Edom the Gittite is able to receive the presence of God into his
tabernacle in his dwelling Matthew 11 28 Jesus said come unto me all ye that labor he didn't say
come unto me means specific groups of people he didn't say may come unto me only these people
only these people are only these people he wants everybody to come unto him Romans chapter 2 the
Bible reads where there is no respect of persons with God that's what we can see and pull and
understand when we read the story of the blessing of Obed-Edom that God is not a respecter of persons
I mean he's a Gittite he's coming from the people that the children of Israel had been at war with
throughout their entire history ever since they came into the land of Israel going back and forth
and battling with these people but God is willing to allow his blessing to come upon the house
of one who is who would be considered an enemy of the house of Israel because God is not a respecter
of persons now you're there in Romans chapter 3 and we're going to read from verse 19
where the Bible says now we know that whatsoever things the law saith it say it to those who are
under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God
therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in a sight
for by the law is the knowledge of sin but now the righteousness of God without the lies manifested
being witnesses witnessed by the laws and the prophets even the righteousness of God which is
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe for there is no difference again
Paul here driving in the point that he had made previously in chapter two that God is not a
respecter of person everybody is condemned by the law everyone is guilty before God and that God is
has a it showed his righteousness which is by faith through Jesus Christ he's made it available
unto all everybody and upon all that would choose to believe so it's not a matter of
where our lineage comes from it's not a matter of our race or ethnicity or our background it's
whether or not we believe for there is no difference now you say well what what can we
take away from this what we can apply well the first application we can make from all this
is that Calvinists are a bunch of fools that people that would say God is selective and who
is allowed to be saved and who is not that flies in the face of scripture and I'm sure that you
know there would be Calvinists that would stand up and try to you know correct us on this doctrine
and say well you know I know you've got a plethora of verses and there's many more that I could turn
to that you have all these verses that would seem to say that you know God is the savior of all man
mankind that God wants everyone to be saved I mean it's pretty plain when you read the scriptures
and I'm not and I'm sure they have a lot of clever ways to dodge the scripture and explain
things away but if we take the scripture at face value which is how we ought to read and interpret
the bible at face value you know take it for what it says then we would see clearly from these you
know dozen or so verses that I've just read and the example of scripture going all the way back
to Samuel 2nd Samuel 6 that God is the savior of all men that God wants all men to be saved
he's not selective which makes Calvinist look or Calvinism look foolish amen because it is
and of course you know if we were to preach this in many Baptist churches that we get a lot of
amens we get a lot of people that would get on board you know we could go to the mainline
independent fundamental Baptist church they'd say yeah those those bunch of Calvinists and we could
really rally them up right you know what shape but we could go in a lot of those other ones and
we could say hey you know what we could also take from this is the fact that you know we as Christians
should not be supporting just the wholesale slaughter and destruction of foreign peoples
and we shouldn't just be all for you know rah rah rah bomb them all let God sort them out this kind
of just you know pro-israel anti-everybody else pro-American America anti-everybody else let's
just bomb everybody back in the stone age mentality a lot of these people have in these
churches because they have this this you know republican party platform mindset of you know
this political mindset that overrides the clear teaching of scripture they're more influenced by
a political narrative than they are the narrative of scripture and what they're and what they're
willing to do is just see whole peoples wiped out because they just consider them their enemy
because they're in another land or they or they hold to different values or
traditions or they're just perceived as their enemy because the things they're told
you know on mainstream media and over talk radio and shame on those on those Christians who don't
read their bibles and see that God wants all men to be saved you know rather than sending you know
all these armed forces over into these foreign countries and just setting up you know an empire
to take over the world pretty much is what we're doing being in 130 plus countries at any given
time maybe we should be sending again you know missionaries we should be trying to reach those
people with the gospel and try to reach out with them instead of you know destroying them and
taking over their their uh their lands and that's not a popular message but that is that i believe
that's how God feels about these things is that God wants all men to be saved not all men to just
you know be counted as as uh collateral damage but i'll move on from that point under the and then
the last thing i want us to see here is that you know what we can take from this is that God wants
all men to be saving he's not picky about who's going to be saved he doesn't have a preference he
does not going to exalt one people above another so that would tell us again that you know the
blessing of God is not exclusive to any one group of people if you would turn over to Galatians
