So thus far in Chronicles, we've talked about how the audience has been a post-exilic community and how the theology is centered around the need for a Davidic king to come and to establish rest in the land and to prepare the people for worship. And the themes of preparation for worship, and warfare we have seen as kind of intermingled throughout the chapters so far. And this intermingling of war and worship I think really comes to a head as we begin to look at these chapters here this morning. And I say that because of the organization of the book. If you're thinking about the structure of 1 Chronicles and comparing it to 2 Samuel, which is where this history is, if you're looking at 2 Samuel, chapters 5 and 6, does anyone happen to know the order of the historical events that are recorded there? Well, it's different than what's recorded here in the chapters in 1 Chronicles 13 and 14. In 2 Samuel, David is ordained king over all Israel in 2 Samuel 5. He does defeat the city of Jerusalem. It's not highlighted as much as it is here in 1 Chronicles, but the very next thing he does in 2 Samuel is he goes to war against the Philistines. He defeats the Philistines. And it's only after the Philistines are defeated that we have the episode of Uzzah and the Ark, which we'll look at in 1 Samuel 13. And then this narrative with Uzzah and the Ark is directly connected to what happens three months later with the Ark being brought forward into Jerusalem. But if you're looking at our passage this morning, you'll notice the order is very different. The order actually starts with Uzzah and the Ark. then war with the Philistines, and then the Ark finally being brought into Jerusalem three months after that. And I think this order is very important for the structure of 1 Chronicles. Because if we broaden our lens out, the structure of the book really kind of goes like this. What's happening before, is on the Ark. War and conquering the city of Jerusalem. And then we have a passage focused on worship. And then again, we have another passage with war with the Philistines. And then we have another passage focused on worship. And then what's going to happen after that? Anyone have a guess? First Chronicles 18. We're going to go back to war once again. Kind of the structure of the book oscillates between war, worship, war, worship, war, worship. And I think it kind of highlights the thesis I've been going with so far. That one of the prerequisites in order to have proper worship in the land is that the land must be secured from the wicked men that are currently inhabiting the land. It must be a holy realm at rest for proper worship to be maintained. And so this is why the structure of Chronicles kind of intermingles war and worship this way, because the land was meant to be a holy land of pure worship for a holy people of God. And so this structure, comparing it to 2 Samuel chapters 5 and 6, and really the whole thing in general, I think really drives home this sort of reality. And I think it's important to make the point again, like we did last time, that's not the case for today, is it? We don't need to go to war in order to found a holy land to properly worship the Lord. This is something the Lord himself is going to do at the end of days when he leads his own hosts to war, defeats all those who stand against him, the seed of the serpent, and brings us to not an earthly Jerusalem, but rather a heavenly Jerusalem. And so these wars that David is engaging here in Chronicles all need to be set under the umbrella of David preparing the people for proper worship. Interestingly enough, it's going to be these very wars that disqualify him from building the temple and establishing that worship. But nonetheless, we'll get to that point when we get there, maybe in 2 Chronicles. But it is notable That only Solomon is allowed to build a temple after David, and what does Solomon mean? What does Solomon's name mean? Peace, right, peace, rest. The realm needs to be at rest in order for temple worship to be established in the realm. So here in 1 Chronicles 13, what we're going to really look at is the integration of this war and this worship. And in the beginning of 1 Chronicles 13, we have another direct reference to David as king in a very parallel manner. to how he came in his military might to conquer the city of Jerusalem, but now set up in the context of worship in Jerusalem. Let me read 1 Chronicles 11 verses 1 to 4 again, and then we'll read 1 Chronicles 13 verses 1 to 6. So 1 Chronicles 11 verses 1 to 4. All Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, you will be shepherd over my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, And David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. And then verse 4, And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is to Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land. So the first act of David as king is to conquer Jerusalem, which we looked at the previous two weeks. But now it's important to know what he does in Jerusalem. in 1 Chronicles 13, beginning in verse one. David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds with every leader. And David said to all the assembly of Israel, if it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel. as well as to the priests and the Levites in the cities that have pasture lands, that they may be gathered together to us. Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we do not seek it in the days of Saul. And so all these simply agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebba Hamath to bring the Ark of God from Kiriath Jaarim. And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is to Kiriath Jaarim, that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the Ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord, who sits enthroned above the cherubim. The parallels between these passages, I think, are fairly close together. It's an assembly of all Israel focused around David, their king. In both passages, David is being seen as this newly inaugurated king that proceeds to do something with the whole nation of Israel gathered together around him. In chapter 11, it was to make war, but now in chapter 13, David and all of Israel together go forward in worship. Remember the focus from the genealogies as well. What's one of the main emphasis of Chronicles? All Israel, all the people of God coming together. And so these two parallel episodes in the life of David, I think, illustrate the purpose and the goal of his military conquest. His initial act of king and conquering Jerusalem is set parallel and maybe even subordinated to the ultimate act of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city and it being the center of worship for the people of God. We can kind of see this as the presence of the Lord coming to Mount Zion. The presence of the Lord coming to Mount Zion as a place of worship. Come back to that here in just a minute. Now the reason for this decision to bring the ark to Jerusalem to found this as a central place of worship I think is explicit in verse four where David charges the people saying, let us bring again the ark of our God to us. Why? For we did not seek it in the days of Saul. Remember in these initial chapters, there's a lot of contrast between David and Saul. Who did David seek? It wasn't the Lord, it was, he sought the medium of Endor, the witch of Endor, engaging in things in contrast to the word of God. But now that David is wanting to bring again the ark into the central life of the people of Israel, it is very important for the worship of the Old Testament people of God. Why? Because the ark was really the focal point of their worship. As soon as the ark was constructed in the days of Moses, it was seen as the place where God met with man on earth. Exodus chapter 25, verses 21 and 22. Moses is given instructions for the building of the ark, and he says this concerning it. He says, you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and you shall put the testimony that I shall give you there. There I will meet you. And from above the mercy seat, from between the two jerobim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel." Right, the ark was functionally God's throne on earth. It's the throne of God, or maybe if you're seeing it in a heavenly aspect, the footstool of God. It's the place where he would meet with his people upon the earth. And as such, it was the focal point of both the temple as well as the tabernacle. Where is the ark located? That's not a trick question. You should know this one. Yeah, right in the midst of the Holy of Holies, right? The Ark has these cherubim that are focused on top of it. Even the Holy of Holies have some cherubim as well. Being at the very center of the holiest part of the temple is really meant to illustrate the presence of God. And so bringing the Ark of the Covenant back into the center life of the people of Israel is really for David and for Israel to bring God back into their presence. It was God who was not sought in the days of Saul. The Lord is the one who sits enthroned here. Now the Ark plays a key role, not only in worship abstractly, as the place where God is, but also a key role in the sacrificial system. In the sacrificial system of Israel, does anyone remember the point that the Ark played in this? Yeah, it's the Day of Atonement. The ark placed in the Holy of Holies, remember Leviticus 16, the chapter actually begins with, in verse two, saying that no one's allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies except the high priest and even then once a year. And then the high priest is given instructions on the way in which he's allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies and therefore into that most intimate presence of God. And the way he was allowed to do so was by means of a sacrificial goat, a substitutionary sacrifice being offered up into his place. And as soon as he walked into the Holy of Holies, what did he have to do? To take the blood shed of that substitutionary sacrifice and sprinkle it on the lid of the ark. And so think of the geography of the temple and what it means for this for just a second. Inside, the Holy of Holies, the holy God of heaven, descended to dwell in the presence of a sinful people. And the only way that they could dwell in that presence without God lashing out at them in His wrath is by means of that blood being put before the Lord as a substitutionary sacrifice. Something standing in the place of the people there, dying in their place. And so it was only through the atoning blood of this sacrifice, looking forward, of course, to the atoning blood of Christ, that the holy God of heaven could dwell with his sinful people. And so in the temple of God, and focusing in on the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord was prescribing a means by which he, a holy God, would dwell with a sinful people, redeem them from their sins, and bring them into his presence. And so this also means that if the Ark is neglected, what had been neglected in the days of Saul? Atonement. Right? Sacrifices