May we begin our praise to God by singing to his name in Psalm 34 of the Scottish Salta.
Psalm 34 of the Scottish Salta, that's on page 247.
247 of the Blue Books and we'll sing from verse mark 8.
Psalm 34, verse mark 8.
O taste and see that God is good, who trusts in whom is blessed.
Fear God has since none that whom fear shall be with want oppressed.
The lions young may hungry be, and they may lack their food, but they that truly seek the Lord shall not lack any good.
And we'll sing down to the end of verse mark 15.
Depart from ill, do good, seek peace, pursue it earnestly.
God's eyes are on the just, his ears are open to their cry.
So we'll stand and sing together to God's praise.
O taste and see that God is good.
O taste and see that God is good, who trusts in whom is blessed.
A Mang, Ahestui,
Paburs in the champion of the Holy Spirit
The Lord shall not take me good.
O children, never do ye come, and unto me give me,
I shall you teach to understand how ye the Lord should fear.
What man will see that life decide, new secret would belong.
Thy lips refrain from speaking good, and from ill words thy tongue.
Depart from the new sea peace, pursue eternally.
God's eyes are on the earth as his ears are open to their cry.
May we now come to our garden prayer.
Let us pray together.
Our heavenly Father, you are the one that we can lift our cry to this evening.
And so we ask that you would prepare our hearts as we come into your presence
and come under the power of your word,
that it would be a rule to instruct us and to guide us,
and what duty you require of us.
And Lord, may it be an instruction to us in every step that we take,
wherever you shall lead us and wherever we find our lives to go.
Our lives are so uncertain at times.
And we can confess that we are led into places where we never thought we would be.
And into circumstances that are fearful.
Circumstances that we didn't want to experience.
But Lord, we pray that we would be people that would be reliant upon you.
And that you would be a God that would be trustworthy.
You would be a God that would be faithful to us.
As we cling to you.
As we have nowhere else to go.
That you would reveal yourself to us.
And that we may come from every step.
And as we look back over the steps that we have taken.
Or the steps that you have led us through.
That we can see that things were so unclear at the time.
But you are a God who ordained everything and every step for me.
And you are the one that has provided for me.
In such a way as I could not have provided for myself.
And you met my fears and you met my needs.
And though I was so concerned and anxious over many things.
You took these things from me.
Lord, we pray.
That you would be one.
Known by everyone that is here.
Likewise.
Someone that they can look back upon.
In their experience.
And say that God has been faithful.
God has been my guide.
God will be my king.
And I will in no wise go to any other place.
Nor idol.
Nor God.
For none other can take me through.
The uncertainties of this life.
And give me peace.
You are the prince of peace.
You are the wonderful counselor.
The mighty God.
Our everlasting father.
A father that knows what to give to his children.
And so may the cries of your people be heard this night.
As we come to you in prayer.
Prayer audible.
And prayer silently.
That may you meet us at the needs of our prayers.
You are a God who hears our prayers.
Who casts not our prayers from you.
You are the God abounding in grace.
And has not withheld your grace from us.
So Lord, we pray you guide our minds as we gather here.
Keep the evil one from us.
May our focus be upon God.
As we come to consider who he is.
And the character of God.
Open our eyes, we pray.
Let us be illuminated by your light of your word in our presence.
May our hearts be enriched when we look at the riches of God.
And our faith grow increasingly.
Leaning upon and trusting in the God of our salvation.
Lord, we pray for every effort made this night in your name.
The preaching of your gospel across our nation.
Lord, we pray that it would go with much blessing and many fruits may come from it.
May the seed be scattered in soil that has been prepared by your spirit.
Soil that would grow into mighty from little seeds into mighty oaks.
Strong trees for your cause.
People that will stand firmly upon your truth and not waver from it.
And stand and declare the truth of your word to a day that is full of falsehoods.
A day that is full of false comforts.
And people are full of ambitions that are leading them in their own selfish desires.
People have their own ways of God.
Their own thoughts of who God should be or what a God should be.
We thought of that in the morning.
Of the man that came and behold I thought.
This is the way it should be.
But Lord, we pray you keep us from what we think.
And lead us in how you tell us.
And how you guide us in your word.
That your word would be that guide.
Lord, we pray for the faith mission that gather in Lox.
We pray for their week of work ahead of them.
We pray that your spirit would be with them.
As they preach and share what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in their lives.
And what he can do for them also.
We pray for organisations such as these.
That have a love and desire to share your word to people that are in need.
So Lord, we ask you would likewise give us that desire.
To share the love of Christ and what he has done for us.
