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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Welcome to Faith Forward Baptist Church. Find our seats and open up our song books at Song No. 343. We begin our evening service by singing Song No. 343. Five of us again at Song No. 343. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] This is Song No. 167. Song No. 167. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Song No. 167. ["All Hail the Power of Jesus"] Sing it out. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Pray for the Royal Diadem, And crown Him Lord of all. Pray for the Royal Diadem, And crown Him Lord of all. In chosen seed of Israel's grace He ransomed from the fall. Hail him who saved you by his grace, and crowned him, Lord of all. Hail him who saved you by his grace, and crowned him, Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial wall, To him, all majesty, all triumph, and crown him, Lord of all. To him, all majesty, all triumph, and crown him, Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial wall, Will join the everlasting song, and crown him, Lord of all. Will join the everlasting song, and crown him, Lord of all. Welcome to the Oasis Circus time, so there's another left-hand side. We'll be back on Thursday night at seven, going through the book of Genesis in chapter number six. And we have the Salations and Baptisms for both month and year. And then don't forget, over on the right-hand side, we're going to have our first, hopefully first annual, hopefully it's something we get to have a doing here at the church, our east side blitz. So everything east of Will lot, which is where our map ends on the lobby, we're going to start working on that section of town, and go out there and just kind of hit hard a few Saturdays. Beginning of the year, but it's still cool out. And depending on how well this goes, participation rate, maybe we'll do a couple more into March. But it's hard to believe that April is already kind of that close. Let's not talk about that. Let's focus on the fact that we still have all of February and all of March left, right? So we at least got a few, a couple months, a few months maybe, so you go out there, before it starts getting really hot, and knock that out. Obviously, kind of the purpose behind this is that getting over to the east side can be a little bit more difficult, takes a little more time, because all surface grows for the most part. But we've kind of made the day out of it. Go over there, spend a couple hours in the morning, in the afternoon, knocking doors, and you'll meet here at the building. You've got the itinerary at 9. There's only about a half hour for people to show up, what they've got to do. We'll be sure to have some coffee and donuts to get you all fired up. And then go out for about two hours there, from 10 to 12, and then we'll stop for lunch. And I've got a really good, I'm assuming really good, I haven't had it. But, I don't know, whatever I'm seeing online, I think it's going to be really good. It's a, what do you call it, a wine barbecue. So, it's got barbecue in the name. And I haven't met any barbecue guidelines. I know my reputation might be a little tarnished right now, after suggesting the pizza place that I did. Maybe some of you have no taste in pizza. I don't know. You need to have no taste in pizza if it gets you on the leg, okay? Alright. People have tastes, people have preferences. Man, people are getting mad. I didn't even start preaching yet, which I mean, I'm already getting mad. Anyway, I'll redeem myself, hopefully, with this place. I don't get it. People don't like it, it's fine. I don't get it. I don't get it. I have my preferences, you have yours, it's fine. People get so weird about food, don't they? Oh, this place is great. Man, it's alright. Oh, you're crazy. Like, did you cook it? Did you work there? I like it. You know, maybe you ate something better. I don't know. But anyway, all that aside, don't forget we've got the east side puts the sign-up sheets in the back, so if you're able to make it, please do sign up so you can get an idea of how many people will be going. On the back, the children's team and team's weekly Bible memory passage. It's kind of a long one, but you know, nothing wrong with a little bit of a challenge for the young people to take this on and get this word out in their heart, which is 26 to 28 there. Very famous passage. Good to know, big doctrine there. And again, remember the rules. This has got to be recited next Sunday, kids. So it's next Sunday. This has got to be done, alright? No later than next Sunday. And if you can get it done, we'll have cookies and milk as a reward. There's a couple Tempe events listed below that if you'd like to participate in any of those things. And then let's just go ahead and count up the soul week that's been done going back to Friday. Is there anything from Friday? Four. Four from Friday. Alright. And then Saturday, I know the group didn't have any salutations. Is there anything outside of the group on Saturday? And what about the group today? Okay, that'll do it for our announcements. We'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into reaching tonight. You can open up your songbooks to song number 404. Song number 404. When the battle's over, that's song number 404. Okay. Sing it out. I am a soldier, run across a former old land. We shall not fear to own his cause or rush to speak his name. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. On a lashing ride, the spidey fly, the waning breeze, my courage roar. I'll bear the toil and door, the pace afforded by thy word. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. First Psalm, chapter 21. Verse 1, the Bible reads, Then came David's knob to Himlel, the priest. And to Himlel, the Himlel was afraid of meeting me. He said, Why art thou alone? No man lived. And David said unto Himlel, the priest, The king hath commanded me business, and said unto me, For no man know anything of business, Whereby I sent him would have commanded me, And appointed my servants to such and such a place. Now, then, what is under thy hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, Or what there is present. And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is hollow bread. And the young men have kept themselves, at least from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth, women have been kept from us about these three days, Since I came out, and invested with the young men are old, And the bread is in a matter of common, And the aid though it were sanctified, to this day an investment. So the priest gave him hollow bread, but there was no bread. But there was there no bread, but there was a chauffeur, That was taken from before the Lord, Who put hot bread up in the day, and was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, Who came before the Lord, and his name was Goed, to eat him up. The chiefest, the urgent, that bought him the salt. And David said unto him, And is there not here under thy hand spear a sword? For I have not yet brought my sword with my weapons with me, Because the king's business required haste. And the priest said, And the sword