South Shore Pentecostal Church

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Apostolic Truth Radio Program with Pastor Craig Ouellette, a radio ministry of South Shore Pentecostal Church located in Whitman, Massachusetts. At a time when many Christians do not know what to believe, South Shore Pentecostal is honored to bring you clear biblical teaching on which you can confidently build your faith. Thank you for joining us.

J. Craig Ouellette: We're going to talk about the honor of carrying a burden today. The honor of carrying a burden. We're going to look at Exodus 25:10-16. In Exodus 25, chapter 25, verse 10, it says, "And they shall make an ark of shittim wood. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and a cubit and a half the height thereof. Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without thou shalt overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it and put them in the four corners thereof, and the two rings shall be in the one side of it and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it."

Then Numbers 3:29, just a little further, a couple chapters beyond where you're at. Numbers 3:29 says, "The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the ark and the table and the candlestick and the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister and the hanging and all the service thereof."

And then in the same book, chapter 7:6-9. "And Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon according to their service. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders."

And then 2 Corinthians 4:5-7. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 5. "For we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves servants for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." What that verse is really saying in verse six is, if you see who Jesus is, you see the Father. The light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It's saying the invisible glory of God is now made manifest through the person of Jesus Christ. I'd like to talk a little bit today about the honor of carrying a burden. I know that as soon as we talk about a burden, we all have enough of them and we're going, "I don't need another one." How is that an honor? But there is an honor.

Let's talk about the Tabernacle in the wilderness and let's try to lay some foundation to talk about this. The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a portable sanctuary that moved with the children of Israel during their journeyings in the wilderness. It was constructed according to divine plan. If you read back in Exodus 25, God gives a number of chapters there and he lays out what the materials it's supposed to be made of and the dimensions and the pieces that go in and how we want them to be. There was a courtyard with one entrance on the east. There's only one way into the courtyard of the Tabernacle. The courtyard contained a brass altar for sacrifice and a laver for washing. So when you come into this courtyard, the curtain around the outside or the fence, it was made of linen, was seven and a half feet tall.

There's only one gate. It's on the east. You've got to come into that gate. You can't see into this courtyard unless you're up elevated from ground. All you see is some smoke coming up from the altar sacrifice, the top of the Tabernacle. It's covered with badger skin, so it doesn't look that great. You see this white linen around it, and it may not look like there's much there. But you come in and there's an altar of sacrifice and there's a laver. Then there's a tent, the Tabernacle proper, and in that Tabernacle, it's divided into two rooms. The first room has got a table of showbread, it's got an altar of incense, and it's got a golden candlestick. Beyond the veil, behind the altar of incense, there is the Ark of the Covenant.

This is important because the Tabernacle is a model. It's a model for an approach to God. It's a model you'd use for prayer. It's a model you'd use for worship. It's a model that you would use for just talking to God or coming into God's presence. So notice that there's only one gate. This is a type of salvation. There's only one way to get saved. You can't jump over the wall. You've got to come through the gate to go to the altar. The first place you've got to go is always the brazen altar to offer your sacrifice.

The next thing is there is a laver, and the priests had to wash in the laver. God said to Moses, "I want you to make a laver, fill it with water, and you wash before you offer a sacrifice, and you wash before you go into the door of the Tabernacle lest you die." In other words, that water applied was critical. So so far, we've seen a sacrifice, altar sacrifice, type of repentance, death, type of baptism. I've got to do that before I can properly enter into the sanctuary. You enter in through that veil. There's a veil that you've got to go beyond. A veil represents a transition. There's got to be a transition. It's a type entering through that veil; only priests could do that.

When you get inside, there's a table of showbread, which is a type of the Word of God and also communion with God. Altar of incense, golden altar right before the veil where the Ark is, type of prayer. "Let my prayer be set before thee as incense," Psalm 141, the lifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice. It's a type of prayer. Then you have the light, the candlestick, which is lit with olive oil. It's to be lit every evening. In the morning, the priest trims the candlestick, trims the wicks, puts new oil in, and in the evening he lights it. A light for the night season. It's a type of the Holy Ghost in the church. That candlestick is made of one piece of gold. It's beaten, shaped out of that one piece of gold. That's the church. God's got to take us, make us, refine us, he's got to shape us so that we can hold up his glory. He can fill us with the Holy Ghost, the oil of the olive, and light it on fire. This is what the type of the Tabernacle is.

