So let me go ahead and get started.
Let's turn back to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 7. 1 Samuel
chapter 7. I don't want to read verses 12
and 13. 1 Samuel 7 verse 12. Then Samuel
took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shin, and called the
name of it Ebenezer, saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped
us. So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the
coast of Israel, and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines
all the days of Sam. Now just to catch us up from,
because I know last week I was on Hannah's prayer, and just
to catch us up to where We are here in our text here, and I
may do a few messages from 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. But we read in
the preceding chapters that the priests, the sons of Eli, did
not know the Lord, Hophni and Phinehas. They did things that
were and are an offense to God and caused the men of Israel
to abhor the offering of the Lord, is what it says. The offering
of course pictures Christ, so they cause men to abhor Jesus
Christ. We also have Samuel and his son
who was given to the service of the Lord. The Lord sent a
man, and it does not say who it was, to Eli to tell him that
God was going to destroy his family basically. Then God came
to Samuel at night, calling Samuel three times, at which times Samuel
went to Eli because he thought it was Eli calling him. But Eli
perceived it was the Lord calling Samuel, and Eli told Samuel to
lay down, and if he heard it again, to answer the Lord. I just like this, how it says
it. It says, and the Lord came on the fourth time. It says,
and the Lord came and stood and called and stood. and called
as at other times. This fourth time Samuel answered
the Lord. God then began to tell Samuel
what he was going to do to Eli again and his family. And after
some coaxing from Eli, Samuel told Eli what the Lord had said.
Here, the place of rest in Shiloh, the Lord revealed himself to
Samuel by the word of the Lord. This brings us to the events
that directly lead up to our text. We try to fight on our
own, we will be defeated, and the enemy will blaspheme. If
we are one of his, he must fight our battles for us. This is where
our rock lies. So let's go through this morning.
Defeat on your own. God wins by his might. First of all, we have to notice
here that everything that transpired was intended by God. All of this
that was going to happen, it was already determined, Walter.
It was already purposed. It was going to happen. God told
Eli three times these things were going to happen. But men
by nature think they have what it takes to defeat the enemy.
They, or we, think that because God has given us something that
we can go out and fight the battle on our own. This is what we see
in chapter four. The men of Israel, at least from
what I see in this chapter, they were not instructed by God or
his prophet to go out to fight this enemies, the Philistines.
They despised his offering. That is, they despised Jesus
Christ and thought they would go out and win a battle. I know
these priests, the sons of Eli, did evil and caused them to despise
the sacrifice. but that is no excuse to despise
and to do that which is not right in the sight of God. These by
their actions were saying they did not need Christ. God has
got us here to this point and now we can go to battle on our
own. As long as we have God in our corner backing us up. No. God knows before you do and he
will have the outcome set. He will not allow anyone to despise
his offering. God needs no one to fight the
battle for him because there is none that can fight this battle.
They first went out and 4,000 were killed. So what do they
do next? They fetched the Ark of the Covenant
from Shiloh. God did not tell them to do this,
but you have to notice how it says that, 1 Samuel 4 and verse
3. 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. Not, God, what should we do? Or, God, will you be with us?
Can you fight for us? No, they said, 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.
So they were going to do something with what God had given them.
And I want to be clear about what I'm saying. God gave them
the Ark of the Covenant. They thought that what they did
with what God gave them would win a victory. 30,000 men fell
that day. We will not do anything with
what God has given us, because what he has given us is not doable
by us. God has given us in the Ark of
the Covenant, that true Ark of the Covenant, his son. But they
took the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat upon it and
used it as a rabbit's foot. This Ark, of course, contained
the two tables of stone, those unbroken tables of stone, So
the tables of stone were the covenant, and the holder of those
tables was the ark, hence the ark of the covenant. I know it's
kind of simple, but that's what it's saying. The mercy seat was
placed upon that. This is where Yahweh would be. Only Jesus Christ has the power
and the right to sit on the mercy seat. Now, we know from previous
books in scripture that God would tell them where to go and where
to take this ark. They were not just to decide
to take it on their own when and where they wanted to go with
it. They were not to decide for themselves where to take it.
