1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:08,119 Do you have childhood memories that you will never forget? 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,000 I'm sure you do. Even as you get later in your 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,200 years, you still have those things that you look back to and 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,080 you remember from your childhood. 5 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,640 And I have some stories like that too, which which I've told 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,440 you before. My wife always makes fun of me 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,120 because I remember the dumbest things but forget the most 8 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,240 important things, which is pretty typical of my memory. 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,360 And one of the things that I remember as a child is, is here 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,480 living in Leamington, out in, in the county, is we would hitch 11 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:40,320 our, our wagon, our trailer to the back of the lawn tractor and 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,080 we would drive it around. I don't know, has anybody else 13 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,680 ever done that before? That's a, that's a good time. 14 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,560 But we only had 1/2 of an acre. And so when we would get bored, 15 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,080 we would venture beyond the borders. 16 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:55,240 And I remember that there was a field next to our house and, and 17 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,280 as one day we, we were looking for somewhere else to drive the 18 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,440 tractor and the trailer and, and I looked out into the field and 19 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,920 I saw what looked to like a really dumb 13 year old Joe, a 20 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,040 field of weeds. And I thought, here is my 21 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,000 racetrack. And so with, with siblings in 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,040 the back, we raced out into the field, making circles and U 23 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,000 turns and then going all over the place. 24 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,480 And, and we had a great time. And, and I remember it was a few 25 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,360 days later, I'm sitting on the couch and I hear a knock at the 26 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,480 door. And it's the, the next door 27 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,280 farmer. He wanted to talk with my mom 28 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,800 and, and, and they talked for a few minutes and then he gave her 29 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,960 an earful of, of what stupid young kid drove over all his 30 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:38,120 winter wheat. But it was fun. 31 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,560 We had a blast. It was a good time. 32 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,320 But my family learned a very valuable lesson that day. 33 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:49,320 And it's don't hitch your trailer to Joe's tractor or else 34 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,640 you're in for some big trouble. Now, my sermon title this 35 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,840 morning is who are you hitched to? 36 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,760 Who or what have you hitched yourself to? 37 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,760 Who or what are you hitching your wagon to in hopes that you 38 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,040 will have success or fame or fortune? 39 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,360 Who or what are you hitching to? Hoping that it will satisfy you. 40 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,240 You'd better be careful who you hit your wagon to, or else 41 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,720 you'll end up, you know, in the problem that we were You'll end 42 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:20,400 up with a farmer who's very angry at you. 43 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,080 But but the truth is that it can be far worse than that. 44 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,800 You can hit your wagon to a desire for wealth, a desire for 45 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,920 fame, a desire for fortune, and come to the end of your life and 46 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:40,680 find out it was meaningless. That's exactly where the 47 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,400 Israelites had found themselves. And if you've been with us, with 48 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,840 us, we've started the book of Nehemiah back in the beginning 49 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,400 of the year. And as we begin, we found them 50 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,440 suffering the consequences of hitching their wagon to the 51 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,160 nations and the people around them. 52 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,640 They had hitched their wagon to the wrong thing, and now they 53 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:02,320 were suffering the consequences of God's judgement for their 54 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,600 disobedience. They were following their own 55 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,480 sinful fleshly desires and that is why they were suffering. 56 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,880 Thankfully, through the work of God's Spirit through Nehemiah, 57 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,360 they turned back to God and rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, 58 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,320 reinstated their worship, and put God's word back at the 59 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,800 center. And as Jake talked to us last 60 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,920 week, he talked about lead this, leading the people of Israel to 61 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:30,640 confessing their sins as a nation before God. 62 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,520 This morning we're going to see them intentionally hitch 63 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:39,600 themselves back to God and how God blesses them for it. 64 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:41,160 But before we do that, let's pray. 65 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,680 Lord, we thank You for Your Word to us. 66 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:50,720 Your Word teaches us who You are and how we are to live and how 67 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,160 we are to be glorifying to You with all that we are. 68 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,520 And Lord, we pray that you would help us as we think about 69 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,320 hitching ourselves and, and how, what, what sorts of things in 70 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,040 life we find joy and pleasure and satisfaction. 71 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,000 And we pray that much like the Israelites, as we're going to 72 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,400 see today, that we would hitch ourselves to you, knowing that 73 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,000 when we follow your word, when we follow your ways, you will 74 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,800 bless us and bring glory and honor to yourself. 