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good evening everyone welcome to free grace Baptist Church just a reminder of course it is the Lord's Supper this evening so we'll be observing that blessed ordinance of our Lord as we gather together now as the people of Christ what one other announcement is that the next Lord's Day morning the children's Sunday school will be canceled both classes so if you can keep a reminder of that we'll try and send an email reminder to you but that's a next Lord's Day both children's Bible study classes in the morning our 9:30 hour canceled let's turn in our Bibles in if you'll turn with me to Psalm 107 our call to worship this Lord's Day evening will be a reading of Psalm 107 1 to 9 Psalm 107 verse 1 to verse 9 this is the Word of God oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north and from the south they wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way they found no city to dwell in hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distress and he led them forth by the right way that they might go to a city for a dwelling place oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness amen well let's stand and sing together if you turn in your red Trinity Salter with me will stand and sing to a familiar tune Psalm 134 at Psalm 134 let's stand and sing [Music] let us pray righteous and Heavenly Father we come to you now in this evening service we thank you that for the fact that we can gather in this place to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit the one true God and we rejoice in this freedom and in this Liberty in this privilege we have and we do pray that you would bless it that we might now hallow your name that we might be focused in worship to give you all honor and praise truly we rejoice in the fact that we can gather in the name of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ having gathered being brought out of darkness the deadness of sin to life and light in Christ Jesus by your amazing grace we do rejoice in this truth and we pray that you would impress upon us the glories of free and sovereign grace the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ our Savior and all of your benefits that you pour out upon your people in condescending love and eternal kindness we do pray that you would help us now to worship you are right that we would cast off any thoughts and any contemplations of of worldly things that we would cast off any thoughts that would intrude in the proper worship of the triune God Father Son and spirit do help us now and truly again we rejoice in the gospel we rejoice in the fact that you did send forth your son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law and that blessed truth that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save and that not by our own deeds of righteousness but solely and alone by virtue of the perfection of the work of Jesus Christ we can rejoice in him we can sing your praises and we can reflect with right minds upon the glories of the triune God we thank you for these truths and we do pray that you would wash us afresh in the blood of the Lamb as we also observed later the Lord's Supper that ordinance of remembrance whereby you feed your people from on high we pray that you would cause us to reflect with great joy upon the fact of the forgiveness of sins and that you would again wash us afresh we know that we do have that remaining corruption and you you are strong you are faithful you are ready to forgive and to send that sanctifying spirit that we might ever grow in our in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior so do be with us in worship and do help us we pray we pray in a special way for the South Surrey Bible study we thank you that this is ongoing we thank you for the people that are attending we thank you for Michael eating these studies we do pray that you would continue to bless them we pray that you would continue to provide clarity and and precision of thought and study as Mike prepares and as he delivers these messages we as well pray that you be with all who are in attendance that they would grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of Christ through instruction in the word and by your spirit and we do pray that you'd bring many more into that place that they might hear the Word of God and they might find fellowship with your Saints we look forward Lord God that in due time that we would have a church planted there worship services would begin and that we would have another light in this Lower Mainland along with all of the others bringing forth the gospel setting forth the gospel to those who are in need both sinner insane we do pray Lord God that you would richly bless this work we pray that you'd continue to be with this church Lord we know that we do not have unity outside of the the condescending favor of the triune God we do pray that you continue to strengthen us that we would be united in the things of saving faith Lord that we would be as one man with one spirit striving for the faith of the gospel we do pray Lord God that you'd be with Pastor Butler as he preaches your word this evening as he continues his ministerial work throughout the week we know that those ministers of yours do not rest upon their own strength their own ingenuity their own intelligence but they do rely upon Father Son and spirit for their growth in the ministerial work and for their strength and for their endurance so we do pray Lord God that you would keep the enemy away and we pray that you would strengthen that you would just keep him Lord God as he engages in the office here we do pray for all of the officers of free grace Baptist Church that you would cause us to exercise our roles in this church and in that proper biblical manner and we do pray that for all of us Lord in this church that you would unite us around the the true and saving gospel and that we would be such who have a blessed Communion in this place worshiping Father Son and spirit and conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and we rejoice Lord and the fact that we have many in this congregation we do pray that you'd be with each and every one struggling physically we know the list is long for all those who are struggling Lord God with physical problems we do pray that you bless each and every one we pray that you would watch over them strengthen them in body help them as they suffer with a disease with illness with sickness and all of these things Lord we do just pray that you'd watch over each and every dear one we pray that you'd bring healing we pray that you would bring strength and we pray Lord God that you would cause them in the midst of sickness in the midst of disease to bless the name of their God and to find comfort in the risen and in the exalted Christ we pray for the nations of the world Lord that you would cause them to be governed by those who would uphold justice we pray that you would cause those to be cast down who would seek to uphold wickedness and we do pray that your people would cry out for equity and righteousness and justice in the lands we do know that the answer to to the wickedness of men Lord God is not the the legislation of law but is rather the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior so we do pray that you would send your ministers forth to bring for a to proclaim the riches of Christ to those in need and that we would see many coming to a knowledge of our blessed Savior we do pray then Lord that you would be with us as we are in worship as we continue in worship we long that