All right. Well, we are in first Samuel chapter 6 and let's start reading in verse number one
The Bible says and the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines
Seven months if you remember the Philistines in chapter 5 were being punished severely by God
For taking the Ark of the Covenant and how did he punish them?
Well with M rods which we found out it's probably talking to something that kind of starts with an H there and
It was in their secret parts and in their hindered parts. It's a serious punishment crazy chapter in the Word of God
But we pick up that story in verse 1 where it talks about how the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines
Seven months now number one this evening
I want you to notice the delay of action of the Philistines the delay of action here
They've been punished by God and for how long have they kept the Ark and allowed this thing to be going?
Seven months, okay flip back to the last chapter and let's kind of refresh ourselves with the story here
It says in verse number six, but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of notice
Ashdod and he destroyed them and smote them with em rods even Ashdod in the coast thereof
And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so they said the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us
For his hand to soar upon us and upon Dagon our God
They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them and said
What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel and they answered let the ark of the Lord of the God of
Israel be carried about unto notice Gath so it went from Ashdod
To Gath then look at verse number 9
It says and it was so that after they had carried it about the hand of the Lord was against the city
With a very great destruction and he smote the men of the city both small and great and they had emirats in their secret parts
Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So notice what's happening is the Philistines
They have the ark of God and they're being punished and what are they doing?
They're just kind of passing it around from city to city to city, but they're not really making any change
They're not thinking like hey, maybe what we're doing is wrong
They're just kind of passing the ark from one city to another and it says in verse number one of first Samuel 6 that they do
this for seven
Months, I mean you would think that you would get a clue after God smiting you for seven months. What's happening?
They just keep shuffling it around now look at verse number two. It says in the Philistines
Called for the priests and the diviners now. These aren't obviously God's priests
This is the priests of whatever weird religion the Philistines have going on here
So they heaped to themselves their false teachers and it says that they called for the priests and the diviner saying
What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? Tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. So notice
finally after seven months of brutal punishment from God
Finally, they asked this themselves this question. What shall we do?
What shall we do and you know?
This is kind of just human nature in general for the saved and the unsaved alike is to delay
Getting right with God and sometimes you and I and the unsaved maybe they'll be punished by God. We're being chastised by God
Obviously, there's a difference between the two there, but sometimes you know God's hand will be upon our lives in a negative way
Sometimes for a month sometimes for two sometimes for seven before we ever just look up and ask ourselves
You know, what should we do about this? What's going on in our lives?
Why is God's hand upon us and you know that is a lesson for us that we should not delay
Getting right with God. We should not delay when we have a feeling that God's hand is
Against us now go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 6 2nd Corinthians chapter number 6
2nd Corinthians 6 look at verse 1 it says we then as workers together with him
Beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain for he saith
I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I suckered thee behold
Now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation
And of course the primary application of this verse is talking about what salvation but even when it comes to salvation
Sometimes people delay getting saved sometimes people think that they'll deal with that when they get older or
You know, they're not ready necessarily to face that truth yet and in their heart
They kind of know it's true
but something scaring them about taking that leap to fully trust in Jesus Christ and they delay but let me tell you that's a
Very bad idea to delay getting saved, you know
You never ever know when your last day on this earth is and every single person in here
We all have a normalcy bias when it comes to life because none of us have ever died before and so all of us in this
Room think well, I couldn't have that never happened to me
That's not gonna happen to me this week because we've never died yet
We've successfully lived our lives up till this day and today all of us have broken our all-time
Record for number of days lived every single one of us today. So congratulations
But here's the thing that could change tonight on the drive home. There could be a drunk driver out there right now
That's just getting wasted and he's ready to leave the bar and he's gonna leave the bar at the same time as we leave this church
God forbid that would happen. I'm just saying that could happen tonight and
Thankfully, probably every single person in this room that is of age of understanding the gospel is probably saved
But you know, that's not the case in most of this world tonight
That's not the case in most homes tonight
And you know someone tonight in Oklahoma City will die and go to hell and they did not expect that to happen today
And so the Bible says that now is the day of salvation
But you know more than that more than just getting saved because hopefully all of us are saved in this room
You know when God is punishing us when God is
Chastising us in our lives we should think that now is the day to get right with God now is the day
To repent of our sins now is the day to forsake and confess our sins to God to draw nigh to him
Why because it really doesn't make sense to have to get punished for seven months and some people in this life
They go getting punished by God not for seven months, but for seven years yay for 70 years oftentimes
Christians will rebel against the Word of God and they'll be stiff-necked and they live a really rough life because their entire
Life is full of punishment and look it's not like wow. I'm a preacher
So I just have to tell you to do things God wants you to do
No, I really just don't want to see your life suck. I really don't want to see your life
Constantly be that of hardship and turmoil not because you're suffering for righteousness sakes
But because you're suffering because of your sin, you know, I could sleep at night if I'm suffering for righteousness sake
I'll be proud of all of you. If I see someone in here suffer for righteousness sake
I'll pray for you our joys with you
but you know what it doesn't make me happy to see someone's life destroyed because they're being stiff-necked like the Philistines and just
Continuing in sin and not thinking like what am I doing with my life?