But they did this. They used it, as I said, as a
lucky rabbit's foot. But God is not in what you do
and what you don't do. So what happened in 1 Samuel
4, verse 11? And the ark of God was taken,
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. God
was in charge and what he was pleased to happen was going to
happen and for some, this was not a good thing. Once Eli heard
that the ark was taken, he fell from his chair backwards and
broke his neck and died. I'm just amazed when I think
about this. God just had someone tell Eli
what happened in the war and when he heard it, God used the
man against himself to kill him. The only thing that comes from
such activities as what these did, the only thing born from
that, from trying to add your own doings to what God does and
to ignore God's word and God's way is this, Ichabod. The glory of the Lord will depart
and God will finish the work he started and he will destroy
those who calls his name to be blasphemed among the infidels. First Samuel 4, 21 and 22 we
read, And 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.
We also see what happens when we think we have some part in
our salvation. It will cause the enemies of
God to blaspheme, The Ark of God was taken. Men, those who
hate God when you try to put your hands to a thing, will take
those things and blaspheme His name. What did they do? They took the Ark of the Covenant
and set it by Dagon, the God of their own hands. This world
will blaspheme the God of Scripture when you try to put your hands
to God's work. If you try to add something in to what God
does, this world will blaspheme and trample the Lord of glory.
But God can win his own battle. He needs no help from man. God wins by his might. Number
two, God needs no help from you and I. What God does is forever
and it is right. What happened when they placed
the ark with Dagon? Dagon bowed down to God for Samuel
5 3 and when they have Ashdod arose early on the morrow behold
Excuse me Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before
the ark of the Lord and they took Dagon and set him in his
place again But this was not all they set Dagon back up and
God this time Cut off the head and the hands of Dagon Don't
think you will blaspheme God and get away with it. Who was
here with the Ark of the Covenant? Were there some Israelites in
the corner that was waiting there to pull down Dagon? No, no one. God was there. And God can handle
the enemy by himself with no help from you and I. But we also
read that the hand of the Lord was heavy on them who took the
Ark and placed it there. He struck everyone with hemorrhoids,
it says, a burning ulcer, and from what is said, these were
burning hemorrhoid ulcers. Whatever it was, it caused them
to want to get rid of the ark from out of their midst. Psalm
76 10 says, surely the wrath of man will praise thee. The
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. What these men did
was wrath toward God. And we can actually see God causing
that wrath of man to praise him. What did they finally do? They
said, we have to get rid of this thing. Men's work took the ark of God
from the place of peace, shallow. And they took that which was
the people of God's help to a place of heavy destruction, which is
Ashdod. They took it from Shiloh to Ebenezer
to Ashdod. The heavy destruction is not
that man would heavily destroy God, but that God would heavily
destroy man. The works of our hands will bring
heavy destruction upon us because God does not need any help. And
what God does is sure and right. You try to lay your hands to
what he does, you will be destroyed. Where was the ark sent next?
And keep in mind our text. But where was it sent next, this
ark of the covenant? Gath, the wine press. The ark of the covenant had to
go through the wine press. Talking about the gospel, there
is gospel here. Jesus Christ had to go through
this in my state so that I would not have to go through this and
be destroyed. Where does it go to next? Ekron. What does this mean? Eradication.
Jesus Christ going through the winepress of God's wrath in my
stead has eradicated all my sin and sins so that God no longer
sees any of them. We see next in chapter 6 of 1
Samuel that just as the Egyptians did, so will these Philistines
do. They wanted to get rid of this thing and they knew God
was the one doing this to them. They did not know this God, but
they knew He was doing all of this. So they sent the ark away,
but not by itself. They sent it away with gold.
God will take care of us and He will use the world to accomplish
this. We have no need to worry about
anything. He is in absolute total control
of all things. Next, the cart with the ark being
guided by God Himself went to the house of the Son, Beth Shemesh. But we still see man in his pride. There were those of Beth Shemesh
who wanted to put their hands to what God does and put their
hands to what only God can be a part of. They wanted to rummage
through the Ark of the Covenant. They wanted to put their hands
to what Jesus Christ did. What happened? God destroyed
them, 1 Samuel 6 and 19. And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh,
because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Even he
smote of the people, 50,003 score and 10 men. And the people lamented,
because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great
slaughter. So they called for someone to
come and get the ark. And so it was taken. Abinadab, father of generosity. It stayed there for 20 years.