With souls that are lost.
With souls that are going to hell if they are not saved.
Lord, we pray for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, we pray for our government.
We pray for our Queen.
We pray that you would be their ultimate guide.
And you would be leading us as a nation.
Lord, we pray that they would come to learn to trust upon you also.
Lord, we pray for the governance of our nation.
That they would set your word before them as their rule likewise.
And Lord, we thank you for a new ministry to begin within our congregation.
We pray for Callum Murdo and the family as they move up to Stornway.
We pray that the children would settle in and that they would be warmly welcomed.
And Lord, as difficult as it is, we pray that you would keep them from all anxieties.
Give them peace in their movements.
Lord, we pray for the congregation of North East as they leave.
That you will be with them and provide for them in ways that they do not expect.
But ways that will be wonderful for them.
Lord, we pray that you would just be one that would be with us here tonight.
Let our minds be focused upon you.
Let us not be distracted to the left or to the right.
But let us lift our hearts to you and sing praises to your wonderful name.
Amen.
May we continue in our praise by singing in Psalm 26 of the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 26 of the Scottish Psalter.
You'll find that on page 235.
Psalm 26, page 235 of the Blue Book.
And we'll sing from verse Mark 7 down to verse Mark 12.
That I with voice of thanksgiving may publish and declare.
And tell of all thy mighty works that great and wondrous are.
The habitation of thy house, Lord, I have loved well.
Yea, in that place I do delight.
Where doth thine honour dwell?
We'll sing down to verse Mark 12.
My foot upon an even place doth stand with steadfastness within the congregations.
The eternal I will bless.
So we'll stand and we'll sing to God's praise from verse 7.
That I with voice of thanksgiving may publish and declare.
Amen.
With sinners gather not my soul, and such as blood would spill,
whose lands this chamber's blocks right hand, God hath in Christ to fill.
But as for thee I will walk on, in my integrity.
To the within, in hand, O Lord, be merciful to me.
My foot upon an evil place, thus stand with steadfastness,
within the congregations, eternal I will bless.
If we can turn now and read from the Word of God.
And we'll find our reading tonight in the first book of Samuel, at chapter 5.
The first book of Samuel, chapter 5.
We'll read the whole of chapter 5, and we'll read the beginning of chapter 6,
and the final section of chapter 6.
So we'll read chapter 6 down to verse Mark 4,
and then in chapter 6 we'll jump to 12, verse 12,
and continue to the end of the chapter.
So let us hear the Word of God,
and may it be blessed to everyone who hears it.
When the Philistines captured the Ark of God,
they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashtod.
Then the Philistines took the Ark of God,
and brought it into the house of Dagon,
and set it up beside Dagon.
And when the people of Ashtod rose early the next day,
behold, Dagon had fallen face down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord.
So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.
But when they rose early the next morning,
behold, Dagon had fallen face down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord.
And the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold.
Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon
do not tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashtod to this day.
The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashtod,
and he terrified and afflicted them with tumour,
both in Ashtod and its territory.
And when the men of Ashtod saw how things were,
they said,
The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us,
for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our God.
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said,
What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?
They answered,
Let the Ark of the God of Israel be brought round to Gath.
So they brought the Ark of God of Israel there.
But after they had brought it round,
the hand of the Lord was against the city,
causing a very great panic.
And he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old.
So that tumour broke out on them.
So they sent the Ark of God to Ekron.
But as soon as the Ark of God came to Ekron,
the people of Ekron cried out,
They have brought round to us the Ark of God of Israel
to kill us and our people.
They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said,
Send away the Ark of the God of Israel,
and let it return to its own place,
that it may not kill us and our people.
For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city.
The hand of God was heavy there.
The men who did not die were struck with tumour,
and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
The Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months.
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said,
What shall we do with the Ark of the Lord?
Tell us what we shall send it to its place.
They said,
If you send away the Ark of God of Israel,
do not send it empty,
but by all means return him a guilt offering.
Then you will be healed,
and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.
And they said,
What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?
And they answered,
Five golden tumours and five golden mice,
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines.
For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.
So we'll pick up our reading at verse 12 now.
And what the people do is they create these golden images,
and they construct a cart of wood, a new cart,
and they put the Ark on this cart with these golden images,
returning it to the land with two new cows
that would pull those cart.
So let's pick up our reading at verse 12.
And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth Shemeth,
along the highway,
lowing as they went.
They turned neither to the right nor to the left,
and the lords of the Philistines
went after them as far as the border of Beth Shemeth.
Now the people of Beth Shemeth were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley.
