Title: "The Secret Place"
Introduction:
Have you ever thought about all of the people that God killed for seemingly "small" sins? In this text it was Uzzah’s turn to die. for touching the Ark of the Covenant. In the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira died for keeping back part of their offering. Clearly, God does not allow everyone to live unto the years of three score and ten.
And then again, there are many people that went on living even though it seemed that they had sinned greatly against the Lord.
Why?
What went wrong?
What went wrong in the today’s text? That was the question upon the mind of David. He just could not figure God out? What was God thinking? Why did Uzzah die?
Now, please notice that everything seemed to be going right at the time just before the death of Uzzah. David and the people of Israel could not have been having a greater time of things.
1. They had a big crowd.
If this story were likened unto a Church service, they had a great attendance that Sunday morning. Thirty thousand people had come to enjoy the service.
Even though I don’t really Pastor a large scale Church, I would surely like too! It would be a blessing having the people of Muskegon wanting to crowd within the four walls of our Church to pay tribute to the Savior on the Lord’s Day.
2. They were committed to the God of the Bible.
After all, within the Ark of the Covenant were the very words of God written with God’s own hand.
I love to see people bringing their Bibles to Church. I am proud to be the Pastor of a Bible preaching Church. When we recently changed the name of our Church from the Bible Baptist Temple, I insisted that we leave the word Bible in our Church name. We are now known as the Family Bible Church of Muskegon.
3. They had a great praise team and orchestra.
Notice that the choir had come fully equipped with a large orchestra.
I love the old hymns and the praise and worship music. I enjoy being a part of our praise team at the Church. This last Sunday, we practiced many hours just to lead our people in worship.
4. They had an orderly service.
David was a military man. He had things lined up from the beginning to the end. The oxen were to pull the cart, but David also had a Levite man proceeding and then one Levite man following the cart. He had the soldiers marching in formation, the dancers were dancing, and the musicians were playing in load celebration.
5. The Pastor was a man after God’s own heart.
On this occasion, David was likened unto the Pastor of a Church. He certainly was acting as the overseer of this service. Keep in mind that David was the Goliath killer. He was a man after God’s own heart.
6. They were sincere in their desire to please the Lord.
The thing that was being done was the right thing to do. David and the people of Israel wanted revival with God. They wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to its rightful place in Jerusalem.
But something went wrong?
Uzzah died. Why?
There is only was to approach God.
Uzzah had touched the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant represented the presence of God. There must be three things in place before the Ark of the Covenant was to be touched.
1.There must be a blood sacrifice.
Seven drops of innocence blood had to be placed upon the Ark of the Covenant before it could be touched.
2. There must be a high priest.
Only the Exalted High Priest once a year could touch the Ark of the Covenant.
3. The Ark of the Covenant was to be kept in a secret place.
It was only to be touched behind the darkened veil of the holiest of holies.
For that reason great care was to be taken in the transporting of the Ark of the Covenant. God had given the instructions to Moses and the Levite tribe that the Ark was to be carried with staves upon the shoulders of the priest.
My concern:
There are many Churches with great crowds and great orchestras that do not know how to approach God. If the blood of the cross is not preached, if repentance and faith in that blood is not preached, if Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection are not preached, the Church is in great error! They may have a crowd, but they do not have a personal relationship with an almighty God! They do not know how to approach God!
Our hope:
We do have a blood sacrifice through the blood of the Cross. We do have a high priest. We have been invited to come into the Holy of Holies. We can come boldly into the throne of grace.
No sin is too small that it can be ignored by the holiness of God.
No sin is too big for the power of the blood of Christ.
Let me challenge you to approach God.
Come
Into
The Secret Place