chapter three now i'm sure i wouldn't have to to ask uh very long it wouldn't take long for us to
come up with an answer if we could say is there any one group of people that are seem to get some
kind of pass today especially in baptist churches i mean is there is there a group of people that
baptist pastors get up or even not you know just christians in general that would say well those
people just get a pass they're just God just has a special blessing on them as reserved for them
they're just exclusive it doesn't apply to them you know they have some kind of special treatment
they're just the vips of God you know they've got their own special parking spot up in heaven
i mean we would all know who we're talking about wouldn't we the modern day nation of Israel you
know the Jews of today a lot of people just treat them if they just get some kind of pass with God
that they that God has just some you know totally different way of dealing with them
that's just not the case and if you look there in galatians chapter 3 verse 7 the bible says
know ye therefore they which are of faith are the same the same are the children of Abraham
so who are the children of Abraham anybody who's of faith they are the children of Abraham and
people say well the children of Israel you know the Jews that we know today and say well they're
the children of Abraham and that's a stretch by a lot that's a very long stretch to say that those
are the descendants of Abraham you know that's a whole other sermon to go into but even if they
were and they're not let's just give them that pass you know we are the children of Abraham
every bit as much as anybody who can lay claim to the you know the physical genealogy of Abraham
we are as every much every bit a child of Abraham as they are verse 8 and the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preach before the gospel into Abraham saying
and these shall one nation be blessed just the nation of Israel that's it right no it says all
nations all nations I mean you name the nation they'll be blessed if they believe the the faith
that is preached through a faithful Abraham so then we see verse 9 that they which are of faith
are blessed with a faithful Abraham for as many as are the works of law or in the curse of law
for it is written cursed is everyone that continue with not in all things which are written this book
of law to do them but no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident for the
just shall live by faith and the law is not a faith but the man that doeth them shall live in
them Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us for it is written
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree verse 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come
unto the gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of spirit through faith
so we see that the promise of of spirit through faith is come unto us even gentiles even those
who are outside the house of Israel even even those that are foreigners to the nation of Israel
are ever can lay claim every bit to be a child of Abraham because of the fact that salvation is by
grace through faith and it's something that God extends towards all men not just one group of
people so we see first of all and the blessing of Obed-Edom is that Obed-Edom was a get tight
he was a philistine he was somebody that would be could potentially even gone to war at one point
maybe even his his daddy and granddaddy had some old war stories when they fought the children of
Israel back in the day but God has long suffering to us we're not willing that any should perish
and we can see here that it doesn't matter where you come from or who you are God will bless you
God wants you and can bless you the next thing I want to look at there
in verse 11 go back to second Samuel chapter 6 second Samuel chapter 6
it says in verse 11 and the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom the get tight
three months so he gets a specific time frame right does it have continued there three months
and of course the story goes on we know we know why it only continued there three months is because
David came back and took it did things the right way but I can't help but think that if that had
dwelt if it had gone on even longer that that time period would have been longer if David had taken
six months it said it wouldn't have dwelt there six months it would have stayed there and the
blessing of God upon Obed-Edom's house would have stayed there the entire time that that it was
there that the ark was there why is that it's because God's blessing is sustainable God is not
you know we're talking about the blessing of salvation and I think Christians today they sell
themselves short a lot of times with the blessing of God we get saved when we're excited about that
and that's of course the greatest blessing of all that's salvation is by grace through faith
that we can just be saved freely by no merit of our own that God extends you know mercy and grace
towards us through Jesus Christ that if we just believe on him we can have eternal life with him
in heaven that's that's a great blessing but it doesn't stop there the blessing of God is
something that that we can experience and know even in our life here on this earth as you know
while we're living our life here we can know the presence and the blessing of God
as it says there Obed-Edom knew it for for three months you know he was blessed of God for those
three months showing us that when God is dwelling in us when God is dwelling with us we are blessed
of God and that's not just a one-time blessing but it's something that can be sustained that
blessing is something that continues on over time it's not just once one blessing there's
several different blessings that we could talk about this morning that come into our lives you
know the Bible says you know that the the children are the heritage of the Lord the
children are a blessing to us it's not just that all of our children but each one of our children
