I was reminded, yesterday, of the occasion when King David moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, after conquering the city and making it his nation’s capital. In II Samuel 6:3, we are alerted to an important truth, which we need to hear, in this critical hour. It declares, “They set the Ark of God on a NEW CART... .” You may be thinking, “Well Ed, so what? Why is using a new cart such a huge problem”? Friends, the great wickedness lies in the fact that ‘God’ had given specific instructions in the Old Testament of concerning how the sacred Ark was to be moved. This was designed and commissioned purposely by God and for God’s glory. He had not only given concise directions concerning how the Ark was to be constructed, He had also delivered explicit guidelines on how the Ark was to be carried! God had mandated that the Ark should be carried on poles, upon the shoulders of the Levities, who were set apart for this sacred task. Again you may ask, “Well Ed, how and why did the people of God concoct this new method for moving the Holy Ark of God”? The answer is found in the previous writing of Samuel. The infidel and idolatrous Philistine priests had given their leaders instructions, concerning how the Ark should be removed from the land of the Philistines; and returned to the people of God! I Samuel 6:7-­‐8 tells us, “Now, therefore, make a NEW CART, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart... Then take the Ark of the Lord and set it on the cart.. .” It is not surprising that the ‘pagan Philistines’ invented their own profane method of transporting the Ark of the Lord; for they did not possess the Word of God! So they certainly did not have any idea of God’s specific instructions, concerning the “God-­‐ pleasing” method for carrying out such a sacred task. But the great tragedy is that the Israelites chose to mimic the method of the worldly, pagan Philistines, rather than to obey the ‘means that God had ordained’, to carry out this vital mission!

The Ark of God was never to be handled or moved by a “new method”! Also, it was never to be carried about like it was just another common piece of furniture. When God gave them a pattern, He expected them to follow and obey His method and employ His means. But this specific command from the Lord was ignored, for the sake of expediency and pragmatism! Instead of carrying out this important mission in God’s clearly determined way; the example of the pagan Philistines, (the people of this world), was imitated. How could this possibly happen, when God’s method was so clearly delineated? Did David consider “God’s ways” as being obsolete? Antiquated? Did he think that any method would do, just as long as he got the job done? Did he falsely deduce that it was acceptable to substitute the world’s ways for God’s ways? Had the people of God lost their reverence for the Lord and His ways? Friends for whatever reason or motive, the Ark was not transported according to God’s biblical method. So when they attempted to carry out God’s mission in a worldly manner, they committed a serious trespass against the Lord God. They ignored God’s appointed method and substituted them with their own “man-­‐concocted” arrangements!

It wasn’t long before their rebellion against the Lord’s clear-cut command resulted in death. For they had become so lax and irreverent, that when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah foolishly put out his hand and took hold of the Holy Ark of God. The very reason that the poles were to be used by the Levites was so that the Holy Ark would not be touched. The Levites could walk in step with each other and the Ark would remain stable in their midst. However, by putting the ark on a NEW CART, it made it susceptible to the movements of the animals. And what was the fruit that was produced by forsaking the ways of the Lord and imitating the ways of the world? This trespass ultimately resulted in the death of Uzzah

How does this admonition apply to us in the contempoary evangelical church?

Brothers and sisters, I have heard countless preachers, evangelists and denominational leaders make the following statement, “THE MESSAGE NEVER CHANGES; BUT THE METHODS DO”! But friends, all of the Old Testament scriptures are given for our admonition, (the correction of error)! Is it possible that the overarching reason for the “spiritual death”, which appears to be smothering the majority of evangelical churches today, is directly related to this precise issue? We have now witnessed over 75 years of evangelicals who have subtly ignored God’s ordained means to carry out God’s great mission of evangelism. Instead of trusting God’s means, they have been guilty of concocting many NEW CARTS, on which to carry out God’s great mission. Multitudes have become exceedingly irresponsible and negligent, concerning the message that they are commanded to declare, and the methods that they are directed to employ! They are attempting to carry out God’s mission, as though the message and the methods do not matter; just as long as they “produce decisions for Christ”. Pragmatism is the rule of the day! Churches search for the latest fads and fashions of the world; and then do their best to imitate them. They replicate the world’s latest gimmicks and gadgets and “tack on” a little superficial and inoffensive message! They apparently have no genuine interest in carefully studying the gospels and the book of Acts, so that they might discover the message, which is to be preached and the methods that God has specifically prescribed, to carry out this “holy work”. They attempt to carry out God’s mission in a manner that is diametrically opposed to God’s designated guidelines. Many of them sinfully shift the focus of their message away from the Person, the work and the terms of the Lord Jesus; and they focus their message to appeal to carnal desires of the unconverted masses. Additionally, in many cases, high-­‐pressure tactics are employed and human manipulation is freely engaged in. But sooner or later all of the efforts, which are not carried out according to the plumbline of the Word of God, will produce death and failure!

The Israelites of old disobeyed God’s specific orders; disregarded His word; and imitated the Philistines. These eventually led to death. In a similar manner, all of these “worldly methods and diluted messages” have produced a harvest of “spiritually dead and dangerously deceived sinners”! Could this be the reason that there are almost 12 million baptized people, (in my own denomination), who do not attend anyone’s church? Could this be the “root cause” that explains why millions of those, who do attend Sunday morning church services, do not appear to be manifesting the “I John evidences” that they are authentically converted to Christ?

Friends, “GOD’S MESSAGE HAS NOT CHANGED; AND GOD’S METHODS HAVE NOT CHANGED”! Our Lord and Teacher is calling on us, not only to accomplish His great mission; but He has called us to carry out this mission, according to the means that He has already prescribed. I believe that we are in desperate need of revival. But I also believe that it must commence, with a turning back to God’s instruction manual, concerning both the message and the methods of Biblical evangelism! May God send a “reformation revival” that would fully return us to God’s instructional manual!