The Glory is Departed

This morning, if you would, please
turn to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 4. 1 Samuel, chapter
4. Excuse me this morning. My throat is rather raw, and it may mean that I'll not
be able to speak as clearly as I'd like to. I want to talk a little bit this
morning, if I can, about this chapter and about what happened
here in the chapter. The subject this morning, I guess,
if you need a title, would be The Glory is the Party. The Glory
is the Party. We see here where the wife of
Phineas, that she bore a child and named him 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. Now at the time
this child was born, the mother had received tragic news. You
remember as we read the chapter that her husband and his brother
had just been killed in battle, and the news was brought to Eli's
father who was buried at the gate of the temple. Eli being
an old man, and 98 years old as the scriptures tells us, and
he was a very heavy man. And as he sat there by the gate,
he was not able, because his eyes were dim, to see the runner
that had come into the town to tell him of the evil tidings
on the battlefield. And as he came in, he began to
tell around the city, about what happened out in the battlefield,
how it had been a great slaughter of the Lord's army, and how the
Ark of God had been taken. Well, Eli heard, overheard, and
so he wanted to know what the report was. And the report was
given, and when the sad report was brought to him, he fell over
backwards and broke his neck. And he died. So her husband,
her brother-in-law, and her father-in-law had all just died, and the report
was brought that the Ark was taken by the enemy. And she felt
a great emptiness and desolation at this time, therefore she named
the child Ichabod, the meaning, the glory is departed. Now there's
a great lesson I believe in this portion of the Word of God this
morning for us. And I hope this morning that
the Lord has prepared our hearts and that we are desirous to hear
what the Lord would have to say to us and that we want this morning
to receive that which would be good and profitable for our souls. Now let us go back to the first
part of this chapter and I want us to consider some things here.
Notice in verse 1, And verse 2, and the word of Samuel came
to all Israel. Now it was at this time in the
providence of God that God would have there to be a war between
the nation of Israel and the Philistines. God had a purpose
in allowing this war to be fought at this time. And it tells us
here, now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and
pitched beside Ebenezer and the Philistines pitched in Aphex.
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 four thousand
men. And when the people were coming
to the camp, the elders of Israel said, verse 3, Wherefore hath
the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Now, after suffering
this defeat that day in battle, there was about 4,000 of the
soldiers that were killed in this battle. This was no small
matter and certainly not something that could be ignored. It certainly
was evident that the hand of the Lord was against Israel and
that the Lord had allowed the Philistines to conquer on that
day. And so the question was asked
when they got back into the camp by the elders of Israel, wherefore,
wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?
Why has this occurred? Why have we been defeated? Why
has it come to pass that we are not victorious against the Palestinians
today? Why are we defeated? Now, although
there were vast reasons as to why that they had been defeated
that day, first of all, none of the nobles, I suppose, the
majority, of those who fell on the battlefield that day, and
the elders of Israel, was the overruling providence of God,
that God meant, God meant to kill off the sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas. God meant to do that, as we find
later that He did. And so this battle occurred,
this time of battle, this time of war, that it occurred because
there was about to be a change. We know that Eli was an old man
and he had not restricted his sons. And God said, I'm going
to cut off you from the house of Israel and your sons are going
to both die in one day. God had prophesied that this
would come to pass. God had said it. And so the Lord
was about to bring it to pass. Now we know sometimes there must
be a great wind that comes, a great storm that comes. and blows the
dead wood off the tree so that new life can break forth. Now
the epoch of Samuel was about to begin. Samuel was a judge
in Israel, and it was in God's providence that Eli and his sons
would be removed in order that Samuel would be the judge in
Israel. And so, of course, many of the
Israelites and Jews didn't know that this was in God's mind,
and this was what God was going to do. God meant to slay the
sons of Eli, and so this battle, I believe, was on this occasion
that God would take out of the way Eli and his sons. Well, this is exactly, as we'll
discover, if you remember the reading, exactly what happened
on this occasion. But then there was another thing.
We know that Israel had been guilty of idolatry. They were
worshiping Balaam and Asherah, and we know that because of their
idolatry, God also was judging them on this day, and the Lord
left them to themselves and gave them over to defeat in this battle. Now we oftentimes wonder why
it is that the Lord allows us to experience defeat. in his
kingdom and service and in our travels here in this life. We
wonder why it is that God allows us to suffer defeat. We must
understand, beloved, and I believe this question here is asked in
sincerity, but I think maybe they knew a little bit more probably
about this side of their situation I think what they might have
known about the first part of the situation. I think they knew
that they had been guilty of idolatry, that they had been
guilty of rebelling against God, and that they weren't involved
in serving God and seeking God. So they suffered this defeat.