Look at James chapter number four James chapter number four notice what the Bible says in James 4 verse 8
It says draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands
He centers and purify your hearts. He double-minded be afflicted and mourn and weep
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up
The Bible says to draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. You know, God is not in heaven up there
Wanting to punish his children wanting to make their lives harder wanting to take away things from them
No, God is ready to draw nigh to us. But what do we have to do first?
We have to draw nigh to God and so rather than going seven months without reading your Bible and
Wondering why your life is in turmoil or going seven months without going soul-winning or going seven months without going to church
Or going seven months without praying, you know rather what you should do is you should draw nigh to God
How do you draw nigh to God?
Well, you just pick the spiritual activity and do it and that's drawing nigh to God drawing nigh to God is waking up in the morning
And opening your Bible and reading it
You are drawing nigh to God and the Bible says that if you do that, he will draw nigh to you
He will have a stronger relationship with you
He will have a closer bond with you when you draw nigh to him go to Proverbs chapter number 28
Proverbs chapter number 28, you know a lot of people they live in denial
About them and their sin life a lot of people they live in denial because maybe they have some areas in their life
That are good. Maybe they do walk through the doors of a church on Sunday morning
Maybe they even go three times a week, but in other areas of their life. They've deceived themselves into thinking
Well because I'm doing good in this area. I must be doing good in all areas
God must be pleased with me. But notice what Proverbs 28 13 says he that covereth his sins shall not prosper
But who so confess it confess it and forsake it them shall have mercy
So notice there's some people that they cover their sins and there's a lot of reasons people do this
one of the reasons I think is people just want to live in denial and they just want to kind of cover the fact that
They're failing in a certain area or they have a major sin in their life
And they don't want to face up to the fact that they've been wrong about something or that they you know
Are gonna have shame in front of their friends and family so they cover it
But when you're doing that you're not drawing nigh to God you're getting farther away from God
You're covering your sin. The Bible says when you do that, you will not prosper notice what it says in verse 14
Happy is the man that feareth all way but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into
Mischief so notice happy is the man that feareth all way, you know when we fear God
That's gonna cause our lives to be a lot better
And like I said, God is not in heaven just like really wanting to punish us
He wants to have a good relationship with us and we're gonna be happier
We're gonna have a happier relationship with him when we fear him and of course, we know that fearing God is keeping his commandments
Look at verse number three go back to first Samuel chapter number six first Samuel chapter number six
Talking about the Philistines delay of action here
Look at verse number three of first Samuel six and they said if you send away the ark of the God of Israel send it
Not empty but in any wise return him a notice trespass offering
Then he shall be healed and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you
So remember these are the priests and the diviners the false priests of the Philistines
But here we actually kind of get a glimpse that they have
Somewhat of a head knowledge of the law of God. They they are aware of
Christianity they're aware of the Old Testament religion of the Bible in some ways why because they're saying hey when we send this ark away
Let's not send it away empty. Let's give the Lord a trespass offering
And of course if you read the book of Leviticus it gives you the specifics of how to perform a trespass offering
But keep reading look at what it says in verse number four
So remember they want to do a trespass offering but then this is what they come up with. This is their idea
This is their trespass offering verse 4 then said they what shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him now here
They should have said well, let's open up Leviticus and let's see what a trespass offering actually looks like
But this being a false religion. This is what the mind of a false religion does
This is what they said verse 4 they answered five golden emeralds and five golden mice
According to the number of the lords of the Philistines for one plague was on you all and on your lords
So this is their bright idea to appease God's wrath on them
It's to return the ark of God and to give a trespass offering to God and they're gonna make
Golden images of their em rods. I don't want to know what that looks like or what was involved in making that or
Did they have like someone that they were basing that I don't want to know really how that came about
But this is false religion for you and the mice now
I'm not a hundred percent sure what the mice are about
But I'm guessing when in chapter 5 it said that the hand of God was really heavily upon them that there could have been other
Plagues that were happening that God was giving them
One of them was probably just a big old mice infestation, which that would be really terrible, wouldn't it?
I mean most people are pretty afraid of rats and mice
Would you imagine your whole city is just infested with these things and they said, you know
Let's just make a trespass offering of our golden emrods and some mice and you know
The lesson we could draw from this is that false religion is weird false religion is just weird
I mean, it doesn't really matter what false religion you pick you go into one of these churches
That's a false religion and it's going to be weird and you know one thing I love about biblical
Christianity and what I love about the new IFB is that serving God going to church?
It's just normal. You know what? I mean, you just come to church you have fellowship with normal people
We sing songs we hear some preaching we pray we sing some more songs we go eat and we go home
And we just live a normal life. We don't have all this these weird ideas these weird
Situations, you know, I was actually approached today
By a soul winner and it was the it was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had in my life
I was working she stopped me. I was gonna be very polite. She says hey
I want you to take a picture of something she had a gospel tract
But it was her last one so she wanted me to take a picture. I was just being polite. I was taking a picture
She goes yeah, I'm a soul winner like hey me too very cool
And then she's like this was her presentation that she told me she's like I've gotten Satanists saved
I've gotten devil worshipers saved homeless people that are high on drugs and alcohol and all this stuff
And I'm just like cool, and then she started to drive away, but then she's like oh wait wait one more thing
She's like the name of Jesus is really powerful, and if you're ever around these Satan worshipers or these drug addicted homeless people
You know you use the name of Jesus because it's powerful because let me tell you something baby
These people want to rape you kill you and bury your body in the woods, and then she drove away
What where was it like where was it like hey Dylan?