in their own way is a blessing unto us and there's many other blessings that we could talk about what
I want to drive in right now is show us that God wants to bless us and then he wants to bless us
for the long haul the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 3 I'll read to you Ephesians 3 for this
cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven
is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with
might by a spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that he being
rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that he
might be filled with the fullness of God now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think he's saying here you know what God is able to bless you more than you
could ever imagine you know and I think we kind of shy away from this sometimes as you know
independent Baptist because we don't want to be lumped in with these prosperity preachers
you know I mean you take one look at my finances you'll know that's just not the case you know
but is that to say just because you know I've got I don't have the full bank account because I drive
a used car you know because I live in an apartment that I'm not blessed of God that somehow the
blessing of God is only evident if I'm driving you know a brand new car I've got a car my wife's got
a car got all the new clothes and taking the vacations we live in the big house is that really
the blessing of God all this just material wealth and abundance that's not the blessing of God I
mean God could bless a person that way and I'm sure there's out there that would give God the
glory for all the great things that he's allowed them to have on this earth but that's not the
limit of it I mean we that's not how we should measure the blessing of God amen but we shouldn't
shy away from from from saying things like well God is able to do exceeding above and abundantly
above all that we ask or think I think we sell ourselves sell ourselves short of the blessing
of God because we think well you know God doesn't want to overdo it with me you know God doesn't
want to give me too much I shouldn't ask for more than I think I deserve or want or I shouldn't ask
too big of a thing from God but God wants us to challenge him or to in the sense that you know
say see what I can do you know ask you know and it shall be given you seek and you shall find God
wants to open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon us you know it's just that
too often we associate associate that with finances a lot of people want to just say well
that just must mean some material abundance but what about an abundance of souls what if we were
to go out and do a great work for God say God bless the work and the effort that we're going to
put forth you know in starting churches and doing soul-willing marathons and and reaching the world
the gospel of Jesus Christ I mean we should be asking God to bless that we should be asking
crying out that God would do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think you know I love the
Pastor Anderson's mentality that he has the vision that he has it's a big vision it's a large vision
but it's God's vision that's the vision that God has he wants to show us how much he can bless us
because the blessing of God is sustainable it's something that can last through a lifetime and
something that can come in abundance as it says there for Obed-Edom it's something that dwelt
at his house for three months showing us that the blessing of God is something that is sustainable
and something that happens over a lifetime it's not just a one-time thing that's the that's the
next point of my pain is that God wants to bless us over a lifetime he doesn't want to just hit us
once and say well there you go that's all the blessing you're going to get that there's that
God wants to bless us throughout our whole life
the Bible says in Psalm 133 I'll read for you a song of degrees of David behold how
good and pleasant and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity
it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard
that went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Herman and as the dew that descended
upon the mountain mountains of Zion for there the Lord commanded the blessing even life forever
more you see there when God commands the blessing when he can commands it he commands it forevermore
he commands the life forevermore God wants to wants to bless us forever Deuteronomy 6 and if
you would turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 30 Deuteronomy 6 says in verse 1 now these are the
commandments and the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you
that you might do them in the land where the egos possess it that thou mightest fear the Lord
thy God to keep all the statutes and his commandments which I command thee thou and
thy son and thy son's dead sons all the days of thy life that thy days may be prolonged
so God wants our days to be prolonged God wants to bless us all the days of our life God wants
to bless us our sons and our son's sons God wants the blessing of God to be a multi-generational
blessing one that extends far beyond just the blessing of salvation God wants to bless for
a lifetime and not only that as it says there thou and thy sons and thy son's sons we see that God
wants to bless even our children that's how great and big the blessing of God is he wants to bless
even the next generation to come as it says there in Deuteronomy 3 but I'll remind you what it says
back in 2nd Samuel chapter 6 it says in verse 11 that the the the ark continued in the house
of Obed-Edom the gettite three months and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household
so even those that were members of his house it wasn't just just Obed-Edom but it was those around
him it was family it was it was those that worked with him it was you know perhaps he had servants
but anybody that was associated with his household was also blessed because of the
