Stick by the Stuff

Turn your Bibles to 1st Samuel chapter 30. I want to follow up on this morning's message. We'll get back into Philippians soon. We've had a lot of uh special speakers and things going on. Uh but we're hoping it gets back started up next week and we'll get started that. But we felt like since half the church is gone, we'd wait until they come back and uh from camp. But 1st Samuel chap 30 and:es 21-2. 1st Samuel chap 30 and beginning with verse number 21 down through verse 25. And David came to the 200 men which were so faint that they could not follow David whom they had made also to abide at the brook Basor.

And they went forth to meet David to meet the people that were with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted them. Now the context of what was happening is is David and his it was mighty band of men. They were fighting against the Philistines and uh they had gone off into battle and when they came back to their camp uh another group had attacked their camp and taken all of their uh all their family and and everybody else prisoner. And so uh David went out to to rescue them. And they left 200 of the men behind that had gone on that previous expedition. They just weren't in any good shape to go.

And so they stayed behind to guard the stuff. And so verse 22, then answered all the wicked men and the men of Balile of those that went with David and said, "Because they were not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, saved to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart." Then said David, you should not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto this matter unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that terth by the stuff.

They shall they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward that he made it a statue and an ordinance for Israel onto this day. You know, when you go into battle, those of you in the military, I remember way back in the first Iraq war, uh we had some people that went there. One of them was a man named Steve Fosnot. He was a Marine. He was a radio man. Worked with the special forces group. and uh he was sent over to Iraq. And when he came back, I always just want to hear all the stories about the the fights that he got into and everything else. He said, "Well, pastor, the truth is I never got into battle.

Uh my job, every time there was a battle, I was back guarding the stuff." He was said, "I was in the warehouse and my job was to guard the stuff." He said, "One day I looked over and saw a box that said Pop-Tarts on the outside." And I thought, "That's my that's my story for my grandkids. I guarded the Pop-Tarts and uh he guarded stuff. But you know, in the military, you understand that for every one person in combat, there are many that are behind the scenes that are guarding the stuff that are doing jobs to support those that have gone forward. And um and so I want to talk about it. We talked this morning about how Saul hid behind the stuff, but I want to talk about the stuff today.

And the first thing I want to talk about is the right stuff. Turn over to Second Timothy chapter 2. Second Timothy chapter 2. Are you made of the right stuff? In 2 Timothy chapter 2 and:es 3 and 4, the Bible says, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, no man that worth entangle himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who had chosen to be a soldier." And I wonder, are you made of the right stuff? And if you're made of the right stuff, you're going to endure hardness. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 and look at verses 10-12. 2 Timothy 3:10. But thou has fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came upon me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lististra.

What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yay, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And and we need to be made of the right stuff. We need to be those that can endure hardness, that can endure those times of persecution, that can endure the difficult times of life. And and the idea of that word endure is the idea of don't flee from it, but resist. In James 3 7 and 8, it says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned in the morning, your joy to heaviness. You see, a good soldier has to remain in the battle when everything in him is saying run, retreat, uh get get away from this, he has to stay in that battle and hold his position. And God wants you and I to endure hardness, to not not to flee, but to stay and and be faithful in this in the in in the face of battle, the battles that we face, whatever they may be. You see in in chapter 2 the word endure it carries the idea of evil feelings to endure the evil feelings. In Proverbs 28 verse1 the Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are bold as a lion.

And and sometimes you know what we run away from what we flee from is not the battle but the feelings that we have. You know we get upset we get mad at somebody. we get hurt by something and and that's what causes us to flee. You know, we're kind of like the the the lion in the Wizard of Oz. We talk about our courage, but we have no courage. We don't take a stand. In 1 Peter 5:es 8 and 9, it says, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfast in faith, knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

And and we need to realize that the devil wants to make us run. He wants to make us flee. That's why he's a roaring lion. Uh and and we need to take our stand. We need to endure and not flee from the battle. It gets hard. Living the Christian life can get difficult. It gets hard in your marriage to stay in that marriage and work through your problems. It gets hard in your family to stay and work through the problems. It gets hard in church sometimes to stay and to work through the problems. But what we do is we run from those problems. We flee from them. even when they're really not. It's more about how we feel than what's really going on.

And we need to be faithful in the battle to endure hardness. The Bible says, look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and look at verses 18 and 19. 1 Timothy 1 and:es 18 and 19. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to prophecies which went before on thee, that thou be the by them might war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, where some whereas some have put away concerning faith have made a shipwreck. You see, he says, listen, you need to stay faithful. You need to endure hardness. You need not quit and not give up. The Christian life is not easy. In John 15:es 18-20, Jesus said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you."