Beyond that veil is where the Ark of the Covenant is, and the Ark of the Covenant represented God. Now again, notice there's only one Ark. There's not two Arks or three Arks. One Ark is God's representation of him. The Ark is made of shittim wood. That's something from earth. But it's covered inside with gold and on the outside with gold. Gold is a type of deity. Gold is a type of kingship. So it's gold on the outside, but it's gold on the inside. That means, and because it's wood, it's from this planet, it means it's a type of humanity. It's a type of something that's here. It's a type of Christ. He's God on the inside; he's God on the outside. One God. One God. What God was foretelling.

Notice what's inside of it. You've got the Ten Commandments inside of it. At one time, you had Aaron's rod that budded inside of it. At one time, you had the manna, a pot of manna that was inside of it. This is all inside. It's again a type of Christ because he is God. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Rod of Aaron. He is the High Priest today. That Ark was God was foretelling that God himself would come in flesh to be our savior. Amen. That's why Jesus said, "When you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Amen. So that second compartment with the Ark of the Covenant there represented where God would meet with Moses.

God said, "Make the Ark, put a mercy seat on there with cherubims, and I will meet with you in the cloud above the mercy seat." God said this is the appointed place. The Ark represented the very presence of God. We call it the Ark of the Covenant because the Ten Commandments, the covenant, was inside of it, but it's also called the Ark of the Testament because it's a testament of God with us. It's a testament that God is going to be with us in our journeys. Notice that Ark is with them through all the journeys in the wilderness. God even had an order, and when the cloud moved, they picked up the camp and they carried that Ark out of there. That Ark of the Covenant represented the physical presence of God with Israel.

After Aaron the priest was consecrated, only the High Priest could go into that room where the Ark of the Covenant was, and he could only go one day a year on the Day of Atonement to make an atonement for people. No one was allowed to touch the Ark. No one. When they got ready to move, the priest would come in backwards, take the veil off that was in front of behind the altar of incense, they'd put it over the Ark, and then the Levites of Kohath would come in and shoulder that Ark on those two staves and carry the Ark. They never were allowed to directly touch the Ark of the Covenant. It was holy, represented God's presence. It had to be carried with those staves.

When the camp of Israel would travel in the wilderness, they divided up that whole Tabernacle into different parts, and the Levites were divided into three main families. They had Gershon, Merari, and they had Kohath. Gershon and Merari would get all the Tabernacle structure parts, the curtains, the gates, the poles, the pillars, all the twining that held up the poles, the coverings of the Tabernacle, the boards. They'd get all of that. But Kohath, that family had to carry the Ark, the brazen altar, the laver, the candlestick, the altar of incense, and the table of showbread. That was their job to carry that.

Can you imagine today? We read that they had wagons. Wagons were given to the Levites. God said, "Take the wagons to help with the Tabernacle." Those of Gershon with all the boards and those of Merari with all the parts of the Tabernacle, they got to load all that stuff into wagons and rode off. But all those other parts, the people of Kohath, shoulder them up, march through the wilderness. Can you imagine that today? It's a good thing they don't have unions in the church. People will say, "Hey, I want my contract. If they're riding, I want to ride too." But you see, sometimes God's got some things for us we've got to do that God requires and it may not be the same as somebody else. Sometimes living, if you're going to live for God, there's going to be some burden you must shoulder. There's going to be some burden that you must shoulder. Now your burden's not going to be the same as mine, and mine's not going to be the same as yours, and yours is not going to be the same as somebody else probably sitting in the pew with you. But if you're going to live for God, there's going to have to be a burden that you shoulder for the work of God.

Maybe it's winning people, maybe it's being a Sunday School teacher, maybe it's just being a faithful saint and praying. But there must be a burden that you're going to have to shoulder. God sometimes will carry us, but there's some things that God gives us we must carry ourselves. I think back about this again. God knew that they were going to give the wagons. The princes came after the Tabernacle was set up and they gave six wagons with 12 oxen. Again, God said the ones of Merari and Gershon, they can put the stuff from the Tabernacle inside these wagons. But those of Kohath, they've got to carry the Ark and all the other furniture. God designed it that way because before the wagons were ever given, when God said, "Make the Ark," we read he said, "Make it with two staves, put the rings in the side." You go look at the other pieces, you see the similar kinds of things that are set there.