you would be glorified that the Lord Jesus Christ would be exalted upon the praises of his gathered assembly and Lord God we do pray that you would help us and bless us and strengthen us as we gather that we might return to you the praises do your most high name we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing again before the preaching we're gonna stand this time and sing in the larger hymnal we're going to sing hymn number 42 let's stand and sing 42 together [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to second Samuel Chapter six second Samuel Chapter six hopefully a familiar passage of Scripture I'll read and then give an exposition and then draw out some similarities or some parallels with the Lord's Supper second Samuel Chapter six I'll begin reading in verse one again David gathered all the choice men of Israel thirty thousand and David arose and went with all the people who were with them from BHEL Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God whose name is called by the name the Lord of Hosts who dwells between the cherubim so they set the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of abinadab which was on the hill and ASSA and Ohio the sons of AB in adapt drove the new cart and they brought it out of the house of abinadab which was on the hill accompanying the Ark of God in Ohio it went before the ark then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood on harps on stringed instruments on tambourines on sistrums and on cymbals and when they came to knock cones threshing floor aza put out his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen stumbled then the anger of the Lord was aroused against aza and God struck in therefore his error and he died thereby the Ark of God and David became angry because of the Lord's outbreak against aza he called the name of the place perez aza to this day david was afraid of the lord that day and he said how can the ark of the lord come to me so david would not move the ark of the lord with him into the City of David but David took it aside into the house of obed-edom the gittite the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of obed-edom the guitar three months and the Lord blessed obed-edom and all his household now it was told King David saying the Lord has blessed the house of obed-edom and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God so David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of obed-edom to the City of David with gladness and so it was when those bearing the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep then David danced before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen a phone so David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord was shouting and with the sound of the trumpet now as the Ark of the Lord came into the City of David Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping in a whirling before the Lord and she despised him and her heart so they brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord and when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts then he distributed among all the people among the whole multitude of Israel both the women and the men to every one a loaf of bread a piece of meat and a cake of raisins so all the people departed everyone to his house then David returned to bless his household and Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said a glorious was the king of Israel today uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of the servants as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself so David said to Michael it was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel therefore I will play music before the Lord and I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight but as for the maid servants of whom you have spoken by them I will be held in honor therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death amen let us pray our Father we thank you for the written word we pray now for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we confess with Paul that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God that all Scripture is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness and we pray tonight that your spirit would break open the word before us and help us to take these things to heart help us to learn from King David of Israel the sorts of response or the sort of response that we ought to manifest in the presence of the holy God we ask thee would forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions we thank you for this blessed table and the reminder concerning our crucified and risen Savior we thank you for his shed blood on our behalf and the forgiveness of sins that we have in and through him and we would ask our God as we gather together we would worship you in spirit and in truth and this assembly would be marked with reverence and with fear in the presence of God but with great joy and with gladness of heart and great delight in what the Lord God Most High has done for us and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well just a brief outline of the book of second Samuel essentially what we have is the commencement of David's reign in chapters 1 to 4 the consolidation of David's power in chapters 5 to 9 and then the consequences of David's sin in chapters 10 to 20 and then we see some summarizing chapters at the end but here specifically in chapter 6 we see the Ark of the Covenant being brought to Jerusalem David has been pronounced king over both the house of Israel and the house of Judah this happened at a brawn according to second Samuel chapter 5 and David's first order of business was to secure the city of Jerusalem and there he made his political capital to function over all Israel so in 2nd samuel 6 after he has secured jerusalem after he has stabilized the political political section of his of his rule and reign God gives him victory over Philistines at the end of chapter 5 and then David as he is want to do wants to honor and worship and glorify God so he wants the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem so it would indeed be the religious capital of all Israel so I want to make three observations on our text tonight first the desire for the presence of God in verses 1 to 5 secondly the reminder of the holiness of God in verses 6 to 11 and then thirdly the celebration of the goodness of God in verses 12 to 23 now the Ark of the Covenant was not actually the container for God when Solomon devotes or dedicates rather the temple he says there is nothing on earth that can contain God it's not the case that you walked over to the Ark of the Covenant opened the door and there was God God is omnipresent God is transcendent but rather it was the visible representation of God among his people so as David has a desire for the Ark of the Covenant it's not because God lives in the Ark of the Covenant but because it is that visible representation of God Most High now notice the situation in verses 1 to 2 basically David wants to go and get the Ark of the Covenant so he says in verse 2 that David arose and went with all the people who are with him from bale Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God whose name is called by the name the Lord of Hosts who dwells between the cherubim again the language he dwells between the cherubim is the language according to the manner of men God does not dwell in one particular confine with reference to the universe and then notice specifically the reason within the context the reason is is that he wants to honor the Lord God and I think