This is what you should do like you should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
Or even if she's preaching a false gospel like I was expecting her to be like you need to repent of your sins
You need to come to church. It was just like hey, here's all the wonderful works that I do
Oh, she also told me that she fills the pews of her church with visitors. See I'm forgetting some details already
You know
She's just like bragging to me about all these great things she does and then she basically tells me to like watch out for homeless
People that want to kill me and it was like goodbye. Is that how your soul winning experiences are?
I hope people in here aren't going door-to-door and acting like that
You know what? I love about this church and about the new IVs. We're just normal people
We just see someone we approach them. We ask them if they were to die today
They're 100% sure they'd be going to heaven. We're very polite with them
And if they're interested we offer to show them the gospel
where Bible verses are being read and there's no talk of being buried by homeless people or
Satanism and worships of the occult or anything like that
Why because real Christianity is just normal and every false religion is weird and the Philistines here
This is just bizarre wanting to just make images of your M rods and of the mice, you know
Here's another just weird religion today is Judaism. Now. I have some articles here
This is not from like like nazi.com or something. Okay, this is not from like anti-semitic
Material comm this is from a website called the Associated Jewish
Federation of Baltimore. So this is from Jews and
They they had an article here said that says unveiling the mysteries
Exploring intriguing Jewish rituals and customs. Now, what are we talking about? We're talking about how false religion is just weird
Okay, this is coming from Jews number one swinging a live chicken over one's head
Caparot, you know what I'm talking about. Have you ever witnessed folks swinging a live chicken over their heads?
No, actually I have not because I live in a normal Christian area. Thank God
Have you ever witnessed folks swinging a live chicken over their heads around young Yom Kippur?
That my friends is the tradition of Caparot
We swing a chicken over our head while reciting prayers all in the hope of transferring any potential harsh
Judgment coming our way before Yom Kippur onto the unsuspecting chicken. This is weird and you say
Oh, this is a straw man. You're so anti-semitic. This is from Jews
This is Jews telling you that they're weird. This is Jews telling you here's the weird rituals and customs that we have
Here's another one touching or kissing a mezuzah
Have you seen how some Jewish folks kiss a little box on their doorposts when they enter or exit their homes?
No, I can't say I have probably because I don't have a lot of Jewish neighbors. That's kind of weird
I mean you imagine every time you left your house or went back to your house
You had to like kiss this little box on your door. Isn't false religion weird?
That is the mezuzah inside is a tiny parchment with part of the shema prayer
Which says here oh israel the sovereign is our god the sovereign is one
This prayer is a friendly reminder for us to carry that sense of holiness and protection as we step into the world
When people touch the mezuzah or kiss their fingers after it's a way of physically transferring that holiness to you
And showing respect for the sacred protector that is the mezuzah. So there's some interesting culture from the
Jews there. It's pretty weird, right? This is from the same website 10 popular jewish
superstitions
Number one don't sit at the corner of the table. Apparently that's
Unluck or bad luck to them number two don't step over someone number three never leave your purse on the floor
It says never leave your purse or bag on the floor if you want to keep your money
I could see why they need to have that rule around a bunch of jews
Number four spit three times you ever heard someone say this. This is not a straw man. This is according to them
Spit three times after seeing hearing or learning of something horrible
Now you've heard people say that jews spit at the name of jesus christ
This is according to them to the jews that when something horrible is said and they hear something terrible
They spit on the ground three times
And so to them something horrible and terrible is the name of our savior
And I just have to wonder why so many baptists love jews again
Why is it again that so many baptists love jews?
Why is it again that so many baptists think they're god's chosen people when here's their little rule of superstitions
Spit at the name of jesus christ. It's wicked
Uh number five don't take a direct path home from the cemetery number six bring jam to a housewarming party
Number seven only bring an even number of flowers to someone number eight
Wear a metal pin on your clothes when embarking on a trip number nine
Never hand a knife directly to another person number ten clothes all open books
Now one thing that I just found interesting about this is that the new testament talks about how jews teach for commandments the doctrines of men
And they they believe all these weird traditions and even today even today in 2024
Jews are still like this where they have all these weird rules where it's not like they said hey
Here's nehemiah where it says that we have to avoid sitting at the corner of a table
Or here's where it says in leviticus that you must spit on the ground three times
No, what is this? This is just like god mocking someone for worshiping the devil is they do all these weird things
You know false religion is just constantly making a mockery and fool of itself
As kind of a joke from god. I feel like god's just laughing at them. Like wow, you made pictures of your m rods
Wow, like how stupid can you be? It's like hey, look at this little jew swinging a chicken over his head
That's like your punishment for worshiping false gods. It's like you do all these weird stupid things
It's like i'm just so thankful to be a christian where we just wear normal clothes and we're just around normal people
We have a normal church and look christianity will make you normal being in the world and being in false religion
Will make you a total freak and even the perversions of christianity
They're freaks too when you start getting away from the word of god and you get into perversions of christianity
You're going to get people running up and down the aisles barking like a dog
You're going to get preachers smacking people in the head and pretending like they're healing them. You're going to get preachers holding snakes
Dancing around with the snakes and doing a little middle eastern music to them, you know, it's just weird
And just here's a good rule of thumb if your church is weird. It's probably a bad church
I've just learned this over the years that if someone is weird
It's usually for a reason that you're that you're perceiving that
And while I will always give people benefit out when something's weird
It's usually for a reason and if you're in a church and you're thinking like this is weird
Why do we have to wear magic underwear? This is weird. Why is caffeine a sin? This is weird
Why aren't black people allowed to come here? Oh, this is weird or the black keeper is lights
This is weird. Why aren't white people allowed to come here? It's like when it's weird run
When it's weird, it's weird for a reason and it's just like a token
It's an evident token that it's not of god why because christianity is not weird go back to first samuel
6 says in verse 5 wherefore you shall make images of your emrods and images of your mice that mar the land
And he shall give glory unto the god of israel. I don't know how you're doing that
For adventure he will lighten his hand from off you and from off your gods and from off
Your land now remember in the last chapter how we were talking about that. I believe that the philistines
Understood that it was god's almighty's hand that was against them that was the god of israel's hand
Well, this is proving that right here because it's saying right here that says and you shall give glory unto who the god of israel
Per adventure he will lighten his hand from off you and from off your gods and from off your land
So notice they know who they're dealing with they know who the god of the bible is
But they reject him like reprobates verse six wherefore then do ye notice heart in your hearts
Reminds me of a group of people as the egyptians and pharaoh hardened their hearts when he had wrought wonderfully among them
Did they not let the people go and they departed and so notice even though these priests are wrong
They're not saved. They are doing weird stuff here. They're kind of making a good statement here. They're saying like why are you still
Hardening your heart against the god of israel. Why are you still resisting him?