And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the Ark,
they rejoiced to see it.
The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemeth and stopped there.
A great stone was there.
And they split up the wood of the cart
and offered the cows that burnt offering to the Lord.
And the Levites took down the Ark of the Lord
and the box that was beside it,
in which were the golden figures,
and set them upon the great stone.
And the men of Beth Shemeth offered burnt offerings
and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord.
And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it,
they returned that day to Ekron.
These are the golden tumours that the Philistines returned
as a guilt offering to the Lord.
One for Ashtod, one for Gaza,
one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron.
And the golden mice,
according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines
belonging to the five lords.
Both fortified cities and unwalled villages.
The great stone beside which they set down the Ark of the Lord
is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemeth.
And he struck some of the men of Beth Shemeth
because they looked upon the Ark of the Lord.
He struck 70 men of them.
And the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people
with a great blow.
Then the men of Beth Shemeth said,
Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?
And to whom shall he go up away from us?
So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirath-Jerim,
saying,
The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord.
Come down and take it up to you.
Amen.
We'll leave our reading there and pray that it would be blessed to each of us.
We'll continue in singing praise to God
by singing in Psalm 98 of the Sing Psalms.
Psalm 98 of the Sing Psalms.
And you'll find that on page 129 of the Blue Book.
We'll sing at the beginning of that psalm.
Psalm 98, Sing Psalms at the beginning.
We'll sing down to the end of the double verse, Mark 3.
O sing a new song to the Lord.
For wonders he hath done,
his right hand and his holy arm,
the victory hath won.
The Lord declared his saving work
and made it to be known
to all the nations of the world
his righteousness is shown.
His steadfast love and faithfulness
he has remembered well.
The covenant he made with them,
the house of Israel.
And all the nations of the earth
have seen what God has done,
our God who brings deliverance
by his right hand alone.
So we'll stand together
and sing these words to God's praise.
O sing a new song to the Lord.
The Lord declared his holy arm,
the Lord declared his holy arm,
his holy arm, the Lord declared his holy arm,
for wonders he hath done.
His right and land is holy arm,
his holy arm, the victory hath won.
The Lord declared his holy arm, the victory hath won.
The Lord declared his saving work,
and made it to be Lord.
To all the nations of the world,
His righteousness is sure.
His death was love and faithfulness,
He has remembered well.
Our covenant he made with them,
the hands of Israel.
His holy arm, the Lord declared his holy arm,
and all the nations of the earth,
have seen what God has done.
Our God who brings deliverance,
my Israel's right hand alone.
If we could turn back to the passage that we read together,
and our text for our thoughts will be verse 20 from chapter 6.
Then the men of Beth Shemeth said,
Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?
Now the last time I was with you,
we looked at the previous chapter,
and many of you hopefully recall if you were present,
that we thought about the battle that Israel led against the Philistines,
and how they did it to fulfill their own desires.
But the bombshell, they didn't succeed,
and they received a bombshell back of great death.
The ears of Israel would tingle at their ignorance,
it was, to the word of God.
They didn't listen to the word of God.
And it was a reminder to us to take heed of what God says,
and what God has revealed to us.
And we thought that when we do that,
and we use God's word as a rule to direct us,
we would know the fulfilling of the first catechism,
which is that our chief end would be to glorify God,
and to enjoy him forever.
And I wanted to continue through in the following accounts that we read here tonight.
And pondering over the passage,
and taking a step back from the passage of what's happening here,
it kind of became clear to me that,
well, there's many different ways you could look at it.
But really what's happening is, God is at work.
God is revealing who he is to the people,
to the Philistines and to the Israelites.
He's showing them who he is.
So I thought, well, it's entirely fitting that we employ another catechism,
just like the people of Westminster that constructed the catechisms and confessions.
They looked at the word of God was a priority of everything.
And then they looked secondly at who God is.
So as God reveals himself in this next chapter,
it is fitting that we can apply catechism for, to our thoughts.
What is God?
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.
In his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
And in the time that we have, there's no way we can satisfactorily touch on each point that we have there.
But I would like to just touch on it.
And many of you will be familiar with the idea of a tapas style restaurant,
where you go into the restaurant and you don't get a full meal, single meal.
You get lots of different meals, tasters as it were.
And you taste it and see if you like it.
And in a sense, that's kind of what I want to do tonight.
I just touch on these characteristics of God, these attributes of God,
so we get a taste of who God is.
And that would be a taste that would leave us longing for more of that taste.
That would leave us coming back in our own time and our own readings to fulfill what is God.