of Goliath the Philistine, And Bausluis the valley-deller, And behold, this year, wrapping the cloth, And I am evil, and thou wilt take me back, And take me, and there is no other save that here. And David said, And there is none like thee but me. And David arose, and pled that day, With fear of Saul, and going to aches, Became a gaff. And the servants of David said unto them, Is not this David the king of the land? Is it not saying one to another, If he but dances, saying, That Saul has claimed his thousands, And David his ten thousands? And David let up his words in his heart, And was sore afraid of aches and being gaffed? And he changed his behavior before them, And banged himself in mad madness, And scrabbled on the door of the gate, And let a spittle fall down upon his beard. And he said, Aches, unto his servants, Look, and see this man, and that man is mad. Wherefore, that have you brought him to me? Have I need a magnet, That you have brought this fellow To put a magnet in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? Brother Oliver, would you pray for us? Thank you, Father God, again for your courage. Thank you for our thinking. Thank you for the people who are able to make it here. And it's a pleasure receiving the service. Thank you for holding the Spirit. I'll preach to us tonight. In case it's my name, amen. Amen. Amen. Absolutely back there in First Samuel 21. I'm going to go back to Mark chapter number 2. I'm going to finish up Mark chapter number 2 tonight. We'll make some application. We're going to do a lot of reading in the Old Testament tonight. But bear with me. It'll pay off in the end. But if you look there in Mark chapter number 2 in verse 23, And it said, And it came to pass, As he went through the corn fields on the Sabbath day, And the disciples began, As they went to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto them, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day That which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have you never read what David did, When he had need and was in hunger, And he and they that were with him, How he went into the house of God In the days of Abiathar the high priest, And did eat the shewbread, Which is not lawful to eat, But for the priest, And gave also to them which were with him. And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, And not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the son of a man is Lord also of the Sabbath. So again we have the Pharisees coming and criticizing Jesus, criticizing those that are his company for what they're doing. We saw that again this morning where he was sitting at the feast with Levi and they were eating and they're coming and talking to him about why aren't you fasting? Even earlier in the chapter when he's healing the one that's born of the four, they're thinking within their hearts who can forgive sins but God only. So it's just been this continuous criticism from the Pharisees of Jesus and his ministry and nothing has changed and nothing really is going to change. And what we see take place is that Jesus gets more and more frustrated with the Pharisees. If you think about it in the chapter when they first are criticizing him over the one that is born of the four, he says, you know, whether it's easier to say, you know, thy sins be forgiven me that you may know that the son of man hath power to forgive sins, right? And that was kind of a mild, a gentle rebuke. Later he says, you know, they that are holding not a physician but they that are sick. So he's not really coming down on them and then even this morning we saw where he is, you know, with Levi and they're criticizing about the fasting and he's lightly rebuking them again and then here it's a little bit more of a harsh rebuke, right? Because he kind of takes a jab back at him finally and it just goes to show you that God is very long suffering, God is very gentle but God has a point where, you know, he's only going to put up with so much from people and that's a lesson we can learn right there and we'll see in chapter three, briefly at the end, that Jesus in fact is angered by this attitude, okay? But notice here, you know, with these other more mild rebuffs early in the chapter here, he kind of has a little bit of a barb in his reply, okay? Because he says in verse 25, and he said unto them, have you never read what David did, right? He's saying, have you never read? And that's kind of a knock on them, isn't it? Because these are the Pharisees. These are the people that should know the word of God best, right? That they are the ones that have been committed, unto whom the oracles were committed. They have the scribes, the Pharisees, they have the word of God. I mean, their whole life is wrapped up in the word of God. Their whole life is the word of God, okay? They should know it, you know, and it's a shameful thing that this is true of them, right? Because they're being, he's saying, have you never read? And the answer is, you know, they must not have. And he's kind of making a point of saying, you know, you don't even understand. Maybe it is that they've read, but they don't even understand. But you can see there that there's this little bit of an edge to this reply. This isn't just another, you know, kind of writing them off or taking opportunity to, you know, just teach a parable. He's saying, have you never read, okay? So he's kind of putting it back on them, okay? And of course, what he's being criticized about is the fact that he and his disciples are there and they are plucking these ears of corn and they're eating them. You know, if you look in the parallel passages in Luke and Matthew, they're rolling the corn. So they're just taking corn off the stock and they're eating it because they're hungry, okay? They don't have anything else to eat apparently and say, well, aren't they stealing? Well, even in the law, we see that that was something that was allowed. That was not allowed. We see that that was something that was allowed. That was something that was permitted. You could take as much as you could carry in your hands at any time. If someone had an orchard, you know, you could take an apple or two and you could have that to eat, right? And that was a way for people to be taken care of, to have their needs met when they were needy. And obviously, you couldn't show up with like a basket. You know, you couldn't back up a truck or a cart, I guess, to be back then and just load it up and say, well, you know, it does say in Deuteronomy, the stipulation that it had to be a certain, just enough so that you could get a meal, right? So they're not doing anything wrong, but what they're accusing them doing of that which is unlawful is the fact that they're doing this on the Sabbath day, okay? And this goes back to what I was saying this morning about how they are, you know, had this holier than thou attitude and they're very puffed up and lifted up and they're saying, you know, we're not doing things like this. We don't do that. And Jesus is, you know, they're saying, you know, we observe the Sabbath day. That's how holy we are. And truly, you know, they were commanded to observe the Sabbath, to keep the