blessing that came upon Obed-Edom and that shows us here that God wants to bless those around us
and specifically we you know we could apply it today that God wants to bless our children
if you're there in Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 15 the Bible reads see I've set before thee this
day life and good death and evil and that I command thee this day to to love the Lord thy God
to walk in his ways to keep his commands and his statutes and his judgments that thou was made that
thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall bless thee the land whether thou goest to
possess it but if thine heart turn away so shall thou so shall so that thou wilt not hear but shall
be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them I denounce unto you this day that you shall
surely perish that you shall not prolong your days upon the land whether you pass passest over
Jordan to go to possess it I call heaven and earth to record against you this day that I have set
before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed
may live that thou mayest love the Lord thy God and thou mayest obey his voice and that thou mayest
cleave unto him for he is thy life in the length of thy days that thou mayest dwell on the land
which the Lord swear to thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to give them so we see here that
it was blessing was set before them that if they do obey God that they and their seed would live
and that's really I mean the whole story of the children going into the promised land and
possessing it is a story of obedience it's a story of them you know over and over and over
again we see passages like this pertaining to that story where you're saying look you have to obey me
I have to keep my commandments you have to do my statutes you have to walk in my judgments and if
you do that I will bless you you and the generation to come and that's what we see that going back and
forth they they follow the commandments of God they're blessed they go out of the way they and
they're cursed and it goes back and forth back and forth but if we would if we would keep God's
commandments that God God will bless us and not only just us but those around us as he did oh
that even he would bless our household he would bless even our seed as it says there so we see
that God wants to bless everybody not just one group of people as it says oh that even was a
get tight he wants to bless everybody and not only that he wants to he wants to bless even though
our whole household you know there's that residual effect of the blessing that comes upon us to those
around us you know when we're blessed others will be blessed with us in our household and you know
it comes through obedience there's that famous saying that I've heard several preachers preachers
say and I think it's a good one to keep in mind that the path the blessing is through the door
of obedience I mean that is the story that you know the the moral of the story about the children
of Israel that if they were to dwell long in the land and have the blessing of God upon them that
they had to obey the commandments and the statutes of God and nothing's changed you know salvation
of course is free salvation is not about you know us working our way to heaven that's something
that's freely given up to us you know it's by being born again you know my child none of my
children put forth any effort in being born you know that just happened they didn't have any say
in the matter you know they were they were born but if they want the blessing of dad upon their
lives you know then they have to obey and keep my commandments they have to keep my statutes they
have to keep the rules that I set up in my house and when they step out of line there's there's
consequences for for breaking those rules and it's the same way with us and God you know once
we're born to God's family we're always this child but if we want the blessing of God in our life
then we have to obey and keep his commandments notice also there in second samuel verse six
chapter six and verse 12 second samuel chapter chapter six
so again we've seen that Obed-Edom was a get tight and God wants to bless everybody we've seen also
that the that the DR continued the house of Obed-Edom to get tight for three months God's
blessing is sustainable he could do more than we think and that the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all
this household that God wants to bless us even beyond our own lives into the next generations
if we'll obey and keep his commandments but notice there in verse 12 it says and it was told
king David saying the Lord had blessed Obed-Edom the house of Obed-Edom so somebody at some point
you know came to the king he came to king David and said hey Obed-Edom is being blessed man and
things are going really well for him ever since we put that ark in there we're bringing it back
he's just being blessed it was told him somebody came and told him about it and what we can take
from that is God's blessing is obvious a lot not maybe not always but we could see here
that generally speaking that we could look at somebody's life if we get when we get to know
people we could say you know that person has blessed them God we could we could others could
say that of us wow that person's really blessed God's blessing is something I I believe that is
obvious you know a lot of people say yeah it's obvious because I got all these gold chains and
all these gold rings and I got all these fancy cars and I got this big mansion you know but
even the wicked have that even the most I mean you look at the wealthiest people on earth and
I guarantee you they're probably some of the worst just worst people on earth most vile wicked people
with the most evil intentions I mean look at a guy like Bill Gates I mean who just wants to I mean
and here's you want to hear something scary he's actually building he bought I think 25,000 acres