by doing this what David is saying is that God fares large in this new phase of israel's history you see Saul never sought to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Gibeah Saul had little regard whatsoever for the Ark of the Covenant throughout his kingly reign but as soon as David has granted peace by God from his enemies he wants to honor the Lord he was to be primary in this phase of Israel's history as well he wants to celebrate the kindness of God that's specifically what we find there in verses 12 to 23 it's a time of celebrity worship it's a time of rejoicing in the presence of God and specifically he wants to worship the Lord John Calvin says we are told here that when David realized that his kingdom was at peace he turned his attention to restoring the integrity of the worship of God it's not a beautiful display or a beautiful description King David was in fact a man after God's own heart his heart throb to be near God as I mentioned the contrast with King Saul the ark was captured and it was returned in 1st Samuel 7 it stayed and cared Jack Jairam all these years except for one brief mention in 1st Samuel chapter 14 van Wei says that Saul's subsequent failure to provide the art with a visible and prominent place in Gibeah his capital city was symptomatic of his failure to fully recognize the sovereignty of Yahweh as Israel's divine king so by doing what David is doing here in 2nd samuel chapter 6 his desire for the presence of God he is distinguishing himself from Saul's reign God didn't matter in the life and the Ministry of King Saul but for David that is simply not the case now notice in terms of transport verse 3 already gives us a bit of foreshadowing to the us ah incident notice in verse 3 so they set the Ark of God on a new cart they were not supposed to transport the Ark of God on any sort of a cart there were koa fights that had the specific task of picking up the ark and transporting it there were specific requirements according to numbers chapter 4 on who moved what with reference to the tabernacle on who touched what and those who violated would indeed reap the consequences that we see here in this particular passage now it was the Philistines that put the Ark of the Covenant on a cart but Israel was supposed to obey God as he had revealed himself in the book of numbers and then verses four and five indicate that they begin the transport there's actually two attempts to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem verses 1 to 11 is an unsuccessful attempt in verses 12 to 23 is the successful attempt and notice the joy of David and the people of God in verse 5 they David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood on hearts on stringed instruments on tambourines on sistrums and on cymbals so David longs for the presence of God now notice secondly this reminder of the holiness of God this is most important for us and hopefully you're already linking it to the Lord's Supper what do we get when we come into the presence or what do we get when we come to the supper we get the presence of God should we forget the holiness of God no we still need to be mindful of that and I think that this serves is a great reminder this incident with Aza notice his action in verse 6 it says and when they came to nay cons or nay cones threshing-floor also put out his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it for the ox and stumble again he's not supposed to do that and I can hear humanists and even professing Christians say you know what's the big deal here I mean come on it was a noble effort it was a noble attempt the oxen stumbled perhaps the Ark of the Covenant could have fallen and into the moderate could have gotten dirty or some bad thing could have happened so aza was driven by noble intentions aza was driven by a desire to please the Lord by studying the Ark of the Covenant but also wasn't supposed to touch it we go all the way back to the Garden of Eden what's the big deal it was one piece of fruits in a garden filled with fruit God got upset for them eating one piece of fruit why is it that we always forget they weren't supposed to eat it also wasn't supposed to if you see anything in this passage tonight see this that God demands obedience God demands precision God demands that his people obey Him from the heart and do what they're called to do if they are not a koa fight their to keep their grimy paws off the Ark of the Covenant if they are not a specified Levite with reference to transportation they're not supposed to put it on a cart they're not supposed to touch it they're supposed to leave it alone this is the demand of God this is what he calls us too he calls us to careful compliance I didn't think of this earlier but certainly there is parallel with the Supper as well for Paul the Apostle in 1st Corinthians 11 highlights to the Corinthians that based on the fact that some of them were eating and drinking in an unworthy manner some of them as a result had died some of them as a result had become sick some of them as a result had reaped the chastening hand of God Most High you might say well it wasn't that big of a deal they ate a little more than their brethren did but God said it is to be a time that the unity of the body is to be paramount and uppermost the Lord God does not take lightly the violation of his most holy law so the oxen stumble the response of oz' is to put his paw out and to study the ark and then notice the anger of Yahweh again this is spoken in the manner of men what we are supposed to understand in terms of a proper predication is the holiness of God the righteousness of God and the justice of God then the anger of Yahweh was aroused against aza and God struck him therefore his error or his irreverence and he died there by the ark of God now we need to understand that the judgment was temporal this makes no sort of final verdict on where as a went in terms of heaven or hell it could be like that situation in first Corinthians 11 the Apostle is very careful to discriminate this judgment from God that the world receives and this chastening from God that the church receives and it may just be a great mercy for God to chasten us to death to remove us from the path of further sin and rebellion I know we don't like to think of it that way but that is what happens at times so this text isn't necessarily demanding that US a-- is in hell as i could in fact be a brother and we may one day sit with him along with abraham isaac and jacob as well we ought to observe that the judgment was righteous god had declared the penalty for violating his law in numbers 4 remember several weeks ago probably a couple of months ago we looked at that incident where those she bears mauled those 42 youths that mocked the prophet elisha and there i pointed out that sometimes persons have a greater trouble or more difficulty with the judgment of god than the sin that's being judged by God and I think that's an instance here now this seems overboard this seem drastic this seems a bit outlandish I mean the fellow was driven by good motivation he tried to touch the art in order to stabilize it so and fall into the mind no he disobeyed God he sinned against God it was righteous of God Calvin says let us therefore carefully remember that the death of oz' was not cruelty on the part of God but a just chastisement for it was the duty of the Levites and specifically the Khoa fights to be in charge of carrying the ark so as a temporal judgment doesn't necessarily indicate or dictate that us is in hell as well it was a righteous judgment which indicates