being offered up in their place. The people of Israel were in a very dangerous situation where God was meant to dwell in their midst and the ark was even there with them, but them neglecting it shows that they are in danger of the Lord lashing out against them in his wrath. The fires from heaven kind of bursting forth against the people of Israel. They have neglected the worship of the Lord and especially the proper worship of the Lord as it is situated around the Ark of the Covenant. So Israel in the days of Saul was in danger of the wrath of God being poured out against them. And the only thing that kept this from happening was something that we see all over the pages of scripture. It's the gracious forbearance of God. He graciously forbore his judgment against their sins and waited and looked forward to a new king that would then reestablish this proper mode of worship. So thus far what we have here in 1 Chronicles 13 is David's desire to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into the central religious life of the people of Israel and to do so in the city of Jerusalem. It's a desire to rectify the situation that Saul had left them in where proper sacrifices and proper worship in the presence of God were neglected. right, were ignored. And I think David himself knew this. Listen to what he says in verse 16. He says that the ark is called by the name of the Lord, what does he say, who sits enthroned above the cherubim. And then he continues again in verse 8 to say that as they are to bring this ark up, what are the people going to do? They are going to rejoice and to worship. David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. The purpose of conquering Jerusalem was so that this particular act of worship might be brought into play, that the Lord might be brought into the central life of the people of Israel. So that brief introduction I think brings us to the very interesting narrative concerning Uzzah and the ark beginning in verse 5. And I'm going to go ahead and read that with you this morning. And then we'll dig into it just a little bit. I'm sure you're familiar with all of the happenings here. It's not a secret story. But let's hear what the text says. David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebochimath to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. And David and all Israel went up to Bala, that is to Kiriath-jearim, that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim. And they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab. And Uzzah and his brother were driving the cart. And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their mites, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. And when they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen had stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and he struck him down because he put his hand to the ark and he died there before God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez Uzzah to this day. Now David was afraid of God that day. And he said, how can I bring the ark of God home to me? So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-Edom in the house three months. And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that he had. So we have an initial, I think, very good desire to bring the ark of God back into the central life of the people of Israel. Notice what God is saying here. I want to, what David is saying here, he says, how can I bring the ark of God home to me? He's wanting to be in the presence of God. He wants the house of God to be where his house is. This is a good desire, right, to be in the presence of God. It's the very hope that every Christian has. However, the only way that we can be properly in the presence of God is in the context of how God calls us into his presence. And this is where this narrative goes wrong. Because although David and all Israel with him had the right desire, they had the wrong means, right? They decided to approach the presence of God in an inappropriate manner. Now I mentioned in the first week of class that I believe what Chronicles presents for us is, to use the long phrase here, a redemptive historically qualified regulative principle of worship. And what I mean by that is, simply put, the regulative principle says you're only allowed to worship God as he calls you to worship in the Bible. You worship him how he calls you to him. And by redemptive historical, I mean God instructs his people to worship him in particular periods of history in particular ways. There are some differences in history about how the people approached the Lord. We'll talk more about that here in a few minutes, but I think that's an important thing to keep in mind. Now, for this particular passage, the Lord had given instructions to the people of Israel as to how they were to treat the Ark of the Covenant. how they were to treat this ark. And so the wrong turn, you could say, in their approach unto the Lord, begins in verse 7. They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadad with Uzziah and his brother. Your Bible might say Achio. Achio means his brother in Hebrew. So it's probably an unnamed person. that's with them, really trying to focus us in on Uzzah, and they're driving this new cart. Now, on an initial read from our own maybe modern mindset, we look at this and say, awesome, God got a new car, right? He's like, it's the limo going to the wedding. This is a good thing. They're treating the Ark with respect. The issue, of course, is that from a worldly perspective, that might be true, but