Why do you still have his ark are you know, do you not remember the story of pharaoh?
It's kind of funny how even the world even other religions they still knew the story of pharaoh
Why because his word has gone into all the earth and every nation knows about the god of israel
Every nation today knows the name of jesus christ regardless of where you are in the world now go to
Actually, let's keep reading here number two this evening. I want you to notice the philistines
righteousness test the philistines righteousness
Test they're going to create this little test here to see if they're right with god look at verse seven
Now therefore make a new cart and take two
Milch kind these are just milk cows on which there have come no yoke
So these these milk cows they've never had to put on any farming equipment. They've never had to carry anything
They've never had to drag anything
They're not broken if you will and it says and tie the kind to the cart and bring their calves home from them
And take the ark of God and lay it upon the cart and put the jewels of gold which he returned him for a trespass offering
In a coffer by the side thereof and send it away that it may go
So notice they're going to take all these weird things that they made and they're going to put it in a little box
Kind of attached to the ark
But they're not going to open up the ark because even the philistines are a little too afraid of god to do that
Verse 9 it says and see if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to bethshamesh
Then he hath done us this great evil
But if not, then we shall know that is not his hand that smote us
It was a chance that happened to us now. This is just ridiculous. This is a terrible terrible idea
Think about it. They just got done saying like hey god's hand is upon us
How long are you going to be like?
Pharaoh and the egyptians and not repent and still resist god
But now he says here's what we're going to do
Here's how we're going to find out if this is really the hand of god against us
He says we're going to take these cattle these milk cows that have never had a yoke on them
They've never been broken in they're not trained to do this task that we're about to ask them to do
And we're going to send them on their way
And if they go on the coast to beth shemesh, then we're going to know that god's hand is against us
But if not if these milk cows that haven't been trained that haven't been broken that have never carried equipment if they go any other way
Then we're going to know that god's hand is not against us that it's not his ham that smote us that it was a chance
That happened unto us now here is the this is a very weird story
It's a very silly thing that they're doing
They're just creating this test as if they're god and they could just decide if god's hand is against them or not
But people do this today. They will make tests in their life to decide whether or not they're right with god
Rather than looking at the bible. They'll say well, I just survived a car crash and because I survived a car crash
I know that i'm right with god and they they may be going to joel osteen's church
They may be believing in a false, you know works-based salvation
Their life may be nothing doing doing nothing according to the word of god
But it's like but I survived a car crash though. So god's with me or you know
I'm a war veteran and because i'm a war veteran because I was in the trenches because I was being shot at
And I survived I know that god's hand is with me
If you've ever been soul winning for a long time, you've heard some of the things that i'm talking about
You ask someone if they're 100 sure that going to heaven and it's like well, I had a near-death experience
I survived a school shooting. I was a combat vet god helped me through all these things. Therefore
I'm saved and look, this is a ridiculous
Ridiculous way to look at your life
But the unsaved do this and even the saved do this even the saved they will be doing something that is just completely
in violation of clear
Scripture, but they're like yeah, but I got a promotion. Yeah, but my health is doing really good
Yeah, but you know my kids just got married. Yeah, but this I just bought a house and it's like they're in clear violation
But because they're looking at the circumstances of their life
They think that they're right with god go to first john chapter number five first john chapter number five
Let's talk a minute about being saved
Surviving something scary is not a good way to decide whether or not you're safe
And you have even with this recent shooting or I guess two now attempts of president trump
You have people saying like well, he must be saved or he must be a godly man
Because god saved him, but look surviving a scary situation is not what makes you save
You know what makes you save look at first john 5 verse 13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of god that you may know
That you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of god
You know how you can know that you're saved is if you believe on the son of god
You know what if I go and just defy death and god saves me and protects me through all these
You know near-death experiences
And tonight I survive a shooting or tonight. I I survive a car bond. Whatever. That's not what makes me save
You know what makes me save is where I put my trust because believe means
Trust and so people today need to wake up and realize hey if god's you know
Brought you through some stuff if he's protected you through some scary situations
It's probably to bring you to this moment while i'm at your door while you're at their door
So that they can put their faith in jesus christ
Not put their faith in some experience or some weird righteousness test that they've created
Because what's going on with the philistines?