And when you look at the, this is just the shorter catechism version of who God is.
And it is concise and in its most basic form, but when you go to the confession of faith,
it is fulfilled with all these wonderful descriptions.
And when you read them and keep reading them,
it's almost like it enriches every time you read it to who God is.
So I'd like to give you a taste of God using these points of his being, his wisdom, his power, his holiness, his justice, his goodness, and his truth.
So it will just be a taste of each in the time that we have.
So let us look at the being of God first.
And the being and wisdom of God will kind of fit into the background of our passage.
God's being is completely different to what we know as a being or our being.
Where we see our beginnings, we see our ends, we see the changes on our being.
We grow old.
We can only be in one place at one time.
We can be here.
We can come to be.
Or we may have been.
And our being is limited, ultimately.
Our being will stop.
It will be a being that will have been, in a sense.
But God's being is eternal, infinite, always existing, eternally being, never come to have been, always his.
Infinite in his being, so that he is not limited to be in a place.
Infinite in the ability to be anywhere, not restricted to a body, to a time.
He is a God that can be here, even as we sit under his word.
He is a God that does not change.
We change.
We grow old.
But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, thankfully.
So we can be assured by the words that God has given to us, describes a God who still is.
It's not a God that has changed.
So we get a clearer picture of who God is.
And we can gain a knowledge of him by reading his scripture.
God of Israel is the same God for our day.
But Israel, in our passage, they forgot God.
They neglected God and they turned away from God.
They sought other gods.
They sought the gods of Canaan.
They sought the Baals, the other gods.
So God, in his wisdom, reminded them of who they had forgotten.
It was God's wisdom being revealed to remind them, in such a way, of who he was.
So let us jump to our next taste of God's wisdom.
The nation of Israel had been left in a hopeless position now that the ark of God had been captured.
The symbol of the symbol that represented God's presence had been taken from them.
And the tabernacle in Shiloh was left without a heart, in a sense.
And we must realize that it was not the Philistines who stole the ark, although they did.
It was God really allowing them to take it.
It was his choice, his providence, that they took the ark.
The ark was, in its day, a representation of God's presence.
That's how he revealed himself to the people then.
It was his choice that he appointed the Philistines to take it.
And God's departure to that nation would have been a clear message to them.
They had fallen from his favor.
They did not rightly give God the honor that he was worthy of.
And it was the root of the problem.
They didn't realize who he was.
They had lost the knowledge of God by neglecting his word.
But they were a people that were chosen by God.
They were a people.
Israel was his treasured possession.
Israel were people of God's favor.
If they would obey him.
But they never.
They forgot him.
They lost knowledge.
And he was a God that promised to be faithful to them.
He would be faithful to this Israel.
If they would be obedient to him.
That comes from Deuteronomy chapter 7.
And that chapter lays down a lot of terms for them.
As a people.
Of being obedient to God.
And what God expected from them as a people.
And now the ark has been taken from them.
It may seem like they've, in a sense, blown it with God.
The glory of God has departed.
And they would have been asking themselves.
Well, what can we do now?
God's wisdom outworking.
Is beyond our understanding.
This may have seemed for them such an empty place.
Without the presence of God.
God.
But it was much as in God's chastisement.
To the people.
As it was correction.
As it was cultivation.
Within them.
And though they were sad days for the nation.
Though it would have seemed like their future had been robbed from them by the Philistines.
And their security swept from under their feet.
It was all in God's plan.
And we need to remember that as a people.
Regardless of what our circumstances are.
God is all wise.
And knows how to outwork all our situations.
If we trust in him.
Stephen Lawson describes it.
That he says.
He will bring about the best purpose.
By the best means.
God will do it in a way that no one else can.
No one else would have thought of even.
And we see that ultimately in salvation.
How God outworks his wisdom and salvation through Jesus Christ.
And we see it here in this passage.
Maybe we can see that we need to be taught something.
Maybe we don't acknowledge that we need to be taught by God.
But God knows what we need to be taught.
And knows how to administer that teaching to us.
Whether it be by chastisement.
Whether it be by a revealing of his loving cultivating of our hearts.
Whatever it is.
Or correction.
Or whatever.
It is all teaching to sanctify the people of God.
To bring us closer to God.
To make us his people that he promised he would be.
And it may take us to dry places.
Hard places.
Places that are hopeless.
Like Israel.
Where the hope is robbed from them.
Take us to sad places.
Where we can even lose all hope for the future that is ahead of us.
And ask, well, what now?
God has a plan.
He is the God of all wisdom.
And his plans are for good.
