(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

1 Chronicles 13 we read the story about David wanting to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem and he's excited about it and they're playing a lot of loud music and they're really happy to be bringing back the presence of the Lord in the form of the Ark but they do it wrong and therefore God ends up killing this man named Uzzah, David gets upset and so forth. Let's go ahead and look at this in 2 Samuel chapter number 6 and we'll start reading in verse number 2. It says, and David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Baalee of Judah to bring up 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 the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart and they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah accompanying the Ark of God and Ahio went before the Ark and David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood even on harps and on salt trees and on timbrels and on cornets and on cymbals and when they came to Nacon's threshing floor Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen shook it and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and God smote him there for his error and there he died by the Ark of God. Now of course according to the law of God they were supposed to carry the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders. Only the Levites were allowed to carry it and there were poles that went through the Ark that were used to carry it on the shoulders of the Levites. But instead of following God's word they did it their own way where they said hey let's get a new cart and this is a new idea but it was in violation of what the Bible had taught. They put everything on a new cart and they bring it in and it gets to a little bump in the road or what have you and the oxen stumble and it looks like the Ark is going to literally fall off and they don't want to see something as sacred as the Ark fall off and be destroyed or desecrated so Uzzah puts forth his hand to steady the Ark. His heart's in the right place he just wants to stop it from falling and because he not being a Levite is touching the Ark God actually strikes him dead. Look at David's reaction in verse number nine. It says and David, actually look at verse eight, and David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day and David was afraid of the Lord that day and said how shall the Ark of the Lord come to me? So David would not remove the Ark of the Lord unto him into the city of David. So David instead of realizing we did this wrong, we made a mistake, he kind of blames God here and he's displeased saying you know why did God do this to poor Uzzah? His heart was in the right place. He's just reaching out and steadying the Ark and then David is afraid of God and he's afraid of the Ark and he says well I don't even want to bring the Ark back anymore. So he sends the Ark, it says in verse number ten, in the latter half there David carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. Then it says in verse eleven 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. Now it's interesting how the same object, the Ark of the Covenant, could be a curse unto one group of people and a blessing unto others. You know here it's causing fear, it's causing death and then over here it's causing great blessing in the home of Obed-Edom. Then when David hears about how Obed-Edom is being blessed, look at verse twelve. It was told King David saying the Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that pertaineth unto him because of the Ark of God. So David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David Gladys. All of a sudden now he wants it back. First he's like I'm afraid of it, I don't want it, but then when he sees Obed-Edom being blessed now he wants the Ark back. And it says of course verse thirteen it was so that when they that bear the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings and so on and so forth. Flip over to first Chronicles fifteen because in first Chronicles fifteen we get a little bit more detail about them bringing it back the second time. Look at first Chronicles chapter fifteen verse eleven. The Bible reads, And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriah, Asiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amenadab, and said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites, sanctify yourselves both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. And here in verse thirteen he admits his error. For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. So he admits here it was our fault that Uzzah died because we didn't do things the way God told us to do them. That's why he made that breach. And then it says in verse number fourteen, So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bared the Ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, saltaries and harps and cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice with joy. Now this story teaches us so many things and one of the things that's just really obvious on the surface is that God can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You know God can either bring great blessing and joy and happiness or he can bring a lot of cursing and death and misery because of the fact that God will deal with people in the same way that they deal with him. Over and over again the Bible says to the Lord unto the pure that will show thyself pure and it says unto the froward, unto the wicked, thou wilt show thyself unsavory. And of course the famous passage in Romans 1, famous in this church, but some churches it doesn't exist, but the scripture where it says of those who are reprobated says even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. So the person who hates the Lord and doesn't even want to retain him in their knowledge, you know, then God's going to turn around and have that same attitude toward that person. And we can either be blessed by God or we can be cursed by God and it depends upon our actions. The path to God's blessing is through the door of obedience. Over and over again God says I'm setting before you life and death, blessing and curses and choose life. You'll be blessed if you obey the word of the Lord, if you walk in his commandments and follow his statutes and if you break his laws, you're going to be punished, you're going to be chastised, you're going to go through suffering and hardship. But so many people today blame God when things go wrong. As the Bible says in Proverbs, they pervert their way and then they fret against the Lord when their own sin, their own actions will lead them into trouble and then they're, God, why are you allowing this to happen? When in reality it's that they made some mistake. Now here I don't think David or any of the men that were with him were maliciously trying to make some mistake here. I don't think that they're just saying, you know, I don't care what the Bible says. I don't care that, you know, that's old fashioned to carry it on your shoulders. Hello, put it on a cart, put it on wheels. Okay. Now of course God's