that God is in fact righteous and Joss but then as well the judgment is paradigmatic and what I mean by that is that it's a pattern for us it is a paradigm for us it is an example for us we ought to take e we ought to learn we ought to fear we ought to tremble and we to tread carefully and not join aza in being innovators with reference to the worship of the Living God if God demands cola fights to carry the art and we are not Cola fights we better keep our filthy hands in our pocket John Calvin says because he God wanted everyone to be admonished not to play lightly with his worship but rather to engage in it with the fear commanded in his law one of the reasons that Calvin gives for this particular situation in 2nd samuel chapter 6 he wants god and rather god wants us not to play lightly with his worship but rather to engage in it with the fear commanded in his law now you've all heard of the regulative principle of worship it is a distinctive of reformed theology it's not just five point Calvinism but we have a view of God's covenants we have a view of God's law we have a view of God's worship and it is intriguing that this somehow has gotten forgotten how is it or when did it happen I'm sure that the historical theologians and ARB could answer my question but when did it became become the case that we thought worship was anybody's ballgame that we thought it was okay to do whatever we wanted where did that come from I mean ultimately I know it comes from the depths of man's depravity but brethren all throughout the scriptures we are told that God is indeed a precise God God is indeed a jealous God God is indeed a holy God and God demands that when we approach him it is according to his commandment John Gill makes this observation and this shows that it is dangerous in matters of worship to act contrary to the command of God even in things that may seem small and trivial and though what may be done may be done with a good intention as this was yet that will not excuse the sin you got to hear this because this is why we're told that anything goes and worship but they love Jesus but they want to worship Jesus but Jesus has commanded the way that he is supposed to be worshipped and if we really love Jesus we will obey his commandment is it that what he says in John 14 if you love me what you will keep my Commandments you will not substitute pony's programs puppets and all sorts of mayhem in the worship of the Living God you will not move the pulpit to the side and entertain some you know ballerinas doing a dance to the Trinity this is not acceptable worship the Apostle says in Hebrews 12 we are to worship God in an acceptable manner that's not acceptable in terms of the people of God it's not to be put to a vote do we want to have 15 hymns and then those dancers come and do their thing for the Trinity it's not up to us our job is to obey our job is to approach the the holy God of Israel the way he commands us to dill goes on to say as the nor are those who are the most forward and zealous in Rome at of religious matters exempted from marks of God's displeasure when they go wrong a brethren the worship of God is not to be conducted according to good intentions or the desires of our hearts the last thing we want to intrude under the worship of God is the desire of our hearts our hearts are foul our hearts are polluted our hearts are in defection against God and that is Christians why in the world would we want to demand that our hearts have the say with reference to the worship of God you know what's most interesting and and somewhat paradoxical is that this verse is trotted out as a warrant to violate God in new covenant worship I wouldn't doubt that the ballerina troupe that does dance to the Trinity would probably cite David whurling about before the Ark of the Covenant you can't do that that's unauthorized we don't have time show up sometime at a discussion of our confession chapter 22 by the way that's coming up next Sunday it's a good time for you to ask and answer here can I dance and worship before Yahweh no you can't I mean if you want to in your living room you go right ahead but in terms of the Church of Jesus Christ and this is where we do err in terms of the Church of Jesus Christ there are particulars that God has commanded and our duty is to obey it is a false competitor that says we are not only told that we are to obey what God commands but we can also do what God doesn't necessarily prohibit no that's not reformed worship this chapter unfortunately is used as a proof tax to warrant an unauthorized approach to the Living God now note David's response in verses 8 to 11 David's angry John Gill and John Calvin say that he was angry at God the island day let's say that he was angry at himself she's gonna leave that in your lap the fact that he fears God in the next verse doesn't seem to indicate that it was anger at God unless it was an anger at God and then he feared God because he was angry at God in other words he sinned against God by being angry at him but he fears and then notices action verses 10 and 11 he does not proceed with taking the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem the Ark of the Covenant is holed up for three months at the house of obed-edom now it says get tight first group radicals indicates that he was most likely a Levite so the the the Ark of the Covenant is at the home of obed-edom for this three months now notice what verse 11 says the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of obed-edom to get tight three months and the Lord blessed obed-edom and all his household so we've seen the desire for the presence of God we've seen the reminder of the holiness of God now let's look thirdly and at the celebration of the goodness of God now there is a tight link between verses 11 and 12 a very tight link between verses and 11 and 12 the Ark of the Covenant is in the house of obed-edom and goddess Vlasto bad Edom as a result of that that's the connection notice in verse 11 and the Lord blessed obed-edom and all his household verse 12 now it was told King David saying the Lord has blessed the house of obed-edom and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God now presumably David didn't continue to take the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem because God broke out in anger against aza so as far as David is concerned at this particular point in time God is angry with Israel God might be inclined for more outbreaks and David would rather not transport the ark back to Jerusalem so it is safe and sound at the house of obed-edom now David is told that because the Ark of the Covenant is is at the house of obed-edom God has blessed obed-edom house so what does David realize now God's purpose with reference to the art is not to curse Israel God's purpose with reference to the ark is not to kill a multitude of Azaz God's purpose with reference to the art is to bless Israel it is to pour out benefit it is to pour out goodness David learns theology in this report concerning the Ark of the Covenant having been at the house of obed-edom and the reality that obed-edom and his family had been blessed so David understands now in the language of Davis that God's true intent is to bless not destroy his people via the ark now notice they transport the ark in obedience to the law verse 12 I'm sorry verse 13 or verse 12 a so David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of obed-edom to the City of David with gladness and so it was when those bearing the are the Lord had gone six paces that he sacrificed oxen and fatted she notice