And only that plan can be outworked because he has a power to do it.
For what if there is a plan with no power?
It is useless.
Let us look at the power of God.
Now we come to a passage that we read.
We have done the background of the people.
Forgetting who God was.
Forgetting the being of God.
Not trusting in the wisdom of God.
But seeing how God outworked his wisdom.
And teaching the people what they needed to be taught.
Let us read from chapter 5, verse 2.
Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon.
And set it up beside Dagon.
And when the people of Ashland rose early the next day.
Behold, Dagon had fallen on the ground before the ark of the Lord.
So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.
God displays his power in this quiet, almost humorous wisdom.
In a way we couldn't have thought of.
God works with his power.
The Philistines brought this ark of God from the Israelites into the palace.
The presence of their God, Dagon.
We don't know why.
Were they thanking God?
Were they thanking their God, Dagon, for enabling them to overpower this God of the Israelites?
Were they giving this ark of God to Dagon as a sacrifice?
As a sacrifice or giving it to him as thanks to this God?
We're not entirely sure.
But we know, just to give you a picture.
This God, Dagon, was like half man, half fish.
Like a lower half fish.
So it was like a male version of a mermaid, if you'd like.
So it would make it a mere man, in a sense.
And they brought this ark of Israelites before Dagon.
And you would never have expected this to happen.
I couldn't see how big Dagon was.
And just to picture what was happening here, I couldn't find any sort of sizes, relevance.
You know, was it a small statue?
Was it a big statue that would have been difficult to fall over?
We're not sure on it.
But it did fall.
It fell on its face before the ark.
Just as if Dagon was submitting worship to God.
Philistines come in the next morning and resurrected.
They stick it back up again.
They stand it back up.
And I don't know where they're asking, how did that fall over?
Maybe we don't know.
And then the next morning, the same thing happens.
Dagon falls before this ark of God.
Now, we can easily have idols in our lives.
And God can't take them from us.
God can make them difficult for us to live with.
But what we must be aware of is when God corrects us for them.
And when we make things that are maybe not bad, but we make them idols,
we need to understand if God is trying to correct us in the time that we give to them,
the place that we put them on in our lives.
And we must not try to resurrect them like the Philistines did.
Because God has power over them.
The Philistines were greeted with the God in this worse condition.
His fallen flat on his face, his hands and heads,
his head and his hands detached this time.
As if God was saying to Dagon and the Philistines,
your God has no wisdom, his head's been cut off.
Your God has no power, his hands have been cut off.
My power overcomes your gods.
See, the Lord will not be worshipped alongside any other God or any other idols.
There is none besides God, but the one true living God.
And he's a God full of power.
And power is a quality that enables someone to conquer.
The Lord God Almighty is full of power, infinite in power, omnipotent.
He has a power over everything and everyone, every God, every evil, every sin, even death itself.
And God revealed his power over the Philistines as well as their God.
God revealed himself to the nation.
A nation that came with, you can imagine the pride they had taking this ark back.
It would have felt so confident.
We've conquered the God of the Philistines.
They would have been saved.
But God will not allow that.
God plagued the people with tumour.
His heavy hand was upon them in verse 6.
Wherever this ark went, whatever town it went to,
Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, the people felt the hand on the power of God overwhelming them, suppressing them.
A power that was uncontrollable.
These tumours kept taking over, killing people.
They couldn't do anything about it.
It caused a deathly panic.
They felt powerless before the power of God.
And have we seen the full extent of his power today?
Not fully.
The Lord will show us might and power by conquering all evil one day.
A day unknown to us.
He has promised that he will conquer death for the one that believes in him.
He believes in his son.
And the power that is within him.
As one God.
Is the power of God on your side tonight?
Or are you one that opposes the power of God?
There is nobody in this world that can escape the plagues of life.
The plagues of life will come.
The experiences of life will come to us.
But ultimately God has a power that will overcome every power.
Even if it is a tumour.
God will overcome that for us.
But the power of God is too much for this people to bear.
And so they called a meeting together in verse 2 of chapter 6.
And said.
What shall we do with the ark of the Lord?
Send it away.
The power of this God.
Sets him apart from all other gods.
And above all any other God or being.
But it is a power that enriches and complements the holiness of his being.
God is holy.
Let us move on to the taste of holiness.
Holiness means that God is separated.
He is set apart.
He is one in perfection and purity.
Because he is holy.
The God that is full of wisdom.
Almighty in power.
He demands a holy reverence.
But this attribute of God.
The holiness of God.
Is hard for us to put a finger on.
I don't think we get it.