way ended up being better even though in our understanding we would think, well yeah, put it on a cart except what happens when you put it on a cart? The thing could fall off, it could get unstable and so forth and they're carrying on the shoulders it works better. But we see here that these men unwittingly, unknowingly, accidentally did wrong just because they weren't paying close enough attention to what God's word was saying. So they're good people, their hearts in the right place. I'm sure David was excited about bringing it back. It's clear from the passage. They loved the Lord but they didn't obey, they did it wrong and they suffered the consequences. And that's how it often is in our lives where we will disregard God's word. Maybe we haven't even read the Bible cover to cover even one time, the whole book cover to cover. So we don't even know some of the commandments and we make mistakes in our lives based on our ignorance of God's word. Things don't go well and then we fret against the Lord when really we should be looking in the mirror that we're the problem. We've made a mistake and life is often like that. But not just with the Lord, obviously the Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God, the presence of the Lord. So we could think of our relationship with God and the fact that we should never blame him. He's not the problem. He could bring great blessing to our lives if we're an Obed Edom the Gittite who's following his word and he's actually going to help us and he can bring misery to our lives if we choose to disregard his word. That's obviously the main surface meaning. But as I read this story, there are other things that come to mind in our lives that are kind of like this. Things in our life that can either be a great blessing unto us or they can be a great curse unto us depending upon how we treat them and depending upon what we do with them. You think of people that are constantly switching churches, constantly switching jobs, constantly switching spouses these days, constantly just switching and changing up because they've got the wrong job and the wrong church and the wrong spouse and really the problem is them. You see, to one person is something that we want to get rid of and don't want. You know to someone else, that would be a great blessing. The saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. And that's how it was with it. Get this ark out of here. But then Obed Edom is like, great, bring it on. He gets all the blessings. And then David all says, oh I want that back now, now that you're getting blessed. But go if you would to Ephesians chapter number 6, Ephesians chapter number 6. Because there are so many things in our life that are sort of like the ark of the covenant in the sense that we're doing it wrong and then we want to blame that thing instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and making a good situation out of whatever we're given. We need to be content with the things that we have. Now I'm not saying that we should never switch churches because sometimes there's a need to switch churches. Sometimes you need to switch jobs. Sometimes there's not a need to switch spouses. But there's a need to make changes of our house or our car or where we live. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who are just constantly switching. I'm not talking about people who make a logical switch that makes sense. I'm talking about people who just everywhere they go they have problems. Every church they go. I mean people come to me, I've been thrown out of four churches and I'm thinking to myself, you're the problem. Yeah all these churches they're all, you know, it's like no it's you. You know when you're fired from job after job after job or you're getting into a personality conflict with boss after boss after boss, you know it's time to look in the mirror. The ark of the covenant's not the problem. You're doing it wrong. It's you that's the problem. Look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5 just in regard to a job. The Bible says in Ephesians 6 verse 5, servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart. And here's the key, as unto Christ, not with I service as men pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Now three times in a row he makes the same point and when God is really repetitive like this he's really trying to drive something in deep here when he says do it at the end of verse 5 as unto Christ halfway through verse 6 as the servants of Christ. Verse 7 as to the Lord and not to men. So three times he says the same thing, work like you're working for Jesus. He says when you go to your job, and he's talking about your earthly secular job, whether you're cutting the grass, cutting the trees, bending pipe, you know, framing a house, whatever computer program, whatever job you're doing, God says that we are to do it heartily in Colossians chapter 4 as unto the Lord and not unto men. We should treat our job as if we are serving Jesus Christ. I mean that's what the Bible is saying over and over again. And a lot of times people think of their job as just kind of an unspiritual activity but yet going to your job and working hard and doing a good job is actually service to God. It's actually obedience to God. It's a spiritual activity to go to your secular job and to give it your best and not to just go there, slack off, and give it half of your effort. And that's what the Bible's teaching you. Now this is a situation where a lot of people, they look at their job and they just think, well, it's this job that's the problem. But they're not giving it 100%. And that's really the problem. They're not thinking of their boss as, you know, well, it's not really him, it's Jesus that I'm working for. And if they did, they could actually make a lot more out of that job. They could actually succeed at that job because look what the Bible says in verse 8. It says, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free. What's the Bible saying? If we go to our job and work hard, God promises to repay us for that because you can sit there and say, well, if I go to my job and work hard, they're not going to reward me because I have a wicked and unfair boss that's not going to notice my effort and whether I give it half or whether I give it 100%, I'm going to get the same paycheck, it's a dead end job, I'm not going anywhere. But here's the thing, God is not a dead end God. It doesn't matter if you're in a dead end job. If it's worth going to that job, then it's worth going there and giving it 100%. And you know what, when God looks down and sees you giving it 100% at your job, then he will make sure that you get paid. And if you don't get paid at that job, maybe he'll just work it out that he gives you a better job next time because he says, you know, you worked so good at that job, I'm going to give you a better job and you'll make a ton of money at the next job and that will be to pay you for the good thing that you did at the first job. Because the Bible says, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive not necessarily