If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, that but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore, the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they shall also persecute you. If they kept my saying, they will also keep yours. They hated Jesus. And so, why are we surprised when the world hates us? And and we need to realize that we need to be willing to endure the afflictions of life. We need to be willing to stay faithful because we're going to suffer persecution.

And if you're not suffering persecution, that may say something about how you're living for the Lord because the world does not want us to stand and to to have the right stuff. And we've got to be willing to endure hardness. Go over to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. [clears throat] We need to realize, folks, that we are at war. We are at war. Sometimes we forget we're at war. We, you know, we we forget there's a battle going on. And we need to keep that focus. In Ephesians chapter 6 and beginning verse number 10, it says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you be able to stand against the ws of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take on you the whole armor of God, that you may be able with stand evil day and having done all to stand. You know, we we are in a battle. Every day you wake up, there is a battle that you're going to face that day. And as you face that battle, you need you realize that you cannot do it in your own power. You cannot do it in your own strength, but it's only by the power of God.

My grandson Joshua is here for the summertime and one of the things I want to do is go through a a devotion with him. So what we're doing is we're going through this passage in Ephesians chapter 6 and we're talking about putting on the armor of God and that's something we need to do every day. Every day you put on the uniform when you go to work and every day you need to put on the armor of God and ask God to help you to be true and ask God to help you be righteous and right on through that list because we face a battle and we need to endure hardness as a good soldier Jesus Christ. Don't run away from your problems.

We talked about in that series on love, how often when we have a problem with somebody, instead of trying to resolve the problem, we just take go somewhere else and we walk away from that relationship. And and that's not what God wants us to do. He wants us to face the problem and deal with it and and to honestly and openly work through those issues and stay in the battle and don't quit. Don't give up. You need to stick by the stuff. Go over to 1st Samuel chapter 25. 1st Samuel chapter 25. And look at [clears throat] verse number 13. 1st Samuel chapter 25 and verse number 13. And David said unto his men, gird on ye gurge ye on every man his sword.

And they girded on every man his sword. And David also gerted his sword. And there went up after David about 400 men and 200 abodeed with the stuff. This is talking about when David came back and found out that all the family's been taken. He said, "All right, take take the stuff and and get on your sword and get ready to go." But then there was 200 that abode with the stuff. Look at chapter 30 again. And look at verse number 24. For who will hearken unto unto you in this matter, but as his part is that goeth down to battle, so shall his part be that territh by the stuff? They shall part alike.

You know, folks, we need to learn in the Christian life to stick with the stuff. You see when you what happens to you when you get worn out. In verse number 21, it said David came to the 200 men which were so faint that they could not follow David. They were worn out. They were tired. And and there does come times in the Christian life. I don't know about you, but I get worn out. I get tired of of having to deal with things over and over again. I get tired of facing the challenges of life. And and you get worn out. And these these men got worn out. And there's a time to come away and rest. There's a time to realize that I need to recuperate and restrengthen myself.

But these are men that even though they didn't go into battle, they they stuck by the stuff and we need to stick by the stuff. You know, when we get worn out, what's the first thing that we do? In in 1st Samuel 30 and verse number four. 1st Samuel chapter 30 and verse number four. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. Uh sometimes when we deal with situations, it it brings tears. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse number four, the Bible says rejoice. Uh I'm sorry, the Bible tells us there's a time to weep. In John 11:35, the Bible says that Jesus wept.

In Romans 12:15, it says, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep." In 1st Samuel 30 and verse number six, look at that, would you please? 1st Samuel 36. And David was greatly distressed for the people spake was stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord. And when we face situations in life, sometimes it brings tears. It it brings an emotional response of fear, of discouragement, or whatever else it might be. But David, he when he got that way, he he strengthened, he encouraged himself in the Lord.

And and if you've been around for a while, you've heard me compare. If you don't if you use cross references in your Bible, look next to verse 6 and see if you have a cross reference for 1st Samuel 23:16. Go ahead and turn over there. 1st Samuel 23:16. If you don't have in your Bible, I would recommend writing down this these verses next to each other. Next to 1st Samuel 23:16, write 1st Samuel 30:6 and next 1st Samuel 30:6, write 1st Samuel 23:16. But in 1st Samuel 23 and verse number 16, the Bible says, "And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David in the wood and strengthen his hand in God."

