Good morning, everyone. Good
to see you here today. Today, we'll be considering a
passage of Scripture that's found in 1 Chronicles chapter 13, if
you'd like to be turning there. 1 Chronicles 13. And there it
is described how the Lord made what is called a breach upon
a man named Uzzah, striking him dead simply because he touched
the Ark of the Covenant. He touched it to steady it, apparently. It was being pulled on a cart
by some oxen. And as the ox stumbled, Uzzah
simply reached up to touch or steady the ark. And in my study,
I found this phrasing used here to describe that, this phrasing
of how God made a breach upon Uzzah. I thought that was interesting. And we're going to examine that
same phrase Not only how it is used here in First Chronicles
13, but in chapters 14 and 15 as well. In fact, I'd like to
introduce the message by having you look with me at the usage
of the phrase in chapter 15. Here in chapter 15, David is
referring back to the events we'll be considering today in
chapter 13. There in verse 11 of chapter
15, we see that David is speaking to the leaders of the Levites
and picking up in verse 12, we read and said, that is, David
said, and said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers
of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both ye
and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord
God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
For because ye did it not at the first. Excuse me. He's referring there to how it
was handled earlier, some three months earlier, back in chapter
13, when the breach was made upon us. He said, for because
ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon
us. There's that phrase again. And
he says, for that we sought him not after the due order. Here he's referring back to the
same breach made upon Uzzah, as it's likewise referred to
in chapter 13, where we're going to read about God's immediate
breach or his outburst in striking Uzzah dead when he merely just
placed his hand on the ark to steady it. Here in chapter 15,
David says, that breach took place for or because They did
not seek God after the due order. And that's what we're going to
be examining today in the first of a two-part series of messages
I want to bring that I've titled Seeking God After the Due Order. Well, to understand what this
means, it'll be helpful, I think, if we understand why their actions
and specifically others' actions resulted in what is called this
breach or this outburst by God against us. God immediately striking
him dead when he put his hand to the ark. As I've said, I found
the use of the word breach intriguing as it's used here in First Chronicles
chapter 13, which we'll focus on today, but also in chapter
14. And that's what we'll look at
in part two of this series. Let me share with you some insight,
first of all, into the meaning of the word that is translated
breach here. The word means outbreak or an
outburst. I checked its usage in the original
Hebrews. It's used throughout the Old
Testament. I found it was often used in the context of something
breaking or breaking in or breaking out. As you'll see, in the second
part of this series, in chapter 14, that same Hebrew word is
used, but it was translated in the English differently. It wasn't
translated as breach, but rather there it says that God broke
in upon David's enemies, the Israelites' enemies, the Philistines,
and he described it as like the breaking forth of waters. And
so the word seems to always indicate have the connotation of an immediate
breach, like that of a dam bursting. And likewise, as we're going
to see in today's text, chapter 13, it denotes an immediate manifestation
of God's judgment or wrath being poured out as like an intervening
act, a breaking in upon by God. And so, by understanding why
God made a breach upon Uzzah, why he intervened or broke in
with this immediate judgment upon him in striking him down,
perhaps God might teach us, lest we would, in like manner, tragically
fail to seek God after the due order. We see here it's quite
serious. You see, we want to be sure that
we do not fail to seek God after the due order, that we do not
fail to seek him in opposition to his prescribed way. Well, before considering the
text, I think I need to share some background information on
the Ark of the Covenant. I think it will help us understand
the significance of Uz's mistake here. Back in the book of Exodus,
God gave specific instructions on Moses regarding how Israel,
as his chosen nation now under the terms of the old covenant,
how they were to worship and commune with him. The main elements
of that covenant that he made with Israel to keep them together
until the time that the Messiah would come and fulfill all that
was pictured therein, keep them together as a nation to bring
forth Christ through that lineage, The main elements of that covenant
were one, the tabernacle, two, the priesthood, and thirdly,
the sacrifice and the altar upon which it was sacrificed. And
without these, there was no covenant or provision for worship and
communion with God. And all of these elements now,
they typified eternal salvation. That is, not the temporal deliverance
of national Israel, as they were, in fact, God's chosen nation
for this particular time to be temporarily delivered by God. But the I'm saying I'm I want
to make sure you understand that the significance of these elements
is in the fact that they typified eternal salvation. True for spiritual
Israel, God's chosen people. but from every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation chosen unto eternal salvation in Christ.