75 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,920 So Lord, would you help us to commit to you and your word. 76 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,400 We thank you in Jesus name, Amen. 77 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,360 The first thing we learn as the Israelites are are are hitching 78 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,440 their trailer back onto God. The first thing we learn is that 79 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,560 is that you should look for leaders who are hitched to God 80 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,520 and what is the most important quality that you should look for 81 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,240 in a leader? That they have a heart and a 82 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,640 devotion to love the Lord. They have their wagon hitched to 83 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:49,800 God. Their desire is to be faithful 84 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,760 to God and obedient to Him, to love Him and follow His Word. 85 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,560 And as we begin our passage this morning, that's exactly what 86 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:57,880 we're going to see. We're going to see these 87 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,520 Israelite leaders stepping forward and setting the 88 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,720 precedent for hitching themselves to God in His Word. 89 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,160 They've recognized and confessed their sin at this point, and now 90 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,600 they are putting their names on a covenant, a sealed, signed 91 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,600 covenant promising to be faithful to God in His Word. 92 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,480 Would you open up your Bibles with me this morning to Nehemiah 93 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,600 chapter 10? Nehemiah chapter 10, And I'm 94 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,160 going to begin at the verse just before that, Nehemiah Chapter 9, 95 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,320 verse 38. Again, Pastor Jake talked to us 96 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,960 last week about these people and repenting, confessing their sins 97 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,800 before God. And this leads to verse 38. 98 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,400 Because of all this, we make a firm covenant in writing. 99 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,120 On the sealed document are the names of our Princess, our 100 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,080 Levites, and our priests. Continuing in 10 chapter, 101 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,560 chapter 10, verse one, on the seals are the names of Nehemiah 102 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,080 the governor, the son of Hakalaya, Zedekiah, Soraya, 103 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,800 Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashur, Amaraya, Malkaja, Hatush, 104 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,440 Shabbinaya, Malik, Harem, Miramoth, Obadiah, Daniel, 105 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:14,040 Ginathan, Barrack, Mashulam, Abijah, Mijamin, Meiziah, 106 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,720 Bilgai, Shamaya. These are the priests and the 107 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,880 Levites, Joshua the son of Azanaya Binui, of the sons of 108 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:29,520 Hinad Kadmil and their brothers, Shabanaya Hodaya Kalita, Pelaya 109 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:36,600 Hainan Micah Rahab Hashabaya zakour Sharabaya Shabanaya 110 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:42,880 Hodaya beni beninu. The chiefs of the people perosh 111 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:51,080 pay hath Moab Elam zatu beni booni asghad babai adonija bigvi 112 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:59,400 Aden ater hezekiah azur hodaya Hashem bazai harif anathoth 113 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:06,400 nabai magpiash and mushulam hazar Michelle zabel zadak jadua 114 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:13,600 pelotaya Hainan anaya hoshaya hinanaya Hashem hallowhesh 115 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:21,240 pillha shobek rehem hashabna mehsaya aihaya Hainan ainan 116 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,120 malek harem bayana. That's a long list of names, 117 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:28,760 isn't it? You're probably wondering why on 118 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,160 earth would you read that long list of names so badly and do 119 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,720 such a bad job pronouncing all those names, Doesn't this? 120 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,200 I am so glad that all of these names are recorded because 121 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,240 doesn't this show you that God sees every individual? 122 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,400 Doesn't it show you that God knows your name? 123 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,480 And if we were to sign a covenant here today, wouldn't it 124 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,880 be so cool to go Jacob, which 40 of you would? 125 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,680 We'd have to put last names in there, right? 126 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,440 Because so many of the John and and Isaac and Margaret and 127 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,000 Sarah. And isn't that so cool that the 128 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,880 Lord is so intentional to put names in there? 129 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:05,920 I, I sort of got that joke from Joe and I sorry, I stole that 130 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:07,840 from him. But it was, it was a good point 131 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,360 that the Lord sees every one of us and that's such an important 132 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,120 factor. But these men, I'm so glad that 133 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,560 they were willing to let their names be printed. 134 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,920 Why? First they confess their sin. 135 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,400 How many of us are willing to put our name on a sealed signed 136 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:27,840 document that confesses our sin? And then in the same thing to to 137 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,000 write and sign and seal their names in a document saying we 138 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:37,120 promise to obey God's word. Those are the leaders of Israel. 139 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,480 That's who you hit your wagon to. 140 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,120 People, men like that who are willing to stand on the truth of 141 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,000 God's word. These are exactly the kinds of 142 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,040 leaders that we should be hitching ourselves to as people. 143 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,120 Leaders who love the Lord, leaders who love following His 144 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,880 Word, leaders who have the courage to do hard things that 145 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,040 God tells them to do. Now we think of God's Word. 146 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,480 God's Word constantly has things it written in it that are really 147 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:10,320 hard for us to do right. Love the love your enemies, Pray 148 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:15,160 for those who persecute you, Forgive those who sin against 149 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,200 you. Those are all really hard things 150 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:22,120 to do and you should hitch yourself to leaders who are 151 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,840 willing to do those hard things because of their love for the 152 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,600 Lord. Look for leaders who are hitched 153 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,440 to God and what do you do when you find a leader who is hitched 154 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,120 to God? You follow them. 155 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,360 Follow leaders hitched to God. And this is exactly what the 156 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,840 Israelites do as as these leaders stand up and sign this 157 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,880 covenant saying we will be faithful to God in His word, all 158 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,600 the people join in signing the covenant. 