or something like that just west outside of Phoenix not too far from where he's going to
build a smart city you know a fully automated city and you know who knows what that I just read this
article that just came to mind I don't know what it has to do the sermon but look into that and so
the point I'm trying to make is that Bill Gates you know he does a lot of things that I consider
wicked absolutely you know that he's into eugenics he wants to vaccinate everybody you know and he
does it all in the skies of charity right and just a wicked man and other people I mean you
look at a guy like George Soros just you know billions of dollars millions of dollars I don't
know what he's worth but he's a very wealthy man and he does a lot he has he uses that that money
to do a lot of evil and wicked things do you really think that all that money is there because
the blessing of God you know we can look at that guy and say that guy is not blessed of God that
guy's you know split hell wide open there's several people that we could say that about
with the blessing of God I believe is something that's obvious in a Christian's life it's
something that we can look at another Christian and say he is being blessed of God as it says
here it was told of Obed-Edom to the king it was told him hey he's he's blessed what do they say
they said the Lord half blessed the house of Obed-Edom I mean how would they know that if it
wasn't obvious did they take a survey did they go back to Obed-Edom how are things going oh you're
blessed oh let me go tell the king no it was obvious that they were to look at Obed-Edom
what was going on in his life I mean think of other stories in the scripture of like Jacob
you know we told Laban you know I know that the Lord hath altogether blessed thee because of me
you know when Laban's flocks began to multiply and he started to have all that wealth
you know Jacob knew who why it was there it was because the blessing of God was upon him and again
you know Laban was just a benefactor he just got to experience some of the residual effects
of that blessing so God's blessing is something that's obvious you know we could we probably
even think of people that we know in our churches people that we know Christians that we know
that we could say well that person is blessed like I referred to earlier you know we see people
children about people with large families or even small ones even people that are are being
faithful and multiplying you know they're not trying to hinder the the multi you know of bearing
fruit they're not doing anything to uh to stop that and there's some they're happy people they're
pleasant people to be around they have joy they have peace in their life they might not have all
the nicest things but they have you know they have the real blessings that matter in life they have
children they have love they have a bible that they love they have friends and family that those
are the blessings of God that that matter that God gives us and we can we can look at people that
have that and say they are blessed that is what it means to have the blessing of God in life
it's not necessarily financial or arterial gain it's having things of true substance of spiritual
substance those are the obvious blessings of God and that's you know Jesus said in Matthew 5 let
your life so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is
in heaven I mean God God wants our good works to be seen and how are we going to do any good work
if we're not blessed of God yeah I mean if we're if we're walking against the commandments and the
statutes of God of course we're not going to be doing the works of God but if we do the good
works why that others may see it God wants the blessing of God to be seen in our lives
Psalm chapter 34 if you would turn to Psalm chapter 34 let me turn there real quick
it was told King David that the house of Obed-Eden was being blessed God's blessing
is obvious it's something that we can see in the lives of Christians
Psalm 34 verse 8 oh taste and see that the Lord is good he wants us to see it
blessed is the man that trusteth in him so how do you see that the Lord the Lord is good
when you see a blessed man and how is a how is a blessed man blessed when he trusts in God
so it's the man that trusts in God that is blessed and that's what we are to look to
to see that the Lord is good hopefully that wasn't too confusing
but trust and see oh taste and seeing that the Lord is good blessed in the man that
blessed is man that trusted than him verse 9 oh fear the Lord he is saints for there is no
want to them that fear him the young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the
Lord shall not want any good thing come ye children hearken unto me I will teach you the
fear of the Lord what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good
that's a good question who is it that would want to see many days who would that would loveth many
days that would desire life who would want to see good in their life who would want the blessing of
God in their life I mean is there anybody out there that really would say anything that would
pass on that if I were to come to you and offer you the blessing of God in your life if I were
to come to you and say hey God wants to bless you you can have it it's available to you I'll pass
now strangely enough there's people that pass on salvation that blessing
you know but if we were to come to them say hey you know do you want do you want God to help you
with that addiction do you want God to help you to get over that vice in your life do you want
God to help you to get over that sin in your life do you want God to help you you know prosper in
your life to do to be a good employee to be a good employer be a good husband a good wife a good child
a good mother a good father do you want God to bless you do you want God to help you to see good
and to and to love life in many days do you want that in your life if we were to offer that who