So the members of Kohath, they could have complained. "They're riding, we're walking. Their stuff at least is in a wagon, but we've got it on our shoulders and we're out here in the wilderness and it's hot and dry and there's not a road and there's no Dunkin' Donuts along the way." So we're walking. They're out there, but notice they have been chosen by God to do something special. They had received an honor from the Lord to carry this. You can look at what God asks you to do as a burden or you can look at it as an honor. Right? Because the psalm says, "Blessed is the man whom the Lord chooseth to approach unto him, that he may dwell in his tabernacle." Blessed. When God chooses you to do something, it's a blessing. It's not a curse. Yeah, there's going to be some effort there, but it's really a blessing.

Notice again, without the Ark, the Tabernacle's really got no purpose. You take the Ark away, the whole reason for the Tabernacle was God says, "This represents me. Here's where I'm going to meet you. Here's how you come to me." If you take the Ark away, the brazen altar without God doesn't mean anything. The laver doesn't mean anything. The table of showbread doesn't mean anything. The light in the darkness doesn't mean anything. If the light's not God, I might as well have a flashlight. Right? So they've been chosen to carry the things that are really the essence of what God was getting at. Without those altars, without the candlestick, and even with the Ark there, if you didn't have the other pieces, the brazen altar and the laver and the candlestick and all that, you didn't know how to approach God.

Sometimes we can't find God because we're trying to approach God our own way and not God's way. A lot of people will choose churches that way. "Well, I'm going over here because I don't like what they're asking us to do there." But if what's being asked is in the Bible, then you need to do it because people can't find God because they're trying to choose their own way unto God or they're taking some way that man has invented. It might be glittery, it might be showy, it might keep your carnal attention, but it doesn't mean it's going to get you to God. Do you believe that? Amen. So Kohath had been chosen in order to carry the things that really were going to make the essence of the Tabernacle functional, if you will.

The Levites of Kohath also illustrate the principle that the closer you get to God, the more you have to bear or carry. He didn't ask any of the rest of Israel. They're all part of it. They're not asked to do that. But the Levites of Kohath, they're called. They're getting closer to God. They're getting into the Tabernacle. They're getting inside the Tabernacle where only priests get to go to carry things that only priests got to work with that the average person didn't get to see. If you want to see God, if you want to get close to God, you're going to have to pick up your burden that God's got for you. You have to pick up what God wants you to do. You have to find out what God wants you to be involved in.

Remember, God knows all of us from the foundation of the world. God's not trying to find a plan for you or me when I come into the church. It's not like somebody comes into the church, God fills them with the Holy Ghost, they get baptized, God says, "Let me see where I can put them." God already knew where to put them before they came in. Before they were born, he had a place for them. Our problem is trying to find out where God wants us to be and accepting it. Even when you've got a knowledge of God and you know that God has called you for something, you can struggle with your calling. Moses did. Moses did. He knew that he was called to do something for God. That's why he killed the Egyptian in Acts chapter 7. He thought that his brethren would understand that he was there God was going to by his hand deliver them, but Moses didn't understand how God was going to do it.

God was going to choose a way that Moses felt uncomfortable with. Guess what? That means a lot of times the burden God's going to pick for you and me is something we don't feel comfortable picking up. We're going to wrestle with it. We're going to bargain with God. Oh yeah, I did. We're going to bargain with God. "God, can't I do all these other things? I mean, I'll be a good saint. Do I really have to do that? Come on. I'll fast every time they call a fast. I'll be at every prayer meeting, every Bible study. I'll pass out tracts. I'll give my tithes. I'll be at every service. Do I have to do that?" Yeah, you've got to do that. God will lay the burden in our life that we're going to struggle with. Why? Because he wants you to do it and depend upon him to finish it. If it's one I feel comfortable with, I'll quit talking to God about how to do it. But when I feel uncomfortable, "God, I didn't ask for it, didn't want it, you know I didn't want it, you told me. I need your help." And God's going to help. That's how you live for God. Amen. You pick up that.

So the Levites of Kohath had responsibility for those elements that represented prayer and worship and communion with God. If you're going to be in God's presence and you're going to start to have prayer and communion and true worship with God, you're going to have to pick up a burden. A burden to know God, a burden to obey God, a burden to know the will of God, a burden to conform to what God wants, a burden to do it God's way, a burden to understand that there's those around you that need what God is asking for. When we don't pick up the burden, we may be closing the conduit that God wanted to use to reach somebody around you. Oh, we've got to worship God now. Jesus, Lord God, we praise you. We thank you, Jesus. We worship you, Lord God.