Because if we did.
I think we would live our lives completely differently.
To the way that we do.
We may not grasp God.
He is incomprehensible.
In many levels.
But we can see the holiness.
Revealed to us through a scripture.
And the effect it had on the people.
You can be mindful of Moses.
At Mount Sinai.
When the glory of God.
Appeared over that mountain.
The fear.
Fell upon the whole people.
That they trembled.
They trembled.
This whole nation.
Trembled.
Because God appeared.
We can think of Moses.
After the tabernacle had been built.
He wasn't allowed.
Into the presence of God.
Initially.
He had to prepare himself.
We can think of Isaiah.
We thought of Isaiah.
And services recently.
Who stood before.
The presence of God.
Came to him.
And he said.
Woe is me.
I am lost.
I am a man of unclean lips.
I dwell in the midst of unclean lips.
Ezekiel.
Who fell on his face.
Before God.
He could not look upon him.
John in the revelation.
Who fell as his one dead.
Matthew Henry says.
That there is no attribute of God.
More dreadful to sinners.
Than his holiness.
And the holiness of God.
Invoques within us.
A feeling of.
Fear.
A dread.
It invokes a feeling of complete loss.
Where we call out.
Woe.
To me.
What am I.
Before this.
Almighty.
Holy.
God.
Infinite.
Eternal.
And unchangeable.
Pure.
Perfect.
Undefiled.
If we.
Realized.
The holiness of God.
We would be a different people.
The holiness of God.
Could not be.
Be.
Beared.
Of the natural man.
They put him away.
They can't bear it.
But the one who trusts in him.
Will humble his heart.
And change his ways.
And listen to him.
And give worship.
And praise.
To this God.
Who is so holy.
That they cannot comprehend his holiness.
And the holiness of God's character.
Is shown in the passage.
Where Dagon fell on his face.
It wasn't a power that knocked him on his back.
Or his side.
He fell on his face.
As if.
He was.
Worshipping.
God.
Because he was.
Holier.
Than any other.
God.
And wherever this ark went.
It terrified the people of God.
This panic that came upon the people.
And they said that this God.
Is a God that is unbearable.
He cannot remain with us.
And it even cost them.
To send this God away.
It was that unbearable.
The holiness of God's presence.
Amongst the sinful people.
But they did what they could.
They made this.
Golden mice.
Golden tumour.
They made this new cart.
They sent it away with new cows.
Away from me.
Are you doing that.
Tonight.
With God.
It's what people did.
When Jesus came.
They did away with him.
They couldn't bear him.
To be amongst them.
They silenced him.
They killed him.
But they could not overcome him.
And even when the ark returned to Israel.
There is.
There is a holiness seen there.
This ark was specific.
Within specific instructions from God.
And it says that the people looked upon it.
When it came into the village of Beth Shemeth.
Beth Shemeth.
And whether they looked upon it.
Just looking at it.
Or whether they looked into it.
We are unclear.
And the ark should have been covered anyway.
We are not sure.
But it says in Numbers 4 verse 20.
They shall not go in and look on the holy things.
Even for a moment.
Lest they die.
They die.
This was the Lord's command.
This was the holy things.
One of the things was the ark of God.
And when this returned.
To dwell amongst their people.
There was no allowances.
There was no change of who God was.
An unchangeable God.
Ignorance to the word of God was no excuse.
Israel needed to relearn who God was.
Who is this God?
What is God to them?
And they learned.
That God was a holy God.
That they could not stand before.
If you remember.
There were people that took this ark.
So casually into battle.
In the last chapter.
But now they are saying.
Who can stand before this?
God is teaching them.
God does not leave his people.
Holiness of God.
It elevates his purity.
This uprightness.
And this righteousness.
And in order for there to be righteousness.
There must be justice.
So let us move to the next taste.
Of justice.
The thought of a God who is just.
It kind of has fallen out of favor.
In our day.
Something that's maybe not fair.
Is God not love?
Why is he chastising of?
But justice is actually a good thing.
When you think about it.
No one likes to see injustice.
No one likes to see someone who.
Is convicted of an offense.
That he can walk away from it.
Or he can hide from it.
That punishment is administered.
To the person who has committed the crime.
And that is the justice of it.
Although even our justice isn't perfect.
God's justice is perfect.
Nor in a sense.
That someone could be convicted.
That hasn't committed a crime.
That would be injustice.
In the same sense.
Justice is as much as what is right.
As is what is deserved.
People want to see justice.
It's just justice is hard.
When it comes knocking at our door.
Because of convictions.
In our life.