from God's perspective, that's not how he had charged the people to treat the ark. In Exodus chapter 25, as well as in Numbers 3 and 4, the Lord prescribed two ways by which the ark was meant to be transported. The first one was that the ark was meant to be carried, not on a cart, but by a pair of poles that are overlaying with gold. Right? Hard to stumble with that. But the second one is to be carried by the priests and the Levites. And there's no indication in this passage that Uzzah was a member of those tribes. And so there's two ways that this is going wrong. A, the Levitical priests, the priest who is charged with keeping the ark, are not leading it in worship. And the second one is they're not carrying the ark in a proper So both of these stipulations were violated in the transportation attempted by Uzzah and his brother. They put it on a cart rather than being carried by poles, and they were not Levites or priests. And it's this act that sets up the stage for what happens next. The oxen that are pulling this ark stumble, and the driver, Uzzah, reaches out his hand to stabilize the ark to keep it from falling off of this cart. It's important to note there's no indication in the text of Uzzah acting out of personal vileness for the Ark. He doesn't have any sort of evil intent. It's not like he's trying to strike the ark to destroy it or anything of that sort. But what did he do as he reached out to touch the ark of the covenant? He reached out and he touched the place where the holy God of heaven dwells with his people, but he did it, how? Without the blood of a sacrificial goat being offered up in his place beforehand. He approached the holy presence of God that cannot withstand sin as a sinner without a substitutionary sacrifice, without atonement being made for his sins. This is the issue for Uzzah here. It's not about he is having the best intentions or even him having wrong intentions, but it's about him approaching the Lord in an improper manner. Approaching God in a way that the Lord did not call him to approach him. So even though Uzzah may have had the best of intentions in not wanting the Ark of God to fall off of this new ancient limousine, he violated how the Lord had called his people to approach him by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. And I think we need to keep that in mind also for how we approach God today, don't we? How do we approach the Lord in worship? It is only in the name of Christ who has been offered up as our atoning sacrifice. If you're thinking about even the order of worship, this is why we have a call to worship and a benediction after. It's all about the Lord himself, especially in the name of Christ, calling us to worship. Or think about how virtually every prayer is concluded, right, in Christ's name, in his name, in the name of our Lord. Why? Because we are seeking to approach the Lord only within the context of the sacrifice that was offered up in our place because we know That if we approach the Lord without the context of that sacrifice, then what is held out for us is not the blessed presence of God, but rather the wrath of God that Uzzah here experiences. See, because Uzzah approached the Lord in an inappropriate manner, he is actually treated as though he were an enemy of God. We see this in a fairly nuanced way here in this passage. I want you to notice this. The anger of God is kindled against Uzzah. And then what does David call this place? He calls it Perez Uzzah, which means the Lord is breaking out against Uzzah. But then as we'll get into chapter 14 here in a minute, the Lord breaks out also against whom? the Philistines, the enemies of David. And what does David call the place where the Lord goes out against the Philistines? It is Baal Pezaim, which is actually the exact same word for Perez Uzzah, just in a different form. So Uzzah is actually here seen and treated in the same manner as the Philistines in the very next chapter. Just as the Lord broke out against him, so the Lord breaks out against the Philistines. Now upon this act, David becomes both angry and afraid. He becomes angry at the location where Uzzah is. His desires have been frustrated, hasn't he, haven't they? The presence of God is not going to be immediately brought into his presence there in Jerusalem. But the second thing, and I think the more important thing to grasp from this, is David's fear. He has seen the wrath of God poured out against sin, and I think David is properly afraid. He is afraid of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord not only is the beginning of wisdom, but I think the fear of the Lord is what leads us to reverence and even thoughtful worship. Because one of the things we'll find next week as we begin looking at 1 Chronicles 15, this three-month period where the ark is going to be found at the threshing floor of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, David is not passive. During that time, David kind of goes and investigates the proper manner in which to handle the Ark of the Covenant. And then he summons the priest and the Levites. He brings those poles back in, and they approach the Lord in a proper manner. See, the fear of the Lord, which David learns here due to this event, leads him to proper and reverent worship of the Lord only in accordance with the word of God. Right? He learns the principle that I'm trying to highlight here. You can only approach God in the manner in which he calls you to approach him, not in any other way. You must worship in accordance to the way the Lord