Sabbath, you know, to keep it holy. Thou shall not forget the Sabbath and to keep it holy, okay? But, you know, again, as we saw this, and this again, you can see how this ties in with what we read this morning where Jesus talked about how new wine must be put into new vessels, right? You can't put old wine into new vessels lest they burst asunder, okay? And he's talking again about the Old Testament being done away and the New Testament coming in so you can see how very strategically those verses are placed within Mark because you're dealing with the, you know, when he's eating with Levi and eating with unwashing hands and these other things. And then you have those verses and then you have these verses which are dealing again with the law, okay? But notice here also that Jesus confirms that what they are doing is indeed unlawful or what David did was unlawful, right? He says there, he says, and he said unto them, maybe he never read what David did when he had need and wasn't hungered and he and they were with him. How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest and did eat the showbread which is not lawful, right? And he said, well, David did it. David went into the house of God and did it. David went in and he's like, we're just plucking corn on the Sabbath day. David went to the house of God in the days of Abiathar the priest and he ate that which is not lawful which was condemned in the law, right? He's saying it was meant for the high priest only and he gave also to them which were with him and he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, right? You guys are getting it backwards. So Jesus confirms that it was actually an unlawful thing which David did but I think, you know, and he's basically saying, you know, what we're doing isn't that big of a deal and I think it's interesting that he uses that particular story because I think there's some parallels that can be drawn from David's day to the day that Jesus is in and yeah, even to the day that we're living in. I'm not saying that's why he cited that but I'm saying that the Bible is open, lends itself to application, okay? It lends itself to that so that we can get up and make application with the word of God and that's kind of what I want to do tonight so I want to go back to the story and look at it. If you want to go back to 1 Samuel where we were, chapter 21, and before we get into it, let me just say, you know, when it comes to what Jesus is doing and even what David did, you know, plucking corn on the Sabbath day and going in and eating the showbread that they, you know, these might be considered violations perhaps. I don't know that you could say that's exactly what Jesus was doing but certainly with David, because that's out of Jesus' mouth, he's saying it was unlawful what he did but what's happening is that the Pharisees are missing the point. They're missing the point because, you know, the Levitical law was given for when it came to the worship of God, okay? That's the Levitical law. There's a difference between Levitical law and moral law, okay? There's things that are just always going to be wrong, immoral, that God condemns, you know, at all times. Murder, theft, fornication, adultery, so on and so forth. There's certain things that are just immoral, okay? There are certain things that are just, you know, part of the Old Testament law and these are things that are being done away. That's kind of what's taking place in Mark chapter number two. He's saying, you know, the new wine's going into new bottles. You can't mix the two. The Old Testament's gonna go away and the New Testament's coming in. But let's look again at the time in which David was living when this story took place. It says in verse one, then David came to Nob to Himelek the priest and Himelek was afraid at the meeting of David and said unto him, why art thou alone and no man with thee? So you have to remember, this is when David has finally gone on the lamb. He's fleeing, rather, from the face of Saul. Saul has attempted to kill him twice now. So now he's fleeing. He's run for his life and he had to leave suddenly. It was a very sudden thing. So he didn't have time to pack a bag and bring all the provisions that he's gonna need. He's running with his men and they are faint. They're hungry and they come to Himelek and that's why Himelek is a little bit afraid. He's saying, why are you come unto me and no man with thee? And David said unto Himelek the priest, the king hath commanded me a business and he hath said unto me, let no man know anything of the business where about I send thee and what I have commanded thee and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. So David tells a lie. He's like, because that's not at all. That's not at all what's going on. But he's just trying to put Himelek the priest at ease. He's just trying to say, don't worry. I'm here on king's business. Because he doesn't know which way this guy's gonna go. If he finds out that he's a fugitive from Saul, maybe he'll turn him in. He says in verse three, now therefore, what is under thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand or what there is present? And the priest answered David and said, there is no common bread under mine hand that there is hallowed bread, for if the young men have kept themselves, at least from women. So the bread that he has is the hallowed bread is the bread that was meant to be given to the Lord, to present it to the Lord. And David answered the priest and said unto him, of a truth, women have been kept from us about these three days since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy and the bread is in a manner common. Yea, though it were sanctified, this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in in the day that it was taken away. So this is the old bread, the hot bread had gone in, the new bread's coming out, or the old bread's coming out, that's what's being given to David and it was meant for the priest to eat. Now, you've got to pay attention to some of the details in the story and as I understand it, the ark is not even in Nob. Okay, look, again, it says David came to Nob, that's where he is. And we're going to follow the ark here for a little bit. We're going to go back and look at the ark, if you want to go back to 1 Samuel 4. And again, we're going to look at some things but I'm going to make parallels at the end. Okay? To Jesus' time and even our own. So you have a priest there who's really concerned about, you know, if they've kept themselves from women, and this bread is meant only for the priest, it's hollowed bread. You know, we're being real careful here about these little particulars of the law but what's funny about that is that the ark's not even there. Now, I think it might have been nearby, Nob was the city of priests and it's probably in the same region or it's very nearby, perhaps. But as I understand it, it's not, the ark at this point isn't even in Nob. Okay? And you'll see where I'm going here if you can stick with me, okay? We've got a little bit of work to do in the beginning but it'll pay off. It says in 1 Samuel 4 verse 1, the word of Samuel came to all Israel, now all Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and pitched beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. So this is in the days when Samuel was young and you had, you know, the Hophni and Phinehas were these wicked priests that were taking from the Lord's sacrifice and eating it. Remember that story? And it says, and so this is, you know, about that time that's taking place, before David's even on the scene, okay? And the Philistines put themselves in a ray against Israel and when they joined the battle, Israel was spitting before the Philistines and they slew of the army in the field about 4,000 men and when people were coming to the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore had the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it is come among us, it may save us out of the hands of the enemies, okay? So when this story is taking place, which predates David by several decades, they say, Hey, let's go and get the ark out of Shiloh, okay? And that's where the Lord had originally intended the ark to be, okay? That's where it had been up to this point. When they crossed over in the Promised Land, it was in Shiloh. So they're saying, Let's go get it so we can go win this battle, okay? Because again, and they're just treating the ark like it's some kind of good luck charm. Like if they just have this with them, like it's some kind of lucky rabbit's foot, that it'll just automatically win the victory. Never mind the fact that, you know, 1 Samuel takes place after the book of Judges, Samuel being the first judge, or the last judge, rather, in a time, if you remember how Judges ended, it says that every man did that, which is right in his own eyes. So when this story is taking place, Israel is a spiritual wreck, okay? They're backslidden, but they still have this mentality that if they just bring the ark, that that's all they need to do, okay? The reason why they're being beaten by their enemies is because God's allowing it to happen, because it's a punishment from God, okay, because they're backslidden. Remember what it says when Samuel came on the scene, that there was no open vision, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, okay, which is very similar to the scene that Jesus came upon, right, in his day. After Malachi, there are no prophets. It's like a 400-year gap of complete silence. No prophets, no one speaking, okay? It says in verse 10, and the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent, and there was a very great slaughter for their fellow Israel 30,000 footmen, and the ark of God was taken. So the Philistines make off with the ark, so that didn't go the way they were thinking, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas were slain, so they die, and if you remember the story, one of their daughters, or one of their wives gives birth and says, Ichabod, for the glory of the Lord is departed, right? Now go to 1 Samuel 5, look at verse 1, and the Philistines took the ark of God, so it's left Shiloh, and now the Philistines have it, and they brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod, which is one of their cities. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, which is their false god, and set it by Dagon, and that's a really cool story to be fun to tell again, but if you remember how it goes, they find Dagon on his face in the ground, and then the next morning, I think it's like his head and his hands are cut off, and, you know, all that's left is the stump of Dagon. I think I even preached a sermon called the stump of Dagon just because it's a cool title, okay? But they, and then they don't step on the threshold. We all know that story, okay? Point being that this is the journey of the ark, okay? Look at First Samuel, chapter number six, verse one, and the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months, and the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, what shall we do to the ark? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. So they're trying to get rid of it, and if you remember the story, there's a reason why they're trying to get rid of it, because of the emerods that they had in their secret places that was a curse from God, right? And if you don't know what an emerod is, well, it's what preparation H is for, okay? That's what it's for, okay? So they want to get rid of it because they're being cursed. So verse 12, remember the priests come and tell them to make golden images of their emerods and of their mice, right, this is a really weird thing, and to put it in the ark and put it on a cart with two milch kind and to cause them to, you know, let them go. And it says in verse 12, and the kind took the straight way to the way of Beth-Shemesh and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned out a side to the right hand or to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them under the border of Beth-Shemesh. Look at verse 19. So it comes in, it goes into Beth-Shemesh, and then it says, and he smote the men of Beth-Shemesh, the ones who were in the field and the ark, they see the ark coming on the cart. These are the Israelites now, it's coming back into Israel. They find it, and then they look inside of it, right? And he, the Lord, smote the men of Beth-Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of God. He even, he smote of the people 50,000 and three score and 10 men, and the people lamented because they, the Lord had spittin' many of the people with a great slaughter. You know, there's so many applications just to be made right there, but God's not a respecter of persons, you know? If you don't have reverence for God, you're gonna get it, just like the Philistines. Verse 20, and the men of Beth-Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God, and to whom shall he go up for us? They sent messengers into the inhabitants of Kerjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fesh it up to you. Go to 1 Samuel, chapter number 7. So again, we're just following the ark, okay? That's all we're doing. 1 Samuel, chapter number 7, verse 1, And the men of Kerjath-jearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eliezer his son to keep the ark of the Lord. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kerjath-jearim, that the time was long, for it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. So it just kind of ends up in this random place in the house of Abinadab in Kerjath-jearim, and that's where it's there, and it's just there for some time. The next mention that we see is 1 Samuel 14, okay? When Saul has finally become king, and Jonathan goes and confronts the garrison of the Philistines, if you remember that story, and he slays a bunch of men, you know, in a small parcel of land, just a few acres, okay, I can't remember all the details, but this great battle takes place. Look at verse 18, 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 we know where it is. It's in the house of Abinadab, with Kith-jearim in the hill, okay? And Saul calls for it, unto the priests, and tells them to bring the ark. Look at verse 19, And it came to pass, while Saul talked to the priests, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased. And Saul said unto the priests, Withdraw thine hand, okay? So what's going on here, you know, and I'm just mentioning this in case anyone remembers the story, so didn't Saul call for the ark in that battle? Well, he tells them to withdraw in his hand, meaning, you know what, never mind, don't go get it, meaning that the ark still remains in Kith-jearim, okay, in the house of Abinadab. Look at 2 Samuel chapter number 6. 