We already know they're not right with god. We already know for sure that god's hand is against them
How do we know that because the bible tells us that and it's like how do I know that i'm safe because the bible says
That when you believe in jesus christ you're safe because the bible says
That when you put your trust in him that you're sealed that you're saved that you can never lose your salvation
That's how I know i'm saved now go to psalm
119 in the center of your bible psalm 119 now, let's ask this question
How do I know if i'm right with god because people will do this they'll they'll clearly violate scripture
They'll say hey, I know i'm about to leave church. I'm going to move to another town to take this high-paying job
Where there's no good church, but god must be pleased with me
I must be right with god because he's giving me this high-paying job because he's blessing me in this area
How can you know for sure that you are right with god? Look at psalm 119 verse. Let's just read the whole chapter
Verse 9 no worries verse 9 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way notice by taking heed thereto
according to
thy
Word, how do you know if you're living a life that's pleasing in the eyes of god? How do you know that?
You're being cleansed from your sin as far as being right with god goes. It's that if you're taking heed
According to god's word. That's how you know if you're right with god
Not if you're being blessed financially not if you live in a cool house
Not if you have great health because let me tell you something
There was men in the bible that had horrible health jobe whose family was killed jobe who had no money
Job and many of the men of god lived very austere lives that were not very blessed financially
And you know what those men were blessed why because they were taking heed according to thy word
That's why and you know what we should never look at our circumstances as the sole basis
On which we judge whether or not we're right with god. We have to search the scriptures
We have to see if our life is being led according to the word of god
And the only way you're going to know if you're right with god is if you're actually reading the bible
And what's so funny to me is that the people that have this mentality that i've known in my life are the same people
That don't read the bible and they want to tell me how much god's blessing them
God's giving them this new opportunity
God's giving them this new way in which they could get farther from god
And they think it's such a blessing in their life
Why because they haven't been reading the bible and they don't realize that what they're doing is actually not according to the scripture
Go to hebrews chapter number 10 hebrews chapter number 10 while you go there
Let me read you first john 2 4. It says he that saith I know him
Oh, I know god. I have a good relationship with god me and god are really close
He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him
So really I don't care how much money you have. I don't care what a nice neighborhood you live in
I don't care how much you want to tell me to my face that you know god
If you're not keeping his commandments, you don't know him and you're a liar and you're not right with god
Look at hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is
But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching
Oh, yeah, you know i'm missing church even though god commanded me to be in church
But look at how much money i'm making on overtime working on sundays. I'm making overtime. I'm making double time
Working when church is happening or just skipping church for whatever reason and they think that because they're having fun or because
Some things being blessed in their life that they're actually right with god
But look what it says in verse 26 for if we sin, you know what forsaking church is
It's a sin skipping church is a sin for if we sin willfully after that
We have received the knowledge of the truth. They remain. It's no more sacrifice for sins
But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries
You know, you may be able to deceive yourself for a while to think that your life is so good as you're in blatant
Obedient to the Word of God, but you know what?
There's coming a time where that will change and God will drop the hammer on your life
And you're gonna realize real quick that your life wasn't as dandy as you thought go to 1st
Timothy chapter number 3 1st Timothy chapter number 3, you know people think this well, you know, I got divorced and
God brought me to this this new lady in my life and she's so beautiful and she's perfect for me
And I just think that God has just brought us together and God wants us to get remarried
Who's ever heard stuff like this before?
Okay, and they think that God's blessing them because they found some woman after they got divorced, right?
Okay, but what does the Bible say you could say there Luke 16 18 whosoever put it the way his wife and marryeth another
Committeth adultery and whosoever marryeth her that is put away from her husband committed adultery. You know, once you're divorced
I don't care how compatible you think you are with someone I don't care how pretty you think she is or how handsome you think
He is ladies
Let me just tell you God is not blessing you with another person when he literally said that if you marry someone who's been divorced
You're committing adultery. God's not blessing that relationship
God doesn't want you to get remarried and people think this people think well, you know, I know I don't tie to my local church
I know I don't give financially to the work of God, but God's still pleased with me because I still have lots of money
God's blessing me financially. I have a fat bank account
I can take all care of all my needs so God must not care that I don't give financially
Well, let's see what the Bible says you could say there Malachi 3 8 will a man rob God yet
You have robbed me
But you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings first nine says you are cursed with a curse
For you have robbed me even this whole nation. Look, you may think your life is blessed for the time
But the reality when you actually put on the spiritual glasses when you actually look into the Word of God
About the truth of the situation of your life
You're actually cursed when you refuse to tithe to God now a situation happened last week or it was the week before last
That really made me think of this
Mentality that people have where they look at the situation of their life and they judge whether or not they're right with God
And that is the situation that happened with pastor Greg Locke
Everyone know who pastor Greg Locke is most people know who this is now on September 3rd
2024 at 10 30 p.m
There was 40 shell casings found at his property from a fully automatic rifle that was shot into his home
So someone drove by pastor Greg Locke's house with a fully automatic rifle and shot 40 shots into his home
I saw the pictures bullet holes went all the way through his vehicle through his garage
Through his home through the headboard on his children's bed
And he did have one child that was home during this shooting. Thank God the child is completely. Okay, thank God
No one gets hurt and let me just let me just say this like this situation
I am thankful that no one got hurt. Okay, this this is a crime, you know, I'm not condoning of murder
This would be a serious wicked thing if someone just randomly went up to Greg Locke and killed his family killed his wife killed his kids
Look, that's wicked as hell and I hope that whoever did that gets caught gets arrested and gets charged criminally
Because I could see something like this happening to a new IFD pastor someday god forbid
I'm just saying I could see that happening. But here's the thing Greg Locke, you know went on Facebook
He talked about it and he talked about how God is protecting him and there's this insinuation
There's this feeling with people that they think like God must really love Greg Locke
God must think that Greg Locke is this really great guy. He's probably saved. He's probably a great pastor
He's probably a great man of God
Why because he survived this ordeal and he did barely survive it because his car was like a minute down the road
With his family like he barely missed this event from happening. And so God must like Greg Locke, right?