And [clears throat] and and and that's what we need is we need people that will strengthen our hand in God. Jonathan was David's best friend. And and when he was just when David was discouraged, he was ready to give up, he's ready to quit, Jonathan came to him and he encouraged him and strengthened him in the Lord. And then later on in chapter 30, Jonathan is now dead. He's he's passed away. He's been killed in battle and he's now dead. And and and so he's no longer around to encourage and strengthen Jonath David. But David was able to encourage himself in the Lord. And the phrasing in the Hebrew language is very similar.

And I believe the reason that David was able to encourage himself in the Lord is because he had Jonathan who had had strengthened him in the Lord earlier on. And you need people like that in your life. You need people that when you face the battles of life, when you face uh persecution and difficult times, that they are going to be there by your side. They've done studies in battle. And soldiers that have at least one other person with them will will stay in the battle longer than they will by themselves when they know there's somebody else there alongside of them. And you need to have people like that that will encourage in the Lord because when you face a battle, you you want to weep.

You want to quit. You wanna you get afraid and you get discouraged and all this emotional response to that. And yet you can be encouraged in the Lord. And then the thing that David did also is verse number eight of 1st Samuel 30. It says, "And David inquired at the Lord, saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered and pursue for thou shalt surely overt take them and without fail recover all. See the next thing he did is he inquired of the Lord. He sought out God. He said God what am I going to do in this situation? So often we face a difficult situation. The last thing we do is pray.

And that ought to be the first thing that we do. Turn over to your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 29. The book of Jeremiah chapter 29. Very familiar passage to many of you. Jeremiah 29 11-13. Jeremiah 29 and beginning with verse number 11, it says, "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, sayeth the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me with all your heart." And if you're going to stick by the stuff, if you're going to be faithful to God even in the difficult times, you got to turn to the Lord and say, "God, I need your help.

I need your guidance. I need you to help me to do the right thing here." And then also notice back in 1st Samuel chapter 30, one of the things that he did in verse number 7. 1st Samuel chapter 30 and verse number 7, it says, "And David said to Abathar the priest [clears throat] and Amlik's son, I I pray thee, bring me hither the Epod." And and Abathar brought the hepod to David. He he sought advice from his pastor. He sought counsel from his pastor, from his spiritual leaders. And folks, we need to learn that one of the things we need to do is it's amazing to me how many people by the time they come and talk to me that they've already made their decision.

They've already decided what they're going to do. And folks, I don't have all the answers to life. And but I I do believe that God gives you your spiritual leaders to help you to seek out God. And that's what this priest did. He brought the ephod. He brought a a way to seek out God in in that situation. Look at Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 19 and look at verses 20 and 21. Proverbs chapter 19 and verses 20 and 21. Proverbs 19:20 it says, "Hear counsel and receive instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. There are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord that that shall stand."

I think it's wise when you face a difficult situation in life, the first thing you need to do is pray. And the next thing you need to do is is seek out counsel and seek out wisdom and guidance. And that's what David did. And then go back to 1st Samuel chapter 23 if you would. 1st Samuel chapter 23. [cough and clears throat] One of the things I by the way I hope that during this series on the kings that you'll see is when you read the stories of people in the Old Testament you have to sometimes sometimes stop and try to get the bigger picture. you have to begin putting the pieces of the puzzle together to see what's going on so that you don't miss these little things that can help you learn from their example in life.

In 1st Samuel chapter 23 and beginning with verse number 8 down through verse number 12 Samuel 23:8, Saul called all the people together to war to go down to Kela to besiege David and his men. Now Saul instead of David being his his alliance, he was opposed to him and we talked about that some this morning. David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him. And he said to Abathar, the priest, bring hither. Then said David, oh Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Kela to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Kela deliver me up into his hand?

Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? Oh Lord God of Israel, beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said he will come down. Then said, "David, will the men of Kila deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will deliver thee up." You see, what he did is he said, "Listen, I I want to I want to find out what God wants me to do. I want to find out what the Lord was leading me." And uh I want you to go over um actually I was supposed to read 2 Samuel. That's that's a good passage there. But go to 2 Samuel chapter 23. Sometimes when you're up here preaching, you're reading the verses say, "Why did I put that verse in there?"

And and I didn't. I put in 2 Samuel 23. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had, the Techmeite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains. The same was Adino, the Eznite. He lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Awite, and one of the um three mighty men with David when they defiled defied the priests Philistines that were gathered together to battle. And the men of Israel gone away. He rose and smoked the Philistines unto until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day.