from the earthly boss, but the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free. So maybe you won't get paid this week, but in the long run, God will repay you for every good deed that you do and this is even in the context of your secular work, the work that you do for an earthly master on this earth, he says, you will receive the same of the Lord whether you be bond or free. So instead of looking at that job, and look, if your job is really a bad job that's just a dead end, a worthless job, then get a new job by all means. Then get a job that you can get excited about. But you need to go to your job and give it 100%. And if you're going to job after job after job and nothing's working out, you know, you need to look in the mirror. You're the problem. You need to become a hard worker. You need to get this Christ-like attitude toward your job. But all kinds of other situations, you know, not just your job, but, you know, I've talked to pastors who, you know, their church is the problem. And they talk about how no matter what they do, they can't get anyone in their church to go soul winning. I've heard this a bunch of times. You know, I don't know how you get people out of soul winning because my people just won't go soul winning. Like there's just something wrong with their church members that their church, you know, they just got stuck with just a dud of a church that won't do any soul winning no matter what they do. Now, sure, there are certain people out there that are never going to go soul winning no matter what you do, no matter how much you try to light a fire under them. They're just not going to do it. But come on, a whole church that's not going to go soul winning? No, the problem there is with the leadership, okay? Because I guarantee you that another guy, you know, if Pastor David would step aside and then Pastor Obed Edom the Gitite would get behind the pulpit, I bet you he'd get people in that church out soul winning. Why? Because there are certain churches where everybody's going soul winning and then other churches where there's not any soul winning going on. You know, what's the difference? Well, if you want people to go soul winning, you've got to preach on soul winning and then you've got to go out soul winning. And you also have to be patient because I remember for years I preached on soul winning and I went out soul winning and you didn't necessarily get a lot of people going because it takes a while to show that example and to be faithful and be diligent with it and eventually it pays off but instead it's like, oh, I'll just switch churches. And the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence when really it's the leadership that's the problem. But then flip things around in the pew. People where every church they go to is the problem. There's no good church in my area, I can't find any good church. Now listen, if you're living in a foreign country, yeah, that's true. I do have some people contact me and say, no, there really is no church. I live on an island. You know, somebody told me I live on an island and there are two churches. There's the Protestant church that uses the King James and the Baptist church that uses the NIV, you know, and neither one of them is teaching salvation by grace through faith. There's only two churches, I'm on an island. Okay, you're living on an island, you know, out in the North Sea, okay, you know, you're the exception. And obviously people who live in different places in Europe and everything where it's very dark spiritually, yeah, it's possible that there's no good church for you to go to but if you're living in the United States of America, there is a decent church for you to go to, period. And I'm tired of people saying, oh, there's no good churches. Look, there's no perfect churches. There's no unicorn Baptist church for you to go to but honestly there are churches where at least the people are saved and where at least the King James Bible is being preached and yeah, it's not perfect but it's better than nothing. And when you're sitting at home and not going to church anywhere, you have this great big beam in your eye of not going to church, of forsaking the assembling of ourselves together which is a major sin according to Hebrews 10. You've got this beam in your eye that you don't go to church at all and then you're trying to remove the mote out of your brother's eye by picking apart the church that's there. People who are going to church every week, people who are going three times a week, people who are serving God faithfully in a church, God's institution but you're going to stand in judgment of them because of not crossing the doctrinal T and dotting the doctrinal I. When you don't even go to church at all, that is hypocrisy, my friend, because their church is better than your church because your church is no church. I mean, good night. Any church where the people are saved and where the King James Bible is being preached is better than no church. It's better than sitting at home, eating chips off your chest and surfing the internet. Oh, this is my church. No, a church according to the Bible is a congregation and people say, oh, the church is the people, not the building. Absolutely it's the people but it's the congregation of people. The word church means congregation. It's not like, oh, we're the people, just wherever we are, you know, floating down the river in our kayak, we're the church. Wrong. Out fishing on Sunday, we're the church. Wrong. No, it's the assembly. It's the congregation that's the church and being in the congregation with imperfect people and an imperfect pastor is a lot better than sitting around and pontificating about how much better that you are than anybody in your whole town or your whole city or your whole state. Now, I'm not saying the perfect church or even a decent church is always going to be a stone throw from your house but in the United States of America, you might have to drive a little ways but you can find a Baptist church to go to, you can find a soul winning church to go to and it's possible. And of course, most of the people who I'm preaching to live here, you know, some are visiting obviously but most of the people live here so here's a great church for you right here, Faithful Word Baptist Church. But you may find yourself in the future living in another place. I mean, let's face it, a lot of the people who are here tonight are going to eventually move and be somewhere else and then they're going to say, well, I can't find anything as good as Faithful Word. Well, of course you can't. No, I'm just kidding. But I'm saying, you know, you're going to be able to find a church, an independent Baptist church that's in the ballpark where you can learn something and where you can get fellowship. Plus, some churches that even aren't maybe the greatest churches and maybe the pastors not even preaching the greatest sermon but you know, there's still a lot of good people in that church. And in fact, if all the best people are going to stay home because no church is a good church, then the church is going to