Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
to you today from 1 Samuel chapter 4. but I would like to begin
in 1 Samuel chapter one. If you'd like to follow along
with me, you can turn to 1 Samuel chapter one. The account that
we are gonna look at today is a very sad story. It's a very tragic story, but
I pray that the Lord might use this to cause us to see the seriousness
of our worship. the seriousness of our bowing
before the Lord our God. God brought judgment on the people
of Israel. The people of Israel brought
it on themselves because of their sin, but God brought judgment
on the people of Israel and the reason for an entire nation being
judged of God boiled down to two men. It was really because of two
men, Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Eli the priest had
two sons and they were priests also, but they profaned the name
of the Lord. They profaned the office that
they were given and they caused the people of Israel to profane
the name of the Lord. Because of their wickedness and
because of their blasphemy, God judged the whole nation. Now,
chapter one, this book begins with a man named Elkanah. And
it says in verse three, 1 Samuel 1, verse three, this man went
up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto
the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, The priests of the Lord were there. Hophni and
Phinehas were there. He went up to worship God and
those two men were there. Chapter 2 verse 12 says, Now
the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. They knew not the Lord. Now didn't
we just read in chapter 1 that they were the priests of the
Lord? Didn't it say that in chapter
one? Yes, it did. Yes, it did. The apostle Paul
said in second Corinthians 11. That the adversary has transformed
himself into an angel of light. A preacher. He's transformed
himself. He operates his great work of
deception. through the ministry of religion. That is important. I need to
know that and you need to know that. I want both of us to understand
that very clearly. The adversary operates his deception
through the ministry of religion. And the apostle Paul said that
his ministers, his devils, have done the same thing. They're
all transformed as ministers of righteousness, but they're
not ministers of righteousness. The apostle John said, try the
preachers, whether they are of God, try them. How do we try
them? Well, we're about to find that
out. Verse 13, here in 1 Samuel 2, it says, and the priest's
custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice,
the people brought an animal to be sacrificed for their sins.
And the custom was for the priest that when any man offered a sacrifice,
the priest's servant came while the flesh was in seething with
a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand, and he struck it into
the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, And all that the flesh
hook brought up, the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh
unto all the Israelites that came thither. God said that the
priests were allowed to do that. That was their portion of every
sacrifice. They could take this hook and
hook it into the meat that was cooked in the pot, and whatever
came up, that was theirs. But Hophnon Phinehas said, that's
not enough. What God has provided for us,
that's not enough. They started telling the people.
Either you bring extra meat for us. That we can cook for ourselves. Or we're not going to offer the
meat that you've brought unto the Lord. We're not going to
offer the sacrifice for you. We're not going to offer the
sacrifice for your sins, and when the people said no, you
you can't take any of the meat that we bring for yourself. This
meat is only for the Lord. This is what those two men said.
They said, either you give it to us or we're going to come
take it by force. We're going to come take it by
force. Verse 17 says, Wherefore, the
sin of the young man was very great before the Lord. For men
abhorred the offering of the Lord. He made the people hate
the offering of the Lord. They dreaded the offering of
the Lord. They dreaded coming to the house
of God to worship him because they were going to have to deal
with those two men. They didn't want to come. Horrible, isn't
it? That's horrible. Verse 22, it says, now Eli was
very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel and
how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. They were fornicators, adulterers. Phinehas was married. Verse 23,
he said unto them, why do ye such things? For I hear of your
evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good
report that I hear you make the Lord's people to transgress. You're causing all the people
to transgress. You're causing God's people to
sin against him. Verse 27, and there came a man
of God unto Eli and said unto him, thus saith the Lord. God sent a man to Eli. And through
this man, God told Eli, because of the sin of your two sons,
I'm cutting off the priesthood from your family line. The priests
are not gonna come through you anymore. I'm putting an end to
this. Verse 34, and this shall be a sign unto thee that shall
come upon thy two sons on Hophniah and Phinehas. In one day, they
shall die, both of them. In one day, he said, I'm going
to kill them both. Eli was told this before Samuel
was told to tell Eli this God revealed himself to Samuel and
gave a message to Samuel. In verse 35, he said, I will
raise me up a faithful priest. Now, physically, he's speaking
of Samuel, but spiritually, that represents Christ. That represents
God's great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in verse 35, I will raise
me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which
is in my heart and in my mind. He will delight to do my will. He will accomplish everything
that I sent him to do. He went on to say, and I will
build him a sure house and he shall walk before mine anointed
forever. In the midst of the sorrow and
the tragedy of sin, isn't it wonderful to get a glimpse of
Christ? We see how horribly man has ruined
everything. And then we see Christ come and
restore it all. Well, chapter three is where
the Lord revealed himself to Samuel. And the Lord said to
Samuel, I want you to go tell Eli the same thing that I sent
the other man to tell Eli. At the mouth of two or three
witnesses, a thing is going to be established. And it was established. Chapter four, verse one, it says
in the word of Samuel came to all Israel. It came to pass. Everything that God says is going
to be done comes to pass. It says the word of Samuel came
to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the
Philistines to battle and pitched besides Ebenezer, and the Philistines
pitched in Aphek, and the Philistines put themselves in array against
Israel, and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before
the Philistines, and they slew of the army in the field about
4,000 men. The Philistines came up against
Israel, and Israel lost. They lost about 4,000 men in
that battle. Verse three, and when the people
were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, wherefore
hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us
fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto
us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the
hand of our enemies. They didn't see a need for the
ark of the covenant before. They didn't go with it before.