would really turn that away I mean the world often wants that but the problem is they don't
want what it takes they want to do what it takes I mean you think about I don't know how my wife's
always telling me about which I'll brag on my kids a little bit here you know they they go out
shopping my wife say you know we got so many we got these compliments today she tells me just
about every time they go out your children are so well behaved and I'm sure there's other parents
here that could say the same thing about their children their children are very well behaved
how do you do that and these people it's like a mystery to them how does that happen you know
wow what are you doing it's like well let me tell you you probably don't want to do what it takes
to get the kids to act like that you probably don't want to have to come down and crack you
know crack down on them at home or take them out to the van you know it's not something you have
to do constantly but you have to get that message through their head that this is how it operates
we do things in this house and once they start to understand the consequences of being good and
being bad you know things fall into place but there is a season there of training you know we
have to train up these children the nurture and mission of the Lord so people look at you know
the blessing of well-behaved children but they'll say if you told them what it really took to get
that everyone wants the fruit but no one wants to go out you know and do the pruning and do the the
planting and the weeding and everything that takes to get that fruit so we see you know it says there
what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good who is it you know who
would refuse that keep that tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile depart from evil and
do good seek peace and pursue it so it's not just if you want to see good who wants to see good well
just ask for it you know there's some there's some requirements that come along with it
and what we can see is that though God wants his goodness to be in our lives to be obvious though
God wants the blessing to be obvious in our lives we still have to understand something
that the blessing of God is conditional now salvation is not conditional we all understand
that as salvation is a free gift the only condition upon it is whether or not you believe
whether or not you choose to put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or not but as a child of
God if you want to have the blessing of God in your life you have to understand that there is a
certain there are conditions laid upon you that you can't just you know live however you want
and expect the blessing of God to come upon you right now you can live however you want if you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and still go to heaven amen there's people that don't like that
message there's people that don't want to hear that and i'm sure there's probably people on
youtube that are going to hear me say that and try to call me out and call me a heretic or something
like that for saying that you can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and live like the devil and go
to heaven that's the message of scripture that you can do that that salvation is a free gift it's not
of works lest any man should boast you know not by our righteousness but by his righteousness we're
saved you know our righteousnesses are filthy rags before him you know jesus christ became sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him we were made the
righteousness of God through jesus christ so we understand that salvation is a free gift and no
matter what we do we can't lose it but that's not a reason for us to go out and and live however we
want we shouldn't and if that's our heart intent and motive you know that you know we have a wicked
heart we're still in the in the gall of iniquity and we're still in that bond we should desire to
go out and serve God because of what he's done for us not because we're trying to work our way
into heaven right so the point i'm trying to make here is that if you want the blessing of God in
your life it's conditional you have to there's certain things that you know you have to behave
a certain way you just can't go out and run amok well i'm saved now so i can just you know be a
drunk and not expect any consequences that's not the case you know if you're saved you can still
be a drunk but God's still going to let you suffer the consequences you know God you know
it comes down hard on drunkenness in the bible and fornication and adultery and all these things
that people let themselves get into even as Christians even as born-again children of God
and you should know it has no surprise to those people that allow themselves to fall into those
sins when the when the the hammer of God comes down the curse of God comes down when the you
know when God starts to judge and punish and chastise them in their lives and if you would
turn over to Hebrews chapter 12 because this is something that really i want to drive home
last week i was out soloing and the one guy that i had gave me the time of day to talk to
he really choked on this you know i said yeah you can believe and go to heaven no matter what you do
know and when he was like well aren't there some people that you know is there anything you could
do that will keep you out of heaven i said well there's you know i try to explain the reprobate
doctrine well it's not so much that you know those people do those things and then they're
kicked out or then they're disbarred from heaven then they can't be saved it's because you know
they they get to a certain point where God rejects them and then they fall into those sins
trying to explain you know people get that switched around it seems like
but i try to explain them look you can be saved by by grace to faith and go to heaven
and live how you want but there's going to be there's going to be chastising the chastisement