2 Samuel chapter number 6 and verse 1, this is after David has become king very early on in his reign. It says, And David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand, and David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baal of Judah, to bring from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord, of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of where? The house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah. So it's still in the house of Abinadab. You say, wait a minute, I thought Abinadab was in Kith-jart-jearim. Well, my theory here is that, and you don't have to go back there, but in 1 Samuel chapter 7, it says that the men of Kith-jart-jearim came, fetched up the ark, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill. Okay, it gives us that little detail. Okay, that it was in the house of Abinadab in the hill. And I believe that's what Gibeah is referring to, that's the name of that hill. That's just my theory. Okay. Because you've got to explain it, you know, why wouldn't it be in the house of Abinadab in Kith-jart-jearim? Why is it in Gibeah? Well, I believe Gibeah was a hill in Kith-jart-jearim. Okay, that's just my theory. And we know the story, and Uzzah reaches out, touches the ark, and God slays him. And then it says, and they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which is at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God, and Ahiah went before the ark. Okay. So, that's, you know, that's kind of where it is. And then, in that story, it ends up, actually, in the house of Obed-Edom, right, which is not too far off. Which is not in Nob. Okay. That's not where it ends up. But Nob is where David goes and eats the showbread. And I say all that to make this point, is that you have this priest in Nob, Ahimelech, right, who's all just being very careful about the showbread, there's not even an ark there. Because that's where the showbread went. It's just a guy who's going through the motions. You know, and it just sounds like, you know, the ark is in one place, the priest is in another, just going through the motion, right? And not only that, go to 1 Samuel chapter 22, we see what happens here in the story when David goes and eats the showbread and then leaves. Right, because Saul is on his tail and he's hunting him down. And if you remember, Doeg, that reprobate, that son of Belial was there, and he tells the story to Saul. He says, I saw him there, Bithor the priest helped him, he gave him the sword of the Philistine, he ate the showbread and went on his way. Okay, so he tattles. You know, but remember the priest is doing it in innocency. David's telling him, hey, I'm on an errand from the king. It's a secret errand, okay? Look at verse 18, And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priest. And Doeg the Enomite turned, and he fell upon the priest, and slew on that day four score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. Now, Doeg did it, but Saul is the one that's responsible for the command. Okay, it was wicked. And Nob, the city of priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men, women, children, and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. Which is how you know that Doeg is an implacable reprobate, because he goes beyond what Saul even commanded. He's cruel, okay? Not that it wasn't all of it cruel, right? But you got to be careful when you're dealing with reprobates. You know, if you want to employ men of the base or sort, they're going to go farther than you expected. So don't ever do that. Not that I hear anyone here ever would, right? But the point is this. Look at where Israel is in this story. This is the story that Jesus is referring back to, okay? I'm drawing the parallels tonight. I'm not saying that's why he said that, okay? Well, he was referring back to saying, well, that's what David did. He's kind of making a comparison like he stole showbread. All we're doing is plucking corn, okay? And we have, you know, the Old Testament that backs us up on that. Get over yourself, you hypocrite. That's basically, I believe, what he's getting at there. Had you never read, okay? You think what I'm doing is wrong. Haven't you read what David did, okay? I'm drawing the parallel tonight, though, okay? Because, again, the scripture, I believe, lends itself to these type of things. That when we actually go and look at the story and we read it, we see that Israel is in spiritual shambles, okay? And it's the same kind of mentality back then as you kind of have in Jesus' day where you have these priests that are being real careful about these little things about the law and being oh so careful, and yet the world is falling down around them. I mean, the whole, I mean, Israel is at a point where the ark is just kind of out there in the wind, you know, it's just randomly landing in these different places. The ark of God, you know, I mean, that's kind of a major thing. You know, that's kind of an important instrument in the worship of God, don't you think? I mean, that's the one that Moses built, that God descended upon and fired. That's the one that was in the tabernacle where God abode in a pillar of fire by day and a cloud by night and led the children of Israel through wilderness. You know, it's not just some trinket. It's not just some knick-knack. It's not like they lost their keys or something. It's the ark of God. It's incredibly important. And even in David's day, it's like they've totally forgotten how to handle this thing. They're, oh, just go look inside it. There's this irreverence. You know, when it comes back from the Philistines, they just, oh, it's just peaking the ark of God. It's the ark of God. And then when David goes to get it, they do things their own way. They get the, and, you know, they have to go, you know, someone has to die before they get it right. You know, this is the spiritual condition that they're in in David's day. But, boy, they're real careful about that showbread. They're real careful to make sure that, you know, that you've kept yourself from women for, you know, at least three days. And then, you know, there's a little clause here. It's like, well, are they taking it from Nob to where the ark is? You know, that's my theory. That's what I think's going on there. And it's just a priest who's just, in Nob, just going through the motions. Okay? And that's similar to what we see taking place in Jesus' day. You got a bunch of priests, a bunch of Pharisees, who are just going through the motions. God hasn't spoken to them in 400 years. Then you have Christ come on the scene and perform miracles and preach sermons and speak truth. And do great things, and all they can do is just be real nitpicky about the law. You know, it's the Sabbath day, right? And, well, why