So the time from chapter 4 to chapter 7 in our text was somewhere
around 22 years, I believe. But we then read this in chapter
7, verse 3. 1 Samuel 7 verse 3. And Samuel
spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto
the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods
and Ashtoreth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto
the Lord, and serve him only. He will deliver you out of the
hand of the Philistines. If you are turned, you will turn
to God first. then you will turn away from
all your idols. For if you try to turn from your
idols first, you will never turn to God. God does not need your
help at any time. If you try to put forth your
hand at all and try to help out God, you will be destroyed. Just
turn to him for your help, then turn from your idols. What first
happens when you first start to turn to the Lord? 1 Samuel
7, 6. And they gathered together to Mizpah and drew water and
poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said
there, we have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the
children of Israel in Mizpah. We begin to confess we have sinned
against God. So now when God calls us those
who are his to worship him, they acknowledge they have sinned
and now what is their cry? What do they begin to do now
as opposed to let us do this or let us do that? What do they
say now? Verse eight, 1 Samuel 7, 8. And
the children of Israel said to Samuel, cease not to cry unto
the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand
of the Philistines. Their cry now is, Lord save us. What does Samuel do? He looks
to Christ, 1 Samuel 7, 9. And Samuel took a sucking lamb
and offered it for a burnt offering, holy unto the Lord. And Samuel
cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. The Lord
hears the cries of those who are his, who cry knowing he is
their only help. So what does God have the children
of Israel to do now? so that they can win the battle.
Nothing. God does it all, 1 Samuel 7,
10. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines
drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a
great thunder on that day upon the Philistines and discomfited
them, and they were smitten before Israel. God destroyed them. This is what discomfited means. He calls them to be so disoriented
that the children of Israel went out and then took care of them.
Where did they do this slaughter of the Philistines? 1 Samuel
7, 11, it says, and the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and
pursued the Philistines and smoked them until they came under Bethkar. Bethkar, house of pastor. God will fight your battles and
God will win the battle. You will be engaged with the
enemy, but it will be God who will disconfit them. You will
do this where the gospel is being proclaimed. That is the house
of pasture. That is where the battle will
end up. The gospel being proclaimed,
giving honor, praise, and glory to his name. The battle will conquer your
heart and mind, turning you to the Lord, and it will conquer
any of those who want to fight against God and put their hands
to what he has done. The gospel is food for our souls
because it tells us what he has done. So we now are back at our
text. That place where God has defeated
our foe, that old nature which hates God with all it is, God
has disconfitted. that has destroyed me so that
I can now serve him. He will also discomfit any who
try to destroy me. God has destroyed all my enemies.
There will come a day when I will no longer even have this flesh
with me. This flesh, that which wants
to lay its hand to God's work all the time. I pray it be taken
away, and it will one day. where we will be able to cry,
death has been swallowed up in victory. If you would turn with
me to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, I wanna
read verses 53 through 57. 1 Corinthians 15, 53. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Putting our hands to what God
has done in Christ is a perilous thing to do. Jesus Christ has
taken care of all of this. We will one day put this body
of flesh down. giving praise and honor and glory
to him for conquering death. Where is it that Samuel placed
this stone? Between Mizpah and Shem, and
that is my title. What is between Mizpah and Shem?
My Ebenezer, that stone, Jesus Christ. Here I raise my Ebenezer. Hither by thy help I'll come.
and no further. Psalm 18, 2, the Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom
I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and
my high tower. So the rock which is Jesus Christ
is placed in the middle of the watchtower, which is the gospel
of Jesus Christ, and it is he that is between me and the crag
or cliff, which is Christ. The great gulf is filled by him
and all those who bow to him will pass over, having their
feet placed on that solid rock. So what do I have to worry about?
Nothing. So what do we read last of all
here in closing in 1 Samuel 7, 13? So the Philistines were subdued
and they came no more into the coast of Israel and the hand
of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. God has
defeated my enemies. That is, he has defeated this
flesh, and he will defeat all those who hate him. All I do
is always and continually look to him by his mercy and grace. Amen. Dear old God, thank you for allowing
us to proclaim your word, dear Lord. Open our hearts, minds,
that we may know you, dear Lord. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.