So they came up with this idea. here and Here is a tragic mistake
in their language now notice here in verse 3 It says let us
stretch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of shallow unto
us that when it cometh among us it may save us out of the
hand of our enemies We take note here that they were
not seeking the God of the Ark, but they were seeking the Ark.
And they said, let us fetch here the Ark of the Covenant of Lord
Al-Shalo, that when He cometh among us, it It may save us out
of the hand of our enemies. Now, like I said here, Israel
made, I believe, a tragic mistake. They decided that because they
had met with defeat, that something had to be done. They decided
that they had to do something because they didn't know how
to go out again. They were confused to hear as
to the appropriate solution. because here they thought that
they could solve the problem by just going and fetching the
ark and bringing it and they said, yes, we'll save us. Now, I want you to understand
this morning that there was nothing wrong with the ark of God. There
certainly wasn't anything wrong with the ark of God because the
ark was made by divine planning. God had given, as we understand,
the dimensions and told Moses exactly how the ark was to be
made. Now God made Moses, He gave Moses
the tavern in the mountain and He gave him all the information
needed for the building of the tabernacle and the articles that
went in to the tabernacle. And the ox went in, you remember,
it was one of the articles that went in to the tabernacle and
resting atop the ox was the mercy seat. And then over that was
the Shekinah glory of God, which was the presence of Almighty
God. Now, the Lord did not tell Moses
to build his any kind of ark. He did not tell him that he could
make his own selection as to the materials that would go into
the ark, because he gave him the exact dimensions and everything
had to be exactly, had to be made according to the pattern
in the map given from God to Moses. Now, because all these
articles had a significance, and even the tabernacle itself
was representative, it was representative, the tabernacle and the articles
that was in it, these articles were representative of what Jesus
Christ was to accomplish in the room instead of his people. Now,
why were the Hebrew letters said? that these things were imposed
upon them till the time of Reformation. Now, this Reformation day that
the Bible Hebrews was talking about came long before Martin
Luther ever lived. Now, this Reformation occurred
when Jesus Christ died at Calvary's Cross and when the veil of the
temple was writ in twain, when all eyes could see the sacred
articles of the temple exposed. So it was no longer necessary
for beasts to be slain and the blood of animals to be sprinkled
upon the Jewish altar, not after this day of Reformation. I'm
telling you that this ark was a type, that it was a symbol,
that it was a shadow, it was a representative. And Moses was
given, as we've explained here, all of the dimensions and he
was the one that followed the plan of God's routine and set
up all these things. Now then, when the day of Reformation
came and Christ died and the veil of the temple was reintroduced,
then it was no longer necessary for meat to be slain and the
blood of animals to be sprinkled, as we said, upon the Jewish altar. Now Jesus Christ the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, the perfect spotless sacrifice
of God had come and died in the ruins dead of his people and
purchased them with his own precious blood. And we're not redeemed
with corruptible veins of silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the bringing of turtledoves?
And lambs or heifers, no longer necessary, because the day of
reformation has come and all the types and shadows of the
Old Testament is fulfilled by the substance, Jesus Christ. And we're redeemed with the precious
blood of God's own spotless Son, Jesus Christ. The point being
that the Ark was good for its time as it tied in shadow what
Jesus Christ would do. But these people made a mistake.
The Lord had commanded Moses, and I want you to think with
me a little bit about this. He commanded Moses that this
Ark was to be kept in the secret place of the tabernacle. Now
Josephus tells us that There was a, at this time, when the
word came from the battlefield to him, to Eli, that they needed
the Ark, that they wanted to fetch the Ark. In fact, there
was a conversation went on between Eli and his sons Hoffman and
Finneas, and in this conversation Eli told his sons, he said, now
if anything happens to this ark, you might as well consider your
life over, because your life is over if anything happens to
this ark, because it's very unusual that this ark would be taken
from this place and removed to the battlefield. And nevertheless,
Israel would fetch this ark. They wanted this ark. And now
to answer their earthly purposes, and this was their desire, was
that they would be delivered in battle. And so they thought
the ark of God, it would save them. And so the commandment
of God is set aside, and the sacredness of the Holy of Holies
is to be violated, and a battlefield is to become the dwelling place
of the ark of God. Now this was their first mistake.
Now they made too much of the ark. And I think this is to be
understood. I think we have to face this.