And these elements then all typify how God saves his people, how
he saves them eternally, and likewise per a very specific
prescribed way, a way that is set forth in the gospel of how
God saves sinners. That way, of course, based solely
upon the shed blood and the imputed righteousness of Christ, and
that alone being his due order. That's God's way of salvation. Now, the whole tabernacle was
built primarily to house the Ark of the Covenant. In Exodus
chapter 25, God gave very specific instructions to Moses as to how
to build the Ark, the construction of it, its dimensions, its materials,
And among all of these very precise instructions, he told them to
cast four rings of gold. And these rings of gold were
to be placed on the corners of the ark. And he told them to
make staves of shittum wood. That's believed to be acacia
wood. Staves is simply the plural form of staff. It was a staff
or a rod, and it was to be overlaid with gold. And he told them they
were to be put in the rings in the sides of the ark. so that
they might be born are carried upon the shoulders of those who
who he precisely appointed for that purpose from among the tribe
of Levi, and he said that these days they were not to be taken
out. They were never to be taken out
of the rings on the sides of the Ark. Many told them that
inside of the Ark this container. They were to place the testimony
and he was referring to the Ten Commandments that were etched
or inscribed upon the stone tablets that were given to Moses. He
goes on in chapter 25 of Exodus to describe the details of how
then there was to be a lid or covering that he called the mercy
seat. And it was to be constructed
of pure gold. He gave all its very precise
dimensions as well. And he told them they were to
take the mercy seat, and it was to sit above and upon the ark. And in Exodus 25, verse 22, he
tells them, And there, there will I meet with thee, and I
will come in with thee from above the mercy seat. from between
the two cherubims, which are upon the ark of the testimony
of all things, which I will give thee in commandment unto the
children of Israel." You see, it was in the tavern. It was
above the mercy seat, over the ark of the covenant, by God's
appointed high priest, who alone could touch that ark for this
purpose, based on the shed blood of animals that God said he would
meet and he would commune with them. And those details were
vital, and they were important. And as God proved, including
here in his actions taken in his breach made upon us, that
these were not to be tampered with, they were not to be corrupted,
they were not to be ignored. Now, why did all these things
pertaining to these elements, and in particular, the ark, why
did it have to be so precise? Well, in the last verse of Exodus 25,
verse 40, after telling them how to make all these things,
he said to Moses, and look that I'll make them after their pattern,
which was showed thee in the mount. You see, it was because
of the pattern and the cause for which all these things were
intended. God had actually revealed to
Moses the person and mediatorial work of Christ that was prefigured
by these types. Christ was that pattern. And
so to worship any other way than God's prescribed way, the way
which typified the way of eternal deliverance by Christ, you see,
was not to be tolerated. The nation of Israel was to worship
God in the tabernacle, through God's appointed high priest,
and based upon God's appointed sacrifice. To seek to worship
God in any other place, see, through any other priest, based
upon any other ground, was idolatry and it was disobedience. Now,
those of you who have studied the book of Hebrews, you know
that it makes it very clear that these earthly things typified
heavenly things. I'm not taking literary license
here, to suggest there's some symbolism that isn't explicitly
made clear to us. Now, it tells us that's the case. As was revealed to Moses, Christ
himself was the pattern they were built after. He was the
tabernacle. He was the priest, the one mediator
between God and man. He was the sacrifice, the Lamb
of God, and he was the altar which gave the sacrifice its
value, which distinguished it, you see, from just the random
shedding of blood of other animals, for he offered the sacrifice
of his humanity at the altar of his deity. It was the God-man
who lived and died. And the law residing inside that
arc of the covenant, it was a magnificent representation of Christ. You
see, the arc, the tablets were placed there in a place of honor