God's justice is one of his qualities.
But the idea of God being just.
Says just that well.
He's going to act.
On his justice.
He implements justice.
Or he administers justice.
To his people.
God took the ark from them.
In order to teach them.
He was very particular.
About this ark.
As we said.
It should be carried.
In a specific way.
It should be placed.
In a certain place.
People should have approached them.
With certain clothes on.
And if they didn't meet.
The requirements.
Of what God specified.
It was met with the condition.
Lest they die.
If they didn't listen.
To how God had ordered things to be.
And approach him.
As he had ordered.
It was largely conditioned.
Upon.
The thought.
Of lest they die.
Should they not.
Not.
So it was justifiable.
In a sense.
Of what God had done.
That death.
Took place.
To the people.
Of Israel.
In the last passage.
That we read through.
The Lord.
By no means.
Will clear the guilty.
And all sin.
Deserves punishment.
Of God.
The wages of sin.
Is death.
In us.
We deceive ourselves.
We deserve to die.
Because of our sin.
We deserve.
God's justice.
We are full.
Short.
Of the glory.
Of God.
The wages.
We gather.
Results.
In death.
In our lives.
But the free gift.
Of God.
Is eternal life.
Through Christ.
Jesus.
Christ.
Is a key.
Christ.
Frees us.
From punishment.
Of God.
Our.
Redeemer.
Who paid.
The wages.
For the sins.
That we accumulate.
In this life.
At the cross.
Of Calvary.
But it does not mean.
That he frees us.
From God's justice.
God's justice.
Will always be.
Christ.
Satisfies.
God's justice.
For us.
He became sin.
So that we.
May.
Know.
No sin.
And that we.
May be righteous.
Before God.
There's no other way.
That we can stand.
Before God.
That's right.
If Christ does not.
Take.
Our sins.
And we.
Confess them.
To him.
And he.
Deals with them.
At the cross.
And at Calvary.
He takes them.
From us.
And the judge.
Can.
The judge.
Can say.
That you're free.
To go.
Because.
Christ has.
Done the.
Sentence.
To.
Christ.
Has paid.
The cost.
And met.
The requirements.
Of justice.
Christ.
Is.
Our escape.
From the wrath.
Of God.
And it's a free gift.
Of his free grace.
And it is of the goodness.
Of his nature.
So briefly.
The goodness of God.
And the truth of God.
God.
And.
What is good.
In its essence.
The dictionary says.
It's morally excellent.
Virtuous.
And righteous.
And we met.
We met.
Righteousness.
Already.
And all these things overlap.
And interweave.
And crisscross over each other.
That they.
Tie each other together.
Strengthen each other.
Into this God.
That is so.
Good.
And strong.
And powerful.
And almighty.
And wise.
God is.
Good.
And the.
Whole account.
Of what happens here.
Is.
People have disobeyed God.
They've rejected God.
They dishonored the ark of God.
And.
They should have died.
Lest they die.
They deserve.
In a sense.
To die.
And.
But God.
Out of his goodness.
Out of his grace.
Did not.
Ultimately.
Kill all of them.
He did not.
Entirely.
Abandon them.
God came back.
In his goodness.
And he renewed.
Their understanding.
And taught the people.
Again.
Who he.
Is.
And what he required.
Of them.
God works.
All things.
For good.
Even when we don't.
Understand.
What's going on.
And it is all.
For his purpose.
For his people.
As well.
God.
Is not only good.
In himself.
His creation.
Is good.
And.
We.
As his people.
Should emulate.
Goodness.
And devoting ourselves.
To good works.
The goodness.
That is.
Instilled.
Within us.
Should come out of us.
In good works.
If we believe.
And trust.
In the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
In God.
And.
Everyone.
Who knows.
The goodness.
Everyone.
In a sense.
Knows.
Of God.
You're sitting here.
His grace.
His goodness.
We do not deserve.
These things.
And we see.
The goodness.
Of God.
Again.
Christ.
Jesus.
He did not.
God did not.
Abandon.
His people.
To.
To save.
People.
From their sins.
To meet.
The.
Wages.
Of sin.
That they had.
Built up.
God.
Sent.
His son.
Graciously.
Now.
People.
Can tell you.
Many good things.
People.
Can tell you.
Things.
We like to hear.
Now.
If you are told.
Something.
That was good.
Found it out.
To be a lie.
You would.
The thing.
Would just be written off.
In your head.
It wouldn't be good.
At all.
It would be worthless.
Because it was a lie.
It's lost all.
It's goodness.
And that's where the truth of God comes in.