They just made too much of the ark of God. They trusted in it,
saying it will save us. They called for the ark instead
of calling upon the God of the ark. Instead of trusting the
Lord and pride in Him, they called for the ark. Now, instead of
seeking God himself, they said, catch the ark and bring the ark
of the covenant. I say that they made too much
of the ark. I say they trusted in a good
thing, but it was not the thing that they ought to have been
trusting in. Now, they sent them a hot nine pineas instead of
calling upon God. And certainly if there was anybody
that was blind and anybody that I wouldn't want to be on the
battlefield beside of me in the day of battle was these two boys
because they were wicked. They were wicked boys and they
were those that would not be restrained even by their father
who was a judge and priest in Israel. And they were those that
God would slay, and I wouldn't want them to be at my side. Beloved,
if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Well, the ark could never save them, and we discover that it
did not save them. It was made out of wood, and
there was no life in it, and there was no power in the ark
to save them. Only God could save and deliver
His people. Only God is able to save and
deliver His people. Now there's a great lesson here,
and I want us to know what that lesson is. There's a lot of people
in the religious world today who have made the same mistake
that Israel made out here on the battlefield. The same mistake
when it comes to the matter of eternal salvation. Now I distinguish
between eternal salvation and temporal salvation. I believe
there's both. I certainly believe that there's
many times when God delivers his people here in this world
that it can be called salvation. Because the word deliverance
means salvation. And suddenly there is an eternal
salvation. Thank God there is. And that
salvation, I think a lot of people make a mistake about it when
they begin to talk about it and begin to preach about it. They
will look to the superstitious use of sacred things, things
that are good in themselves, and I want you to get that, that's
important, things that are good in themselves, things that God
has designed and given to His people, saying, it will save
us. things that God is the author
of, things that God has given unto His people, unto His church,
and they will say, it will save us. Now, prayer is good. We ought to pray. I'm certain
that every one of us understands that the Bible teaches that the
people of God ought to be and are a praying people. We are
told to pray without ceasing in the Word of God. Prayer is
good. But there are those who hold to the idea that if you
can pray and pray through and pray for eternal salvation and
God will save you as a result of your prayers. It will save
us, they say, but it will not save us. Prayer can only spring
from a renewed heart. It can only come, prayer can
only be offered by the living and not the dead. You must remember
that. Prayer will not save a single
soul with eternal salvation. Prayer is a good thing. I'm saying
that prayer is a good thing. This heart was a good thing,
but it would not save May we not make the same mistake about
these things which God has designed and given, but will not save
us. Baptism is another thing. It's
an ordinance of the church. Jesus told us to go and make
disciples of men and baptize them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. and the Holy Ghost. And the scripture
says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but
he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, you have extreme
views about baptism. Some say that it's a little thing. It means it don't matter whether
you are baptized or whether you're not baptized. You can be a merciful
stranger. It doesn't really matter. It's
just left up to you. Just do whatever you want to
about baptism. And then, below there are others
who say that they will clearly be on the side on this issue
of baptism. And they say that baptism is
everything. And they walk to the baptistry
and they say, there is your Savior. It will save us. Now if you're
not familiar with the Camelot Doctrine, If you're not familiar
with any of the various denominations that believe in baptismal regeneration,
then you ought to become familiar with it, and you'll see that
they made exactly the same mistake that Israel made here on the
battlefield this day. Now then, if you are not baptized
in water, we're told that you can never see heaven, and we're
told that this will save us. This will save us. Well, if this
ordinance Baptism will save us. Now the scripture says that it's
not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience towards God. Baptism in water never has
saved a soul for eternal heaven. I want you to understand that
never has baptism made a soul clean before God, as concerning
the sin question. Men and women are not cleansed. by baptism. You cannot be cleansed
in the water of baptism. It is the answer, Peter said,
of a good conscience toward God. If God has not already given
you the good conscience by grace, then you cannot have an answer
to. It's got to be given to you by
God first, and then in the waters of baptism, then the answer of
good conscience comes and is answered to. But baptism is good. God's children ought to be baptized. But aren't you glad to know that
there will be multitudes in heaven who never even heard about baptism. The thief on the cross did no
thing about baptism, and he was not baptized. And certainly,
certainly he never got into the waters of the baptism stream.