to be magnified. And Christ alone is the true
arc typified thereby. You see, for he's the only one
wherein the law is magnified. and honored, because he's the
only one who ever walked on the face of this earth without sin,
having kept the law perfectly, every jot and tittle, and satisfied
all of its just demands. So the law here contained in
the ark, you'll recall when it was given to Moses, that before
he even got down off of Mount Sinai, they had already broken
it. The Israelites were already engaged in idolatry. And that
law, having been broken, served as a continual reminder to that
nation that they needed a covering. They needed mercy. Well, just
as that mercy seat ceased at a top and covered that broken
law, Christ is the mercy seat for spiritual Israel. The word
mercy in Hebrew signifies propitiation. In the New Testament, the same
Greek word is translated at one place as mercy, as mercy seed,
and in another place as propitiation. All the same word. As many of
you know, in Romans 3.25, God specifically tells us that Christ
is the propitiation or the mercy seed. where we see the importance
and the reason for the preciseness regarding these elements of the
Old Covenant. It was for what they typified. Propitiation or mercy seat means
the appeasement of God's wrath whereby God shows favor, mercy. He shows unmerited favor in terms
of the object of that favor. But here's the important distinction
I want you to never forget. It's unmerited by the object
of mercy, the sinner, but it is merited. And that's the key
understanding you need to take away from this word that means
propitiation or mercy seat. It is merited. It reflects, see,
that God shows mercy to people who can't merit anything before
him, sinners. but only by way of justice actually
being satisfied. And it teaches us, these elements
here teach us, that it was Christ alone, the mercy seed, based
upon his satisfaction alone as a representative, see, and a
substitute for a people that any find mercy before God. That
is, we have portrayed precisely there how God forgives and purges
spiritual Israel. from their sins. So in Christ's
person and work, when correctly understood, we see how God's
wrath could be appeased in such a way that a reconciliation can
be made between a sinner before a holy God. And we see that only
comes by the complete and perfect satisfaction to God's justice
that Christ alone could and did make in his obedience unto death.
And that's the sole basis upon which reconciliation is made
for lawbreakers, sinners, before a holy God who cannot commune
with sin. He can only commune by virtue
of the mercy seed. And so none, except those for
whom this perfect satisfaction that was due unto their sins
has been rendered for them by Christ's shed blood at Calvary
can ever know or worship or commune with the one living and true
God. Mercy is only found for those
who possess a perfect righteousness, a perfect satisfaction that allows
them to stand accepted before holy God. The scripture says
unblameable, unreprovable, accepted where? In the beloved, the mercy
seat. The law must have been kept perfectly
for them. Listen, both with regard to the
obedience of its precepts and with respect to the sufficient
penalty having been extracted. The debt must have been paid
in full to God's justice due unto their sins. And the only
way to possess such a righteousness for a sinner is by God's gracious
imputation or accounting of it to the sinner. In the same way,
the sins of all those whom he did represent in his life and
death were charged or imputed to his account, so that he might
bear the penalty in full, you see, that would satisfy God's
holy justice. Dying for sins, he had no part
in producing, that they might possess the very merit of that
righteousness that he established in satisfaction to justice, a
righteousness they had no part in producing. That's mercy and
grace. Well, I know that's a lengthy
introduction, but I thought that background, and I still believe
that background will be helpful as we consider our text now.
In chapter 13 of 1 Chronicles, in the beginning here, it's recorded
how David consulted with the leaders of Israel, and they were
all in agreement to bring the Ark of the Covenant back from
where it had been kept in the house of Abinadab. Now, the history
of the possession of the Ark prior to this is very interesting,
and I'd encourage you to read that. You can read all about
it beginning back in 1 Samuel chapter 4, but I'll summarize
just briefly for you so that we capture the context here.