This good.
News.
Is.
Entirely.
Truth.
It's no lies.
It is great above all.
Because it is.
True.
And finally.
Truth.
Very briefly.
He is true to his word.
He is true to his promise.
He is true to his people.
He is truth in its entirety.
Never to digress from truth.
Of what truth is.
You see.
Truth.
Cannot be changed.
Truth stands.
Truth.
Truth is like this wall of salvation.
This wall.
That no one can move.
Truth does not change.
You cannot change the truth.
It stands.
We can cover the truth.
We can hide the truth.
People don't like the truth.
And don't look at the truth.
But the truth.
Is an unmovable.
Thing.
Truth.
Stands.
And so.
This word of God.
Has stood through.
All time.
As an undeniable.
Truth.
And the believer.
Holds it.
As a truth.
That they can trust.
People put false assurances.
In front of us.
And there's a quote.
From Walter Chantry.
That says.
When truth is silent.
False views become plausible.
When truth is silent.
False views become plausible.
Is the truth of God.
In the heart of the believer.
Silent tonight.
The truth of God.
Is the truth of God.
In the heart of the believer.
Silent.
Tonight.
The truth of God.
Within each of us.
Is it a silent truth.
Dwelling within us.
Or are we.
Lifting up.
The truth of God.
With the nature of us.
Is it a silent truth.
Dwelling within us.
Or are we.
Lifting up.
The truth of God.
Within us.
As we go out.
Amongst this world.
That is full.
Of falsehoods.
Do we lift up the truth.
Of who God is.
What he is to me.
Because the world.
Are distracted.
And consumed.
With these falsehoods.
That seem so plausible.
And people are lost.
And people are chasing.
The wind.
Because they can't.
Find the truth.
We need to be prepared.
To tell them the truth.
And not be ashamed.
To speak of the truth.
And I say to myself.
As much as anyone.
We need to be people.
That dig for the truth.
We need to be people.
That search out the truth.
We need to be people.
That uncover the truth.
And share the truth.
And in conclusion.
Matthew Henry wrote.
That without truth.
There is no goodness.
Which reverses the way we went.
We went from goodness to truth.
Matthew Henry had this quote.
Without truth.
There is no goodness.
But in the sense of God.
That can be.
That's true.
Without truth.
There is no goodness.
But you can continue it through.
With all these attributes.
That we have in the shorter chasm.
Without goodness.
There is no justice.
It might take a bit of thought.
But without goodness.
There is no justice.
Because there is no good.
There is no justice.
Without justice.
There is no holiness.
The righteousness.
Without justice.
There is no holiness.
Without holiness.
There is no power.
There is God who is holy.
Without holiness.
There is no power.
Without power.
There is no wisdom.
And if we take any of these.
Characteristics of God.
And we dilute any of them.
To an incomplete sense.
Or an imperfect sense.
We lose sight of who God is.
This is only a taste of God.
There is much more to enjoy.
May this taste.
Nourish you.
And build you up.
And may you seek a greater taste.
That is hidden.
Within his truth.
May it be blessed.
To us.
As we part.
Amen.
If we could conclude.
By singing.
In Psalm 46.
Of the Scottish Sorta.
46.
Of the Scottish Sorta.
And from.
Vrlmacht 8.
That is on page 271.
271 of the Blue Book.
Page 271 of the Blue Book.
Psalm 46.
Vrlmacht 8.
Down to the end of the psalm.
1.
Come and behold what wondrous works have by the Lord been wrought.
Come see what desolations he hath on earth hath brought.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
High on earth will be exalted high.
Our God, who is the Lord of hosts, is still upon our side.
The God of Jacob, our refuge, will forever abide.
We'll stand together and sing to God's praise these verses.
Come and behold what wondrous works.
Up by the Lord in glory.
Come sing what desolations.
He only hath a throne.
But to the hands of all the earth,
Watched to peace in dirt,
The holy grace, the spirit, he comes,
And fire the child's birth.
May still and hope that I am God
Among the heathen I will be exalted high.
The holy grace, the Lord of hosts, is still upon our side.
The God of Jacob, our refuge forever will abide.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are the one who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.
You are the one who you are revealed to be in the word of scripture.
And so we ask that you would remain with your people.
You would be a God who is faithful to his people.
As we go in obedience to you, open our eyes to see who you are.
And that we may give you all the praise that we can afford to you.
You are worthy of it.
You are holy.
You have many attributes that are unfathomable for us.
But we pray that you would reveal yourself to who you are to us.
We ask these things all in the name of your power and in your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Thank you.