To get close to the Lord, you've got to be willing to interact with the things of God. Didn't Jesus say that on the Sermon on the Mount? Didn't he say that? He said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Well, the kingdom of God is not a building. It's not people by themselves. The kingdom of God is a place where God is in charge and in authority. Amen. When people go looking for the kingdom of God, but the kingdom of God's got to start with me. I can't go, "You need to get the kingdom of God." I need to get the kingdom of God in me. When it's in me, God through me and God through you can work to others around. But the kingdom of God starts when we yield to God. If you want to see God move in the world, let the kingdom of God be formed in you. And God through you will move. So if you want to get close to God, you've got to seek the kingdom and you've got to pick up God's things. So seeking God.

Let's talk about the Temple of Solomon because we're talking about the Tabernacle in the wilderness. We're just going to touch it here, but the Temple of Solomon was built upon the same spiritual principles as the Tabernacle in the wilderness. It's just that some of the elements were multiplied, representing kingdom age. But still, it still had a holy place with a candlestick, an altar of incense, and a table of showbread, and it still had a Holy of Holies with the same one Ark. The same Ark. You still had to go through the same progression. It's just you had a bigger structure around you, gates and stairs and different things and courtyards and all different kinds of things. But you still had to come to that brazen altar with your sacrifice, and you still had to go to a laver in order to wash before you could enter into the holy place.

Again, even with that temple, even though the temple now became an established non-movable place, if they took the Ark out, it still had to be carried on staves. If you look in your Bible, you'll see that sometimes for some reasons, not always mentioned, the Ark was not in the Temple of Solomon. In the days of Josiah, Josiah tells the Levites, "Put the Ark back in the temple." That means it wasn't in the temple, right? We don't know what happened to the Ark, but it's still even with the temple being stable and non-movable, if you wanted to move that Ark, you had to carry it on your shoulders with staves. Not anybody could carry it. It had to be the assigned Levite.

David tried to move it in sincerity before Solomon's temple was built. The Ark went to the Philistines. The Philistines captured it in a battle. God plagued the Philistines. They realized we need to get rid of this. They sent it back to Israel. It stayed there for a long time, but David decided, "I'm going to bring it to Jerusalem, my capital. God's established me. I want God in the middle of my capital." So he tries to bring it the same way the Philistines brought it to Israel. He gets a new cart, puts it on a brand new cart, doing the best he can, giving the best things. He's got music and all kinds of people to parade in front of it. As they move it along, they come to a threshing floor, an ox stumbles, the cart rattles, the Ark shakes, and a man in sincerity puts his hand out to touch the Ark to keep it from falling off the cart and God kills him.

God didn't kill the Philistines when they did that. God will let people that don't know him do things and get away with it that he won't let people in the church get away with. If you know God, God expects some more of us. Just because it works in the world doesn't mean it's going to work in God's church. So later on, David figured out, he went and read some place, and the next time he tries to bring it along, he says, "Oh, it didn't work because we tried to do it our own way." He said the Levites, the priests, they've got to carry this Ark on their shoulders, and now David is successful in bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.

What's it saying in all this? Sometimes we've got to bear a burden for God. But we've got to bear it the way God wants us to bear it. We can't just pick up the burden any old way, and even though we're being sincere about it, sometimes we won't get any place because we're not doing it the way that God intended for it to be done. Even though the sons of Kohath had a burden to carry and they'd been given the honor to bear that Ark and the holy things of God, they still couldn't just do it any old way. You know that? There's times where the Levites were called upon to help the priests in sacrifice. There's a couple times where the priests weren't ready, but the Levites were ready, and so the Levites did the sacrificing. It said the priests had not sanctified themselves. What's it saying? It's saying when you're doing the service of God, you just can't run in from life, but you've got to be prepared.

Again, a lot of times people are trying to find God, but they're not setting themselves apart for God. They're not allowing themselves to be directed or instructed by God. So the Levites, if they weren't sanctified, if they'd become defiled, and there's a number of ways they could have touched a dead body, they could have an open sore on their body, other things. If that happened and they're moving, they can't pick up the Ark. They're not ready. They're not sanctified. What's God trying to help us understand? He's still a God of grace and mercy. But what it means is if we want to approach God, we need to think about how we are and how we're approaching God. So the Levites had to live and set their life apart in order to be ready to work for God. They couldn't just live any old way. They had to set their lives apart the way God wanted them to be set apart.