In 1 Samuel 4, you read how the Philistines had fought They were
being led by King Saul at the time, and they had taken the
ark away as God's favor was not upon them, and he allowed them
to be defeated there. And the Philistines, after winning
that battle, they took the ark away, and they kept it about
seven months. And it was nothing but trouble
for them for having done so. God sent them plagues. He killed
many of them. And he inflicted them with these
terrible tumors called in the Scriptures emmerods. And some
believe that may have been referring to the bubonic plague. The word
itself means swellings. But accordingly, they just couldn't
get rid of that ark fast enough, you see. God didn't mean for
them to have it. And it took its toll. And so
they finally decided to build a cart to put the ark upon, to
have it be pulled back by oxen to the Israelites. And they just
set the team of oxen and the cart in the direction toward
Israel and let it go, and providentially it found its way to Israel, first
to a place called Bethshemesh. God is so particular when it
comes to this thing, this ark, this mercy seat. For you see,
it pictures the highest manifestation of the glory of God in how he
saves sinners by Christ alone. There, even in Beth Shemesh,
he killed over 50,000 of the men there because they dared
to look into the ark. Well, the men of Beth Shemesh,
they sent some messengers to a place called Kirjath-Jeru,
and they asked them to come and fetch the ark, and they did,
and they took it back with them to the house of Abinadab there,
and it remained there for at least 20 years. Some commentators
I studied said perhaps 50 years, but I couldn't confirm that.
I know there's a story in one place where it says when it had
been there 20 years, so-and-so took place. Regardless, it was
there for a long time. In 1 Chronicles 13, after having
agreed to bring back now the ark of the covenant from the
house of Abinadab, all of the nation agreeing we'll take it
to the city of David, to Jerusalem, to a place that's prepared for
it. And so we pick up our reading in chapter 13, beginning there
in verse 5. It says, So David gathered all
Israel together from Shahur of Egypt, even unto the entering
of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-Jerim. And David went up in all Israel
to Bala, that is to Kirjath-Jerim, which belonged to Judah, to bring
up thence the ark of God the Lord, that dwelleth between the
cherubims, whose name is called on it. And they carried the ark
of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab. And Uzzah
and Ahio drove the cart." Uzzah and Ahio were the younger sons
of Abinadab. It was thought that Abinadab
may have already died by this time, but during those years
where it was kept in their house, obviously they must have attended
to the ark. Now they are involved. It says
they were driving or moving along with the ark. It isn't believed
that they were driving. They were driving it as you drive
a stagecoach or a buckboard, sitting on a seat. But rather,
perhaps Ahio was leading the oxen in the front, and Uzzah
was following along, tending to the ark as it rode on the
cart. Verse 8 says, And David and all
Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing,
and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals,
and with trumpets. They were worshiping. It was
a time of great rejoicing. And when they came unto the threshing
floor of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, for
the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Uzzah. And he smote him, because he
put his hand to the ark. And there he died before God. And David was displeased. because
the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. Wherefore that place is
called Perez-Uzzah to this day." That word meaning the breach
of Uzzah. And David was afraid of God that
day saying, how shall I bring the ark of God home to me? So David brought not the ark
of God home to himself to the city of David. But he carried
it aside into the house of Obed-Edom, the Giddite. And the Ark of God
remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months, and
the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had. Well, we see that their mistakes
here actually began back in verse 7, where we read that they set
the Ark of God upon a new cart. You see, the Ark of God was not
to have been set upon any cart, old or new, but as I've already
mentioned, God had instructed them specifically that it was
to be borne upon men's shoulders and only carried by the Levites,
the tribe from which the priests were appointed. And in Numbers
7 and 9, we learn even more that it was to be borne by those Levites
of the family of Kohath to whom no wagons were given. You see,
the other families of of the tribe of Levi. They had wagons,
but the family of Kohath, they were not given wagons, you see,
specifically because they were the ones appointed to the service
of the sanctuary and to bear the ark upon their shoulders
with the staves through the rings. It's not clear why to me that
with so many gathered, if you read the first part of chapter
13, all of the Levites, the not to mention David himself, who
were well-versed in the law, that they did not proceed according
to God's specific instructions to his due order by having the
Levites bear the ark upon their shoulders without touching it,
but only by holding on to the staves inserted through the rings
A reasonable assumption is that perhaps they were led by the
example of the Philistines. As I mentioned, the Philistines
had put it on a cart that sent it to Beth Shemesh, and they
perhaps appeared to not have been punished for doing so. I
think there's a distinction we do need to make in that the Philistines
were a heathen nation. That is, they were Gentiles,
ignorant of the law of Moses. And they had no proper persons.