There are many, many souls that will be in heaven never went
into the waters of baptism. But now they are washed in the
blood of the Lamb. Everybody that is housed in eternal
heaven will be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Now if that
was the truth, if water baptism was essential to salvation, how
few just like how few ultimately would be in heaven. How few. Now, it's true that we know that
most all churches practice some sort of baptism. But how few
would be in heaven if you have to be baptized in order to get
there. Now, the scripture says that
there's a great multitude that no man can count. Yea, thousands
and millions more numerous than the stars in the sky and the
sand in the sea. And people here talk to us about
our doctrine. They talk to us about our preaching
of redeeming love and elective grace, and God's purpose and
predestination, and say that you hold such a narrow doctrine. Your doctrine is so rare, but
beloved, it's not so. It's not so. Our doctrine is
not narrow. It's a broad doctrine embracing
multitudes because it is as broad as the eternal scheme of God
to save a people If men are able to count, and I think this is
tremendous, baptism is good, but it will not save you for
an eternal heaven. It will not. You must be justified
in the eternal counsels of God before the world began, or you'll
never be in heaven. And baptism on earth will not
save you. It will not save us! And we must
remember that. Now next, there are those who
look at the church and say, if you never get into the church
down here, you will never live in glory above. They say that
the church is the door to heaven. Now, if you join the right church,
the true church, and get your name on the book down here, then
it will be put on the register in heaven. That's not so. That's
not so. And it's the same thing. It will
save us. Now, beloved, we know that every
one of these groups that hold to these views We know that over
their church doors can be written the word Ichabod, the glorious
departed. Because the glory is all taken
away, the God of salvation is taken from him and placed upon
these things such as they are. It's placed upon prayer, it's
placed upon water baptism, it's placed upon the church. Now if
God loves you in the covenant that holds the foundation of
the world, then you're a member of the church already. You're
a member of that church in the firstborn. and you don't join
that church, you are chosen to that church and you are elected
to it by the free grace of God and you do not join that church.
I want you to understand that the church will not save you
for heaven. Not the church here in this world. It will not. It
has no power. It has no efficacy. It has no
delivering power. It cannot save your soul for
eternal heaven. That has to take place In grace,
before the world began, it had to take place in the mind of
God, in the counsel of God. He had to determine your everlasting
salvation. And if He did determine it and
decreed it, then you are eternally justified in and through the
person of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Now then, the church will not
say, it was good, it was founded by Jesus Christ, he is the foundation
and the head of the church, and he is to have the preeminence
and glory of all that's done within the church. It is his
gospel that is preached there, it's his ordinances that are
observed there, it is his person that makes it alive and warm,
and it's a place, a very special place, I like to say, and fellowship
and edification, but it will not save your soul. It will not
save us. And so membership in a church
is not the equivalent of eternal salvation. Now there are those
who say, it will save us. It will not. It will not. Will
you listen to me this morning? Because there are multitudes
that are going to hell saying, it will save us. And if I can
just get my name on the holy Catholic church register, it
will save me. And if I get into this church,
oh, it's the right church, it will save us. It will not do
any such thing. And any church that teaches that
membership in the church will say, The glory is departed. The
glory is departed. There ain't any glory there.
Because salvation is all together the work of God from beginning
to end. And there's nobody ever saved
eternally that's not saved by God Almighty through the work
of Jesus Christ. Now then, Jesus Christ saves
and has and He does save His people from their sins. Salvation
is not in something material or something tangible. It is
in God's Son and we must remember that. There is no other name
given among men whereby we must be saved. No other, no other,
no other name. He doesn't save you a little. He's the Savior and He's all
of it. He doesn't say, do a little bit, and then you finish it up.
No. He doesn't just get you started and say, now you complete it.
He is all of it. It's not a combination of grace
and works. It's all about grace and start
to finish. All about what God has done,
planned and purposed, and accomplished for His people through the sacrifice.