in your life and that's very clearly taught here in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5 where it says and
you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children my son despise not thou
the chastening the lord nor faint without art reviewed to him for whom he whom the lord loveth
he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom receiveth so if you're his son if you're God's child
you know you're not perfect there's going to be something that God's probably going to have to
deal with in your life there's going to be some scourging there's going to be some chastening
when that's just God trying to get you to do right that's God trying to work you know work you towards
being a better child of God being serving him even better if he endured chasing God deal with
the U.S. with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not does any of us that are
fathers do we ever have a child that we just never had chasing that child they were just perfect from
day one never had to rebuke them never had to chase them never had to deal anything with just
man just picture perfect there was only one person that I could have probably ever said that the lord
Jesus Christ and that's because he was God and that you know I don't want to go off on a tangent
there but the point we're trying to make here is that every child of God is going to receive some
chasing because every child of God you know there's there's things in our life that we have
to get right if we want the blessing of God verse 9 furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection of the
father of lights and live for they verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure
but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of
righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby say I want that I want the peaceable
fruit of righteousness I want that in my life I want that blessing that that peace that
righteousness in my life well there's some requirements there God's blessing is conditional
and it just might be that God has to chasten you a little bit that God has to correct you that God
has to straighten us out on some things so that he could bless us so we see that the blessing of
God is conditional and I'm running out of time here so let me just wrap up these last couple of
points so we saw back there in second Samuel chapter six that and if you were to stay in
Hebrew turn over to Ephesians chapter one Ephesians chapter one so we saw that you know
Obed-Einu was a get tight God's blessing is for everybody we saw that uh that the the ark
abode in his house for three months again well God's blessing is sustainable and that
the Lord blessed Obed-Einu in all his household God wants you know to bless even our children
and our sons after us we saw that it was told to King David that the Lord had blessed Obed-Einu
God wants his blessing to be obvious to others but lastly we'll see also it says there in verse
12 and it was told unto King David saying the Lord had blessed the house of Obed-Einu and all
that pertained unto him because of the ark of God so what's that last phrase why was he blessed
because of the ark of God because of God that's why he was blessed the last thing I want to really
drive home here is that Obed that it's because of God that we're blessed meaning this that God is
the source of all blessing that any any blessing that we have is from God as it says in James
you're probably familiar with verse 1 chapter 1 verse 16 do not err my beloved brethren every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights with
whom is no variables nor shadow of turning so we see that every blessing every good gift every
perfect gift is from God God is the source of all blessing so that's why we have to get on
his program that's why we have to make sure we're right with God if we want the blessing of God
you're there in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1 Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to
the saints which are our deficits and the faithful in Christ Jesus grace be to you and peace from God
our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ all spiritual blessings
are come from God God is the source of all blessing meaning this that if you want the
blessing of God it's conditional because God is the source of all blessing meaning this that you
have to be right with God in order to be blessed of God that's how you're blessed of God you have
to be right with him Psalm 24 I'll read to you a psalm of David the earth is the Lord and the
fullness thereof the world of they that dwell therein for I have founded upon the seas and
established it upon the floods who shall ascend to the hill of God hill of the Lord and who shall
stand in his holy place he that hath clean hands and a pure heart who have not lifted up his soul
into vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from
the God of his salvation who is it that's going to receive the blessing the one who has a pure
heart clean hands who's not lifted up his soul into vanity you know the one who's walking the
statutes the commandments of and the judgments of God he's the one that's going to have the
blessings of God upon his life and upon the lives of his children and his children's children
Proverbs 28 says a faithful man shall abound with blessings not an inconsistent man not an
unfaithful man not a man who's wishy-washy a man who's half in half out a man is driven with the
wave of the wind like the waves of the sea but it's a faithful man it's the steady man it's the
man who's you know endeavoring to continue to do the things that God would happen to do that's the
man that's going to abound with blessings you know I can't help but wonder when they when they
I love this story here and I've thought about it often um you know whenever I read I think about
the fact like what what was that scene like when they brought that ark to Obed Eden's house