in 1st chronicles chapter 15 I want you to see this first chronicles chapter 15 they learn lessons from the aza incident they learn lessons that God does demand obedience it's like I imagine that you know in the church at Corinth somebody heard that brother so-and-so sucked with them last week was no longer with them this week because he had violated God's law or he was unkind to the to the poor brethren in the church see we ought to learn lessons from such things and they did learn this lesson notice in 1st chronicles 15 verse 13 for because you did not do it the first time this is the transportation of the ark not via cart but via koa fight for because you did not do it the first time the Lord our God broke out again against us because we did not consult him about the proper order you see they don't whine and moan and complain and say how in the world could a good God do such a horrible thing to our buddy Azza know we didn't consult God we didn't read numbers for we didn't get our marching orders from the Word of God and aza does what other does and God kills it it's righteous it's just but we need to learn the lesson and now we transport by coalified notice in chapter 6 of 2nd Samuel so they begin the transport and then in verse 14 we read the David Dan story world before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen a phone now this attire bothers Michael his wife but this attire shows us the king's humility this attire shows us something that I think is illustrated by the account of the conversion of John Jasper I'm sure I've shared this before John Jasper was a black man he was a slave in the 1800's in America he worked in a tobacco factory and his job basically was to I guess whatever you do with tobacco leaves pull them apart grind them up whatever it is and God saved this man's soul on the factory floor he was thinking about scripture he been meditating upon a sermon that he heard and God saved him as we started evangelizing all this fellow tobacco workers and word got out and the supervisor was notified and the supervisor called up John Jasper to his office and he said tell me what you're doing on the floor he says the Lord God saved my soul and I want to tell everybody about it and the supervisor reached out his hand and said I'm glad to hear it my brother go out preach the gospel and never stop until your dying day and that is precisely what John Jasper did he went out that he preached the gospel till his dying day so there's no distinctions between the supervisor or the master and John Jasper he's a brother you see when David divests himself of his royal robes he is saying that I'm with all Israel and all Israel worships all Israel's God this bugs Michael as far as Michael is concerned the king ought to be dignified the king ought not to mix with the riffraff the king ought not to be counted among the common rabble the King must be seen as distinguished David in the presence of God most high divests himself of his royal robes and he wears a linen a phone that he does this that he basically divest himself of his status status and joins all Israel in the worship of God suggests as much this is humility this is David humbling himself and this is David's response before the Ark of the Covenant he danced before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen ephod son suggest that that attire may suggest kingly priestly function and may be typical of his greater son but all that to say this certainly a lesson is here yes the worship of God is regulated by God yes the worship of God is to be careful yes the worship of God is to be precise but that does not a li innate gladness it does not alienate joy how many times are we presented with this false dichotomy your church is so boring your church is so unexcited your church is so lackluster well brethren I'm happy when I'm here I got a glad heart when I'm singing these old dusty hymns and I hope you do too I don't know that we have to have guitars and drums and bongos and all the rest in order to have exuberance in the presence of God it can't come through a piano it can't come without a piano it can't come acapella it can't come singing praises to Yahweh of Israel the precision the careful nasty accuracy all those things do not argue away gladness and joy in fact I would submit that the precision the carefulness the accuracy is the very context for that joy what greater joy can there be than to worship God the way God says isn't that everything isn't that what should cause us delight to be pleasing in the sight of God David dances David whirls David is exuberant with joy in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant now note Michaels disdain verse 16 as the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David David Michael Saul's daughter look at verse 20 and Michael the daughter of Saul what's the author doing she's linking Michael with Saul and not David there's two different theologies at work here Saul didn't care one bit about the arm Saul left it and cured Jeff jira so all didn't bring it to Gibeah so all that Saul had no concern whatsoever for the Ark of the Covenant now Michael is here the wife of David but she's not identified as the wife of David because she's not acting like the wife of David because any wife of David is going to be exuberant in the presence of God the way David would be she's the daughter of Saul that's pathetic she has no concern so ever for the glory of God so verse 16 now as the Ark of the Lord came into the City of David Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord and she despised him in her heart Kyle and Dale each expand on this Michael is intentionally designated the daughter of Saul here instead of the wife of David because on this occasion she manifested her father's disposition rather than her husband's in Saul's time people did not trouble themselves about the Ark of the Covenant public worship was neglected in the soul for vital religion had died out in the family of the king Michael possessed Tara Fame and in David she only loved the brave hero and exalted gain she therefore took offense at the humility with which the king in his pious enthusiasm placed himself on an equality with all the rest of the nation before God the Lord and there's also an interesting connection here Robert altar points out actually it's not Robert altar it's a Jewish rabbi that he refers to shamone bar a frat he neatly observed that at the beginning of their story in the Michael David scene at the beginning of their story a loving Michael helped David escape through the window from her father's henchmen while now she looks at him from a distance through the window in seething contempt it's a great big juxtaposition in the life of Michael here and then in verses 17 to 19 essentially what I think is at play is covenant renewal the sacrifices of verses 17 and 18 the blessing of the people verse 18 the giving of gifts to all the people verse 19 indicate a renewal of covenant fellowship between Israel and her God and then let's look finally at the confrontation verses 2223 John Calvin doesn't comment on 2nd Samuel in terms of this his biblical commentary sometimes you may have that set it's 22 volumes Bakker publishes it and it's a you know massively wonderful set of Goodrich biblical exposition I don't as far as I recall he doesn't deal with second Samuel in that expert or in that commentary but there's a series of sermons published by John Calvin by the banner of truth on second Samuel and they are excellent and if you have time in your life to read good pastoral stuff on the book