159 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:55,880 Look at verses 28 and 29 with me, the rest of the people, the 160 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,200 priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the 161 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,360 temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from 162 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,000 the peoples of the lands of the to the law of God. 163 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,800 Their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have 164 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,480 knowledge and understanding, join with their brothers, their 165 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,760 nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law 166 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,640 that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe 167 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,160 and do all the commandments of the Lord, our Lord and His rules 168 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,000 and His statutes. Here the people had found the 169 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,200 right leaders, leaders who had hitched themselves to God in His 170 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,960 Word. They were devoted to it. 171 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:40,880 And what was the people's response? 172 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,640 To join the leaders? We join with you in making this 173 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,120 covenant. We are going to hitch ourselves 174 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,560 to you because we see your love for the Lord. 175 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,400 We see the wisdom of what you are doing. 176 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,760 And so they joined in, in separating themselves from the 177 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,440 peoples of the land, right? We're no longer going to follow 178 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:00,480 the ways of the nations around us. 179 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,560 Now we're going to be devoted to God and His Word along with you 180 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,440 as the leaders. And they understood what that 181 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,200 meant. We've been going in our church 182 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,680 Bible reading plan through the Old Testament and in the 183 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,480 Leviticus, the Lord lays out the blessings for obedience and the 184 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,720 cursing for disobedience, doesn't He? 185 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:23,040 He says you will be blessed if you follow my word, but if you 186 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,600 don't, then I will discipline you. 187 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,240 And so the Israelites understood they were entering into a 188 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,160 covenant. It was very serious what they 189 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,520 were doing, and they understood that, but they were following 190 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,400 leaders who had hitched themselves to God. 191 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:40,080 And this is exactly what we must do as well. 192 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,360 We must find godly leaders who are devoted to the truth of 193 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:51,640 God's Word, to read it, to understand it, to obey it. 194 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,240 And we must follow them. We must hitch ourselves to them. 195 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:02,440 If you ever see a leader, or any Christian for that matter, who 196 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,080 is not willing to practice what they preach, you should run the 197 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,840 other way and maybe you should hang around and share the gospel 198 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,480 with them. But you understand what I'm 199 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,200 saying. You should not follow that 200 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:14,720 person. If someone is willing to say, Oh 201 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,000 yeah, I believe the truth of God's Word, but they don't live 202 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,720 it out, don't follow their example, don't hit yourself to 203 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,520 them. Instead, find godly people who 204 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,080 trust and believe in the power of God's Word, who are obeying 205 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,000 it and walking in it, and hit yourself to them. 206 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,280 Follow their example and find people like that that you are 207 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,920 following and learning from because they believe in the 208 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,440 power of God's Word working in US. 209 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,600 And so those are the men and women that you should follow, 210 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,000 those who love God, who love his Word and obey it. 211 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,000 And if you find leaders hitch to God's word and you follow them, 212 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,800 then what should you do? Worship the God that you're 213 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,120 hitched to. Ultimately, we must recognize 214 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,640 that that our decisions and choices that we make in life, 215 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,600 that we're ultimately choosing whether or not we're going to 216 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,600 hitch ourselves to God and that we must follow his way. 217 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,120 And what is the greatest display of worship? 218 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,240 As beautiful as it was for this team to lead us this morning, 219 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,080 that's not worship. That's not the greatest display 220 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:25,880 of worship. The greatest display of worship 221 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:31,680 is obedience is to trust and believe God's word and, and, and 222 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:34,680 singing is obedience. I'm not I'm not, I'm not 223 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,360 discounting that what a joy it was to sing with you all this 224 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,960 morning and to praise our Lord. We're commanded to do that. 225 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:45,640 Obedience is worship. When we read God's Word and we 226 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:50,400 follow it, that is worship. And that's exactly what the 227 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,440 Israelites here are committing themselves to do. 228 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,920 And as I read through this next passage of Scripture, I want you 229 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,400 to notice that it affects every area of their life. 230 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:01,600 It isn't just that Sunday morning over there. 231 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,400 When we come to the temple on Sunday morning, that's when I 232 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,560 get, that's what I give to God. No, God's word is going to 233 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,440 instruct their entire lives from their personal decisions to 234 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,240 their business decisions, then moving forward to how they 235 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,880 worship together as a people. So let's read together in verses 236 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:23,760 30 through 39, verse 30. We will not give our daughters 237 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,840 to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our 238 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,640 sons. And if the peoples of the land 239 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,360 bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will 240 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,000 not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day and we will 241 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,160 forego the crops of the 7th year and the exaction of every debt. 242 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,520 So first we've seen they're willing to to say we, we are not 243 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,480 going to intermarry with the peoples around us. 244 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,720 We're God's word. It said you are to to stay 245 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,680 within the people of Israel. We would see this in the New 246 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:53,400 Testament. We would say don't be unequally 247 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,040 yoked. You should only marry believers. 