I told you to go to first Timothy 3 here's how I know though that God doesn't like Greg Locke even though this happened
first Timothy 3 verse 1
This is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop. That's someone who's a pastor. He desired the good work
Excuse me verse 2 a bishop then must be blameless. Notice this the husband of one wife
Vigilant sober of good behavior given to hospitality apt to teach the Bible teaches that one of the qualifications of being a pastor
Is that you have to be the husband of one wife meaning that it is unbiblical
God does not approve of a man who's been divorced being a pastor. Now. What did Greg Locke do well in 2018?
Greg Locke divorced his wife that he had four children with forsook his wife
He had four kids with and committed adultery with her best friend and his employee
The church secretary who is now his current wife. So, you know, he had this wife
He had four beautiful children with his wife. He went to his wife's best friend
Could you imagine that ladies and decided to just dump his wife as utter trash?
Forsake her and go off and commit adultery and remarry this other woman
You know what if we were living under the laws of God, you know
What would have happened to pastor Greg Locke pastor Greg Locke wouldn't have had his house shot up last week
You know why because pastor Locke would have been in trial for first-degree adultery
He would have been convicted with evidence and he would have been killed by the government
He would have been rather than shot by some weird murderer assassin at his house
He would have been shot by the executioner the official of the state of wherever he lives and he would already be in hell
Right now, by the way, he's an unsaved false prophet. He's a guy that teaches work salvation
He's a guy that denies the fundamental doctrines of the Bible
He's a complete devil and don't feel sorry for Greg Locke like God must love Greg Locke because he survived his shooting
You know what according to God he would have been shot a long time ago by a court of law
Why because he's a piece of crap that cheated on his wife that committed adultery with his wife's best friend and forsook
The mother of his children and decided to still pastor a church, you know what that guy's wicked as hell
And I don't care how many plane crashes he survives or shootings. I don't care how much money he has
I don't care how nice his house is
I don't care what his wife looks like what his kids look like the guy's a devil and God's not pleased with him
God doesn't like him God's against Greg Locke
So, you know this situation with the Philistines it doesn't really matter what way the cows go
Philistines doesn't matter if the cows go to Beth Shemesh doesn't matter if the cows go some other way
God is against you and you know in your life and in my life and in everyone's life when we are not living according to the scriptures
It doesn't matter how blessed you think your life is God is against you. God is not pleased with you
You can go to 1st Corinthians 11
I'll read Psalm 119 verse 23 says search me Oh God and know my heart
Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way
Everlasting, you know, that's the attitude that we should have in life that whether our surroundings are great
Or whether our surroundings are terrible that we would pray to the Lord and that we would say God search my heart
See if there be any wicked way in me God
I'm not gonna look at my house or the surroundings of my life and decide whether or not you're pleased with me
You know what? I want to look into the Word of God. I want to pray
I want God to reveal to me things that I'm doing wrong and I want to fix those things first Corinthians 11
Now this is talking about the Lord's Supper, but let's just apply it to right now look at verse 28 says but let a man
Examine himself let a man examine himself, you know
That's what we should be doing on a daily basis as Christians is not let a man examine his bank account
Let a man examine his friends. No, you know what you should just examine yourself
Examine the works in your life examine the sins in your life and see if you're actually living according to the Word of God
Go back to the first Samuel chapter 6 for Samuel chapter number 6 now, of course when things are going bad in our life
We should always consider the fact that it could be because it's the hand of God
Not necessarily there's times that were persecuted for righteousness sake, but when things are going bad in our life
Yes, we should look to the scripture. Yes, we should pray to God, but when things are bad in my life
I should at least consider that the reason things are going bad is because I'm not right with God
but you know what I would recommend is that if things are going bad in another Christian's life in your brother or sister's life that you
Would always just extend mercy and give them the benefit of the doubt and think that well, you know
They're going through a trying right now or they're going through
Persecution or they're going through something like that
You know
I would probably think the worst in myself and judge myself harshly and if another brother is going through something I'd probably give them grace
You know, you don't want to be like Job's friends, you know, if you are going through something bad
Don't be Job's friends and be like well, you know, of course the reason why this is happening to you is because you're wicked
You know, it's like don't be like that. Give your brothers and sisters the benefit of the doubt but in yourself
I might think that about myself. You're like, okay, this is just happened to me. That's bad. I'm gonna examine myself
I'm gonna ask God to search me. I'm gonna try to see if there's any wicked way in me look at verse 10
And the men did so and took two milk kind and tied them to the cart and shut up their calves at home
and they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart and the coffer with the mice of gold and images of their emrods and
Notice the kind took the straight way to the way of Beth Shemesh. So their little plan, you know
Didn't really mean anything it went along the highway
Loing as they went their moon as they go there and turn not aside to the right hand or to the left and the lords of
The Philistines went after them onto the border of Beth Shemesh and they have Beth Shemesh
So now this is the people of the children of Israel here. We're kind of changing audiences
They have Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced
To see it's notice. I mean the children of Israel they're getting really excited here