you know I believe Obed Eden was ready and able to welcome the presence of God into his house
I mean he it was an unexpected visit it was not what they intended you know they wanted to bring
it all the way back to Jerusalem that's where they wanted the ark but along the way you know
Uzzah puts out his hand he's slain they get in a panic they don't want to do
what do we do with this thing uh go over to that house knock on the door tell them we're gonna put
that thing in there so all of a sudden someone's knocking on his door and saying hey we got the
ark of God you know and he's a philistine he's probably heard of the the horror stories that
happened to the men back and I can't remember where it was no it's not coming back to me but
you know the story where they where they first took it you know they got the emirates and secret
places and uh they had the plagues and the famine and all that and they're like get rid of this
thing you know so Obed Eden's kind of like oh man you know the ark's showing up but I believe
he was ready to receive it you know he welcomed the presence of God into his life he welcomed the
ark of God into his house and he was he was ready to receive it you know I don't think Obed Eden was
probably did he have to like tear down all the idols first you know and I just think about the
application being you know what things would we have to get right in our house if Jesus were to
stop by if we had a knock at the door one day and it was the Lord you know showing up and wanted to
talk with us he wanted to dwell with us for three months you know would we have what you know what
what channels would we have to make sure we didn't turn to on our tv and maybe we just took the tv
down and got rid of it that'd probably be the best thing to do right or what magazines would we have
to take off the coffee table you know what but we have to put away the ashtray dump out the liquor
first you know what things will we not will be embarrassed to have found out in our house if
God were to stop by if God were to come over and say hey let me check out your you know your web
search history let me check out you know what what you've got going on in your house what what
what is that we would be not wanting God to see if you were to come by that was why Obed Eden was
ready was able to be blessed I believe on a moment's notice out of nowhere the ark is coming
over the presence and blessing of God was coming into his life and he was able to receive it and
that's that's how we can also see that the blessing of God is conditional if we want the blessing of
God in our life we have to be have a clean heart and pure hands we can't lift up our soul in the
band we have to be ready to receive the blessing of God that God could come in and dwell with us
and bless us abundantly and I believe that's the message that we can we can take from from the
story of Obed Edom that it's like it's something that God wants to give to everybody that blessing
and he was a get tight and that it's something that you know he got wants to sustain throughout
our lives as he was there with Obed Edom for three months and it's something that he wants to do for
those even around us in our lives he wants us others to be blessed by our blessing you know our
children will be blessed by the fact that we are being faithful and obedient to God and he's
blessing us and he wants that blessing to be obvious he wants others to be able to see our
lives and say you know that person is blessed of God they've got you know there's something about
their life that is appealing you know that's not just this drudgery that we're going through
I think it's too often as Christians they go you know they all they dwell about all the things
that God doesn't want them to do all the things I can't get to do you know if I do that God's gonna
be mad at me but they forget they fail to see all the great and good things that God wants to give
them and it's for our own good that God you know puts certain things off limits amen and you know
it's and we have to understand ultimately that all the blessing that we have as it says it was
because of the ark of God that God is the source of that blessing and therefore if we want the
blessing of God we have to be able to receive God himself to receive his spirit into our lives
now I'll just close by reading first John 3 where it says behold what manner of love the father
bestowed upon us you know what a great love that God has bestowed upon us you know as it says that
you know in uh first Corinthians you know um God our uh how's it go I'm drawing a blank now
God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ loved us
that was Romans 5 5 8 so you know what manner of love you know God commended his love God's love
is greater than anybody else's love and that he bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God and the bible says in verse 3 and every man that half this hope purified himself
even as he is pure now we want the blessing of God we want the presence of God we have to be ready
to receive it as old bed-eaten was we have to make sure that our lives are right that God be given to
be left to bless us and not to chasten us as is taking place in the back now so that said let's
close in a word of prayer i mean father again thank you for the story of obed edom thank you
that lord you've shown us that even all the way back in second sand you were ready to bless lord
strangers and foreigners to the house of israel that your your blessing that your salvation is
available to all them that we believe and one that it's a blessing that would sustain all of
our lives and those around us that if we would just recognize that all good and great things
all the perfect things come down from you and that if we would then just purify our own hearts
and our lives well that you could pour out a blessing upon us and do abundantly more than we
could ask or think but i pray just be with us as we go our separate ways and bring us back again
next week in jesus name amen amen