of second Samuel I highly recommend it but in this section he identifies her in his sermon on this section he calls it humble David and proud Michael humble David and proud Michael the words spoken by Michael are jeering she is disgusted by David's display of joy before the Ark of Yahweh is first onee how glorious was the king of Israel today uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself this is a jeering attack upon the king this is the voice of unbelief in the presence of somebody who actually loves fears honors and is glad in their God the unbelievers can't get this they don't understand it why in the world would you dance or whirl about why in the world would you divest yourself of your royal robes and why would you join the rank-and-file of all of the people of Israel it is completely mind-blowing to the carnal mind why anybody in their right mind would give time and energy and worship and gladness to the living and true God notice David's response to Michael he says the dance was not before the maids but before the Lord notice her statement how glorious was the king of Israel today uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants is one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself sounds perverted the way that she describes it sounds less like lasciviousness it sounds like gross nests but David says to Michael it was before Yahweh his concern wasn't the maids of the servants his concern wasn't as godless wife his concern was what will everybody think his concern was God is in our presence and I'm gonna be glad God is in our presence and I'm gonna whirl about God is in our presence and there is no thing better so I'm gonna give myself to his worship he goes on to say the Lord chose David over Saul as ruler over Israel it was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father she brought out the gun guns in verse 20 David's not averse to bringing out the guns himself I'm sure she didn't take kindly to this I'm sure she didn't say wow you're absolutely right she was a daddy's girl we can see in the fact that she invited daddy's theology we could see it all over her face that she was a saw light through and through and David says who chose me instead of your father and all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of Yahweh over Israel John Gill understands it this way which he observed to humble her pride and mortify her as well as to remark the distinguishing goodness of God to him which laid him under obligation to express his thankfulness to him in every shape and then notice he has a differing opinion of what dignity looks like verse 22 and I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight but as for the maid servants of whom you have spoken by them I will be held in honor you see Michaels dignity was keep your royal garments on do not display any exuberance before the Ark of the Covenant you may give a simple nod of approval but you are not to worry about the Ark of the Covenant David said I don't abide by your definition of where indignity consists dignity for David was to humble himself to be found among God's people to be found God Himself worshipping praising honoring and adoring and I would submit finally the divine approbation of David the fact that Michael remained barren indicates the judgment of God who was God pleased with on that day when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem and David was whirling about and Michael was looking through the window despising her or him in her heart who was God pleased with it wasn't Michael it wasn't Michael at all God was quite pleased in the fact that David was glad in his presence well brethren some similarities I think we see between this and the supper in the first place the idea of the presence of God why do we take the Lord's Supper because we want to be with God yes it's commanded to be sure and we want to obey God but we want God don't we I mean isn't that everything in the Christian life I think at times it's very easy to forget that we get saved we continue on for a few years and we forget the reality that the reason we come to church the reason we come to the table the reason we sit under preaching the reason we sing hymns and songs unto God is because we want God the unbeliever has a godless life believers are supposed to have God full lives it is the presence of God that we seek here brethren this is Paul's point in 1st Corinthians 10 the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ the church has present communion with the glorified Christ as we eat this bread and as we drink this cup Wilson says partaking of bread and wine is Union or sharing with the heavenly Christ secondly we ought to appreciate the reminder of holiness that the table affords to us the reminder of holiness that the table affords to us we certainly see it here with reference to aza but we ought to be reminded of the fact that Jesus body was broken and his blood was shed as a payment for sin which indicates what God is holy God is righteous God is just as we eat this bread and we drank this cup there ought to be a reminder of God's holiness to each and every one of us Thomas Kelly wrote ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great here may view its nature rightly here it's guilt may estimate mark the sacrifice appointed see who bears the awful load tis the word the Lord's anointed son of man and son of God thirdly we ought to appreciate renewal of covenant with God suggested verses 17 to 19 indicate that whole idea of renewing covenant with God when we come to the table when we eat this bread and when we drink this cup there is that element of covenant renewal involved richard Barcelos indicates this in his book on the lord's supper it the Lord's Supper does not bring us into covenant with God it reminds us that we are in covenant with him through Christ and enhances that covenantal bond there's more than a memory at the table brethren that's actually the subtitle of Esther barcelos is a book it is more than a memory it is a means of grace there is that can covenant renewal involved and we need to appreciate that and then finally the worship of God the table ought to be approached with an understanding of God's holiness to be sure but it also ought to be remembered that we have gone into the presence of God the house holder and there ought to be a gladness of heart there ought to be exuberance there ought to be joy there ought to be Thanksgiving now I know it's very common for folk as we as we go through the the particulars involved in the Lord we look at ourselves we do a bit of introspection we we check to see if we have sin that we need to confess it for sake and repent off but at times brethren it becomes so introspective that we forget the extra spective remedy that the table provides the whole point of the elements is to get us off of self on to Jesus do this in remembrance not of how bad you are not of how wicked you are not of how evil you are but of me and again think about your sin that call by Paul to examine yourself Israel it's valid and I certainly want to highlight that the Brethren are not not to be a constant introspection with a neglect of the extra spective purpose of the supper itself to point us from ourselves onto him that loved us unto him that gave himself for us joy it's okay to smile at the supper it's okay to feel that that that inner peace that Christ is secured by his doing and is dying and is rising I I said feeling I know I did sometimes that makes us a little bit uneasy brethren I got to admit as David is whirling about before the Ark