Ancient temples, all ancient temples had a room that housed the main idol of that temple. Whether it was Zeus or Aphrodite or whatever it was, there was a room in there. That room would be similar in function to the Holy of Holies where the Ark was in the Tabernacle or in Solomon's Temple. So the Greek word for that inner chamber is Naos. Naos. This is where the idol was kept. So if you said Naos, you meant it could mean temple generally, but usually it meant where the idol was. Meet me at the Temple of Aphrodite in the Naos, it meant meet me at the statue, right? From Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Naos in classical Greek used of sanctuary or cell of a temple where the image of the god was placed.

In the New Testament, it states that born-again believers are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Right? Here's three scriptures that say it. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 2 Corinthians 6:16. The interesting thing is the Greek word for temple in all those three verses is Naos. In other words, when you get the Holy Ghost, you become like the Holy of Holies. You become like the inner chamber of the temple. Not just the peripheral structure, you become the inner part where God wants to live in you.

It's like bearing the Ark. It really is. The Ark represented the Spirit of God among his people Israel. The Holy Ghost is God in us. Christ in us, the hope of glory. The Holy Ghost is when you get the Holy Ghost, you become like a little Ark of the Covenant in a sense. You are bearing the God of the Old Testament within you by his Spirit. We now bear in our bodies the Spirit of God much like the Levites bearing the Ark. We carry the Lord in the wilderness of this world. Right? Just like that Ark, that Ark of the Covenant went with them all the journeys of the wilderness. We are in the wilderness of life in this world. There's no God like Jehovah. Behold the days, he's coming. We are living in the end time. We are living in the times where God's going to come. We are in a wilderness. You just look at some of the things on the news in the last week, you're in a wilderness. We need God.

Carrying the Lord is a burden just like carrying the Ark. It's a burden. You've got to pick God up. Right? If they're moving from where their camp is, they're moving out of their camp, they're going to pick the Ark up and take it with them until they get to the next camp. When I get up out of the house in the morning, even after I'm praying, am I going to leave God there or pick God up and take him with me? When I go into work, am I going to leave God in my car or take God with me into work? When I go on vacation, am I going to leave God at home or take God with me on vacation? Right? When I visit family, not immediate family, other family, am I taking God with me? Am I picking up the burden? What happens a lot of times is we say, "Yeah, I believe in God, but I'm going over here and they don't get it, so I'm going to lay the Ark down here while I go into here. I'm not going to carry the burden. I'm not going to carry what God wants me to carry. I'm not going to carry the Word of Life with me."

What would it have done Israel if they'd gone all the way across the wilderness and left the Ark back there? They can say, "Yeah, we know the Ark's there. We believe in it. We've seen the fire, we've seen the cloud, we've seen the miracles. The Ark's there. We're going into the Promised Land, but I don't have an Ark." What's the point? What's the point if I gain the whole world and lose my soul? So Paul said we have this treasure in earthen vessels. God looks at us as a vessel that he wants to fill. And when we come into church and like we were feeling the Spirit of God here this morning while we're worshipping, what God is trying to do is fill us with the oil of the Holy Ghost. And he doesn't want to just fill us so that we feel good. He wants to fill it and light it. He wants to light the candlestick. The candlestick of the church.

That's why there's tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. God is lighting the candlestick of the church to live in the dark season. That's why they're not again in the book of Acts because he only needs to light the candlestick once. Only once does he need to light it. The church has always been there. He doesn't need to restart the church; it's always been there. We might not see it, might not know it, but it's always been there. He said, "I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail." The devil cannot stop it. The Bible says if the princes of this world had known what was going to happen, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. But when they crucified the Lord of Glory, they didn't have one temple to deal with now. They had thousands of temples because everybody that got the Holy Ghost became a temple of the Holy Ghost.