are you eating? Shouldn't you be fasting like us and the disciples of John? You know, who are you to think that you can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins. Right? And it's just this continual criticism, and they're being really critical, and they're being really nitpicky, and they're doing it in a time when they are spiritually being destroyed, where they're just in one of the worst states that you find. I mean, they're being oppressed by the Romans. And God hasn't spoken. And leadership is, you know, killing the servants of the Lord in David's day, and they're gonna do the same thing to Jesus. You know, things aren't a lot better in Jesus' day than they were in David's day. You kind of see that parallel there, how they're being real careful about the, you know, the arks just wherever, but, boy, the showbread. Let's be real careful, okay? And they're missing the point, right? They're completely missing the point. And you can see what happens in the story is that, and, you know, over these couple of chapters that Jesus gets increasingly frustrated with these Pharisees. He starts out with just a couple parables, a couple mild rebukes, and then it's like, have you never read what David did? What's your problem, Pharisee? Don't you read? I mean, that's a pretty hard knock. Like, what if I walked up to you and said, well, can't you read, right? I mean, sometimes we knock on the door and the sign says no soliciting, and that's the smart aleck remark we get. Well, can't you read? Which I always reply, oh, I don't smoke. You'll get it later. Actually, I can't read, you know, right? But it's kind of a knock on them. And you can see Jesus is getting increasingly frustrated with a bunch of people who are just, what, going through the motions. You know, they're going through the motions and they look real spiritual and they sound real good and they've got a position and they're very comfortable and they're very at ease. But when a real man of God comes around and is actually trying to get something done, all they can do is criticize. All they can do is pick them apart. You know, that's what was going on in Jesus' day and it made Jesus mad. Look at Mark chapter 3, verse 1. It says in verse 1, and he entered again into the synagogue, so this is immediately after that, and there was a man that was there with a withered hand. So this guy's just got this withered hand, right, all bent up and crooked or whatever, and they watched him. Who's they? The Pharisees. Those that were in the synagogue watched Jesus. They watched him. Whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day that they might praise God and rejoice that a man was made whole. You know, that they might accuse him. Accuse him of what? Of healing a man, yeah, great, but it was on the Sabbath day. But he just got done telling them at the end of chapter 2, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath also. Man was not made for the Sabbath, but Sabbath for the man, you nitpicky priest, you hypocritical Pharisee. They watched him that they might accuse him, and he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, stand forth. He said, oh, you're watching? Okay, well, keep your eyes peeled, right? And he said to them, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days? Is it a lawful thing to do good on the Sabbath days? Or to do evil? To save life or to kill? But they held their peace. They don't have an answer, right? Because wouldn't it be an evil thing if Jesus was there and didn't heal this guy? Wouldn't it be an evil thing if there was something wrong and you had the power to fix it and you didn't do it just to appease a group of people like the Pharisees? That'd be an evil thing, wouldn't it? I mean, how would you feel if you were the guy with the withered hand? Oh, Jesus is here. I heard what he did with the one that was born before. I heard what he did with the one that was sick of the palsy. I've heard about all these healings. Man, this is my day. I've had this withered hand for so long. He's here. I'm in the synagogue. What a blessed day. It's going to happen. And Jesus is like, well, you know, I would do it, but the Pharisees, you know, they'd accuse me and, you know, wouldn't want to do anything good on the Sabbath day. That'd be pretty evil, wouldn't it? How would you feel? It'd be pretty disappointing. But they held their peace and they had nothing to say, meaning they weren't like, well, you know, Jesus, we could see your point. You know what? We were wrong. No, they just shut up. They didn't have anything to say when he was there. Verse 5, then we looked around about them on them with anger. What was the look in his face? An angry countenance. You know, this is what always cracks me up about people who accuse, you know, preachers or preach the word of God of being mean or something. You're such an angry preacher. Oh, you mean like Jesus? I mean, okay, I'll take that. I'm in good company, I guess. Well, I mean, Jesus would never preach like that. Jesus would never say that. Jesus would never get angry. You know, I want to ask them the same thing. Have you never read? Have you never read what Jesus did when he went into the Sabbath on the synagogue or went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and looked around about on the Pharisees with anger? Have you never read that? You never read that, huh? And it's so funny to me how many people in this world want to tell other Christians how they ought to live. You know, they want to tell people who believe the Bible how to be a Christian, and they've never read the Bible. There's so many people, they want to tell me all about Jesus and what he's like, and they've never read the Bible. You hypocrite. Don't sit there and tell me what Jesus is like when you've never read the Bible. Oh, I'll tell you what God's like. Well, that's a God of your imagination. That's a God you made up. I know what God's like. Well, how can you say that? Because I've read the Bible. That's how I know. And I know that Jesus gets angry. And I know that many of God's prophets throughout all of Scripture got angry, got mad. You know, God gets angry. But you can see that this isn't just something he would like from one minute to the next, just boom, just fly it off the handle, right? It's been a slow build-up. And now he's finally gotten to the point that you guys just aren't getting the message. And all you want to do is nitpick. All you want to do is have your little criticisms and take your little jabs, you know, and you're oh so careful about all your traditions. You're oh so careful about washing your hands when you come from the market, otherwise you don't eat. And you have all these traditions that you've inherited from your fathers of washing cups and bowls and such things. You have all these little things you're so careful about, but, you know, you're willing to just let somebody suffer. And you're actually going to pick apart people who are actually trying to do something. You know, and there's a parallel that we can draw to today, too. I can understand Jesus' frustration. You know, it's frustrating when you try to preach the word of God, when you try to take