of the Covenant there had to be feelings associated with that feelings of gladness and joy and exuberance and delight listen to Davis he says I think this Michael David altercation holds a telling application to the sphere of our worship and devotion in our churches there are any number of folks who are very concerned with services and externals and procedures and mechanics and meetings and decency and I suggest we all ought to be and it's not either/or it ought to be both and he says but there are those who are concerned with services externals procedures mechanics meetings and decency and order but who really can't understand anything of the joy of the Lord you know I repudiate the notion that reformed worship necessarily excludes joy and gladness I don't know that I could be joyful and glad in a place where there was just you know chaos because God is a God of order and decency according the Apostle Paul it's not supposed to be mayhem it's not supposed to be a free-for-all it's not supposed to be a rock concert or a rap concert it's not supposed to be you know the way you conduct yourself at your home if chaos is the way you throw that's not the way it's supposed to be to me that would block out any notion of gladness whatsoever the idea being that there's a form there's a structure there are parameters that doesn't necessarily exclude gladness and joy I'd argue just the opposite it's what includes it it's what secures it it's what stabilizes it and it's what keeps it from going awry Davis goes on to say there are some who can muster enthusiasm and gusto over professional sports but who somehow cannot fathom anything but professional detachment over Jesus Christ now I would agree with that there's times when we're singing and I think our singing is pretty good and be encouraged brethren it's good I'm set up here and I hear the voices behind me and it makes me want to go forward and often said I'd like to die I'd like to be translated what we're singing specifically $5.99 could you imagine a better way of translation well elijah's was awesome but imagine singing $5.99 with the people of God dropping dead that would be a glorious thing wouldn't it now I'm not saying I want to drop dead I said oh ho ho brother wants to drop dead I'm tired I'm a little bit worn out I want to drop that but the singing here is good but I've heard singing that ain't from grown men that will scream at their televisions when somebody puts a puck into the goal I have never been able to understand this the excitement we show four things in this world and the lack of excitement we show for the things of God Davis goes on to quote or goes on he says exuberant praise and tears of repentance or strangers to them WG Blakey has carefully drawn the bottom line there are doubtless times to be calm in times to be enthusiastic but can it be right to give all our coldness to Christ and all our enthusiasm to the world I think that's a good place for us to end a good reminder I hope in second Samuel Chapter six concerning the desire for God's presence the reminder of God's holiness and the celebration because of God's goodness well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that he lived for us he died for us he was raised for us and we know that he's coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead and to collect us and bring us into those those many mansions that have been prepared how we praise you and how we look forward to that and even in the supper tonight as we eat this bread and we drink this cup we do proclaim his death until he comes even that statement forces us encourages us causes us to reflect upon eschatology to reflect upon the reality of a coming Lord Jesus in glory to bring his bride on home we ask that you would encourage our hearts that we would celebrate with the proper introspection that we would confess our sins but with the proper extra speck ssin we would look unto Jesus that one we are called to remember and may we be glad and may we be joyful and may we rejoice before God Most High and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Matthew as we now observe the Lord's Supper this a blessed meal this blessed ordinance the sacrament book of Matthew chapter 26 we have there the account of our Lord Jesus Christ instituting the supper on the night in which he was betrayed in the section that we want to open with is a reading of Matthew 26 the beginning in verse 17 we'll read to verse 25 we'll make some comments as we normally do and hopefully these these comments aren't repetitious for you it's always good to rehearse what we're doing when we observe the Lord's Supper what it is what it isn't and both the solemnity and the joy that attended the Matthew 26 beginning in verse 17 this is the Word of God now on the first day of the Feast of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying to him where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover and he said go into the city to a certain man and said to him the teacher says my time is at hand I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover when evening had come he sat down with the twelve now as they were eating he said assuredly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him Lord is it I he answered and said he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me the son of man indeed goes just as that just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born then Judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is a tie he said to him you have said it amen well pause there we've noted when we've read from this passage you'll you'll probably notice as we observe the Lord's Supper we either read from Matthew 26 or perhaps more frequently first Corinthians 11 but we read from Matthew 26 we've noted here that Christ Jesus is instituting the Lord's Supper in the context of observing the passover meal and we've always talked about its significance and hopefully that's not like a broken record to you you know even broken records are a blessing if they are stopped and stuck on a on a beautiful note you don't have to hit the needle when it stops on a beautiful note and when we say this it's it's a it's a marvelous thing it's an amazing thing that here we have the one to whom the Passover pointed forward observing the Passover with his disciples and there in instituting the meal that will be the remembrance of him here we have the Paschal Lamb observing the Passover you know here we have the the seed of the woman this one who is observing the the Passover meal with these the this one is the the seed of the woman that's the seed of Abraham the Prophet greater than Moses this one is the washings he is the the sacrifices he is the ceremonies this one is the son of David David's Lord the Lord our righteousness the suffering servant the branch this one is the one to whom all of the Old Covenant pointed forward to and here he observes and Institute's a meal on the night of his oblation before his ablation on the night of his betrayal before he goes to to gaagaa tha's cross to give his life a ransom for many it's a beautiful instance here that we have where he sits with them and gives them this meal it's greater though as we contemplate as we do when we observe the Lord's Supper the thing that this meal remembers and that is the Savior's death remember when we come to observe this when we come to remember our Lord's death that's what we're remembering we're remembering his death it's a solemn occasion that we remember and yet as well and and very interestingly interestingly it is a joyful one as well these two