get worse. You know, because all the best people in their own minds are staying home. You know, well, why don't you show up and then the church just got a little better because now you're there, oh, thou unicorn church member. And so, you know, if you're there, you can make friends, you can serve God, you can make the best of it and you say, well, I keep getting kicked out, then quit being an idiot. Because you know, churches don't just kick you out, now sometimes they kick you out for no reason but you know, when you're getting kicked out of church after church after church and rarely I've heard of people who did everything right and they still get thrown out but honestly it's pretty rare because usually you just, you go along to get along, you don't compromise doctrinally in the sense of, you know, telling lies or anything but you don't necessarily have to just take over and straighten everything out and straighten the pastor out. You know, if you go there with an intent to be a good influence, to serve God, to be an asset to the church, to be a blessing to that church, to get involved in the church's program, you're not going to get thrown out. And plus, 99% of people who tell me I got thrown out of my church did not really get thrown out. You know what really happened? They're asked not to come back. Well here's what happens when they ask you not to come back, you say no and then you come back anyway. Seriously. You know, I'm not going to say who it was just in case they don't want me to say this but a relative of mine was basically told that he needed to leave his church, okay? And they told him like, you know, and I mean they acted like they're kicking him out but they're just bluffing because they don't really have the power to just, you know, unilaterally the pastor to just say, hey, you can't come back with no scriptural foundation to say you can't come back, no basis in scripture. And it was over, you know, the doctrine of the timing of the rapture which is a dumb thing to separate from anybody. And by the way, for the record, I don't separate from anybody over that. You know, I mean I think the pre-trib rapture is ridiculous but I don't separate from pastors who teach that or believe that because to me it's not the biggest, most important issue in the world. It's not salvation, it's not the word of God, you know. But anyway, over this issue, this relative of mine was basically being pushed out of his church. And so basically they, you know, they told him, hey, you know, you can't teach your Sunday school class, you need to leave this and that. And basically they, you know, acted like they were kicking him out but they didn't bring it before the church or anything. So you know what he said? He just said, well, I'm not leaving. And he said, I'm not trying to cause trouble, I'm not undermining your position here. You know, I'm willing to get along. But he said, you know, what I do in my personal life or what I post to my personal Facebook page or whatever is my business and I'm not, and he even, you know, I keep almost saying this, he even printed out a copy of the church's, you know, statement of faith and it said premillennial, it didn't say pretrip. And he said, I'm not in violation of any of this. And he said, I'm not going anywhere. And he said, I'm not trying to cause trouble but no, you can't just throw me out over this because you have no scriptural ground and you have no grounds in the church. And basically, go ahead, take it before the whole church because you know what, they don't want to take it before the whole church because they're wrong. They don't want people to hear about the issue. So he called their bluff and said, okay, you know, make my day. And you know what they said? You got us. Okay, and you know what, this person can actually continue to excel at that church and in fact, six months later or I think it was even four months later, the pastor had to go out of town and had him preach behind the pulpit while he was gone. Like four months after him being pushed out and told, you need to leave and you need to and I mean, they told him, you need to resign your church membership, you need to leave, we need to have unity, blah, blah, blah. So what I'm saying is you can't just at the slightest pressure just go running scared at your church. And I'm not saying to be a rabble rouser and this person wasn't being a rabble rouser. They were just playing it cool and being a blessing to their church and being an asset and not a liability. But do you see what I'm saying though? You don't just go running high. Look, I've talked to so many people where they talk about being pushed out of their church and this and that. Just keep coming until you're actually thrown out. Now if there's a scriptural reason to throw somebody out, then that can be brought out before the whole church. But to just the pastor, I don't like you, get out. That's not really biblical, is it? So what I'm saying is you have to go to church to be right with God. And again, I'm not talking about people that are living in Timbuktu right now. I'm talking to America right now. The vast majority of the people who listen to my sermons are Americans. You're all pretty much American. I know we have some German, Australians, we've got people visiting from other countries. But you know what? We need to just realize that there are independent Baptist churches in every city in America and we ought to thank God for that, that we live in America where there's so many Baptist churches. I mean look, if faithful words cease to exist tomorrow, there are over 40 independent fundamental Baptist churches in the Phoenix area that preach out of the King James Bible. You'd have somewhere to go if this church ceased to exist tomorrow. Now I happen to think this church is the best, otherwise I'd join one of these other churches if I thought they were better. But the point is that we need to understand that a church is a group of people that's not perfect. The pastor's not going to be perfect. The pastor's not going to preach the exact doctrine that you believe all the time. And sometimes the pastor's going to say stuff that you don't agree with. I'm going to say stuff that you don't agree with and you might never agree with me and that's okay for us to believe a little bit differently. I mean we agree on salvation. We agree on the Bible. We agree on the big things. So what if we disagree on this little thing and that little thing? That's not the point. You know, you can make that church a church home. You can get involved. You can get on board with the program. You can be a blessing. You can be used of God in that church. You know, and the church can be a blessing to you instead of being a pain unto you. But when you go and you're a rabble rouser and you're causing trouble and you're a pain, well then the church is going to be a pain to you and they're going to want to get rid of you because you're a pain in the neck. Some people are a pain in the neck. So what I'm saying is, you know, all areas of our life, we need to stop and realize that often the things that we