248 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,440 And so they are commanded in their personal lives to obey 249 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,560 God, and then that moves to their business life. 250 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,960 Well, the work that we do, we're not going to do work on the 251 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,640 Sabbath. If people come and want to trade 252 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,480 on the Sabbath, we're not going to do that because God's Word 253 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,920 says not to do that. The Sabbath is a day holy to the 254 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,720 Lord where we worship Him. Now let's continue. 255 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,240 And now we see where it transitions to how they're going 256 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,720 to provide for the temple and also provide for the temple 257 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:25,760 servants in their ministry. 32 We also take on ourselves the 258 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,080 obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the 259 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,720 service of the House of our God, for the showbread, the regular 260 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,880 grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, 261 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,320 the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the 262 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,120 sin offerings to make atonement for Israel and for all the work 263 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,520 of the House of our God. We, the priests, the Levites, 264 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,640 and the people have likewise cast lots for the wood, offering 265 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,320 to bring it into the House of our God according to our 266 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:56,120 Father's houses, at times appointed year by year to burn 267 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,760 on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the 268 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,680 law. We obligate ourselves to bring 269 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,440 the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all 270 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,920 fruit of every tree, year by year, to the House of the Lord. 271 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,360 Also to bring to the House of our God, to the priest, to 272 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,560 minister in the House of our God the first born of our sons and 273 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,680 of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the first born 274 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,840 of our herds and of our flocks. And to bring the first of our 275 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,480 dough and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine 276 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,920 and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the House of our 277 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,120 God. And to bring to the Levites the 278 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,800 tithes from our ground. For it is the Levites who 279 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,760 collect the tithes in all our towns where we labour. 280 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,120 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites 281 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:40,920 when the Levites receive the tithes. 282 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,760 And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the 283 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,280 House of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse for 284 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,040 the people of Israel. And the sons of Levi shall bring 285 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,960 the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers where 286 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,600 the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who 287 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,120 minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. 288 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,720 We will not neglect the House of our God. 289 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:08,240 So here we see their commitment to worship God. 290 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,640 They are signing this sealed covenant to say we will be 291 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,480 faithful to obey God's word in everything that we do, our 292 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,599 personal lives, our business lives, and when we come and when 293 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,079 we worship God. So that again, as we talked 294 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,280 about, we've been talking about through the series, God dwelt 295 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,960 among his people, then through the Tabernacle. 296 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,360 And so long as the Israelites were faithful to follow God's 297 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,920 law in terms of the Tabernacle and the sacrifices and 298 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,440 everything, God would dwell in their midst and lead and guide 299 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,720 them. And now they needed to get back 300 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,120 to that. So God would lead and guide and 301 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:45,520 be with them again. And His Word affected every area 302 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,040 of their lives. And this is exactly what the 303 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,520 Lord wanted them to do, to be faithful to His Word, to obey 304 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,680 His Word, to walk in holiness, to walk in righteousness. 305 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,600 They were hitching themselves to the God of the universe who was 306 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,960 worthy of their worship and obedience in every area of their 307 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,640 life. And we need to understand that 308 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,320 for our lives as well, that if you want to be hitched to God, 309 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,080 if you want to follow Him, if you want to serve Him, that 310 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,120 means giving over every area of your life. 311 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:23,640 He doesn't just want a part of you, He wants to affect every 312 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:28,120 part of you. He wants, he wants to change 313 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,720 every aspect of your life, the way you spend your time, the way 314 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,080 you spend your money, the way that you give and spend your 315 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,360 gifts and your talents. The Lord wants control of all of 316 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,480 those things because He wants to transform your life. 317 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,320 He wants you to experience the joy of worshipping Him and 318 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:52,080 giving everything to Him through obedience to all of His Word. 319 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,760 But the truth is that as we all know, we could never fully live 320 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,120 in full obedience to every single one of God's commands. 