calls you to worship. And he does this, of course, by the working of the spirits through faith, but also by revealing to us in scripture the way he wants us to worship him. You know, in seminary, I had a professor. He did this in every class. Really great guy. I learned a lot from him. But every time he would begin his classes, he would have this spiel where he would bring in a stuffed animal that he called Peeve. And he'd say, this is my pet Peeve. What should you never have as a minister of the gospel? You should never have a pet Peeve. Leave Peeve at home. Well, I've got a pet Peeve, but I think it's a good one. And I think we have good things to focus on and be very passionate about. And one is a takeaway that I wanna take from this is that even now, in the New Testament epoch, we must only worship the Lord in the way that he calls us to worship him. There is not absolute freedom in the way that we are called to approach the Lord. This is a mistake that I think a vast number of evangelical Christians are making, where the way that they approach the Lord in worship is done in whatever pragmatic principle they want to. For example, how many churches will meet on Saturday rather than on the Lord's Day? Right? How many churches do you find that you'll go to instead of having a focused time of maybe the proclamation of the word, extended time of prayer? And I kid you not, they will have instead a liturgical dance period. Or even some that I've heard of of late having, you know, a worshipful art. I'm not talking about using a whiteboard to draw something on it to illustrate. I'm talking about people sitting in a side room and as an act of worship, instead of sitting under the preaching of God's word, painting a picture. I don't know about you, I don't think I've ever seen anywhere in the text of scripture where we were called to painting as an act of worship. This is not how the Lord calls us to worship him and I'm confident that when the Lord calls us into his presence in the new heavens and the new earth, there are going to be a vast number of people reprimanded for falsely approaching the Lord. in their worship. So maybe we should pause for a second and think a little bit about what are some of the essential elements of worship that we have. I know some of you know this well, but this is the time where I'm gonna make you do some of the talking. So what are some of the essential elements of worship that we have today derived from the text of scripture? You know art's not one, I gave you that answer. Yeah, the word, especially in preaching. I heard something about it. Yeah, proper administration of the sacraments. Prayer. It's almost like we have a means of grace focused ministry around here. What else? Yeah, preaching and reading. Yeah. You ever been to those? I grew up in a church like that. They might throw the text on a screen, but then you'd have a bunch of stories from the pastor, and you'd leave going, well, I guess I know what he did with his brother last week. What else? Yeah, in terms of our personal approach, we do need to have reverence. We'll go ahead and throw that on there. I think the proper day of worship is one, which is, of course, on the Lord's Day. Yeah, singing. And I heard offering as well, yep. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart to God, right? And then, what else? I heard offering. All right, what's not part of this? Theologians often make a distinction between necessary elements in a worship service and circumstances. The difference would be something like having worship at 11 a.m. A lot of churches do that. That's fine. That's great. We don't have to. It has to happen on the Lord's Day if it's 9 a.m. or if it's 11 a.m. It doesn't matter. What else? Frequency of administration of the sacraments, particularly the Lord's Supper. I've been in churches where it's once a month, churches where it's every week, and churches where it's twice a month. And, of course, here we oscillate morning, evening, morning, evening, doing it every Sunday, but in a manner that I think is rather pastoral in the sense of For example, the last church I was a member of up in Pennsylvania. We had a lot of members that were in there We'll call them like super senior. There's like senior and then there's like super senior. We had a guy that was a hundred and four years old And he came to worship every single Sunday but He couldn't get up and about for 11 a.m. worship. He just couldn't get there. He wasn't physically capable. And so the session, very wisely instituted, taking the Lord's Supper in the evening service as well, in order that this particular man, Reverend Galbraith, I think he was 104, maybe 103, Anyway, triple digits. That way he would not be left out of partaking of the Lord's means of grace. Simple because he was of an older age where he can no longer do that. Singing. How many hymns are we going to sing? How many psalms are we going to sing? All of these sorts of things are done by wisdom, but the elements must be kept the same. Now earlier I was mentioning that if we're using the aspect of elements, the elements at different times in history differ. And what I mean by that is David and Israel with him were required to approach the Lord in terms of what we were just talking about with the ark, the offering up of sacrifices and all of these various things, things we are not required to do today. Why? Because those were required for that particular era of history, right, with types and sacrifices looking forward to the great sacrifice that was yet to come in