a stand, when you try to preach the whole counsel of the word of God, and then you have people criticize you for it. Now, and I'm not talking, you know, the frustration doesn't come from the world. You know, are you saying it's frustrating when people in the world get upset about biblical preaching? No. That's perfectly natural. You know, we are a saver of death unto death and of life unto life. You know, Jesus said, you know, rejoice when men shall speak evil of you. Okay? So coming from the world, it's expected. But what's frustrating is when it's the religious crowd, when it's people that should know the word of God. And in fact, especially when it's people that you're pretty sure do know the word of God, and they're just, they just don't want to, they just want to distance themselves from anything that's, you know, controversial. I can understand Jesus' frustration with this crowd. You know, we have a similar thing going on today in churches. You know, we've got a lot of Baptist preachers out there today that are just going through the motions. And look, going through the motions works. It works for people. And people will go to churches where all they're going to do is just go through the motions. All I got to do is show up, dress well, be on time, say amen when I'm supposed to, sing out loud, enjoy the program, and go home. Put my tithes in the plate, and we can all pat ourselves on the back, and everything's honky-dory. Everything's just great, right? But that's the other parallel that we can draw from David's day and Jesus' day today. Everything's not all right. Everything isn't honky-dory. The world is falling down around our ears. And it's like, and now we've been on this for so long, you know, this jet that's just in a tailspin that, you know, the only thing on the horizon is the ground. It's just like, you know, brace for impact situation. We've been in this so long that everyone's kind of gotten, still getting comfortable, right? I mean, remember, I mean, think about over the last decade the kind of things that have been rolled out in the world today. You know, that's how it works. That's how you boil a frog. And people are outraged at the beginning, and then nothing changes, and then they just kind of shut up and go along with it. And when enough people shut up and stop talking about it, then people are afraid to say anything about it because of the backlash that might come. I mean, think about where we're at in this country. I remember when the big, the big controversial thing is whether or not they were going to let homos get married. You know, I mean, that was the big conservative talking point, right? But now you've got, now the Republicans, they just love a guy who promotes sodomy all around the world. They have no problem with it. And when I say Republicans, I mean, like, Baptists. You have Baptist preachers who are going to endorse candidates who endorse sodomy. And it's the same guys that were all outraged about homos getting married, you know, a decade or whatever ago, 15, 20 years ago. It's because people get comfortable with abomination. You know, in Abiathar's day, it's like, well, I'm still making the showbread, never mind the fact that, you know, the Ark's somewhere else, but I'm still here going through the motions. In Jesus' day, you know, He's just out plucking corn on Sabbath day, healing people, doing His business, working His ministry, and He's being criticized by a bunch of people who don't even know the Word of God anymore, that have stopped reading, stopped preaching, that just want to be seen of men, and it's the same thing today. You know, we've got a bunch of Baptist pastors who want to get up behind pulpits, and they won't preach the Word of God. They won't go near certain passages, or they'll excuse it. And what's especially frustrating is it's not, you can't even say, you know, have you never read to them? I mean, maybe that's the case, and that's a shame. But it's like, they do know what it says, because this isn't a new doctrine that we're preaching. The reprobate doctrine is not new. I heard about that doctrine years before I even knew Pastor Anderson existed. He didn't come up with that. I know these old IFB guys know it, and I know they know it's the truth, and they won't touch it, because they just want to make the showbread. And if anybody comes along asking for some bread, they're going to, you know, act real religious and real careful about it. Meanwhile, you know, they're just spiritually just destitute. You know, and it's like, I know everyone wants to come to church and have a feel-good sermon, but the truth is, is that this country is going to be destroyed. We are, you know, it's not pretty. It's getting worse and worse and worse, and sermons like this need to be reduced. Sermons like this and others need to be preached more and more to wake people up, so they don't fall asleep and just think, oh, there's nothing wrong with it, because then the next abomination gets rolled out and everyone is okay with it. They're a little outraged at first. You know, I remember being asked, like, you know, you guys get up and you preach about the homos so much, but what are we supposed to do about it? This is what you're supposed to do about it. That's the only thing I can think of. You know, I wish I could roll out some plan. I wish I could show you a blueprint of how we're going to turn this country back to God, but I'd be lying because I don't think it's possible. I think it's too far gone. But I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what's not going to get it done. Not talking about it isn't going to help. Well, you know, has anybody got a better alternative? Because the only alternative I see out there in other churches is just not talk about it. Just don't bring it up. Just don't make any waves. Just don't preach about these things. Just get people to vote Republican, and it'll just fix all our problems. If we could just get more people, you know, registered as Republicans and voting the right man in the office, this nation will turn around. I guess that's their plan, and we've been trying that for I don't know how long, and it ain't working. You know, it's time we got some men of God back in these pulpits who aren't afraid to preach what it actually says. And I know this is a bit of a hobby of course of mine, but you know, I literally go to bed at night and have dreams about this stuff, about grabbing preachers and saying, Why won't you preach? Why won't you say what the Bible says? You know, if I ever get to the place as a preacher where I'm too afraid to preach what the Bible says, tell me to quit. Tell me to shut up and sit down. Play this back to me. And you know what's funny to me is that a lot of these guys, they got nothing to lose. They got nothing to lose. They're full-time pastors. You know, if anything, their church would probably be like, Yeah, it's about time. It's about time somebody said it like it is. I'm sure there'd always be somebody, you know, who got all hair-lipped and offended and wouldn't have to leave, but so what? You really want those kind of people around anyway? Preach them out the door. You know, so what are they afraid