They had no Levitical priesthood appointed by God to bear the
ark. But in actuality, they had not
gone unpunished for possessing the ark, for it was not to be
in their hands. As I mentioned, they paid dearly
for it during that brief seven months that they kept the ark. Well, why was this breach made
upon Uzzah? Consider Uzzah. As a Benedict's
son, he had been attending to the ark. And here he was engaged,
listen, in an honorable endeavor to take the ark to a place prepared
for it in Jerusalem. And so, when the ox stumbled,
Uzzah dare not let it fall. He simply put his hand up to
steady it. And David's displeasure, as we
read there in verse 11, was most likely because he could not just
readily submit or understand why God would break in so harshly
for what probably seemed like such a small matter. No doubt
this put an immediate damper upon their celebration, as you
could see, because David reconsider his decision. Perhaps God did
not mean for them to take the ark to Jerusalem. David did not
immediately understand this clearly, and so he decided to stop his
trek toward Jerusalem and instead leave it at the house of Obed-Edom.
Well, verse 10 there gives us the answer of why this breach
was made upon Uzzah. It says that God's anger was
kindled And he killed Uzzah because he put his hand to the ark."
Some of you may have wondered, as I have, why was the ark transferred
to the new cart when they were leaving the house of Abinadad?
It says they put it on a new cart. I'm not sure. Perhaps they
transferred it, as they should have, using the rings with the
staves. Perhaps someone did touch it
and they were killed. We don't know. It's just not
recorded. I even considered maybe this new cart is the same cart,
and it's just called new here, that the Philistines had built
to send the ark to Bathshemish.
It doesn't seem reasonable, though, that it would still be called
a new cart by this time. We really can't be sure how it
was handled, because it's not recorded for us to know. But
we have some things that are recorded, and we can learn some
things from this sudden outburst or breach, as it's called, of
God's judgment and his wrath in killing Uzzah with this outburst,
this breach, then and there on the spot. See, when it comes
to the Ark of the Covenant, wherein God's greatest glory was pictured,
The mercy seat representing Christ's work of redemption. Man's hand
cannot touch it. God won't have it. Man can play
no part whatsoever and plays no part whatsoever in God's way
of deliverance. And to imagine otherwise is deadly. You see, it's by his mercy, God's
mercy. It's by the propitiation or satisfaction
that Christ alone can and did make in his sacrificial obedience
unto death. And the insertion of man's hand
is contrary to the specific and the precise provision that God
has made for his people by sending his Son as the propitiatory sacrifice
for them. As Roman 11 teaches us, If there's
any element of works, to be of works is no more of grace. They
do not mix. And salvation is by grace through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works. No element of man's hand involved
whatsoever, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2, 8, 9. The
involvement of man's efforts, his hand, no matter how well-intentioned,
no matter how small of a role it may presume to play, I believe
it's indicative of the notions of all who continue to travel
the broad road that leads to destruction, the road we all
start off on, as they continue to imagine that surely there's
some little thing that I must do in order to be saved or in
order to stay saved. that will distinguish me, the
sinner, from those who would not meet that condition or that
requirement. Something that I do or done in
me that makes the difference to gain or maintain God's favor. Now, in keeping with the truth
of the whole of Scripture, we see, I think, several things
pictured in this story. And we know they're accurate
representations because of the whole of Scripture and the gospel
of grace itself. First, we see that God's outpouring
of his wrath will come when he decides at a time of his sovereign
selection. Maybe when they transferred the
ark earlier, others had touched it and were not immediately struck
dead. We know that God does not always immediately make a breach
to reflect His displeasure. He is very long-suffering, as
the Scripture teaches us. We have to look no further than
the sinfulness and the prevalent evil of our own generation to
marvel at why God doesn't just snap His fingers and wipe them
out as He did with the flood in the days of Noah, or as He