Hallelujah. Again, Peter speaking to the church. The Bible says that if you're born again, you're a priest, a priest of God. 1 Peter 2:9. He says, "But ye are a chosen generation." Now he's not talking about a time period, but he's talking about a group of people that God is going to call. Because if you're the church is still here, God has still got a chosen generation. So he's not locked back there to that time. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. It means we've got kingship, but we're also priests. If you're born again, God has called you into a spiritual priesthood. A holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him that called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Sometimes when you go to some churches, people get upset because people are talking, they're shouting too much. They're getting too excited. But it says we're supposed to show forth the praises. I'm supposed to open my mouth and praise God. I'm supposed to have something to thank God about. I'm supposed to be able to be in here and I made it and God made it helped me get here. I've got a reason to say Amen. I've got a reason to say thank you, Jesus. I've got a reason to shout. I've got a reason to lift my hands. I've got a reason to seek God and to cry and rejoice because God kept me. Hallelujah. Amen. When I got the Holy Ghost, there's been a burden, but God has helped me carry the burden. God didn't let me go. But when I got too weak, God sent somebody to help me. Ah, the Holy Ghost lifted me up. I've got a burden and I want to show forth the praises of him that called me out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I was almost gone. I was almost done. Almost taken up in drugs and all kinds of stuff. But God reached into my life and God saved me and delivered me. Delivered me from suicide and all kinds of stuff. I'm telling you there is a God. There's a reason. And if God does something for you, you want to say something. And maybe if you're afraid of shouting, you need to let God do something for you. Pick up your burden. Pick up the burden and start to carry it. And when you realize I can't do it anymore, "God help me," and God resurrects you, you'll have a shout. You'll have a praise. You'll have something you want to thank God about. You might even dance a dance. Hallelujah. You might run around the church. Hallelujah. I heard somebody breaking out this morning. I don't see who it was when we were worshipping God. I'm going praise God. Praise God. That's the voice of somebody thanking God. Amen. They're not afraid to let their voice above the others. I've got to thank God.

Priests, we're called to be priests. If you're born again, you're called to be priests. Priests of God a burden. A priest stands between men and God for men. A priest is between men and God for men. We need a priest. Jesus is our High Priest. But when people don't have Christ, they need somebody else to stand in between. And you stand in between by praying, by living for God, by worshipping, by doing what God says to do. And when people have a need, you lift them up in prayer. You're offering the sacrifice of praise for them. They can't reach God, but you know how to reach God. But you've got to pick up the burden to do that. You've got to pick up the burden. And it's an honor to pick up the burden.

It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching or proclaiming or speaking to reach those that are lost. God's ordained. God's not sending angels to get people. God's sending people. God's not sending angels to tell you how to get saved. God's sending people. Angel shows up to Cornelius, he doesn't tell him how to get saved. He says, "Go to Peter, he'll tell you what to do." Amen. Paul gets knocked off his horse, Jesus doesn't tell him what he needs to do to get saved. He tells him, "Go to the street and you're going to find out what to do to get saved." Isn't it kind of unusual that with Paul, Jesus didn't say, "Well, just say the sinner's prayer and you'll be all set." Why does the Lord say go to a street called Straight and call another man named Ananias to come and talk to him? Paul's already convinced Jesus is Savior now. He's already convinced. Why didn't he just say pray the sinner's prayer and you're all set? I've seen me, I'll tell you what you're going to do, I'll send you on your mission, I'll anoint you. Because it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that are lost. God's going to send a man or a woman. But for the man or woman to get sent, they've got to pick up the burden. They've got to pick it up. Decide, "I'll stand in the gap, Lord. I'll stand in the gap."

So again, just to close it up here this morning, as New Testament believers, born-again believers, we become the temple of God. You become holy priests to intercede for others. We carry the word of God in our hearts. We carry this treasure in earthen vessels, we read. We carry the knowledge of salvation within. You can't talk to somebody about getting saved if you're not saved yourself because you don't really know. You can get them on the subject, but you really don't know what you're trying to tell them. You've got to get saved before you can tell people how to get saved. And again, the Bible lets us understand that just because you had a vision of Jesus, it doesn't mean you're saved. Just because you saw an angel that answered your prayer, it doesn't mean you're saved. You've got to do what God says.