of losing? You know, what's it going to cost them? You know, if they come out and say, Oh, it turns out, you know, it is post-trib. Fellowship with their, you know, they're a bunch of buddies. Big deal. Oh, it turns out, you know, these are a bunch of reprobates that need to be preached against. Oh, now you're not welcome at, you know, the conference at your alma mater, your Bible school, college, or whatever. So what? It's called having integrity with the word of God. You know, and it's just frustrating. You know, I can understand Jesus' frustration when you have a bunch of people who want to put on an air of spirituality and then criticize people who are just trying to get something done and tear people down who are just trying to get something done by preaching the word of God, the whole counsel of the word of God. Oh, those new IFBers. They're so mean. They're so angry. Well, let me introduce you to a character in the New Testament named Jesus who also got angry. You know, sorry if I'm not content to just sit on this plane while it's in a nose dive and pretend it's not happening. You know, the oxygen masks have fallen. You know, the pilots are scrambling. And, you know, the cockpit is just pull up, pull up. That's where we are spiritually in this country. You know, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's not happening. You know, and all I'm saying tonight is praise for impact. You know, get ready. You say, what's going to happen? I don't know, but it's just, you know, I mean, what more needs to happen? It's bad. It's bad out there. I mean, do I really have to go into it? You know, all I'm saying is that I'm not going to be, you know, meanwhile, you know, the new IFB, the churches like this are saying, hey, you know, what's the procedure when you're in that, it's, you know, grab your knees and bend over and, you know, tuck and brace or something. You know what I mean? Isn't there like some kind of procedure, they say when a plane is in a nose dive? Listen, if it ever happens, okay, if you're on a plane and this happens, I guarantee you that the stewardess is going to come on and give you some instructions, right? That's all I'm doing. That's what the new IFB is doing. Hey, it's a nose dive. It's not looking good. You know, impact is imminent. And all we're saying is, you know, brace for impact. Brace for impact. You know what the old IFB is doing? Going through the motions. You know what they're doing? They're in the back getting the beverage service together. They're going to roll out the cart and try to serve peanuts and drinks. They're going to go, oh, you want to coke with that? Would you like a ginger ale? It's like, hey, idiot, we're going to crash and burn. Put the cart away and review the manual in your front seat. You know, review the manual. You know, follow the instructions. And if you really want to help, you know, jump in and start preaching like you're supposed to, feel free to do so at any time. Or at the very least, you know, stay out of our way. And keep your, you know, your nosey criticisms to yourself, looking down at us through your nose, down your nose at us. Oh, that's new IFB, isn't it? It's so mean. All they do is attack people. And all they do is preach about the sodomites. Well, excuse me if I'm sick and tired of being overrun, you know, being spiritually steamrolled by a bunch of sodomites in this country. Yeah, but what are we supposed to do about it? Well, we could start by preaching. We could start there. How about that? How about we keep sounding the alarm? How about we keep saying, hey, it's not looking good, folks. Let's get out there and try to save some souls. Let's try to, you know, keep a few more people from turning into reprobates in this world and get some people out of hell. You know, and I know it was kind of a long way around to get to my point, but, you know, I'm just working my way through Mark. And yes, I have a way of kind of maybe getting things to where I want them to go, but that's the, you know, those are the parallels that we could draw tonight. Why do you and your disciples do that which is unlawful on the Sabbath day? Well, why did David go and eat the showbread, you know? What about, do you ever think about that? Do you ever think about the fact that in David's day they were making showbread for an ark that wasn't even around? Just going through the motions? That the leadership was killing priests? That every man was doing that which is right in his own, that they were being oppressed? Do you ever think about that, you stupid priest? And you can just see Jesus just getting frustrated in this chapter, and it's like, I get it. I can feel that frustration. It's frustrating when those in leadership, those who have a platform, those who could reach people with the truth, refuse to do it. You know, and what's especially frustrating is when they then turn around and criticize people that have, you know, the guts to get up and say what needs to be said. Someone's got to say it, folks. Someone's got to get up and call a spade a spade sometimes. I just wish there were more people like that. And less people who just wanted to criticize people that are trying to do something for God. We're just trying to get something done. We're just trying to preach the word of God. Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer. Lord, again, thank you for the emotion of anger. Thank you that we're not just these sappy, spastic, just unrealistic people who just think life is just going to be a bed of roses until Jesus comes at any moment. Lord, but that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle and that, Lord, it's not looking good. We're being beat. The gospel is dying out. People are becoming less receptive. Wickedness is prospering in our land. It's sin and wickedness abounds, Lord, on every hand. And, Lord, I pray it help us to shine the light of the gospel in this dark world that we wouldn't join the rank and file who just want to stick their head in the sand and pretend that nothing's happening. But, Lord, that you'd help us to do what we can in our little corner of the world. Lord, help us to preach the gospel and to not be ashamed of your word in this wicked and adulterous generation. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. Please open your psalm books to psalm number 30. We're going to our Sunday service by singing psalm number 30. Nothing but the blood. That's psalm number 30. Lift up your voices on the first. One can wash away my sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. One can make me whole again. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow. No other fact I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. On my part in this I see. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. On my cleansing this might be. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow. No other fact I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can force it untold. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow. No other fact I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood that makes me white as snow. No other fact I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. . . . .