321 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,280 We always fall short. And that's exactly why Jesus 322 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,000 said in Matthew Chapter 11 verses 28 through 30, Come to 323 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:19,680 me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 324 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:26,200 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and 325 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,680 lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 326 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,240 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 327 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,960 The truth is, God doesn't want to weigh you down. 328 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,200 Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever read God's law and 329 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,480 go man, like all these laws, all these commands, how could you 330 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,120 keep them straight? They're like a, like a filling a 331 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,360 backpack with rocks and carrying it around all day. 332 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,400 It's this burden that I have to carry around and how, how could 333 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,440 I possibly obey every single command? 334 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,320 God doesn't want to burden you. He doesn't want to take all of 335 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,840 these these difficult, hard things and, and put them on your 336 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,440 back so that you feel way down. He wants to give you rest. 337 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,840 He wants to give you peace. He is giving you His Word so 338 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:22,760 that you'll find true life. God is not a harsh taskmaster 339 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,640 ready to punish you every single time you go astray and every 340 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,440 single time you disobey. That's not God's heart. 341 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:36,280 His heart is gentle and lowly. Those words should shock you. 342 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaking of the God of the universe, His heart is gentle 343 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:48,640 and lowly. He wants you to find rest for 344 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,080 your soul, rest from all the work. 345 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,760 Aren't you so sick and tired of trying harder? 346 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,680 Aren't you so sick and tired of saying if I just had a better 347 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,080 job, if I just had a better wife? 348 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,960 Hopefully you're not saying that if I just had more money, if I 349 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,840 could just enjoy more experiences, then I would be 350 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,520 happy. Then I would be fulfilled. 351 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,400 Aren't you so sick and tired of that? 352 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,240 Because every time you do one of those things, you all know the 353 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:16,960 feeling. I do too. 354 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:23,120 It's emptiness. The Lord is is showing you His 355 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:28,600 heart so that you'll turn to Him and find life and rest and 356 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,480 peace. So you'll stop trying harder, 357 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:37,680 but you'll come to Christ and give over your burdens to Him 358 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:45,320 because He cares for you. He will take that burden and He 359 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:46,880 will put a yoke on you. But guess what? 360 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,280 It's not a yoke that weighs you down. 361 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,120 It's a light yoke. It's an easy yoke. 362 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:56,320 It's a yoke that truly helps me to understand the joy of 363 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:02,040 following God in His Word. The Lord is calling you today. 364 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,560 Come to Him. Take His yoke upon you, allow 365 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,240 Him to lift the burden off of you and give you rest and give 366 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,200 you peace. And when you come to God through 367 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:21,440 faith in Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, He washes and 368 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:26,000 cleanses all the sin away. He fills you with His Holy 369 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:31,840 Spirit to give you strength and energy to live for Him, leading 370 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,080 and guiding you by your Word so that you'll find true life. 371 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,880 Come to Him, He will give you wrath. 372 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:46,760 Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your 373 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,360 word. We thank you for the example of 374 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:53,840 these Israelites and their commitment to your word, their 375 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:58,600 desire to be hitched to you. We thank you for the example of 376 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,200 the leaders or we just praise you for men and women who 377 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,800 through the generations, we're willing to confess their sin, 378 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,640 we're willing to acknowledge where they went astray, and 379 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,560 we're willing to come back to you, come back in faithfulness 380 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:14,000 to you. And that takes courage. 381 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:20,320 It takes courage to say I'm a Sinner and I am messed up and I 382 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,560 need help and I can't do this on my own. 383 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,840 Lord, would you give us the ability to come to you with our 384 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,040 burdens? I pray for anybody here this 385 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,440 morning who has not given their life to you. 386 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,360 Lord, I pray that you would open their hearts, that you would 387 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:41,240 open their eyes to their sin. Lord, and would you cause them 388 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,160 to turn to you? Would they realize that Jesus 389 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,520 Christ is the only Savior? Would they turn to you and find 390 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,040 that your yoke is easy, your burden is light? 391 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,720 Would they find rest for their souls? 392 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,000 Lord, for us as your children, I pray that you would strengthen 393 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,200 us again, not to not to carry our burdens on our own, but to 394 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,400 bring them to you because you love us, because you care for 395 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,760 us. And Lord, would we willingly do 396 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,280 that, knowing that you are faithful to ease our burden, to 397 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:18,000 give us a life and to give us hope and to lead and guide us by 398 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,360 your Spirit, working through our word so that we may be faithful 399 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,800 examples to you. This we ask and pray in Jesus 400 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:26,960 name, Amen.