The ark of God was taken by the Philistines several months ago. And so this is a big victory for them
They're getting really excited about this in verse 14
It says in the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemite and stood there
where there was a great stone and they clave the wood of the cart and offered the kind a burnt offering unto the Lord and
The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the coffer that was with it
wherein the jewels of gold were and put them on the great stone and the men of Beth Shemesh offered a burnt offerings and
sacrificed
sacrifices the same day unto the Lord and
When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it they returned to Ekron the same day
So now the Philistines are going home the ark is with Beth Shema Beth Shemites here verse 17
And these are the golden emrods with which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord
For Ashdod one for Gaza one for Ashkelon one for Gath one for Ekron one
So those are all the cities that it went to and the golden mice
According to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords
Both of fenced cities and of country villages even unto the great stone of Abel
Where on they set down the ark of the Lord which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua
The Beth Shemite now number three this evening
I want us to look at this number three God's judgment of his own children God's judgment of his own children
You know so far we've been talking a lot about the Philistines
But now the children of Israel have gotten the ark back and we're gonna see that God is actually about to judge his own people here
Look what it says in verse number 19 and he smote the men of Beth Shemesh
Because they had looked into the ark of the Lord even he smote the people
50,000 and 3 score and 10 men
50,000 and 70 men God killed right here and the people lamented because the Lord
Excuse me had smitten many of the people with a great
Slaughter now go to numbers chapter number four numbers chapter number four. Why is it that God once the Israelites get the ark back?
All of a sudden he's smiting them. He kills fifty thousand and seventy of them
Well, that is because God often is more strict and judges harsher God's people than the world
Now while God was definitely judging the Philistines - this is more severe
I mean em rods and mice
versus fifty thousand and seventy deaths here and what is the reason the reason why is because the children of Israel
Looked into the ark of the Lord see the Philistines
They didn't even do that
Even they were not so presumptuous as to think that they could just open up the holy ark of God and look into it
They made a little box
They made a little coffer and kind of attached it to the ark
But the Israelites they get so excited and they just you know get presumptuous and they just start looking in
To the ark of God now, this is something God forbid look at numbers four or five
Numbers chapter four verse five and when the camp set it forward Aaron shall come and his sons and they shall take down the covering veil
And cover the ark of the testimony with it and shall put there on a covering of badger skins and shall spread it over
Spread over it a cloth
Holy of blue and shall put in the staves thereup
So notice the ark supposed to be covered and when it's carried it's not even supposed to be touched
It's supposed to be you're supposed to basically put sticks in through the rings. It was to carry those staves
It's very holy you're not supposed to touch it verse 15 skip down to verse 15
It when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary as the camp is to
Set forward after that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it
But they shall not touch any holy thing notice lest they die
These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation
But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered lest they die. So God was very specific
Hey, don't touch this thing. Don't go look at it. Don't open it up and look inside of it or
What's gonna happen? You're going to die and there's just some things that
God is not gonna let us get away with as Christians, you know
There's things that the world may get away with there's things
You know God might let the Philistines take the ark and mess around with it for a while and yeah, he'll punish them
Yeah, their life won't be great. But when we decide to do the same thing God's gonna come down on us a lot harder
You know the world they can go out they can commit fornication and yeah, sometimes they'll be consequences for them
Sometimes they'll get an STD. Sometimes they'll have a bastard children bastard child
But you know God's people do that
You should just pretty much expect that the worst thing that can happen probably will happen to you because God is often way more
Strict with his own children than with the world, you know the world they go out every Friday
some people go out every Friday and drive drunk every single week and they never crash and they never kill anyone they never kill
Themselves now, of course that does happen. They do do that. But you know, if you as a Christian decide
I'm just gonna go get drunk this weekend. I'm gonna go drive to pick up my buddy. You know what?
You're the one that's a lot more likely to go kill someone's mom kill someone's child in a driving accident or kill yourself or kill
Whoever's in the car with you why because God often judges his own people a lot stricter than the world now
Switching gears real quick about this verse about verse number 19 in first Samuel 6
So we saw that the King James Bible said how many people died look at it again
50,000 and three score scores 20 20 times 360 and 10 men. So what is that?
50,000 and 70 men is my math correct on that. Can I get a witness? All right, I trust you. All right
50,000 and 70 men were killed now. Here's what the ESV says
Okay, first Samuel 6 19 in the ESV or the extreme soy version as I like to call it
It says and he struck some of them of Beth Shemesh because they looked upon the ark of the Lord
He struck 70 men of them and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow now
I don't know about you. There's a big difference between
50,000 and 70 people dying and 70 people dying
But the ESV says 70 people died the NIV the non-inspired version says but God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth
Shemesh
putting 70 of them to death the NLT the no longer true version says but the Lord killed
70 men from Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of the Lord
You know people have this stupid mentality aren't all the English Bible versions the same. Don't they all say the same thing?