of his son Jesus Christ the Redeemer. Now people criticize our doctrine
and say it's such a hard doctrine and they even go to y'all back
and say it's a terrible doctrine that you cowards preach. It's
so terrible. Some say that I would not want
what you teach and what you believe to be taught to my children because
they become so confused that they never would The Lord Jesus
Christ, and it is by the eternal decree of God that men are saved. Oh, it's a glorious doctrine,
it's a God honoring doctrine, and to understand the purpose
of God in electing a people and the redemption work of Jesus
Christ and now of His cross was not designed to keep somebody
out of heaven! It was not designed for that
purpose, and we must understand that. Election was not to exclude
anybody. It was to embrace a multitude. We were already excluded to start
with. Do you understand that? Oh, listen,
because we stood in Adam, and if we had been left in Adam by
nature, if we had been left in him, we would have all perished
eternally. But because God loved us in Christ,
the whole foundation of the world, sent His affection upon us, and
sent His Son to die to redeem us, then, beloved, we are indeed
saved. Beloved, electing us in grace
as a multitude which no man can measure. And the Savior then
is Jesus Christ, and not anything here on earth. And any church
that preaches any other doctrine and says, yes, it will save us,
it will save us, the glory's departing. Brother, mark it down,
the glory's departing. The glory is with the people
of God as long as they exalt Christ as the only all-sufficient
Savior of the elect of God. And when we depart from that
glory departing, Christ in eternal salvation is the glory. And let
us give Him all the glory and praise if we be joined unto the
Lord and have experienced eternal salvation. If we've experienced
it, then to God be the glory. To the Lord be the glory. and
let it forever be understood that our message is designed
in order to give the glory unto God's dear Son, who drenched
the wine in Christ the raptured God of old, and suffered and
endured all the agonies of the cross to save our painful souls
from hellfire. And I think when we understand
that, And we can give the Lord glory. And we can see how that
when that message is proclaimed, that the glory of God is there.
But when it's taken and removed, the glory has departed. Well
now, men, do not only make a mistake about eternal salvation, but
Israel here made a mistake about temporal salvation and deliverance. I want us to note here that they
said we need the ark. We need it. Go fetch the ark
and bring it here to the Bible meeting. And so what they needed
here was a temporal deliverance. They needed salvation from the
Philistines. They had met with defeat and
they needed salvation. So we need the ark. There was
no calling upon God. to admit that they were poor
and needy and that they were desolate and that they needed
the help of God and they were defeated. No, no. There was no
call for prayer, no call for greater faith in Almighty God. But go best you are and it will
save us. Now many times God's people make
the same error in judgment today. We look at some new scheme, some
new doctrines that are devised by men and we say it. will save us. We may make the
same mistake as Israel did here, look at something good in itself,
something good in itself, something given of God, but put the improper
emphasis upon it when we say it will save us. We come to times of defeat. In
this life, many times the people of God have their hips, as it
were, hanging and the chin on their breasts because they've
suffered defeat. And they're living, as it were,
lives that are not victorious. And they recognize that, and
they know that they're defeated. And they're looking for some
way out. They're looking for a victory.
They're looking for some way to rise above their circumstances
and their situation and to have some victory. And we notice coldness
in our own hearts, lack of interest in others. And sincerely, all
along the way, we notice it and we recognize that this is a sign
that there's defeat in the camp of God. There's defeat among
the army of the Lord. Now they find that there is something
that's needed. Where will we find the solution
to our problem? Where will we find the solution?
I'm weak, preacher, and I'm not able to arborize above some of
my old habits, and I'm not able to get above some of the things
that have plagued me in this life. Where shall I find the
solution, preacher? What is the way out of the mess
that we're in? And I believe that most of the
Calvinistic churches in our day recognize that the religious
world is a mess. Many have come out from many
of the denominations of this world in order that they might
get out of some of the mess that is found in religious circles.
But where is the answer? And sometimes even Calvinistic
brethren, and I know that maybe we two fall into the same category.
We come to the place sometimes where we feel that we're defeated
and that there's no victory and that there's no hope for the
future. And what shall we do? Where shall we find the answer? Will it be in something that
we can see? Is there something that we can bring here and utilize
it here and it will save us? Is there something we can add
here to the services? Is there something we can do
that would deliver us? Where shall deliverance be found
or who shall deliver us? Well, can it be found in the
church? and to be found in the church.
Now, I believe the church is a good thing. I believe it is
indeed. It's an institution that was arranged up by God. I've
said a few words about it already, but I believe that it can guide
the people of God from error to truth, and I believe that
when the church, the ministry is what it ought to be, that
it can be of great use to the people of God. But I want you
to understand, Paul said, it's the pillar of the ground, it's
the support, the stay of the Church is. But can deliverance
be found in the Church? Can we get all we need by our
united efforts in the Church? Can we? Can we look to the Church? for the answer and the solution
to all of our problems. Well, it's wrong to look at the
church as an institution instead of Christ, who is the head of
the church. As good as the church is, the
church is without life, is without vitality, is without power, if
the Lord is not there. And you take the Lord out of
this group, I don't want to be any part of it. If the Lord's
not We don't have anything for anybody, and if the Lord's not
here, then we are not a safe guide, and we cannot be imitated
and followed because only as the Lord is here can there be
victory. Well, now listen. Everything
we need is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Him. We cannot look to the church
opposed to Jesus Christ, who's the head of the church, for what
we need. We must look to Christ. Everything we need is in Him.