They didn't see a need to call on God before. They went to battle
in their own self-confidence. They went to battle in their
own arrogance, but they got in trouble, and they decided we
need to go get our good luck charm. We need to go get the
Ark of the Covenant. That's where we went wrong. So
they went to Shiloh, and they got the Ark, and those two men,
Hophni and Phinehas, brought the Ark. And when they came back
to the camp, all of Israel started shouting. They all started rejoicing
and shouting. But this is what the word says.
God was not with them. He was not with them, and they
went back into battle with the Philistines. Verse 10 says, and
the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every
man into his tent. And there was a very great slaughter
for their fell of Israel, 30,000 foot men. The first time it was
4,000, this time it was 30,000. And the ark of God was taken. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, were slain. They were killed in that battle. God's judgment came to pass. Verse 12 says, And there ran
a man of Benjamin out of the army and came to Shiloh the same
day with his clothes rent and with earth upon his head. And
when he came low, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching
for his heart trembled for the ark of God. This man had the
fear of the Lord in him. And it says that he trembled.
for the ark of God. He trembled in fear for the glory
of the Lord of all the heaven and earth, God himself. Verse
13, and when the man came into the city and told it, all the
city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise
of the crying, he said, what meaneth the noise of this tumult?
And the man came in hastily and told Eli. Now Eli was 90 and
eight years old and his eyes were dimmed that he could not
see. And the man said unto Eli, I'm he that came out of the army,
and I fled today out of the army. And he said, what is there done,
my son? And the messenger answered and
said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been
also a great slaughter among the people. And thy two sons
also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass when he made
mention that the ark of God was taken, not that his two sons
died. When he made mention that the
ark of God was taken, it says he fell off the seat backward
by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died for he
was an old man and heavy and he judged Israel 40 years. When
he heard that the ark of God was taken, he fell over and he
died. Verse 19 says his daughter-in-law
Phineas, his wife. Was with child near to be delivered,
and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of God was taken,
she was a woman who had the fear of the Lord in her. And when she heard that the Ark
of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband
were dead, she bowed herself and travailed and her pains came
upon her delivering her child. And about the time of her death,
the women that stood by us said unto her, fear not, for thou
hast born a son. But she answered not, neither
did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod. Ichabod. That means where is
the glory? That's what she named this child.
Where is the glory? It means there is no glory. She named the child Ichabod saying
the glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken
and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said
the glory is departed from Israel for the ark of God is taken. How sad is that? How horrible,
how tragic. Now, why did I just tell you
all that? I read all those verses of scripture to you, and that's
kind of a long story to build up to this. Why did I take the
time to tell you that? Here's the reason why. I fear
that. I fear that. We need to fear
that. You and I both, every person
on standing on this earth needs to fear what we just read about. These are God's people. This
is Israel and his ark was taken from him and the glory of the
Lord departed and the people didn't have it anymore. I pray that God would never allow
that to happen to us. I pray that God would never allow
that to happen to us. May it never be said that our
worship, that our faith, that our belief in the heart, may
it never be said concerning this heart right here, my heart and
your heart, where is the glory? May it never be said, where is
the glory? As we worship in this land, people
gather together to worship. May it never be said in any house
that is supposed to be a house of worship. May it never be said.