The burden. If you were born again, you've got a burden with you. God's going to pick you, he's going to push you from time to time. It's going to be with you, but it's an honor from God. Because if God fills you with the Holy Ghost, the God that put the stars in place, the God that spoke this world into existence has looked down and honored you by filling you with his spirit. God has looked out of eight billion people and looked at you and filled you with his spirit. You get the Holy Ghost out of eight billion people, God knows your name. He knows everybody's name, but he knows your name in a special way. So there is a burden living for God. This is why a lot of people don't go to church. They know there's a burden. There are people that don't go to church because God is trying to get them to do something and they don't want to do it. There are people that will pick a different church because they don't have to pick up the burden. They can use their giftings without picking up the burden. You can use your talents without picking up the burden. But God is looking for a people that will pick up the burden. It's an honor to be asked of God to carry a burden. Well, let's put it this way, God's saying, "Will you help me?" God's saying, "Will you help me? I can speak worlds into existence, I can bind the devil in a second, but if I'm going to save people, I need you to help me." Would you stand this morning? The honor of carrying a burden. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest to approach unto you that he may dwell in your courts. Are you carrying the burden that God wants you to carry today? Have you been born again the Bible way?

God's waiting for you to get born again if you're not born again so that you can pick up a burden and help somebody else get born again. Lord God, we thank you today that you love us enough to have us be involved in your plan. That we're not just drifting in this world, we're not aimless, we're not just hoping for nothing or something, but you've created us with a purpose. There's a burden for each one of us. In fact, you created us fit for that burden. You created us in a way to bear that burden. You've already put the rings for the staves, God, that we can carry. Help us, Lord, to accept that. Lord God, those that are wrestling with their burden today, help them, Lord God, to yield to you, Lord, to pick up the burden to say, "Yes, Lord, I will. Yes, Lord, I want to know you. Yes, Lord, I want that burden because I want to know you deeper, I want to know you." Hallelujah. Come on, this altar is open here today if you want to talk to the Lord about it. Maybe you've never considered it, you're not even sure if you've got a burden, but maybe you need to talk to God about it, you've never considered it. Maybe you've picked up your burden but laid it down and you need to pick it up again. Hallelujah. Maybe you're wrestling with God and you know what the burden is but you're afraid of it. Amen. That's what the altar's for. God, I'm coming to you. I'm bringing it to you. Lord, I'm asking you, I can't do it, Lord. I need your help. I need your assurance, God. Lord, I need you to help me with the burden that you've given me, God. Hallelujah. Lord, we need you today, Lord God. Oh, we need you to help us, Lord God. We need you to move upon us. Strengthen those that are carrying the burden to continue. Help us to see today, Lord, it's an honor, Lord. You've called us into your in confidence, Lord God. You've called us into your area of work, Lord God. We praise you today, Lord. We thank you, Lord, that there's a reason, a purpose for us. Oh, we're asking you, Lord, everyone here at the altar, strengthen them. Everyone praying here today in this room, strengthen them. Speak to them. Oh, let faith arise. Let God arise in their heart and their mind, Lord God. Hallelujah. Come on, let God arise. Hallelujah. Let God arise in your heart. Hallelujah. Don't faint. Don't faint under the load. Amen. Continue. Amen. If you're already carrying that burden, amen. The Bible says be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. Maybe you've got your burden, you're praying for somebody else. Lay them on the altar. Amen. Lay them that they might pick up their burden. Hallelujah. Lord, we praise you today, Lord God. We thank you today. We worship you, Lord God. We magnify you, Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Lord God. Hallelujah, Jesus. Come on, just reach out to him. Talk to him. Lord, how can I do this? Lord, is there something you want me to do? Hallelujah.

Tina Ouellette: Thank you for joining us today as we have studied the word on Apostolic Truth Radio. My name is Tina Ouellette, wife of Pastor Craig Ouellette of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located at 58 West Street in Whitman, Massachusetts. If you love praise and worship, you will love services at South Shore Pentecostal Church, and we invite you to come and worship with us. Sunday School for all ages begins at 10 a.m. and our Sunday evening service begins at 6 p.m. Adult Bible Study and children's churches is held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. You can learn more about our church on our website at southshorepentecostal.com or you may call us at 781-447-1668. If you have been blessed by this radio ministry, you can help support Apostolic Truth Radio via online giving through Venmo at SSPCWhitman. Write us today and request a free copy of today's message and join us for another broadcast of Apostolic Truth.

Guest (Male): This has been Apostolic Truth with Pastor Craig Ouellette. For a free copy of today's program, call us at 781-447-1668 or send your request to South Shore Pentecostal Church, Post Office Box 113, Whitman, Massachusetts, 02382. Please tune in next week for another Apostolic Truth broadcast. Until then, may God richly bless you. This program was produced by South Shore Pentecostal Church. This broadcast is not necessarily a reflection of the views of this station. For information on advertising on this station, please contact our sales office at 781-447-1668. Thank you for listening.