He can save us and deliver us from the personal problems that
we encounter in our travels here in this world. He can deliver
us from these problems that we have because he has all power
in heaven and in earth. He has life and he has power.
He is the one who is able to turn about those situations that
seem to be so impossible as our own view of things But I will
remind you that with God, all things are possible. And we look
at some of our problems, and I look at some of my problems,
and so help me this morning. I know that the solution does
not lie with you brethren and sisters here. I recognize that
you're dear souls, and I appreciate you, and I esteem you highly.
But beloved, I know that the solution to some of the problems
that I have not to be found with you. I believe that the solution
is to be found in the Lord. We must look to the Lord and
nothing and no one else. Nothing and no one else. That's
significant. The Lord gives gifts to the church.
Let's remember that he does. He calls men to preach the gospel,
and we may hear a man preach and say that this man has inspired
me, this man has blessed me, this man has instructed me, this
man has provided something that my soul desperately needs. Now,
love this is good, but it can also be a pitfall. We dare not
look to the messenger instead of the God who sent him, and
instead of the Lord who sent him. We dare not be so taken
up with the messenger that we miss the Lord. Because this is
exactly what happened. Fetch me ark, it will save us. Now, listen to me, the church
at Corinth had its problems. One man would say, I'm with Paul.
Somebody else would say, I'm with Apollos. Others would say,
well, I'm with Cephas. If I can get Paul, Apollos, and
Cephas, and if we just get down here in the church at Corinth,
they got no further problems. All the problems will be solved,
and everything will go well if we can get our man here to preach
to us. Now, the Lord will not give His
glory to another. He will not. And whenever churches
begin to dial up for a preacher, or whenever people say, well,
this man, he has the power of God. He can preach to me any
time. And I'll listen to him. Beloved, you just might as well
get out your crayon and begin to pray. The word's open the
door. The glory is departing. Thank you, God. The glory is
departing. I'm telling you this. The Lord raises up and gifts
men and gives them to the church. And God would not have the church
pay all attention and just give themselves over to the man, but
to keep their eyes upon him who gave the man and gave the gift
to the man who preached the gospel. Now, then we ought to thank God
for every gift that he's given to the church, but we must never
fix our attention upon the man as though he was going to be
able to bring us out of the wilderness of these times. He's not able
to do it. There's no man that can do it
by himself. No man can do it apart from the
blessing of God and the help of God. So where should your
eyes be fixed? My friend, your eyes must be
fixed upon the Lord. Keep your eyes upon God and upon
Him alone. As though, because sometimes
we look at man as a man. as though he was going to deliver
it, as though he was always going to be able to preach and have
power with God and men. No, it is only as God blesses. Peter says that any man ministers,
let him minister with the ability which God gives and God in all
things may be glorified. Let us remember, beloved, that
we must keep our eyes upon the Lord and not upon a man. I cannot
provide what you need. I cannot provide the stability
that you need. I cannot provide the strength
and the power that you need. No man is in that position. And
so get your eyes upon the Lord. I will not save you. I cannot
save you in your temporal situation. I might be of use to God to help
you, but I cannot be your Savior, your Deliverer. You must keep
your eyes upon the living God. And any time the church gets
so taken up with a preacher that their eyes is off the Lord, they
say, our preacher will bring us through. Listen, right on
the door. Ichabod, the glorious departed. God is the God of these
people, and He's a jealous God. And he'll remove the preacher
if the people make too much of him. People must recognize that
his feet are feet of clay. And they must not make too much
of him or God will remove him and leave the people to themselves
until they learn that lesson and come back to the Lord. And
quit saying, fetch us the ark. It will save us. Give us another
preacher. It will save us. No, no, no. Men, cannot save the Lord's people. They cannot provide all the Lord's
people need. Now then, there's somebody that
comes and says, My eyes are not so much upon the church and it's
not so much upon preachers as it is that I just simply think
that we're behind times and we haven't adjusted to the changing
circumstances in this world as a Calvinistic church. And I think
that something ought to be done in order that we will be saved.
That we will be saved and delivered from the fact that we're not
able to get numbers and we cannot survive In this world, we cannot
survive as a church and go on just like we are. Something's
got to be done. We gotta have something, and
if we could get a hold of something, it would save us. We're living
in desperate times when people all around us are very successful,
and when churches are involved with the same tactics they're
employing in business, in the realm of business at the bank,
and it works. And so many come with their recommendation,
and they want us to employ some new device, something new, in
the church. Well, let me say a word about
that. We must follow the simplicity
of the New Testament if we're going to worship God as we ought. Somebody said, will it work?