And the people returned after him only to spoil. And after him was Shana the son of Agie the Heretite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop where was a piece of ground full of lentils. And the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines. The Lord wrought a great victory. You know when you are in that battle you got to stick by the stuff. You got to stick with it and not give up. These were the mighty men of David and these were men that did not quit. They did not give up. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 13- 14 says, "Watch ye stand fast in the faith.

Quit you like men. Be strong. Let all your things be done with charity." These are men that didn't quit. They didn't give up just because it got hard. They stayed in the battle and won great victories because they were faithful to the Lord. And and and sometimes in life you get tired. In verse number 10, it says, "He rose and smoked the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the the sword and the Lord wrought a great victory." Sometimes when we get tired, that's when God really steps up and shows us himself shows himself strong. In Galatians chapter 6 and verse number nine, it says, "Let us not be weary and welloing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not."

And so often in the Christian life, you get where you can get tired of of being faithful. You can get tired of serving the Lord. You get tired of having battle certain battles, but you got to be faithful to the Lord. I had the privilege of getting to know a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, Woody Williams. Some of you were here when he actually preached here at our church many years ago. He was in Euima. He took out six pill boxes with a flamethrower. Uh an amazing story to listen to him talk about what happened there. and uh and he wasn't saved at the time. He didn't get saved until many years later.

But you know what a what a testimony he was. What a a guy that stuck with it. Uh and and when he was in that battle, he didn't think he was going to live. He didn't think he was going to come out of it alive, but yet he did what he needed to do. And that's what we needed Christians. We need Christians that will stick with it and not give up. Even when they get weary, even when they get tired, you know, he took out one pill box, he thought, "Okay, I'm done." Then he said, "Now take out another one and take out another one." and and and it's just amazing that he was able to do that and still come out alive.

But he stuck with it. He didn't give up. He didn't quit. The Bible says that watch ye stand fast in faith, quit you like men. Let all your things be done with charity, with love. In Galatians 5:es 13-15, it says, "For brethren, you have not been called under liberty only uh sorry, brethren, you have been called under liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled to one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one another. You know, we can we can take a stand and we can be strong in the Lord and yet still show love to others around us as well.

The other thing about this passage in in in 2 Samuel 23 and David's mighty men, as I was going through that passage, I want you to turn back over there if you would and look at verse number 17. We begin, I'm sorry, verse number 13-1 17. And three of the 30 chief went down and came to David at harvest time under the king of Adelam. And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of re Reffam. And David's uh was there in was then in a hold and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed to said, "Oh, that one would give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate."

This was his hometown. He wanted some of the water from his hometown. And and the three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink there but poured out unto the Lord. He said, "Be it far from me, oh Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that were in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore, he would not drink it. These things did three these three mighty men. And and I just I I appreciate as I read through this passage, if you've never done a study of 2 Samuel chapter 23, let me challenge you to do it.

And let me challenge you not just to read through all those hard names to pronounce. Uh I struggle with them. You hear me tonight? But but see them as real men and real people that face real battles and and look at what the Bible tells you about them. Here's one that that stood in the field with that sword and he was there so long battling his his hand was just cleaved the sword. couldn't let go of it. And then there was another one that stood in the I love the story about the guy that stood in the field of lentils. You know what lentils are, right? Lentils are peas. Folks, whenever we would do a food drive to collect food for the for the poor, you know what would come in the most?

Cans of peas. Because most people don't like peas and they're willing to give up what they don't like. But this guy stood in the middle of the field of these peas and and he pointed his fingers to the Philistines. And you know, this was a field that God had given him and his family and he pointed his finger at those Phillies as you you keep your pea picking hands off of my peas and he fought a battle. And and these stories are just amazing stories. They're like it's like listening to Woody Williams and think about what he went through and just to imagine what it must have been like. But these were men that were loyal and faithful.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 4:es 1 and 2, it says, "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards the mysteries of God. Moreover, is required as stewards that a man be found faithful." In Proverbs 20 verse number six, it says, "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but faithful men who can find." What we need at Ohana Baptist Church, we need people that are faithful. that are faithful to church, that are faithful to their ministry, that are faithful to pray, that are faithful in giving. It's it's men and women that are faithful. That's so important. And and the other thing I noticed in this passage, these guys were never alone.

