1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,640 Welcome to the Reams Town Church of God podcast. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,360 Wherever you're listening from, we hope you are blessed by 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,760 today's message. Good morning, everyone. 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,400 I have certainly since the presence of the Lord in this 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:13,960 House this morning. Have you not? 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,320 Would you give the Lord a praise again? 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,560 All during this worship time I have experienced His presence. 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:29,000 If you are here and you're new to Pentecostal Pentecostal 9 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,159 church, what you witnessed a few moments might ago might be 10 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,320 different to you. The Bible clearly teaches us in 11 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,640 First Corinthians 12 and also chapter 14 that there are times 12 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,920 when we gather that the Holy Spirit will speak through an 13 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,520 individual in a language that we don't know, a heavenly language, 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,640 shall we say. And I'm someone gifted by God 15 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,560 will interpret that message. And it is to encourage us. 16 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,800 It is to challenge us. It's not a replacement for the 17 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,760 Word of God, not at all. In fact, if it ever contradicts 18 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,080 the word of God, you discard it immediately. 19 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,920 Of course, that doesn't happen here, and I thank God for that. 20 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,720 But that's the Spirit of the Lord moving among us. 21 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,920 And if there's ever been an hour that we need to move of the Holy 22 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,440 Spirit and I want to talk to you a little bit about that today. 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:22,200 Really I want to focus a bit on revival and renewal. 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:28,440 Last Sunday, of course, I spoke on water baptism as it related 25 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,720 to soul saved and life changed. And I mentioned some about what 26 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,880 is happening across America and around the world, especially in 27 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,960 some of on some of our college campuses and other places where 28 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,720 there has been an outbreak of renewal and of revival. 29 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,160 And they're not, not everything that happens in them is perfect. 30 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,240 Not everything is exactly maybe the way it should be. 31 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,200 But I am very thankful for one. I'm thankful that God is moving 32 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,600 and that there are people that don't know everything they need 33 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,360 to know yet, but they're hungry for God. 34 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,199 And we can't ask for more than that for people to be hungry for 35 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:10,360 the Lord. We live in perilous times. 36 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,800 In case you didn't hear or didn't see, there was another 37 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,760 assassination attempt last evening on the president at the 38 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,120 correspondents dinner and he had to be ushered out and there was 39 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,600 a shooting there and that they, they got the person. 40 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,080 But we're, we're seeing more and more of this. 41 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,480 If there's ever been an hour that we need a spiritual 42 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,640 awakening, it is the hour in which we live. 43 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:34,640 And I want to ask you a question. 44 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,640 How would you feel? What would your desire be? 45 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:39,320 In fact, let me give you a Scripture. 46 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:45,680 Psalm 85 and verse 6 says this. Would you not revive us again, 47 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,960 that your people may rejoice in you? 48 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,600 Would you not? Lord, give us another move, Give 49 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,080 us a revival. How would it be if you came to 50 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,040 this House of God? Or any church for that matter? 51 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,120 But since this is the one we attend, we're going to focus on 52 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,960 that one. What if every seat were to be 53 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,000 filled every Sunday? What if every person that came 54 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,760 through the door came expecting to receive from the Lord? 55 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,520 What if there was an an atmosphere that people would 56 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,800 say, I can't wait to get to the House of the Lord. 57 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,400 I can't wait. I want to get there and get the 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,000 best seat in the house I can get because I believe I'm going to 59 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,800 encounter God today. Would that not be awesome? 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,480 Is that how you came today? Is that how you came today to 61 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,960 encounter the presence of the Lord? 62 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,400 One of the things that I, and I want to talk to you about this 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,680 today, it's on my heart because this is what I want for us. 64 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,520 It's what I want for you as a church, as individuals. 65 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:57,560 I want you to experience the presence of God in such a way 66 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,360 that it changes your life. And when you go out from this 67 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,040 House of God into the community to your job or wherever, there 68 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,440 is a difference in your life because you have experienced the 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,960 presence and the power of God and it's changed your life. 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,480 And yes, I would love to see every seat. 71 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,240 I'd love for you to have to squirm and move around because 72 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,880 you had no room. I wish that on, I wish that on 73 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,080 you today. And then we could just open up 74 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:29,640 and say we're going to do it again. 