Yes, it will work. It worked in old times. It's
amazing how little you need to worship God and have church service.
You think of the old Bantam Baptist and the Walt Dixies and some
of the other groups that, back during the Dark Ages, fled to
the mountains and to the dens and caves. I worshiped God there,
and I'm sure nobody had a piano strapped to their back, or nobody
had an organ. Nobody had, the serf didn't even
probably carry the choir robes or anything else. They just went,
and all they had to have was just their hearts that was in
tune with God. and they went and sung and made
melody in their hearts unto God, and that's all that's necessary,
that's what's right, and they were able to cry to God and worship
God and have worship services, true worship services. And so
we don't need a whole lot, beloved, if we are faithful and if we're
right with God. Now it's good when we maybe have
some other things, but we want to make sure that we're not saying
that it will save us. If we had a fire, If we had,
you know, if we had a quartet or if we had some live singing,
you know, or if we had a song leader that was just a little
bit more vibrant and a song leader that could, you know, make all
the moves and if we had the right kind of situation. It will save
us. It will save us, preacher, because
after all, we just look rather, you know, we look rather odd
to the world, and it's certainly that religious, we certainly
don't appeal to people from the standpoint of our abilities. Well, let me say to you this
morning, some people need these crutches, and they think that
when we get them, that we'll be well off. Well, I want you
to take note of something. So the people, in verse 4, sent
to Shiloh that they might pray from thence the ark of the covenant
of the Lord. And when the ark of the covenant
of the Lord came into the camp, in verse 5, all of Israel shouted
with a great shout, so that the earth rang. I want you to see
what happened here. When that ark came into the camp,
the children of Israel, they shouted with a great shout. Oh,
it was a tremendous shout. The earth rang. And it echoed
all over the mountains, and it was such a shout, and I don't
know how far the Palestinians were camped away, but they heard
the shout of the Israelites because the Ark had come, and it would
save them. And so there was a tremendous
shout. What made the noise? In verse 6, the bliss team said
this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews. And they understood
that the ark of the Lord was coming into the camp. Now, brother,
I want you to understand that this is a great lesson on the
fact that when people think they're well off, many times they're
not. And certainly, the people of Israel, they thought they
were well-off and secure, and they thought that that which
once saved them, that they now had it in their possession, and
that they were certainly going to be victorious. But we understand,
and many people feel that way, When they get them a new church
building, or whenever they get them a good choir, or a good
preacher, or when they get them a good song leader, when they
get everything like they want it, and all the auxiliaries,
and all the divisions, and everything that they need in the church,
they're just tickled to death. And they shouted to the earthlings,
because it will save us, but it won't. It will not save them. It will not. Those were happy.
And the blistings were afraid, for they said, God is coming
to the camp. They didn't understand that the
Israelites were confused, and they were mistaken. They thought
God was coming to the camp too, but the Lord had not come with
that relic. The Lord hadn't come with that
type, with that symbol. The substance was not there.
The type and the symbol and the shadow was there, but the substance
was not there. God is coming to the camp. They
said, woe to us, for there hath not been such a thing hithertofore.
Well, they were mistaken about that, but I won't get into that.
Woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty
gods. These are the gods which smote
the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. And they had
a pep rally in verse 9, and they said, Be strong and quit yourselves
like men, O you Philistines, that you be not servants unto
the Hebrews as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like
men and fight. And the Philistines fought. And
Israel was smitten. The ark did not save them. And if they ever made it to his
camp, and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell Israel
30,000 footmen, and the ark of God was taken, and the two sons
of Eli, Hoth and Phinehas, were slain. Were slain. And so, brother,
even when people think they're well off, and when we as individuals
in our lives, beginning to look, when we begin to look, at anything
else other than in the Lord. Our devices and our schemes and
our plans and ideas, even that which may be good in itself,
but we have removed and separated it from the Lord. We are ready
to be defeated. The glory has departed. Once you get your eye off the
Lord, the glory is gone. Now what happened here was there
were 30,000. There was only 4,000 the first
time. They thought that was terrible. But now over 30,000 of the army
of the Lord were slain because they said, it will save us. It will not. It will not. New
opinions and doctrines will not save us. It will destroy us.