Christ. We don't have a priesthood that must lead us in worship as David did in his day. Why? Because we have a great heavenly high priest who leads us in worship. We don't have to go to the physical location of Mount Zion in Jerusalem to a physical temple in this creation. Why? Because in union with Christ, we worship the Lord not in an earthly temple, but in the heavenly one. In union with him by the power of the Spirit, we worship God in the heavenlies, you could say. In fact, if we were to trace the worship of God throughout the Old Testament in this way, you can actually trace it by looking at the various mountaintops that the Lord calls his people to worship at. And there are four of them in the Bible. What do you all think they are? Four mountains where the Lord calls his people to worship. Sinai's one, that's number two. What's number one? Sinai, number two. Zion, number three. Mount Moriah, yeah, those are kind of similar ones, but we're trying to go older than that. Which one? Horeb, Horeb Wilderness, where we at? What region or what particular place is called a mountain in Ezekiel Chapter 28? You can cheat. Eden. Eden is the first mountain of God. Ezekiel chapter 28, the prophets outlining actually the worship of God by Adam, the high priest in the garden. And he says that you were called on God's holy mountain. The four main mountain tops in the Bible are these. The first one is Eden. The second one is Sinai. The third one is Zion. The fourth one, the heavenly Mount Zion, right? The heavenly New Jerusalem. Now, there's other places that are seen similar. I think Eugene was highlighting it on some of them. The various locations that we're kind of moving about where some pillars and altars were put up in the patriarchal period. But the four main mountaintops of worship were Eden, Sinai, Zion, and Heaven. And each one carries with it particular aspects of worship that are required for those particular epochs. So Sinai and Zion are both very similar. The main distinction, one's at a movable tent, one at an immovable temple, an increase in permanence. But the main difference for us is that we are not to worship the Lord at the earthly Mount Zion, but rather in the heavenly one. We approach the Lord in the context of his heavenly presence. And this is important for a particular mode of interpretation among many common evangelicals that think at some point in the future what's going to happen is Jesus is going to come back and reestablish temple worship in the land of Jerusalem. And I call that redemptive historical retrograde. You're going back in time. You would be establishing an older form of worship that was superseded in the coming of Christ. And in so doing, actually what you begin to do is to diminish the person in the work of Christ. And so the worship that the people of God are called to today is not the earthly replica of heavenly worship, but heavenly worship itself. As we are united to our great high priest who is where? Seated at the right hand of God who is in heaven. And so when we are called to worship as the people of God on the Lord's day, we are actually brought before the throne of God in heaven. worshiping the Lord and the heavenly of heavenlies, functionally becoming the host, like in Isaiah chapter 6, crying out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God. Now, of course I got a little hyped up on my pet peeve in focusing in on that, but I think it's a good one to have because if we don't do this, then our worship is controlled by the traditions of men rather than worshiping the Lord as he calls us to worship him. And if that is the case, then we would end up like Uzzah, the wrath of God being poured out against us. We would end up like Nadab and Abihu, the priests, the sons of Aaron who offered up false fire before the Lord and are consumed in the Lord's presence. We must approach the Lord as he calls us to worship him. It's biblical, but it's also confessional. I was Mr. Confession of Faith, Chapter 21, Paragraph 1, says, the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, right? It's instituted by God. And so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men or the suggestions of Satan. under any visible representation or any other way not prescribed in scripture. We worship according to God's rules, not man's rules. And I think you can hear the background of texts like Deuteronomy chapter 12 in the confession here where it says, you must not say, how do these nations serve their gods? So we will do the same. You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. Because in worshiping their God, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. See that you do all that I command you. Do not add to it and do not take away from it. Specifically talking about the way we worship, we must not add to or take away from what the Lord calls us to worship or the way the Lord calls us to worship in his holy word. All right, we're running out of time, so we're not gonna get into First Chronicles 14. I'm sure we're not surprised by that at this rate. Maybe the final point that I wanna make here is, and then have a minute or two for questions. I often hear it said that in the New Testament era, our era, there is a lessening of restrictions to such an extent where we are more free to do as we see fit and our own wisdom to worship the Lord. We hear that with worship, we also hear that with things like ethics and otherwise. However, I think the great theologian John Murray has a very good response to that. And his response is, no, no, no. We do not have a lessened responsibility here. We have a heightened responsibility. We have received the greater revelation that has come in these last days in the sun. Therefore, we should not be less vigilant with keeping these things, but rather more vigilant. More vigilant in approaching the Lord as he calls us to worship him. more vigilant in living righteous lives before the Lord our God. We do not have a lessened responsibility, but we have received everything that the Old Testament is looking forward to, and therefore we have a heightened responsibility to be even more attentive to these very things. Any questions? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We, um, here's what we know about Obed Edom. Uh, he was a Gittite, uh, but where his house is will soon be the location of the temple. Yeah. Yeah. So a little bit later, um, the threshing floor of, uh, Obed Edom is going to be the foundation of the temple. Uh, so really I think the focus here is on location. So Jerusalem at this point would not have been, you know, encompassing that, probably been just outside of the city limits if you wanted to put it in modern terms. Yeah. I was having trouble hearing you. So the error kicked on and so it kind of... Mm-hmm. Yeah, there's always, and at every point in the Old Testament narrative, something that's often overlooked. And I remember a couple was it last week, I was talking about how even among David's military men, there's a lot of Canaanites. And so there's always this aspect in the Old Testament where the nations are meant to be brought in to the people of God. An aspect that reaches its end time fulfillment, especially at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. But any non-Israelite who turns unto the Lord and believes in him is kind of engrafted into the people of Israel. Right? Rahab, the prostitute, for instance. Ruth, the Moabite, another one. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah, this is the whole discussion in the transition from the Old Testament Sabbath to the New Testament's Lord's Day. And the reason for this is because the Old Testament Sabbath was meant to look forward to the ultimate rest that is to come, especially at the second coming of Christ. But then transition to the Lord's Day happened after Christ himself underwent the judgment, and so now we worship on the day of resurrection. And so to put it this way, Sunday is the Resurrection Sunday. And so we celebrate Easter as Resurrection Sunday. But every Sunday is really meant to be a Resurrection Sunday. And so we worship in a time focusing on the resurrection life that is granted to us in Christ by the power of the Spirit. So the Lord's Day, we could say, is a Resurrection Day, the New Testament Sabbath, where we're called to worship. Yeah. Last one, and then we're gonna go. Yeah, go ahead. No. Nope. I think Paul would have a phrase for that in Greek, it's Meganoito in English, by no means. That's the most emphatic way you could say no in Koine Greek. No. In fact, Paul says in Ephesians two and into chapter three, what temple is God building today by the power of the spirit? Well, it's his church built on the foundation, the cornerstones of Christ himself. And then the temple that are the spiritual temple that we are will be granted an end time temple. and the new heavens and new earth, right? Revelation 21 and 22 on that, as well as the end of the book of Ezekiel. And so the end time hope that we have of a temple is not one built by the nation of Israel over in the Near East, but is rather an entire creation of a temple constructed by the Lord himself and inhabited by spiritual temple people, you and I, united to Christ. Yeah, so there will be no temple in Israel reconstructed at the end of days. Right? Okay, one more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I guess, um, reverence needs to be seen as a proper type of reverence, right? You can have a false reverence and like the, the fair cycle type of reverence that you're talking about. I would say David and who's, I had that in that site. They're, they're not, they don't have any evil intent and yet it's still approaching the Lord in an improper manner. And so, uh, as this, and we also should qualify, this is not an, an, an element of worship. It's just how we're supposed to approach the Lord in worship. So you can add reverence, uh, fear, repentance, and everything associated that it means for a true Christian to repent, to turn on to Christ and rest in Him alone for their salvation. Because only then will anything else matter. Because only then Are you approaching the Lord within the context of the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ as He bore our sins and living in light of the resurrection life that we have in Christ, being united to Him by faith? So, if this is not in place in that full-orbed aspect of it, then you could go through all of these elements every single Sunday and go before the Lord and Him say, I never knew you. All right, went over, that's fine, let's pray. Father, we thank you that you are one who renews us by the power of your spirit, uniting us to your son and making us a people that will call upon your name and worship you. Worshiping you in spirit and in truth, turning unto you, trusting in you. Lord, we ask that you would cause us to be those who would worship you only in accordance with your word. May the traditions of man and the suggestions of Satan never slip into our worship, but may we worship you truly and wholly all of our days. I pray this in your name. Amen.