did with Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, ultimately, he will be vindicated
in the day of his choosing, the day of his selection. Maybe others
touched it without immediate retribution from God. I don't
know. But we do know from this outburst,
this breach, that God's judgment, when it does come, it is sudden
and it is swift. Scripture tells us no one knows
precisely when Christ shall return in judgment on this world. You
don't know the day that you're going to leave this earth. You
may walk out of this building and have a heart attack on the
sidewalk. It's appointed unto men once to die. But we don't
know that moment. Only God does. The scripture
tells us that when Christ does return in judgment, that it shall
be swift, that it shall be sudden, like as we'll see in the next
message of this series. It's like the breach of a bursting
dam and overflowing waters. It'll happen in the twinkling
of an eye. Thirdly, we see that God's judgment
is sure. it shall surely take place. When
it comes to this vital issue of the gospel, that is the message
that sets forth how all of salvation is conditioned upon every condition
and requirement met by Jesus Christ alone. That message in
sharp contrast to its antithesis, that is the religion of works
whereby man's hand touches it. if he imagines that at least
in some small way, some small degree, if not to some large
degree, that his salvation is conditioned upon some decision,
some something he does that would distinguish them from those who
shall perish. And God won't have it. And as
this story shows us, when it comes to this issue pertaining
to the exclusivity of salvation in Christ and in Him alone that
God does not play, and we better not kid ourselves, God ultimately
will make a final breach of judgment upon any and upon all who persist
in the natural, in the initial, self-righteous notion that we
all initially entertain, imagining surely there's some work of my
hand as we think, well, what do I have to do to be saved?
You see, the supposition is in the question. We imagine there's
something we can do to obtain God's favor or maintain God's
favor or avoid God's disfavor and wrath. Lastly, I think a
truth shown here is that we see the terrible severity, but the
just result when folks ignore or neglect God's due order pertaining
to his redemptive glory. All of the specifics given to
Moses concerning the treatment of these elements, including
the ark, are proven by the breach made upon other that they were
not trivial detail that were optional that they could choose
to ignore if they so chose. But rather, that preciseness
of the message, see, was critical to the well-being of those that
were privileged to possess the ark where God would commune with
them and where they could worship. You see, it reminds me in our
day of those who would say, oh, you make it all too complicated.
All I know is I just trust Jesus. Well, these folks were attending
to the ark that had been built for God's prescribed way in an
honorable endeavor to honor it. And yet they in ignoring the
preciseness of how it was to be carried, God we see a breach
made upon us when God struck him dead. Do you think that it
will be any less severe for those who persist to ignore and imagine
that they can have some little small part of their hand involved
in that which those elements typified? Eternal salvation in
God the Son, the God-man? Well, up to now, clearly I've
been majoring on God's just wrath against sin, but I think it's
important that we recognize that God's breach, this outpouring
of his judgment and wrath, is not a dreadful truth for all. You see, God's people are not
drawn to seek God's prescribed way of salvation, a way that
Totally opposite to the way that seemed right to a man, but ends
in death. The way that seemed right to
all of us. We're walking this way, and in God-given faith and
repentance, our world's turned upside down. Now, that turnaround
doesn't take place simply as God makes us aware of how strict
and how devastating His judgment against sin ultimately will be.
You see, also made a breach, so to speak, that favors his
chosen people. And we're going to look at that
in much more detail in the second part of this series. We'll see
an excellent example of this in chapter 14 there. God's favor
is upon his chosen people, the nation Israel, as he intervened
and he broke in and delivered them from the Philistines. And
likewise, there's a deliverance for spiritual Israel. God's chosen
people from all nations unto eternal salvation. And it's a
complete and it's a total deliverance from their enemy, sin and Satan.