Look at verse number nine of 2 Samuel 23 verse number N. And after him was Elazar, the son of Dodo. Uh what a great name, the Elohide, one of the three mighty men with David when they defi def divide the Philistines. And then go down to verse number 13. It says, "And three of the 30 chief went down." And go down to verse number 16. And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines. And then verse 17, the same thing. It talks about three at the end of the verse, these things, these three mighty men. And again in verse 18, verse 19, verse 22, verse 23. See, these were men that were never alone.

They understood, I need those men to stand with me. I need people that are going to be by my side. One of the things that I've mentioned that we're doing in the church is we're trying to have one-on-one Bible studies. And we've been starting this with the men and we're hoping to add on the women in another couple weeks here. and we're uh we're going to as leaders we're going to meet with a man oneon-one for five to seven weeks do a Bible study together encourage and challenge one another and then then that man can go on and do it with another man another man another man because you cannot do the Christian life alone if you're going to stick with the stuff you've got to have people that are

going to stand with you 10:23-2 let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he's faithful that promise and let's consider one to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some some is, but exhorting one another so much the more seed they approaching. Often use this verse to challenge you by it's important to be in church, but it's more of that one- on-one provoking to love and to good works, praying for one another, exhorting and encouraging one another. These were men were honorable. In verse number 19, it says, "The three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David.

Nevertheless, he would not drink thereof, but poured it out to the Lord." Look at verse 23. It says, "He was more honorable than the 30, but he attained not to the first three, and David set him over his guard." These men were honorable. You know, you can't all be the first. This man was not of the first 30, but yet he was faithful to the Lord. in Mark 10:31, "But many that are first shall be last and the last first." And and be an honorable Christian. Be one that's faithful to the Lord. And here's one of the little thing I saw there. Look at verse number 39. Look at who it talks about there. Uriah the Hitittite.

Anybody remember him? Who was he? That was the man that was the husband of Basheba. That was the man that David pulled back the army from and allowed him to be shot and killed in the battle. And yet he was one of the mighty men of God. And God lists him here. Despite all of that, he was a mighty man of the Lord. And folks, sometimes we think, well, yeah, but this happened or that happened. But this this is a man that was faithful to the Lord. And that's what you and I need to be. And the last thing I want to challenge you is sometime we get too much stuff in life. In Genesis 45:20, "Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours."

Says, "You don't need all that stuff." And we talked about this morning, we have too much stuff. Luke 12:15, he said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisted not in the abundance of the things which he possesses." I I got these quotes off the Google. says, "It's better to have extra time in your hands and extra money in your pocket than extra stuff in your closet." A lot of truth to that, isn't it? Somebody else said, "Get rid of clutter and you may just find that it was blocking the door that you've been looking for." And that's true in my house. There's so much stuff I can't get to the stuff I want to get to.

And then another quote, if you have to buy stuff and to store your stuff, you might have too much stuff. I like that one. If you have to buy stuff to store your stuff, you might have too much stuff. See, 1 Timothy 6 6-10 talks about being content with what you have. Hebrews 13:5, "Let your conversation be without covetous and content with such things as you have, for he said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Folks, we need to stop hiding behind the stuff. We need to clean up our lives and get rid of the clutter and all the stuff that keeps us from serving the Lord. Stuff often can lead us to sin.

In Joshua 7:11, talking about Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken of the cursed thing and have also stolen and disassembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Achen took the stuff that he wasn't supposed to have. And then like we talked about with Saul this morning, he was hiding among the stuff. And we let the stuff become a place of what's right before God. Go to Exodus 36. We're going to take a couple verses and close. Exodus 36. Exodus 36 and:es 5-7. Exodus 36 and:es 5-7. And they spake unto Moses, saying, "The people leave bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make."

And Moses gave commandment, and they caused be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary." So the people were restrained from bringing, for the stuff that they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. Now, I'm a pastor. And I've gone through two different building projects and I don't remember ever a time I wanted to get them from the church and say, "Listen folks, you're giving too much. Hold it back." And yet that's what happened here because they realized that this stuff is not more important than serving the Lord.

How much stuff do you give to to God? Do you give him your talents and your time? Do you give him your offerings and your energy? Give God your best stuff. In Proverbs 3:es 9 and 10, honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. I hope after the message today that you'll stop and take a look at all the stuff that you have and ask yourself, have been kind of hiding behind that stuff and thinking that they would bring me contentment and happiness when I wasn't seeking God. Ask yourself, do I have too much stuff that keeps me from doing the stuff that's most important? But also ask yourself, am I made of the right stuff? These men, David said, that stayed back even with the stuff, they still were in the battle. And you may not always be on the front lines, but you still need to have the stuff to do what God's called you to do.