Where is the glory? I fear that's happening. I fear
in places that are supposed to be gathered in the name of the
Lord. There's no glory there. No glory of the Lord. May it
be evident. in this place right here, in
this heart right here, may the glory of the Lord be evident. Now, if God allows that to be,
if that is indeed the case, if God allows our hearts to desire
and to bow to the glory of the Lord, if God allows our worship
right now to revolve around And if God allows our message to
be centered on the glory of the Lord, not man's glory, not the
flesh's glory, no other glory, but the glory of the Lord. If
God allows that to happen, what would we be glorying in? What
would that look like? What would that sound like? What
would we believe? What would we hear? What would
we preach? What is the glory of the Lord? What is the glory of the Lord? Well, there are many verses of
scripture that could answer that for us. We could just turn and
turn and turn for the sake of time. I have three. Three verses
of scripture where the glory of the Lord is. these three things
will be. Whenever a group of believers,
whenever a heart has the glory of the Lord there, these three
things will be. These three things will be preached. These three things will be believed. These three things will be loved. Loved, preached, believed, loved,
held to. All right, number one, turn with
me over to Exodus 24. Exodus 24 verse 15, it says,
Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount
and the glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai. The glory of
the Lord was there. And the cloud covered it six
days and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of
the cloud and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring
fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of
Israel. And Moses went into the midst
of the cloud and get him up into the mount and Moses was in the
mount 40 days and 40 nights. When the Lord descended on Mount
Sinai, he revealed the glory and the people saw it. It was
there and they saw it and this is what they saw. They saw the
glory of His holiness, and they saw the glory of His justice. This devouring fire. God is a devouring fire, a holy
and just God who must punish sin. The fire of His wrath and
judgment must devour sin. It must. Hophnain Phinehas. lost sight of his holiness and
they lost sight of his justice and they caused all of the people
to lose sight of his holiness and his justice. And when the
people do that anywhere, even today, it's the fault of God's
minister. If people are doing that today,
it's the fault of the preacher. Oh Lord, help us to declare your
holiness and your justice. Let that never depart from us.
May the glory of the Lord be here, be in the message, be in
our hearts. On Mount Sinai, that's what he
was declaring. He gave his law and his law said,
I must punish sin. That's what he told Moses. And
He must. He must. He is perfect in holiness. His glory is His perfection. The glory of His kingdom is the
perfection of His holiness. And therefore His judgment, all
of His judgment, it must be right. And since man is wrong, He must
punish man. He must punish us for our sins. If we get to a place where we
lose sight of His judgment of sin, our sin, then the glory
of the Lord has departed from this place. If I lose sight of
that, the glory has departed. Where the glory of the Lord is,
His holiness and His justice is declared. All right, number
two, go with me to Leviticus chapter nine. Leviticus 9 verse
22, it says, and Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people
and blessed them and came down from offering of the sin offering
and the burnt offering and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron
went into the tabernacle of the congregation and came out and
blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared
unto all the people. When the blessing came, the glory
of the Lord appeared. When the Lord commanded the blessing, all of his glory was seen. That's
his grace. The blessing, the gift of his
grace, his unmerited favor. His freely bestowed gift, Hofna
and Phineas, caused the people to lose sight of His grace. His grace. They caused all the
people to believe in their heart, we're going to have to do this
alone now. You better do what you need to do to make it right
with God and to win your own salvation. He went to war. They went to war in their own
strength, and that's what men are trying to do before God.
Go to war with their own sin in their own strength by the
might of their own hand. And this is what the Apostle
Paul said in Romans 11. He said if it works. By the might
of our own hand and the doings of our own hand, if it works,
it's not grace. Not one center has ever been
saved, has ever been delivered. by the works of his own hands.
It only comes through the blessing of God's grace. Moses told the
people, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He said,
the Lord shall fight for you. And that's how it is in salvation.
He said the Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your
peace. Salvation is freely bestowed
of the Lord. All by his grace, all by his
grace. If we ever get to a place where
we lose sight of the fact that all of the blessings of God are
freely bestowed on sinners through the abundance and through the
goodness of his grace, then the glory of the Lord has departed
from this place. If it's by our works, the glory
of the Lord has departed. We can write Ichabod right here.
Oh, may that never be said. Where the glory of the Lord is,
his free and sovereign grace is declared. It's believed, it's
loved. Number three, look with me at
2 Chronicles 7. 2 Chronicles 7 verse 1, it says,
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,
and the glory of the Lord filled the house. and the priest could
not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the
Lord had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of
Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord
upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground
upon the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord saying,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. When the Lord
consumed that sacrifice, He declared the glory of His mercy. The glory
of His mercy. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. That's mercy. How is that possible
with a just and holy God? How is that possible? How can,
if He's just, how can He not give us what we deserve? Here's
the answer. He gave Christ his son what we
deserved. He was our substitute. He took
our place. God made him to be the sacrifice
for our sin. The only one who satisfied God
was the only one who could satisfy God. The sacrifice of his body
and the sacrifice of his blood, that was the only sacrifice that
God could accept because it was the only sacrifice that was perfect.
The only one. Moses asked the Lord, show me
your glory. And he said, I'll show mercy
to whom I'll show mercy. That's my glory. if we ever lose
sight of the fact that the broken body and the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing that God will accept in
order to have mercy on our souls. If we lose sight of that, the
glory of the Lord has departed from this place. It's gone, Ichabod. Where the glory of the Lord is,
mercy in the blood of the Lamb is declared. Those three things. May God cause that to be here. May this be a place in this heart
right here, may it be a place where the glory of the Lord dwells.
May that be for Christ's sake. Till next week, the Lord bless
His word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.