Where Is Your Parbar?

How often do you read the Bible? How often do you study the Bible? They are a difference. How often do you read 1st Chronicles and read the verse, “At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.” I have read that before but didn’t research the verse...I want us to dissect this and then analyze it. Now you're going to ask: what on earth is a "Parbar”?

Well.. actually; Parbar was a part of Jerusalem near the temple. You could compare it to a suburb. One of the most important tasks assigned to the priestly personal was controlling who came into the temple. Particularly the inner circle. In other words, who came into the sanctuary. Defiling the sanctuary with impurity required a sin offering, and could bring punishment on the individual as well as the people. The gatekeepers had to prevent unqualified intrusion.

There were also many valuable items in the temple. Lots of gold and silver. And the temptation was there. The gatekeepers had to guard against people stealing and bringing in things that would defile the Temple.

They are people who would love to come to this church and steal your belief. Try to present a program that’s not of God. Try to make you believe that you can dress unproperly; dressing like the world. Anything that will defile God’s house.

I want to say THANK YOU for letting me pastor this church as God will lead me to do so. Coming to me with your concerns. Not going to someone else and complaining. I want us to look at; at least four points the writer of Chronicles is trying to tell us.

Point 1: Everyone has a ministry, a place in God's service. Are you in that place? You say “Now preacher, I’m no minister.” That’s not what I’m saying. You can be a greeter at the front door. That’s a ministry. You can leave a tract at the eating place., You can call someone that you know and that someone is not a born-again Christian, and tell them you're praying for them...On & On we could go.. EVERYONE HAS A MINISTRY.

You may not be able to do physical work, but you can pray. Being a “Prayer Warrior” What a ministry…Praying for your Church, your pastor, and his wife. Thank you for praying for me and Dale. The blanket ministry we have…what a blessing. I’ve been over here and see the ladies work at the blankets. Doing a ministry for the cause of Christ. Something to help someone stay warm.

POINT 2: Every job is important. “For lack of a shoe, the horse was lost. For lack of a horse, the battle was lost. For lack of winning the battle, the war was lost.” Little things cause great loses. The space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts.

It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed.

God is a God of order. "Four at the causeway, and two at Par-bar." The causeway was a bridge that leads into this suburb. And at this crossover stood four guards. I can't prove it but we can assume that they checked people before they could enter the town. You see, only Jews could go into the Holy place in the Temple. But, non-Jews could only go into the courtyard of the Temple.

And of course, you had to be qualified to be a guard. You are SO important to God. He wants you to be part of His Kingdom...... Ask yourself: “If everybody in my church was like me, what would my church be?”

POINT 3: Every Christian must be qualified. You see this in verses 5,6,7 & 8. “Mighty men of valor” in vs. 6 is a reference to courageous men. “Strong men” in vs. 7 is a reference to persistent men. You can’t quit. “Quitters Never Win; Winners Never Quit.” You don’t give up. “Able men” in vs. 8 is a reference to qualified.

If God calls you to do something, He gives you what it takes and provides opportunities to learn what you need to know to do the job. The bible says Ecclesiastes 9:10...”Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

Point 4: Greatest ability is dependability, not availability. People will say they are available. They may say just call me if you need me to do something. And they mean well. You call them and they can’t do it then. Something else has come up they feel more important and they choose to do it.