It will destroy us. Now listen to me. Any victory,
supposed victory that the people of God have, that God is not
the author of, is a defeat. Mark it down. Any time that you
get a victory, a so-called victory, that you have in soft God form,
you mark it down, it's questionable, and you're to put a question
mark upon it, because only God knows what the trials of these
people are. Only God knows What he's designed
to put into your life, and only God has the answer for. It cannot
be solved any other way. God has the solution to your
problem, brother. God has the solution to your
problem, sister, and only as you seek His face, and only as
you get everything else out of your view, and single out the
God of glory, and begin to worship Him and cry to Him, will victory
come. And whenever you pray to God,
And your eyes are upon Him. Will thou help me? Thou art the
God of all power. Mind you, and you have all the
resources. Help me. And your eyes are upon
the Lord. Get your eyes off other things.
Even if they be good things, get your eyes off of them. Quit
trusting in your prayers. You say, well, preacher, I'm
just not able to pray about this thing. Well, a lot of times we
just can't pray about things like we'd like to. Preacher,
I just had the most glorious prayer meeting! That's wonderful,
but where's your faith? In your prayer? In your good
prayer? In your ability to express yourself and be well in practice?
Is that where your faith is? Or is it in the God that hears
the prayer? Where is it? brother, sister,
let's be careful that we don't give the glory to something besides
the Lord. Be very jealous, and He knows
your heart, and He knows what you're looking to, so keep your
eyes on the Lord. Well, they were greatly defeated,
were they not? They certainly were, and because
they said it. will save us. The glory was the
part of the ark was taken into the hands of the Philistines.
Now, I believe that the attitude, you say, well, Preacher, what
can we do? I think it's good for us to know what happened
later on between Israel and the Philistines. There came a time
of another battle. And before this battle, there
was no shout in the camp of the Israelites. There was no great
shouting and carrying on, no confidence. But they had a meeting,
and in verse 6 of chapter 7 of the book of 1 Samuel, they gathered
together to Mizrahi, and they drew water. and they poured it
out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said that there
we have sinned against the Lord and Samuel judged the children
of Israel in his power. Now listen to me. What this was
symbolic of was this. They came there and they drew
water and they poured it out before the Lord. And this is
symbolic of their feelings about themselves. that they were weak
as water in themselves, that they had nothing to look to,
but they poured it out before the Lord, and they would pour
out their hearts before the Lord, and they fasted, confessing their
sins that they had sinned against the Lord. And we know where the
story goes, that there was a great deliverance, that God delivered
and He sent away thunder on the day of the Bible, and disconfigured
the Philistines, and they were smitten before Israel. And as
the scripture says, Samuel took a stone after that victory, and
he set it up between Mishpah and Shem, and called the name
of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto. And the Lord helped us. The Lord helped us. The Lord
intervened. Nothing about the heart, nothing
about the no shout, no confidence, except in the Lord. And the people
were weak as water, and they poured out, they drew water and
poured it out to the Lord, expressing, symbolic of the feeling of their
heart. Now, beloved, if you want victory,
if you're a dear child of grace here today, and you have that
feeling in your heart, oh, I have no strength in and of myself. And I have nothing to look to,
preacher, except unto the Lord. And I'm looking to God. I'm trusting
the Lord. I'm reliant on Him. And I'm weak
as water. My soul, I believe you're ready
for a victory. And I believe that when the Lord
delivers you, I believe the glory will be His. I believe in the
Lord we have. The Lord said, call upon me in
the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt
glorify me. And so I believe that if we want,
if we don't, if we don't want to be hit in the mouth, over
the door of our church, and over the door of our homes, and even
upon our own breasts, Before our forehead, the glory of the
Father, let us come as we are of true character, weak as water,
before the Lord and bow to Him confessing our sins, and the
Lord will help us. He will deliver His people. Father,
we thank you this morning for the privilege of delivering this
message. And I pray that it may please you, our Father, the Spirit
of everyone in our hearts, away from things other than yourself. And surely, our Father, you've
helped me to point these people this morning to thee only. First
of all, you've helped me to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ
as the only sufficient Savior of the souls of men, and then
to point them to you, the only deliverer of your people here,
temporarily, in their problems and in their struggles and test
of life. to encourage them to look to the Lord and to trust
in the living God. Father, have mercy, we pray upon
us all. Help us not to become so discouraged
that we give up along the way. Help us to always look up and
trust in the Lord, who will help us. Help us to have many, many
evanescences Hitherto places where we've been able to say,
hitherto the Lord hath helped us. Strengthen us now, we ask,
and be with us through the remaining part of the day. And on the trip
to Lewis Town, in the message there tonight, give us, I follow,
the power of our spirit, that we may preach for your glory.
We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Glory is Departed

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The Glory is Departed

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