75 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,320 Amen. How many know that God is a God 76 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,200 of revival? I said. 77 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,440 He's a God of revival. I want to talk to you today 78 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,240 about something that's on my heart today, and that is for us 79 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,960 to be a people who are repossessing the Presence, 80 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,960 repossessing the presents. And I'm going to give you a 81 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,760 story out of First and Second Samuel. 82 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,360 It begins in First Samuel and the ends in Second Samuel 83 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,280 chapter 6. It is a dark time in the history 84 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:05,040 of the nation of Israel. And they lose the ark of the 85 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,400 Lord. They lose the ark of the Lord, 86 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,120 which to them was the tangible presence of God. 87 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,200 Actually, God chose himself to dwell in this place, in the Holy 88 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,800 of Holies over the Ark of the Covenant. 89 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,480 The presence of God was housed there, but the people of God 90 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:29,040 lost the presence of the Lord because the priesthood was 91 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:30,960 corrupt. There was sin everywhere, 92 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,960 idolatry everywhere. They were in battles with the 93 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,040 Philistines and they were losing. 94 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,640 They lost battle and they lost men, thousands of men. 95 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,360 They lost in battle. And so they decided that what 96 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,040 they needed to do was to take the Ark of the Covenant, which 97 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,160 represented the presence of God, onto the battlefield, and then 98 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,760 they would win. But contrary to that, the 99 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,480 opposite happened. They carried the Ark of the 100 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,920 Covenant out on the battlefield against the Philistines and they 101 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:04,200 were defeated even worse. And besides that, the Ark of the 102 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,240 Covenant was stolen or taken away by the Philistines. 103 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,080 That represented the presence of God. 104 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,120 So God wanted them to know and us to know that symbolism is 105 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,440 never enough. It's not enough to just carry a 106 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,760 name of a church or a brand. It has to be genuine and it has 107 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,360 to be real. And the Bible tells us that the 108 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,880 Philistines took this Ark of the Covenant with them, and I'll get 109 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,480 a little bit more into that. And they kept it for about 7 110 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,480 months, but they had nothing but trouble because they didn't know 111 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,920 how to treat the presence of the Lord. 112 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,320 But then the Bible says that the Ark of the Lord of the covenant 113 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,040 of the Lord was delivered back to Israel, and it was given back 114 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:47,920 to them. And first it was carried to a 115 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,920 place called Beth Shemesh, and then from there to a place 116 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,680 called Kirjeth Jerim. And I want to read, and if 117 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:00,120 you'll stand with me, I want to read from first Samuel chapter 118 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:06,320 #7 The Bible says that then the men of Kirjeth Jerim came and 119 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,600 took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the House of 120 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:15,040 Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated Elegazar his son to 121 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,600 keep the ark of, of the Lord. But I want you to notice the 122 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,280 second verse particularly. So it was that the ark remained 123 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:33,640 in curtieth Jarum a long time. It was there 20 years, 20 years. 124 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,400 This ark of the covenant that should have been housed in the 125 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:43,440 Tabernacle at Shiloh was now being kept in a place and for 20 126 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,400 years they did not have the representation of the presence 127 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,840 of the Lord. But notice what it says next. 128 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,040 It says in verse 2. So it was that it was that the 129 00:07:55,080 --> 00:08:00,640 ark remained in Curt Jerome a long time, 20 years and all the 130 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,520 House of Israel lamented after the Lord. 131 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:09,080 We want the Lord back. We need the Lord. 132 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,520 How many know we really need the Lord? 133 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,600 Have you ever lamented for God? Have you ever been in a place 134 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:20,360 where you desperately needed God and you lamented, Lord, we just 135 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,760 got to have you. That's the hunger today that I 136 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,200 bring to this pulpit this morning. 137 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,520 And then I want us to skip over to the second book of Samuel 138 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,720 chapter 6, and we're going to read about the return of the 139 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,600 presence of the Lord, the Ark of the Covenant, the second Samuel 140 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,679 chapter 6 verse one. Again David gathered all the 141 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,760 choice men of Israel 30,000 And David arose and went with all 142 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,400 the people who were with him from Baal Judah, to bring up 143 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,880 from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name, the 144 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,720 Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. 