criticize and don't like, they're actually, there's no problem with them. The problem's with us. You know, I mean there are people who get upset at stuff that I preach and leave and then realize later that I was right. Or they leave another church and they realize the pastor was right because, you know, you're not always right about everything, are you? Nobody's always right. Now I think another great area where this story kind of illustrates this principle is in marriage, you know, because people have this attitude today in 2015 of marrying the wrong person. You know, I married the wrong person. I married the wrong wife. I married the wrong husband. And so many people today are coveting their neighbor's wife or coveting their neighbor's husband or even if they're not coveting a specific wife, they have this attitude that there's something better out there, you know, that they're missing out on. And I've even heard people say, I've literally heard women say, you know, I'd be a great wife if it weren't for my husband. I mean I've heard that many times. Like, you know, I would be a really godly Christian submissive wife but it's just my husband, you know, it's just impossible to please him. I mean that's what many women have thought, probably all women have thought that at some point. He's impossible to please. It's impossible to submit unto him. It's impossible to make him happy, right? And then, you know, husbands are thinking, you know, I would be such a great husband if it weren't for this rebellious wife that won't listen, you know. I mean how many pastors are probably thinking, man, I'd be such a great pastor if my church members would just do what I preach. Man, I would just be the most committed, diehard church member if I could just find a pastor that I could believe in. I could just find a church that's a decent church, man. I'd get on there, I'd be on fire, I'd be leading the charge, I'd be working so hard. I mean I'd scrub the toilet till midnight, I'd be there with the donuts and the coffee on Sunday morning, and I'd be out soul-winning until my feet are bleeding, you know. But it's just there's no good church in my area so I just stay home and just chat online, you know. Oh man, my husband is just, he's just impossible to deal with. He just criticizes me and picks me apart, you know, what's the point, you know. But here's the thing, maybe your wife is not really a bad person. Maybe you're just being a bad leader. And you know, that's the hard truth that a lot of men need to face is that the Ark of the Covenant is not the problem. You're doing it wrong, okay. And your wife is actually, she actually could be a great wife if you would do your part. And your husband could actually be a much better husband if you would start being a good wife. So the lesson from this story is to look in the mirror and to realize that often the problems in our lives are caused by us and not caused by these other things. Whether it's our wife, our husband, our church, our boss at work, whatever. We need to look in the mirror and understand that we are often the problem. You know, if you actually as a husband would love your wife, cherish your wife, nourish your wife, care for your wife, spend time with your wife, you know what, she might become a better wife. You know, and God's going to, no matter what, God's going to bless you for doing your part. Or, you know, wives who say, oh, my husband, he's impossible to please. Yeah, but did you really try? Did you really give it your best? Have you really, you know, submitted unto him as unto the Lord, as the Bible says? Have you really been obedient in all things, as the Bible teaches? Because honestly, a lot of times husbands are rude to their wives, pick their wives apart, criticize their wives. And obviously I'm not condoning, it's wrong, they shouldn't be doing that. But often it's because they're angry about the fact that they don't feel like they're the boss in their home. And so they feel that there's a power struggle going on. So then the husband always feels like he's fighting for power, fighting for the upper hand, fighting to be the boss. And it puts him in a position where he feels insecure of his position of authority. And you know, people just, well, you know what, he needs to be the leader in that home. That's what the Bible says. And oftentimes if the wife will just submit and obey and go along, then all of a sudden that kind of takes the pressure off him. He can kind of relax and be like, okay, great, I'm in authority. You know, I'm in my proper role. And then he can maybe begin to be more loving and be nice and so on and so forth. But a lot of people just want to throw up their hands and say, well, I just married a bad husband. I just married a bad wife. There's something wrong, I don't know what it is, but there's something wrong with the Ark of the Covenant. It used to always bless Israel for all these centuries. It's been this great blessing. But there's something wrong with, give it to the Philistine guy. Send it over to the Gittite, over to Obed-Edom. You know, get it over to his house because there's something wrong with it. But really, no, there's nothing wrong with it. There's something wrong with you. And so today we need to realize that in our marriage, you know, it's not that we married the wrong wife. It's not that we married the wrong husband. It's that we might just not be the leader, especially if you're the man, you know. You might just not be being the leader that you're supposed to be. And obviously, a lot of times, wives are being rebellious and so on and they need to do their part as well. But you know, I think there's a really dangerous philosophy today in the United States of America in 2015 in our culture. And I think part of it has to do with the internet. This idea where people, they have these really idealized views about what marriage is going to be like or what their wife is going to be like or what their husband is going to be like, to where they always think that something better is out there. You know, this idea of, hey, I married the wrong person and there's somebody better out there that I missed out on. You know, instead of just being content with the spouse that they have. And I think part of this is also due to Hollywood where Hollywood puts forth these really unrealistic love stories. See, what people don't understand is that everything on TV is fake. Everything in Hollywood is fake. And so they see these really idealized love stories where they find their soulmate, right? The soulmate and oh, just that one person in the world and you find that person and you ride off into the sunset and you live happily ever after and everything's perfect and you're excited about that person every moment. But that's not real life. That's a fraud just like everything in Hollywood is a fraud. You know those actors on the movie screen that are falling in love and everything's so wonderful? Those are some of the most horrible people in the world in real life. They're some of the worst degenerates in real life. They're all failing at marriage. They're all