And this deliverance is due to God's breach or his breaking
in, his great intervention in having sent Jesus Christ and
having imputed or charged the merit of all of their sins, all
of the sins of his chosen people to Christ that he might endure
the breach, the wrath of God as their substitute. Now, that's
a breach that's glorious to those who look to Christ as their true
mercy seat for all of their salvation. You see, there and there alone
we find mercy or propitiation. Well, when you consider this,
how is it today that men fail to seek God after the due order?
And make no mistake, we fail to seek God after due order.
Why? Otherwise the scriptures would
be contradictory, for we're all born in darkness, spiritually
dead. You happy quickens who were what?
Dead in your trespasses and sin. And so therefore, our first notions
are obviously dead men, blind men, they can't see. They can't
hear. And so our notions are according
to our natural sinful nations, and they're not after God's due
order. How is that? How do blind, lost sinners, such
as we all are initially, err in our approach to God in seeking
to gain His favor and seeking to avoid His wrath? Well, like
us now, many are very well-intentioned, as well-intentioned as any of
you here, even zealous. And just as Uzzah was a busy
attending to the ark, listen, God's prescribed place to commune
with the people under the terms of that old covenant. Likewise,
many today are busy in churches where much is said about Christ,
Jesus Christ, the one pictured by that ark in that mercy seat. And they mean well, as did all
of us while we groped about trying to seek God in the lost, blind
condition that all sinners begin their journey with. That's what
we start out as. Like David, we naturally struggle
with imagining that God would be so precise, so harsh as to
pour out His wrath on such well-intentioned men who know many truths that
pertain to the triune God. I remember excusing myself when
initially being confronted with the fact that God's mercy, this
propitiation, was by way of satisfaction so that God had to be just. When
it was exposed to me that my notions that Christ had died
for all men, and yet I thought many of them perished in hell
would make Him an unjust monster, He's going to send people to
hell whose sins had already been paid for. My excuse was, well,
I just didn't think about it that way. Well, I'm sure that
when Uzzah steadied the cart, you see, he was doing something
he thought to be honorable to keep that cart from falling,
but it was against God's prescribed way. And you see, it's a picture
of the fact that we need mercy. We need mercy and grace. And
we need that alone. Many make much ado about Christ
and his death on the cross, particularly this time of the year as we approach
Easter. But here's the sad part. We all
naturally presume that there's nothing wrong with this little
small part that we presume to play in our own salvation as
we just put our hand ever so slightly out to that which in
reality only the precious blood of our mercy seat could and did
accomplish. And that pudding of our hand,
it comes in various forms. Some of the more popular versions
will have us imagine that God has done it all through Christ's
butt. There's always a butt. But you must procure it or appropriate
that blessing to yourself. You simply have to let him into
your heart. Accept him as your Savior. Repeat
some prayer. Walk some hour in the quietness
of your own home. have some sort of experience
that is unique to those who will perish, you see. Some even put
it this way. They'll say, God's hand's reaching
down. He's done all the work now, and
all you have to do is just reach out and accept it or take it.
Just place your hand ever so gently on the ark. But in imagining, see, that the
difference between an eternity in heaven or hell rests in our
decision. We dare to put our hand to that
which nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, his
perfect satisfaction, could accomplish and procure for us. And to do
so is in rivalry with that which he has done. and would rob him
of your glory, make him nothing more than something that made
your salvation possible if you'd had the crowning event, your
decision, your prayer, whatever that is. God's not going to share
His glory. And this is where His highest
glory lies. Dare not imagine that anything done by you, in
you, through you, the sinner, could ever assist, listen, could
complement, complete in any way, are certainly not rival the work
of our Savior that he alone finished and, listen, completed at Calvary
by totally bearing away the sins of his people by the shedding
of his precious blood. You see, there's good news for
all those who are brought under the gospel of grace, who are
brought to rest and trust that God's wrath was poured out on
their substitute, the mercy seat, on Jesus Christ on the cross.
God raised him from the dead and he thereby evidenced his
complete satisfaction with his propitiatory sacrifice. We need
mercy. We need God's favor by way of
satisfaction to his justice. That's the righteousness we must
have. So seek God after the due order. exclusively in Christ, the Lord,
our righteousness, our ark, our mercy seat.