145 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:00,200 So they set the ark of God on a new heart and brought it out of 146 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,560 the House of Abinadab, which was on the hill. 147 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:08,080 And Aza and Ohio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart, 148 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,480 and they brought it out of the House of Abinadab, which was on 149 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,120 the hill accompanying the ark of God. 150 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:18,320 And Ohio went before the ark. Then David and all the House of 151 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,320 Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments 152 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,320 of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on 153 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,280 tambourines, on systems, and I don't know what that is, on 154 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,800 systems and on symbols. And when they came to Nacre's 155 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,320 threshing floor, Aza put out his hand to the ark of God and took 156 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,720 hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 157 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,520 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Aza, and God 158 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,440 struck him there for his error, and he died there by the ark of 159 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,520 God. And David became angry because 160 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,600 of the Lord's outbreak against Aza, and he called the name of 161 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:59,960 the place Perez Aza. To this day David was afraid of 162 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:02,920 the Lord that day. And he said, How can the ark of 163 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,000 the Lord come to me? So David would not move the ark 164 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,840 of the Lord with him into the city of David, But David took it 165 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,680 aside into the House of Obed Edom the Getite. 166 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,520 The ark of the Lord remained in the House of Obed Edom the 167 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:25,080 Getite 3 months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his 168 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,040 household. Now it was told King David 169 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,640 saying, The Lord has blessed the House of Obeditum and all that 170 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,000 belongs to him because of the ark of God. 171 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,640 So David went and brought up the ark of God from the House of 172 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,880 Obeditum to the city of David with gladness. 173 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,920 And so it was then, though, when those burying the ark of the 174 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,520 Lord had gone 6 paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted 175 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,520 sheep. Notice the next words. 176 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:56,320 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might, and 177 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,240 David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the House of 178 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,840 Israel brought up. The ark of the Lord was shouting 179 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,840 and with the sound of the trumpet. 180 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:10,280 Father, in the name of Jesus, God, make this clear for us to 181 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,640 understand, to grasp, and to go after the presence of the Lord 182 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,120 in Jesus name. Amen. 183 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:22,160 You may be seated. Now that's a lot to get a hold 184 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:23,560 of. If you've never read this story 185 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:26,720 before, I'm going to try to condense it and bring it to you. 186 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:31,520 Let me first of all ask you if you ever had something and you 187 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:38,640 lost, it was gone and you missed it and you wanted it and it was 188 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,440 in your power to get it back, you went after it. 189 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,800 That's what happened to the children of Israel. 190 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,120 They lost something special. They actually lost the very 191 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:55,760 presence of God himself. The Ark of God was to be kept in 192 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,520 the most holy place of the Tabernacle because it symbolized 193 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,800 the presence of God. But for this particular season, 194 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:08,760 for a period of about 70 years, the Ark of the Covenant was 195 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,920 everywhere else, but not where it needed to be. 196 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,960 It was a dark time in Israel's history. 197 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,920 As I mentioned, they were in battles with the Philistines and 198 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:24,200 they were constantly losing these battles because they have 199 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,760 lost the favor of God, because the priesthood was corrupted, 200 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,160 those that were working at the church were corrupted. 201 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,440 There was sin everywhere. There was idolatry everywhere. 202 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,240 And because of it, they were being defeated royally by their 203 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,280 enemies. And the Bible says that they 204 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,960 decided that the way they could turn the battle was to take the 205 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,320 symbol of God's presence out onto the battlefield. 206 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,720 God never told them to do that, but they took the holiest piece 207 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,040 of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant, carried it out on the 208 00:12:58,040 --> 00:12:59,680 battlefield with the Philistines. 209 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:03,440 And the Bible said when they brought it out, there was such a 210 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,920 shout in the camp of Israel. They were so elated to have this 211 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,520 symbol. They shouted so loud that the 212 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,320 Bible says the ground actually shook. 213 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,560 They had a minor earthquake. They shouted, we know we've got 214 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,080 the victory now and they went to battle and we're soundly 215 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,760 defeated. Not only defeated back to Eli, 216 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,120 who was the priest of that day. And when the word came back to 217 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,880 Eli was an old man, I think he was 98 years old. 218 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,880 He was sitting on a bench. And when that when the messenger 219 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,800 came, he said, how has the battle gone? 220 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,440 And the messenger said, I've got bad news for you. 221 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:45,160 He said both of your sons, Eli's sons and Phineas, they were both 222 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,600 killed in the battle. Not only that but the Ark of the 223 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,040 Covenant was stolen by the Philistines and when he heard 224 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,280 that the Bible said he fell off the sea to broke his neck and 225 00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:00,720 died. It was a very dark time. 226 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,040 So now the Philistines, the enemies of God's people, they 227 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,880 say we've not only defeated them, but we've even got their 228 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,120 God with us now because we have the Ark of the Covenant. 229 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,000 But they brought to the Ark of the Covenant in the Philistine 230 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,480 territory, and they had a temple there that had an idol in it 231 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,320 called Dagon. And so they brought the the Ark 232 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,800 of the Covenant, which represented God, into the very 233 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,240 same temple to say, we have defeated the God of the 234 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,080 Philistines. And they left the Ark of the 235 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:35,120 Covenant right there overnight with Dagon the idol standing 236 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,520 over him. When they came back the next 237 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,720 morning, Dagon, some strange happening. 238 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:45,280 Dagon had fallen down in front of the Ark of the Covenant. 239 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,120 They looked at this and they said, Oh my goodness, what in 240 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,440 the world happened? Something strange has happened 241 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,000 here. So they set their God back up in 242 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,440 front of the Ark of the Covenant, which represents the 243 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,720 presence of God left again. The next day they came back and 244 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,960 guess what? Dagon had fallen down again in 245 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,960 front of the Ark of the Covenant, and this time his head 246 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,600 was broken off and his hands were broken off. 247 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,320 I want to tell you, you don't have anybody big enough and 248 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,600 great enough to stand before the presence of an Almighty God and 249 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,320 God showed himself to be stronger than idols and he still 250 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,600 is today. No matter what man worships, 251 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,960 there is nothing like the presence of Almighty God. 252 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,440 The Philistine said we better get rid of this thing because 253 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,880 what happened, they not only not only did they have that happen, 254 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,960 but the Bible said they broke out with tumors. 255 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,560 All of a sudden they're getting tumors. 256 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,640 And actually one of the translations says they were 257 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,680 hemorrhoids. You think about that for a 258 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,880 moment. This is this isn't working. 259 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,960 And so they decided that we better get rid of this thing and 260 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,640 send it back to Israel. We don't know how to treat this 261 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:10,000 God and so many people don't today the true God, the true and 262 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,880 living God. So they a Long story short, they 263 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,720 put this ark of the covenant on up the new cart and sent it back 264 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,480 and it went to Beth your mess. And then it went to Curtis 265 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,560 Jerem. The people of God of Israel were 266 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,120 now in in the possession again of the presence of the Lord, but 267 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:33,720 it was doing no one any good. And so King David came along and 268 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,680 he had a desire in his heart. He said we're going to go get 269 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,760 the Ark of the Covenant. We're going after the presence 270 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,080 of God. We are going to repossess the 271 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,960 presence of the Lord, and it seemed like the right thing to 272 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,280 do. But we don't read anything about 273 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:52,360 David praying and asking God how to go about this. 274 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,720 And he made a costly mistake because he did exactly what the 275 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,480 enemies of God's people did. He built a new cart and took the 276 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,240 ark of the covenant and had it set on a new cart. 277 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,200 But that was a mistake because the Word of God had already told 278 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,839 the people of God that the ark of the covenant is to be carried 279 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:16,119 on the shoulders of the priest. If you think about the ark of 280 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,440 the covenant and the presence of God, you have to understand that 281 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,839 represents revival and renewal. And you don't carry that on a 282 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,240 new cart. You don't come up with some sort 283 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,400 of new thing. You go back to what the Word of 284 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,240 God says. This is still the right word for 285 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,040 this generation. We are living in a time when 286 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,240 people say this is outdated. They're saying that we have 287 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:41,480 something new. And So what we're we need 288 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,480 something new. And So what is happening? 289 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,800 We have a lot that is being called revival that's nothing 290 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,040 but hyped up emotionalism. That's all it is now. 291 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,360 There is emotion in revival, but it's not solely emotion. 292 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,320 It is a genuine and real move of the Holy Spirit that touches the 293 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:04,320 heart and life of mankind. You cannot make have your own 294 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,920 way and have repossessed the presence of God the way you want 295 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,120 to do it. They actually followed the 296 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:16,480 example of those who were actually the heathen and the 297 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,320 Bible says it was going along. Listen to what it says. 298 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,520 First of all, in number 79, it says when they were handing out 299 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,880 Moses was handing out oxen and carts for the people who carried 300 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,440 the the articles of the sanctuary. 301 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,880 It said to the sons of Koath he gave none because theirs was the 302 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,760 service of the holy things which they carried on their shoulders. 303 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,680 This thing that we are looking for and asking for revival is 304 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,280 something that is holy and it has to be done God's way. 305 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,680 It has to be borne on the shoulders of prayer and fasting 306 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,320 and repentance and seeking God and going after God with all of 307 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:01,200 our heart. So we see what happens next is 308 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:06,040 that the oxen stumbled and we see the ark sort of move and 309 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:11,040 other reaches out his hand and touches the ark, and he finds 310 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,480 the wrath of God and he dies there. 311 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,560 And we can look at that and say, doesn't that seem awfully 312 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,080 extreme to you? But when you know the history 313 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,760 and realize first of all, the only people to carry this ark 314 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,880 were to be Levites. They knew that. 315 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,640 They knew that it was a holy thing and it should never be 316 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:31,800 touched by human hands. And besides that, it had already 317 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,800 been there in the House of Abinadab for 20 long years. 318 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,000 And so by now we've got a man who is used to it. 319 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,680 We got a man that has just become a common thing to and so 320 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,920 he feels like he can just do anything he wants. 321 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,280 Folks, whatever God is doing today is not common. 322 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,280 It's uncommon. Whatever God does is not 323 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,600 natural, it's supernatural, and whatever God does is not unholy, 324 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,320 it is holy. And God wants us to treat the 325 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,360 things of God, the ways of God, the word of God, as if though 326 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,280 they are holy. We're not to put our fleshly 327 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,240 hands on what God is doing, but allow God to be God and allow 328 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,840 his Holy Spirit to be his Holy Spirit. 329 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,800 Can you say Amen? So he touched that. 330 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,320 As a matter of consequence, David now thinks. 331 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,840 I can't do this and he's upset with God and he gave up on the 332 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,200 idea. Instead of learning a lesson, he 333 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:37,760 gave up and went home and he had the ark taken over to a man's 334 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,880 home by the name of Obed Edom, who is a Levite. 335 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:49,480 Despite knowing about others fate, Obed Edom wasn't afraid. 336 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:55,200 Obed Edom welcomed the ark, welcome the presence of God, and 337 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,800 he felt in his heart there's nothing to fear. 338 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,120 And God began to bless him. The Bible said that the ark of 339 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,240 the Covenant remained there for three months. 340 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:10,760 And the Bible said God blessed Obed Edom and his entire house. 341 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,760 I don't know what that blessing looked like, but I kind of think 342 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,880 that maybe when Obed Edom went out to, you know, check his 343 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,120 garden, it was growing more luscious vegetables and fruit 344 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:25,480 than ever before. His cattle, they were fatter 345 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,200 than ever before. Everything was green and 346 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,840 everything was looking great. God was blessing him, and not 347 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,840 only that, but God gave him eight sons. 348 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,680 And if you read the Bible, you will find out that those eight 349 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,040 sons then served as gatekeepers in the temple of the Lord. 350 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,520 So God not only blessed Obed Edom, but he blessed all his 351 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,440 children. They served in the House of God. 352 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,360 Obed Edom served in the House of God. 353 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:53,920 In other words, the Lord blessed. 354 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,560 He had 62 descendants, the Bible said, and they were all mighty 355 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:00,240 men. They were all men of 356 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,320 understanding and valor. There is something special, 357 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,760 special when a household will honor God, when a household will 358 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,600 give God the right place. God will bless that house, God 359 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,840 will touch that home. God will do great things among 360 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,160 even the offspring. Thank God for what he does when 361 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,400 we honor the presence of the Lord. 362 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:24,440 Amen. Now, some people, some people 363 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:29,080 don't want Jesus, but we'll take him to our house. 364 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,440 How about that? How many of you would agree with 365 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,560 me? I'll take Jesus, I'll take him 366 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,040 to my house. If he's not welcome in 367 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,920 Bethesemes or Kareth, Jeremy, if he's not welcome in the land of 368 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,160 the Philistines, send him to my house. 369 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,000 How about this? We'll bring Jesus to our church. 370 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,600 We want him to be welcome. We're not ashamed to say that 371 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,160 we're children of God, washed in the blood of the Lamb. 372 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,680 Our names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and 373 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,360 everything we have is because of Jesus. 374 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,360 And we want the world to know that we are blessed. 375 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:05,320 Today I thought about a song that one of the Gaither songs I 376 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,480 believe it is. It's a song that's entitled We 377 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,120 are so blessed. Let me read a few words from 378 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,040 this song. We are so blessed by the gifts 379 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,880 from your hand. Just can't understand why you 380 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,040 loved us so much. We are so blessed. 381 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,920 We just can't find a way. All the words that can say thank 382 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,760 you Lord for your touch. When we're empty, you fill us 383 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,160 till we overflow. When we're hungry, you feed us 384 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,760 and cause us to know that we are so blessed. 385 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,720 Take what we have to bring. Take it all. 386 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,680 Everything. Lord, we love you so much. 387 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,000 How many can say you are blessed because you know the Lord? 388 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,200 You are blessed because you welcome Him into your home. 389 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,480 You're blessed because you invited Him to be with you in 390 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,560 whatever you're doing. God has blessed your life. 391 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,040 You see, what one man despises is a blessing to someone else. 392 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,880 I said what one person doesn't want, others want it. 393 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,760 I want the presence of God. I want the reality of who Jesus 394 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,680 is in my life. How about you? 395 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,520 Amen. So this word comes to David 396 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:14,040 down. I've. 397 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,640 I've got to get finished with this in the next couple hours 398 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,400 here. I'm just teasing you. 399 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,280 You got team night tonight, so I'll be through by 5:30. 400 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,920 All right, no, just stay with me a few more minutes. 401 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:33,160 When David heard how God had blessed Obed Edom, he got a 402 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,240 little jealous. Hey, I could do some of that 403 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,880 blessing. Let's read beginning in verse 12 404 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,280 of Second Samuel 6. Now it was told King David 405 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,680 saying, The Lord has blessed the House of Obed Edom and all that 406 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,280 belongs to him because of the ark of God. 407 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,040 So David Winter brought up the ark of God from the House of 408 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:56,680 Obed Edom to the city of David with gladness. 409 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,560 And so it was when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone 6 410 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,760 paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 411 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,200 Then David danced before the Lord with all his might, and 412 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,880 David was wearing a linen Ephed. So David and all the House of 413 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,120 Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting. 414 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,440 We get a little noisy around here sometime with some 415 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,440 shouting, Amen. And with the sound of the 416 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,480 trumpet. The difference is, it is now 417 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:34,440 born on the shoulders. As God had said, we're doing it 418 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,120 God's way. If you want to see a genuine 419 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:43,320 move of God, it has to be born on the shoulders of prayer, on 420 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:48,680 the shoulders of repentance, on the shoulders of of consecration 421 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,080 and dedication. And it said, didn't David dance 422 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,720 before the Lord? It was interesting to me when I 423 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,960 looked up that word dancing in the Hebrew, which the Old 424 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,480 Testament was written in the word, the Hebrew word means to 425 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:06,640 whirl or to dance to whirl, like going around inner circle. 426 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,160 He got so happy. He was just, he was just beside 427 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,360 himself because of the presence of the living God. 428 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,880 There was such a joy in his heart that he couldn't contain 429 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,520 it. He wasn't doing some kind of 430 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,040 orchestrated dance. He was just so happy, couldn't 431 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:27,200 stand still. Just the presence of the Lord. 432 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,720 The rejoicing came back. They had been living in sorrow. 433 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,240 They had been living in heartbreaking heartache. 434 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,680 Oh, I remember that passage I read in the beginning, Psalm 85. 435 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:38,960 Six. Will you not revive us again 436 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,920 that your people may rejoice, that your people may rejoice in 437 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,240 you? It is God's will for His people 438 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,160 to rejoice. Show us your mercy, Lord, and 439 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,400 grant us your salvation. The ark is back. 440 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,320 The presence of the Lord has been reclaimed and repossessed. 441 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,680 The joy of the Lord is there. There is the shouting and the 442 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,400 dancing and the praising and the glorifying of God because the 443 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:08,920 presence of the Lord is there. Now, folks, I don't know if you 444 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:13,040 realize this or not, but God always intended that we would 445 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:17,720 serve Him with joy and gladness. He never wanted it to be a 446 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,640 melancholy. Not that we don't weep, because 447 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,880 we do. We go through sorrow and trial 448 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,400 like anyone else, but He wanted this experience to be 1 of joy. 449 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,360 In fact, He said something pretty stern to the children of 450 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,160 Israel. In Deuteronomy 28, we hear a 451 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:38,560 word of rebuke for what had happened, and it says in verse 452 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,920 47, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and 453 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,280 gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, 454 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,920 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send 455 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,000 against you in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and in need 456 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,280 of everything, and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until 457 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,200 he's destroyed you. That is a strong word. 458 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,000 Think about that. Because you didn't serve God 459 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:11,240 with gladness of heart, because you didn't express the joy in 460 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,680 the that what it was to be a child of God. 461 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,760 You went through the, you went through the motions and you went 462 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,880 through the duties and responsibilities, but you did it 463 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:22,800 without any joy. There was no gladness of heart. 464 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,200 You just came to church because it's time to go to church. 465 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,080 You just hung around because you had to hang around. 466 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,200 You just showed up. I want to see the day when we 467 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,480 don't have to go. We want to go. 468 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:39,880 I said we don't have to go. We want to go. 469 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,440 And for all of you that are traifing through Walmart and the 470 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,840 grocery stores and all the malls and shopping centers, you can be 471 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:53,040 in the House of God on a Sunday. Well, you all should shout, 472 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,960 you're all here, so I'm not talking to you. 473 00:28:55,040 --> 00:29:00,520 Amen. Is this all right? 474 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:09,240 The prophet Joel, Not Pastor Joel, but they're related. 475 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:15,280 As Joel 112 says, the vine has dried up and the fig tree has 476 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,120 withered. The pomegranate tree, the palm 477 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,480 tree also, and the apple tree. All the trees of the field are 478 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,960 withered. Surely joy has withered away 479 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,640 from the sons of men. The joy was gone. 480 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,080 This is what repossessing the presence is about. 481 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:43,000 It's getting our joy back. I realize there's not much joy 482 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,600 in this world. I understand that. 483 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:49,760 I realize what the economic situations and we just came back 484 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,520 from South Carolina and we paid the high gas prices a little 485 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,200 cheaper down there and no joy in that. 486 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,400 But there is joy in knowing the Lord. 487 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:06,320 If gas goes to $10 a gallon, there's joy in knowing the Lord 488 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,360 Jesus. No matter how divided our world 489 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:14,120 is, there is something about the joy of the Lord knowing Him. 490 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,720 It was very important to David, who prays in Psalm 5112. 491 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:25,880 Restore to me. I had it, I had it. 492 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,600 It was a time I really had it. God, I need it back. 493 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:42,040 Restore to me the joy, restore to me the joy of your salvation, 494 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:48,600 and uphold me by your generous. How many know God has a generous 495 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,720 spirit? God gives liberally, the Bible 496 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,520 tells us. Uphold me by Your generous 497 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,920 spirit, then I will teach transgressors your ways, and 498 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,800 sinners shall be converted to you. 499 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:08,440 When we repossess the presence of God, when we as the people of 500 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:13,000 God bear on our shoulders through prayer, consecration, 501 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,760 humiliation, repentance, we get our act together with God. 502 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,080 Then we get the joy of the Lord back. 503 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:24,320 Sinners are naturally going to be drawn and come to the Lord 504 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,240 Jesus Christ because there's a joy in Jesus. 505 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,120 They can't find it anywhere else in the world. 506 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,440 Are you glad that the joy of the Lord according to Nehemiah 810 507 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:41,600 is your strength today? The joy of knowing Jesus is your 508 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,000 strength. Stand with me. 509 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:50,760 Repossessing the presence of God involves us going after it. 510 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,440 Now, Pastor is not suggesting that every individual in this 511 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,320 house has lost the presence of the Lord. 512 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,240 I'm not even suggesting that any of you have. 513 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,920 We're just looking at a story and we're trying to look at it 514 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,600 with eyes, fresh eyes for the day in which we live. 515 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,320 So let's recap real quickly what happened here. 516 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,200 First of all, the people of God as often. 517 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,760 And This is why last week when we talked about a little bit 518 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,240 about revival to begin the service, I said, you know, 519 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,960 people say the revivals aren't all that great because they 520 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,560 don't last. They never have. 521 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:34,480 Go back in the Bible days, God's people would get charged up. 522 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,400 They would get God would bless them and they get so blessed, 523 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:41,040 but they'd end up forgetting the blessing, what God had done for 524 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,120 them and turn to the blessing rather than the blesser. 525 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,440 And so they need to be revived again. 526 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,280 And so we continually see in the word of God cries for renewal, 527 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:55,160 cries for revival. And God answered when his people 528 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,600 cry out, he answers and God would revive him. 529 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,280 He would send revival in the worst of times. 530 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,440 And God has done that through the through the centuries of 531 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,160 time there for even for our nation, our world, there have 532 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:11,640 been spiritual awakenings. And yes, they did wane in time, 533 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,120 But when people of God saw it, when people said what we've 534 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,080 lost, something here has always honored that cry. 535 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,720 God is always honored when his people would call out and say, 536 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,680 we want the presence of the Lord to be real in our lives again. 537 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,360 Folks, God has moved. There's been awakenings. 538 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,640 The first great awakened, the second great awakened with the 539 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,080 whale's revival. In fact, I was just listening 540 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,200 this week. You know, this year marks 120 541 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:42,920 years, 120th year anniversary of the Azusa St. revival in Los 542 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:47,800 Angeles, CA that really kind of ushered in the, the, the 543 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,680 Pentecostal movement, not only in America, but even overseas 544 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,240 and around the world. There been, there have been 545 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:59,160 those kinds of times of refreshing and there is no 546 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,400 reason to think that God can't do it again. 547 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,400 There is no reason to think that people can't fill every Pew in 548 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,639 this house again for the glory of God. 549 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,239 How many know that? How many know that God has God 550 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:14,560 had? Listen, there are so many lost 551 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:19,000 people all around us. We could feel every church and 552 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,480 we could feel the one down the street over the corner, that 553 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,080 one, this one, the other one. God's got it. 554 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:29,520 God's got enough for all of us, but he's looking for a people 555 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:34,440 that will go after and to God. We want to see revival. 556 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,560 We're not talking simply about I've realized there's been a lot 557 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,880 of crazy stuff passed off as revival. 558 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:44,639 You know, we've had people barking like dogs and laughing 559 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:50,239 like hyenas and all kind of crazy things, and that's turned 560 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,239 a lot of people off. But let me tell you something. 561 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,480 There never was margarine until there was butter. 562 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,000 There's a real move of God. Can you hear what I'm saying? 563 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,880 And it does bring a shout, and it does bring a praise. 564 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,160 And we're not ashamed of it. And there will be. 565 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,600 Sometimes it'll bring a dance. Praise the Lord for that as 566 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,280 well. Sometimes we might be like David 567 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,120 and we just whirling around in the presence of God. 568 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,880 Amen. Oh, I'm too old for that, all 569 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,680 right. But would you help me pray for 570 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,320 that, first of all, your head, if you will. 571 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:27,720 The real key here is the fact that revival had to come God's 572 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:34,320 way and a new cart never worked. Man's invention never worked. 573 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:39,680 God uses people, not oxen and a cart. 574 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,560 And he said, I want you to carry on your shoulders the very 575 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,000 presence of God. I want you to carry it on your 576 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,720 What a privilege for those Levites. 577 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,240 You had to be a Levite to actually bear the ark of the 578 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:56,720 Lord. There was some weight to that 579 00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:01,960 thing, but I think the joy of carrying it was greater than 580 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,960 whatever it might have weighed as they carried it on their 581 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:09,120 shoulders. That's where the revival starts. 582 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:12,800 That's where the revival has its origin. 583 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:17,560 When men and women say I'm ready to bear it on my shoulders, I'm 584 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,720 ready to carry my part of the weight. 585 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,720 I want to seek God and to pray for civil salvation. 586 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,080 I'm going to pray for our our generation. 587 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:27,800 I'm going to pray for our region. 588 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:29,600 I'm going to pray for our neighborhood. 589 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,240 I'm going to pray for our church. 590 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,160 I'm going to pray, I'm going to pray. 591 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:37,480 I'm going to bear this thing. And then beginning after this, 592 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,840 coming next week, then we go into those three days of fasting 593 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,960 and prayer again, and we go to the Lord in prayer and we keep 594 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,520 saying, God, we're going to believe you for something great. 595 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,920 Thanks for joining us today. If you'd like to connect, visit 596 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,160 us at Reams Town churchofgod.org, follow us on 597 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,640 Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to this podcast so you 598 00:36:57,640 --> 00:36:58,880 never miss an episode.