committing adultery. I mean, they're all fornicating. Many of them are not even straight, you know, and you look at these people and think like, oh man, why isn't my husband more like, you know, this guy in this movie or whatever who's just this bad dude but he's so sensitive and he's so good looking and he looks like, you know, the guy looks like he goes to the gym every single day for an hour but he also makes tons of money but he also just spends tons of time with her. You know, it's just like, it's just this ideal that doesn't exist, right? And then the same thing, and then men are watching TV, watching Hollywood, and it's all these women that are just these, you know, these beautiful, gorgeous babes and they're just so cool and just, you know, they never start crying for no reason and, you know, just being, I mean, it's just, it's unrealistic, I mean, just the way that they look is unrealistic, the way that they act is unrealistic, just everything about it is fake. It's not real, people. Wake up. Like, look around the room. This is what real people look like, okay? This is what real people act like. Hollywood is fake, TV is fake, but people literally, they see wives and they think like, oh, why isn't my wife like that? Why isn't my husband like that? Because there's no such thing, okay? It's not real. Now, look, I'm not trying to paint a gloomy picture because, you know what, there are a lot of great men out there and great ladies out there but, you know what, they're not going to be this perfect unicorn that you're looking for and what you need to do is just pick one that you like, right, okay? Pick one that you like and you pick a person that you like and you marry that person and you decide you're going to spend the rest of your life with that person and you get to know that person and, you know what, you go through the ups and downs. It's for better or for worse. You go through low points, you hang in there and you realize that there's other things in life than just your marriage, you know, that you don't just have to freak out every time things aren't perfect and then it gets better again and then you have great times together and then it's like, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, ahhh! No, I'm just kidding. You know, you have a lot of good times, you have a lot of bad times but, you know what, it's about the commitment, it's about sticking together, it's about love and compassion that's enduring real love, not just this excitement and passion of, hey, we just hooked up two weeks ago or something, no, it's something that lasts for decades. It's real and honestly, those who've been married for a long time and have stayed with the Ark of the Covenant and not sent it off to the Gittites, you know, those who actually stay with marriage, they realize that there are wonderful times in marriage that get better and better and the relationship deepens and the love is better and also, you will have those mountaintop experiences where it's great, it's like being a newlywed, you know, all over again if you hang in there but you know what, it's not going to be like that all the time and it never will for anybody because that's not reality because reality has its ups and downs and you know what, you're the same way because sometimes you're a pain in the neck. Sometimes she's a pain in the neck but so are you, right? I mean, both, you know, and there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man. It was so funny. We went, this is a silly illustration but my wife and I went out to get like a milkshake and an ice cream cone at this little organic ice cream stand in Scottsdale and we were there. I walked up to the place, you know, I found a little card for the place, I said, honey, I'm going to take you to this place, let's check this out. So I walk up, I pick up the menu, chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. That's how I order. You know, it took me like five seconds, just pick it up and I see something I like and I order it. Done. My wife walks up, reads everything on the menu and then starts asking questions about the menu. What about the, you know, what's it, now what's it, asks all these questions, goes on. By the time she's done ordering, they're already serving me mine. They already put mine in my hand, they'd already scooped out all the peanut butter, mixed it all up and blended it and given it to me. She's still deciding, she's still asking questions about the menu. And then it's like, oh, I changed my mind after she's made the order. Get something different. Okay, so then we sit down at the little table there and I'm drinking my milkshake, she's eating her whatever she decided on and then another family walks up right behind us. The guy walks up, orders, and then the woman walks up, okay, what's this, you know. And I told my wife, I said, look, I said these people are doing exactly what we did two minutes ago and look, there's no temptation taking you but such is common demand. Everybody's going through the same things, you know. And obviously that's kind of a silly illustration but I'm just showing you that there is basic human nature in all of us and that men all kind of are the same in certain ways and women are all kind of the same in certain ways and they're different, right? There's a difference between men and women. So you can't expect your wife to be like a man and you can't expect your husband to be like a woman. You know, we're different and we're always going to be different and if you just go trade in for someone else, get divorced, remarried, you know what you're going to find? The next guy doesn't fix stuff around the house either, you know. The next guy stays real late at work too. You know, the next guy doesn't ask his, you know, boss for a raise enough either or whatever. The next guy doesn't do this, that and you'll find that the next wife also breaks down crying for no reason and the next wife, you know, also will nag you or the next wife will also tell you or spend too much money or, you know, I'm just throwing things out there that are the typical things that people complain about. It's different for everybody. I'm not saying everybody's spouse does these things but everybody's spouse does these type of things, okay? And this idea that there's this wonderful unicorn perfect person out there is a dangerous doctrine because then when it doesn't pan out, people have this attitude, I married the wrong person, I made a mistake, instead of realizing, you know what, I love this person in spite of their faults, in spite of their flaws. You know what, I love them anyway. That's what real love is. You know the Bible says, scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die but God commanded his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know, so Christ died for the ungodly and so we as husbands need to understand that, you know, it's our job to love our wife and not be bitter against her and love her in spite of whatever flaws that she has and to realize that everyone else has flaws too and that this person that you're seeing on the internet and where I would bring in the internet to this is that on the internet you're basically seeing all these other options in a sense. All these, you know, you go on Facebook, there's all these other women out there and you know what, they're all putting their best foot forward on Facebook and it's not real either. Look, Hollywood, not real, TV, not real, okay, Facebook, not real, okay, dating websites, not real, okay? You know, I have another relative who went on a dating website and they met their wife through a dating website and you know what, when they put their profile, they said they were 10 years younger than they really were and they ended up marrying that person. Why? Because they put it 10 years younger because if they hadn't put 10 years younger, this person wouldn't have given them the time of day. So they put it 10 years younger, they lie about it, 10 years younger and then once they meet, you know, it's too late because they've already built it up in their mind, they're all emotional about it and everything like that. So look, that kind of deception goes on every day. You know, all kinds of trick photography, smoke and mirrors to make people look a lot more good looking than they really are, right? You know, they take like a thousand pictures and put that one. They just made them look awesome. You know, that's the profile pic, you know, put that out. You know, in real life, they don't look like that. You know, and what am I saying? I'm saying that, you know, people tend to idealize things and they look at their spouse and then they're comparing it to some figment of their imagination, to comparing their spouse to Hollywood, comparing their spouse to TV, comparing their spouse to all these people on Facebook with all their fake profile and all their statuses about like, oh, it's such a beautiful day and they're posting a verse that says, this is the day which the Lord hath made, we'll rejoice and be glad in it and drawing little flowers and beans and they're like, shut up and let me be on the computer, you little brat. You know, that's real. You know what I mean? I'm saying people are fake online. It's not necessarily real. You know, oh, you know, it's such a blessed day. It's not real, friend. So we don't want to just get warped into all this fake stuff. And look, having an attitude when you get married of like, well, I'm going to marry the perfect, most wonderful person on the planet and I, you know, and some people are, they never get married because they never find that person. They just never get married because there's something wrong with everyone and they just can't find anyone, they just get older and older and older and they never get married because it's just no unicorn. But then other people, you know, they realize that the goal in getting married is not to just find that most perfect, wonderful person that's just going to serve you and make your life amazing every minute of every day. That's not really what marriage is about. You know, marriage is about marrying a fellow Christian. You know, that obviously is the number one concern. We must both be saved. You know, for those of you that are single, that's the number one thing. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? You know, what part hath he that believeth with an infidel, the Bible says. So we need to understand that first of all, you know, we find someone who's saved, number one. Number two, find someone who loves the Lord. Not saying that they're going to be perfect, but somebody who loves the Lord, somebody who sincerely wants to do what's right and wants to serve God from their heart. And number three, find someone that you like. You have to like that person. You know, there has to be chemistry there where, you know, I like this person. I like to be around. I want to spend my life with this person. Then once you marry that person, it's till death. It's a commitment. And you know what? That person is going to, you're going to find out stuff about that person or they're going to do things about, but you stay with that person and you work at it and you make the best of it. And you don't think, did I marry the best person on the planet? I mean, out of three and a half billion women, did I really pick the best one or was there somebody better out there? I mean, that's such a stupid way to think, but that's the way people think today in America. You got the best car, the best clothes, the best food, the best wife, the best design. No, no, no. Why don't you just pick a person that's a real flesh and blood human being, not a figment of your imagination, not a checklist of, you know, blonde, check, athletic, check, happy every day, check, you know, likes all my same hobbies and music and check, check, check. You know, you're not going to find it. Go on some dating website and find 52 points of compatibility or something. You're going to end up married to your sister like that, you know, because that's the only person that you have 52 things in common with, your sister, okay? You're going to accidentally marry like your second cousin once removed or something like that. The question is, you know, you pick that person and you love that person and you treat that person right and you follow the Bible. You know, if you're the husband, you know, you be a strong leader, you rule the home, but you show love and affection and kindness and you're not bitter and you forgive every day and then the wife, you know, she basically submits and obeys and reverences her husband, shows him respect, loves him, cherishes him and you know what, that's what you do for the rest of your life and you don't even ask yourself or wonder what else is out there because the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but it's a fraud. But also, you know, the grass is greener where you water it. And here's the thing, a lot of people, they spend a lot of money and effort on committing adultery, which is a wicked sin, which God even said was punishable by death, okay? But think about it, what if they put that same time, money, energy and effort into their own spouse? You know, and some of you need to rediscover your own spouse that you're married to and remember why you married that person in the first place and get, you know, it's like Jesus told the church at Ephesus, you've lost your first love, right? Couldn't there be marriages where they've lost the first love? He says what? Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works, right? He says I'll come quickly and remove thy candlestick out of his place. You know, you don't want the fire to go out in your relationship, you don't want the candlestick to go out as it were, you need to get back to the first love. And how do you get back to the first love? By doing the first works. What are the first works? Okay, well ask yourself what did you do when you were dating to try to get your wife to like you or to try to get her to want to marry you, right? Are you doing that stuff today? Are you being like that? Are you, you know, let's say you were writing her notes or, you know, giving her gifts or spending time with her or saying sweet things, you know, you need to do the first works to get the first love. And then same thing with the wives, you know, all the things that you did, all the ways that you felt, you know, you need to re-find that. So it's not that the Ark of the Covenant is the problem, it's that you're not treating the Ark of the Covenant the way it's supposed to be treated. You're not handling the Ark of the Covenant the way it's supposed to be handled. It's not your wife that's the problem, you're not handling her right. It's not your husband that's the problem, you're not handling him right. It's not your job that's the problem, you just need to give it your best and work hard and do it as unto the Lord. Handle it better. You know, it's not the church that's the problem. Maybe you're just not getting involved, maybe you're just not giving it a chance. Maybe you're not giving it your best. Maybe you're not being an asset and a blessing to the church. You know, I want to ask all these people that got kicked out of all these churches, quote unquote, you know, what did you do to be a blessing to that church? What did you do to benefit that church? Did you go to that church with an attitude of, you know what, I'm here to be a blessing and to work hard? Or did you just come in and say, alright, I'm here now, let me tell you guys everything you're doing wrong. And I got faithforwardbaptist.org to prove it, or whatever. You know, that's, you're a pain in the neck. And there's so many things that we could go on and on, things in our life where we want to blame everything. You know, just real quickly, you know, oh, it's just my parents. Oh, my parents are the problem. But you know what, I went through a phase when I was a teenager where I thought my parents were the problem. And I felt that my parents were impossible to please. You know, the thing that every wife has said about her husband probably at one point, he's impossible to please. I've done everything I can. You know, I have tried to submit for like 30 minutes and it didn't work. I'm never going to try it again. But just, I've done everything. But you know what, I remember as a teenager thinking to myself, you know what, my parents are impossible to please. Even if I were the perfect, and I remember I even said one time to my brother, I said if Jesus lived in our house, he would get yelled at every day. That's what I said to my brother. I was serious. I wasn't being blasphemous or anything. I was serious. I said, look, I feel like even if Jesus were born in this home, totally without sin, he would get screamed at. But you know what, I can honestly say I was wrong. Because a little bit later on after I said that, a little bit later on I got in a good church. I got in an independent fundamental Baptist church that taught me some good things. I started reading my Bible. And you know what, I started realizing that I could be a much better son. And I started improving myself. And I started being more obedient and helpful around the house. And I mean my parents changed toward me like that. Like that. I mean just instantly. It was just like, you know, what do you want son? What can we do for you? You know? I mean they were, they were just wanting, you know, hey, can we, wants to help you buy a car? Sure. You know? They were just, they were so nice to me. Why? Because I was being obedient. I was being good. I was doing right. You know, but, but for so many years I was rebellious and thinking they're the problem. I'm doing right and they're the problem. But then once I actually started doing right, and actually going above and beyond, you know what, then immediately they started treating me very well, proving that I was the problem, not them. Okay? And, and that's the way it is now. And then also parents with their children. Oh, it's just these kids that I have, you know? I don't know why I got these demon seed of children, you know, these, these bad seed children. But, but could it be your parenting that's the problem? Oh, my kids are just such brats and you know, it's genetic or whatever it was. It skipped a generation, you know? But the thing is though, it's really your parenting. So stop looking at everybody else's kids and everybody else's wife and husband, or even worse, TV, Hollywood, internet, dating sites, you know, Facebook, you know, and just looking at other people and their perfect little profile and saying, oh, man, you know, why can't my, you know, don't even think that way in your head because it's, it's foolishness. Because it's a figment of your imagination. You know, your wife is a real flesh and blood human being who Christ died for. You chose that person. You need to love her and cherish her and rekindle the first love. And if you are a woman and you're married to a man and you think, oh, well, he's lazy or he's rude or, you know, he burps or whatever, you know, whatever it is, you know what, you need to realize, hey, this is who I chose and I need to respect his authority and I need to respect his position and I need to be the best possible wife that I can be. And none of this, he's impossible to please. No, you know, no he's not. He's not impossible to please. You just need to figure out, you know, what it is that he wants and give it to him because that's your job, okay? And you know what? Find things to make your wife happy and give her what she wants. I mean, you know, that's what it's about. And honestly, the world just wants to just move on to the next person. Just next person, marry the next person, divorce, remarry, that's the way the world just wants to move on to the next person because it's that person that's the problem. When in reality what we need to do is realize what we have. Realize the treasure that we have. You know, David didn't realize the treasure that he had in the Ark of the Covenant. It's a one-of-a-kind thing. There's no other Ark of the Covenant. It's a special item and he's just dropping it off at somebody else's house. Why? He didn't realize the value. We need to realize the value of our church. We need to realize the value of our wife, our husband, our parents, our children. Our children are a great blessing from God. Realize the value and instead of being jealous of what someone else has, you know, realize the value of what you have, treat it right, handle it right, and it'll turn from a pain in your neck to being a blessing. Just like the Ark of the Covenant can go from being suffering and misery to bringing great joy, prosperity, and blessing. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, please just help us, Lord, to realize the good things that we have in our life. Lord, the wife that we've been blessed with or the husband we've been blessed with, the job that we have, the house that we have, the kids that we have, the parents that we have, the church that we have, the church members that we have, Lord, help us to be thankful for what we have and to make the best of what we have and to realize the value of it. Treat it right and get the most blessing out of it and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.