things converge together as we observe this commanded ordinance and hopefully one that we observe with a joyful compliance and remember what's going on here at the Lord's Supper it is not a sacrifice made for the quick in the dead that's the language of our confession countering the Roman Catholic Church now you might ask the question what you know why do we always have to harp on the Roman Catholic Church well their Lord's Supper is an abomination to the Lord and tragically in in our in our in the 21st century there are those who are seeking something in the Catholic Church and something in Eastern Orthodoxy that they think is absent from Protestant churches now a lot of that could be the fault of Protestant churches as pastor about which has pointed out there are many and modern evangelicalism that we can rarely can barely call Christian because of their worship and perhaps their being stolen away and the weakness of their own hearts back to things that they call ancient but here in the Lord's Supper what we do not have is a sacrifice made for the quick and the dead as the Roman Catholic Church teaches but rather and much more gloriously a remembrance of that once for all sacrifice made by Christ two thousand years ago effectual for the sins of his people we remember that and in that remembrance we are called to an action we are called to a remembrance of one who is truly worth remembering I love the words of Spurgeon which should cut to our hearts we will so quickly and easily give our attention to poison weeds and suffer the Rose of Sharon to wither we give our attention kids to everything else but we don't give our attention to the one who should be given attention to that is Christ Jesus the Lord and here we have this ordinance given to us where we get to remember our Blessed Christ where we get to remember our dying Lord and in this act of remembrance it is the case as well that the risen Christ according to his promise strengthens us and aids us and increases our faith by his spirit it's a means of grace whereby we grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of God just as surely as the bread and the wine are physically to our senses and to our pot to bodies so to the grace of Christ to our souls glorious reminder here the bread remains bread the wine remains wine these are emblems of Christ's body broken for us and his blood shed for us remember that when the wine comes around the juices in the outer ring if if you'd like to have juice it's in the outer ring and a reminder that this is an ordinance for Christians only just as baptism is an ordinance for Christians alone the Lord's Supper is an ordinance for Christians alone so if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian you're not to take the bread and you're not to take the wine if you'd like to talk to us about that afterwards please do so but we would implore you to see in this exercise of worship a picture of the gospel that's what a sacrament is a picture a picture without words if you will a sacrament of a sacrament and ordinance that we're observing here preaches the gospel in this pictorial display where these emblems are given to worthy recipients as well if you're harboring unrepentant sin the supper is not to be taken but remember as we always remind you you know this isn't the fourth century you don't have to abstain from the Lord's Supper for a year and then for five months kneel but not take and then for another eight months hear the message and not take and then be admitted find forgiveness in the Lord repent of your sins you do not have to engage in some sort of Protestant Hmong curry and sell flagellate yourselves metaphorically before taking the supper take the supper after repenting of your sins because you find mercy immediately by the risen Christ and the glory of His grace well if I could ask the brothers to come up and pass out the bread we're going to remain seated we'll read the portion of the institution of the Lord Jesus Christ as we take of the bread and we take of the wine but you can turn in your hymn books to him number 193 hymn number 193 remain seated as we sing that hymn [Music] [Music] [Music] Matthew 26 at verse 26 Matthew's recounting the words of our Savior as he Institute's the supper those words are these and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body amen let us pray God we thank you that we can observe your supper we rejoice that we can now take of this bread as a remembrance of our saviors body broken for us and as your people we reflect upon those words that Christ bore in his own body our sins upon the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness and by His stripes we are healed we rejoice in the truth that upon Calvary's cross that Christ Jesus took upon himself the curse that was our do that truly he bore our curse he took away the curse for from us by bearing your wrath in our stead and we rejoice in this saving work we rejoice in the substitutionary atonement we rejoice in the death of our Savior and we do pray that we would reflect with both solemnity and joy now as we take of this bread we do pray that you would richly bless us and that we would give you the honor and the praise that is do your most high name we pray in the name of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ the Lord amen let's take together if I could have the brothers come and pass out the wine a reminder that the juice is in the outer ring you can stay seated and this time we're going to him this time we're going to sing the hymn for 4-0 that's for 40 you can remain seated insane [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Matthew goes on in Matthew 27 excuse me 26 verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives amen let us pray God we thank you now that we can take of this wine and we rejoice and what it represents the shedding of the blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and truly we rejoice in the Christ Jesus blood we know that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood and we know that there is only forgiveness of sins by virtue of the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and we do thank you for this precious truth and knowing that there we have the forgiveness of sins and an everlasting life and truly we rejoice in that and as we always pray we pray that you would forgive us afresh in the blood of the Lamb knowing that we have perfect forgiveness not because of anything we do but solely and alone by virtue of the doing in the dying of Jesus Christ our Savior so please bless us and remind us as we take of the the excellence the glory and the riches of Jesus Christ and His perfect salvation and we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's drink together let's stand as a church sing to our God and to each other one final hymn hymn number 175 let's stand and sing that one seventy-five [Music] now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen the Heavenly Father we pray that you'd go with us into this upcoming week and having gathered for your worship on this your Lord's Day and having observed your Lord's Supper we do pray that we would be well equipped to go into this week reflecting upon the glory the salvation that is in Jesus Christ we pray that you'd help us by your grace and for your glory to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of free and sovereign grace we pray bring us back again next Lord's Day that we might sing the praises of Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen we'll have a brief time of Prayer and then you're dismissed you