I don't know if you saw 70 people dead would that be different than seeing
50,000 and 70 people dead is there a difference in the casualty right here between 70 and 50 thousand and 70
You know the Bible teaches that every word of God matters. The Bible says that the word of the Lord is pure
Every word of God is pure. You know what that means. It means that it's factually and
Morally, correct everything that God says is right both factually in the sense that it happened the way the Bible says it happened
And that it's morally right when God says something. So here when God says that
50,070 people died that God's moat that many, you know, I believe God's moat
50,070 men of the best Shemites
I don't believe he only smote 70 but you know
That should be a problem to you
If you don't believe in the King James Bible if you think that just the modern versions are the same
You know that should be a problem to you when you come to this verse and realize hmm
Is there really a big difference between these numbers? Yes a huge. I mean, what if I said, hey, I have $70 for you
And what if I said I have fifty thousand and seventy dollars for you, then are you say that's a big difference
You know, that is a big difference and the King James Bible is different than the modern versions. It's pure
It's right. The other ones are wrong. The other ones are not correct
You know when something is just that off actually it just tells me this isn't the Word of God
God wouldn't have messed up like this. No, I know what God said God said 50,000 and 70 now go back to 1st Samuel chapter 6
Look what it says in verse 20 says in the men of Beth Shemesh said so this is God's people
They said this who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God and to whom shall he go up from us?
They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Arim saying the Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord coming down and fetch
It up to you last place. We'll go this evening as Proverbs chapter number three, you know
I really don't like this attitude that the Beth Shemites had here where they say who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God
What are they doing? They're acting like God's too strict God's too mean
How dare God smite fifty thousand and seventy of us just because we looked into the ark of God
But you know, here's the thing God already gave them specific instructions of how to handle the ark
It's not like God didn't warn them and then God killed them
No
God gave them very specific instructions when us when when God's people in general know what the Bible says and they just
Willingly disobey it they just do the opposite of that, you know, don't don't cry and complain when God punishes you
You know, you deserve that and I deserve that when that happens, you know, but don't sit here say like well who could serve God
I mean who could really stand before this? Holy Lord God God's too mean God's unfair
No, God's just and God's completely fair and he gave you completely fair warning in his word of what would happen if you looked
Into the ark or you touch the ark and you know what the 50,000 people ish
50,000 70 people that died here they deserved it because they broke God's law now look at Proverbs chapter number one three
Proverbs 3 verse 1 it says this my son
Forget not my law and think think of this as God talking to you my son
Forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace
Shall they add to you? So what is the fruit?
What is the result of keeping God's commandments length of days long life peace good things?
God gives us his word because he wants us to follow it and he wants to bless us when we do so
It says verse 3 let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about thy neck
Write them upon the table of thine heart. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man
Verse 5 one of the most beautiful verses in the whole Bible
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding
In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths be not wise in thine own eyes
Fear the Lord and depart from evil
You know what?
I think the Beshamites were doing in this situation is that they're being wise in their own eyes
They were not trusting the Lord with all their heart. They were leaning to their own understanding. They probably thought hey
The arcs been gone for seven months ish and the Philistines the enemies of God have killed our people
And now the arc is coming back. God probably doesn't care if I look into the arc
I mean, this is a joyous occasion. This is a great time. God probably doesn't care if I just blatantly
Disobey his commandments, but what is the Bible saying in prophets 3 trust in the Lord with all my heart lean?
Not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths be not wise in thine own eyes
Fear the Lord and depart from evil, you know, not all of God's commandments are gonna make sense to us carnally
Especially when you're a new believer, especially when you've never read through the Bible
Especially when you've only read through it a handful of times, you know
There's gonna be commandments in the Bible that you're just you don't understand
And you're saying like God is that really necessary?
God does it really matter if I do it this way?
Does it really matter if I go if I go here if I drink that if I do this does it really matter that much?
And you know the admonition I would leave you with this evening is
Trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not unto thine own understanding
Don't think like well, I don't understand this commandment. So I'm exempt from it
I don't understand why God said this so I don't have to follow it
No, it doesn't matter if you understand it or not. God has given us very clear instructions in life
God has given us very detailed explanations of how to do everything in life
I mean the word of God the Bible says is profitable for everything and so the admonition
I leave you with tonight is don't trust in yourself. Don't trust in your own heart
Don't be presumptuous like the best termites here and think that just because you're surrounding, you know life circumstances are going well
Just because the Ark is coming back to you that that means you can sin against God. You know what?
It's never acceptable to sin against God. It's never acceptable to do wrong
Even if you feel like everything your life is going right, you know
Let us as a church not be like the Beth Shemites here and get presumptuous
No, rather let us always fear the Lord. Let's have a word of prayer Lord. Thank you for this day
Thank you for the Word of God and for first Samuel chapter 6 and I just prayed that
You would use this series through first Samuel 6 to speak to our hearts
To help us to become better Christians and to improve as servants of Jesus Christ
Pray that you bring us all home safely this evening. We love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen