Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Illustation: Worship That God Wants

Early in our marriage I gave my wife a terrific anniversary gift: a rain gauge.

At least I thought it was a great gift.

Susan, after all, is a farmer’s daughter and keeps close watch on the weather.

I envisioned her delight and nostalgia while tracking our back yard precipitation.

I congratulated myself on my creativity.

Guess what?

Susan was not impressed: “A rain gauge- for our anniversary?!” The rain gauge is now a family joke, a classic example of a gift enjoyed by the giver but not the receiver.

One word DI hear a lot these days is authentic, as in “we seek authentic worship.”

Usually this means were trying to create an experience that helps worshipers feel something.

Nothing wrong with that, but if our focus is only on our experience, we may be giving God a rain gauge.

Are we offering in worship a gift we enjoy and figuring God will like it?

A real gift, real worship, means knowing what’s important to the Receiver

Some of you some of us in here today have experienced that that we were so excited for the Lord is so ready to do the LORD’s work that we put the cart before the mule.

Transition To Body- David not inquiring of the LORD what to do concerning the Ark of God

But David did not consult with the LORD concerning the transport and destination of the Ark of God

(EB 1 Sa–Job): God had expressly directed that when the ark was moved from place to place it should be borne on poles on the shoulders of the Levites, and never carried in a cart, like a common piece of furniture.

But in the removal of the ark from Kirjath-jearim, this direction was entirely overlooked.

Instead of following the directions given to Moses, the example of the Philistines was copied when they sent the ark back to Bethshemesh.

The Philistines had placed it in a new cart, and the men of Israel now did the same.

What induced them to follow the example of the Philistines rather than the directions of Moses, we do not know, and can hardly conjecture.

It does not appear to have been a mere oversight.

It had something of a deliberate plan about it, as if the law given in the wilderness were now obsolete, and in so small a matter any method might be chosen that the people liked.

It was substituting a heathen example for a Divine rule in the worship of God.

We cannot suppose that David was guilty of deliberately setting aside the authority of God.

On his part, it may have been an error of inadvertence.

But that somewhere there was a serious offence is evident from the punishment with which it was visited ().

His effort to steady the ark must have been made in a presumptuous way, without reverence for the sacred vessel.

Only a Levite was authorised to touch it, and Uzzah was apparently a man of Judah.

The punishment may seem to us hard for an offence which was ceremonial rather than moral; but in that economy moral truth was taught through ceremonial observances, and neglect of the one was treated as involving neglect of the other.

The punishment was like the punishment of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, for offering strange fire in their censers.

It may be that both in their case, and in the case of Uzzah, there were unrecorded circumstances, unknown to us, making it clear that the ceremonial offence was not a mere accident, but that it was associate

Body

Don’t Take Shortcuts (When It Comes To The LORD)

The priests were suppose the bear the burden of carrying the Ark of the LORD on poles.

Even if they needed to carry if off of a hill

Illustrate: What is good and bad about short cuts, say using GPS or ignoring GPS

Short cuts can be not being willing to carry the burden of the church (the cross)- sharing the gospel and just come and sing songs on Sunday and hear a good motivational speech.

The Levites, the priest, are supposed to carry the burden of caring the ark which symbolize or represents the presence of the Lord.

It is the priest who carry that burden.!

Exodus- the description of the Ark & what it represents

Church short-cuts

The LORD wants a burden bearing church

Luke 9:

A Church That Does Not growing weary in doing good

Stop Worrying- The LORD God can defend the Ark

(so do not be presumptuous when it comes to the LORD)

,

1 Samuel 5:

The LORD Zealously Protects His Holiness

The LORD God don’t just want to see your worship on Sunday morning worship service- the LORD God is watching how you worship him outside these four walls and in your everyday living and how you treat others.

Transition To Close: King David does it right the second time ()

And all you do do it to the glory of God.

God is a God of order.

God calls us to do everything in decency in order

1 Samuel 15:

Hosea 6;6=-

Noah built the Ark exactly according to the LORD’s plan

Moses built the Tabernacle exactly according to the LORD’s heaven sent plan

Solomon built the Temple according the LORD’s approved plan that he received from his father David

Elijah built an altar that suited the LORD’s desires

We have a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses

but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin

Hebrews 10:5-

Postlude

The Ark of God has been

Illustration: Robert Kupferschmid was an 81-year old with no flying experience.

However, due to a tragic emergency, he was forced to fly an airplane.

On June 17, 1998, he and his 52-year old pilot friend, Wesley Sickle, were flying from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana.

During the flight the pilot slumped over and died at the controls.

The Cessna 172 single-engine plane began to nose-dive and Kupferschmid grabbed the controls.

He got on the radio and pleaded for help.

Nearby were two pilots who heard the call.

Mount Comfort was the closest airport, and the two pilots gave Kupferschmid a steady stream of instructions of climbing, steering, and- the scariest part- landing.

The two experienced pilots circled the runway three times before this somewhat frantic and totally inexperienced pilot was ready to attempt the landing.

Emergency vehicles were called out and ready for what seemed like an approaching disaster.

Witnesses said the plane’s nose nudged the center line and bounced a few times before the tail hit the ground.

The Cessna ended up in a patch of soggy grass next to the runway.

Amazingly, Kupferschmid was not injured.

This pilot listened and followed those instructions as if his life depended on it- and it did.

Imagine what would take place in the lies of believers if we listened to and obeyed the WORD of God with the same earnestness (sense of urgency).

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