0:00 First Samuel chapter seven in our bible study in this precious book in the Old Testament. And as you're turning there, we're gonna pray one more time and ask the Lord to help us with this word. Father, we thank you again for the written word of God. Lord, we know that there are many places in this world that do not have the full counsel of your word. But Lord, we are blessed, and we are grateful that you have provided the scriptures.
0:34 And Lord, we know that the provision of your whole counsel can either be to our indictment or to our blessing, because we will be judged according to what has been revealed to us. Obey everything. Everything that you have revealed. We ask, Lord, desperately, that you would provide a measure of grace by the power of the spirit to drive this word into our hearts, that you would bring about personal revival, that you would bring about a stirring, Lord. Perhaps there are some in here who would admit that they're in a spiritual doldrum.
1:10 They are asleep, and they've been asleep for a while. Nothing seems to shake them anymore. We pray that tonight would be a particular moment for a turning point. We ask for those in here, Lord, that do not know you, that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, that have not been saved by his blood. Lord, would you show their need for a savior, for the savior?
1:32 Would you show their sin, not for the sake of condemnation, but for the sake of knowing salvation in Christ? Lord, we pray for those who are indifferent, for those who have a false assurance of salvation, that they would be reminded today of the truth of your word, of what it means to be born again. Father, we pray that by the power of your holy spirit, you would destroy the works of Satan, that every single stronghold that has been built in the hearts and minds of people in this place would be demolished by the grace of God. We pray that the weight of your word with all its glory would have its full force in this sanctuary, and that the result would be a people with a renewed mind and a renewed heart, a fresh zeal and passion for Christ. Lord, I even pray with my brothers and sisters for a fresh reminder of how brief this life is, shadow, and we will not abide.
2:26 Lord, we ask that we would be reminded of eternal things, and that our priorities would be rearranged by the word tonight. We ask these things in faith, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen and amen. We remember over the past two weeks that the nation of Israel has been robbed of the ark of the covenant for about seven months until it returned back into its rightful land. And now that it has arrived, the people chose to place it in a particular location because they have been exposed to the holiness of God, and they could not handle the radiance of his glory.
3:05 So they said this has to go somewhere. And so we read here that they, in verse one, the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son, Eleazar, to have the charge of the ark of the Lord from the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath Jearim, a long time past, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And so we know that this ark has been in somebody's home. After it's been captured for seven months, it was held by one of the neighbors of the town for twenty long years up to this point.
3:53 And here is a question already in our bible study. Where is the ark supposed to be? The tabernacle. Where's the tabernacle supposed to be? Shiloh?
4:05 Correct. So here's a question. Why didn't they place it in Shiloh? Any ideas? Didn't think you'd be questioned so soon, Yes.
4:17 Any ideas of why they didn't bring it to Shiloh when it's supposed to be in Shiloh? Would you like to know the answer? Thank you, Matt. Jeremiah chapter seven is the answer and verse 13. Look what the Lord says concerning what happened here, and this is why the Bible listen, brothers and sisters.
4:39 You better be reading your whole Bible, because the Bible gives answers to things in the Bible. Right? The best commentary for your Bible is the Bible itself. Why didn't they bring it to Shiloh? Jeremiah seven verse 13.
4:53 And now because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer. Therefore, I will do to the house that is called by my name and in which you trust and to the place that I give to you and to your fathers as I did to what? To Shiloh. And so what we know from this is that Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines. Not only was the ark captured, but the Philistines invaded the house of God and demolished the house of God, making it ransacked and vacant, and giving the people no place to actually worship God as prescribed by Moses in the Pentateuch.
5:38 There is no tabernacle. There is no house of God anymore. And so they can't even bring it to where it's supposed to be, so they place it somewhere temporarily, and God's gracious enough to honor them in that. And this would be a sobering lesson for Israel. Twenty years have passed.
5:57 Think about that. Two decades, and the ark is back in the land, and nothing has changed for Israel. They are still under the oppression of the Philistines. And why is that a sobering lesson? Because the people had put so much hope in this ark, didn't they?
6:15 The reason why it was captured was because when they were at war with the Philistines, they thought, surely, if we bring the ark to this place, we will have victory. They brought it. They saw loss. And if they had any superstitious belief now, they would also fail, and they also realize that that's not going to work. They begin to lament after the Lord.
6:35 Twenty years have passed by, and now there is this cry created in their soul, and they now begin to crave after God finally after twenty years. You know what this shows me? It's a plain picture of God not wanting to work through means of religious rituals and and pictures and buildings. No. He wants one to one.
6:58 He wants intimate relationship with you and I. He wanted in the old covenant, and he wants it even more now in the new covenant. And these people are just beginning to realize that as they yearn for him, that God actually wants them as well. He doesn't want him to just focus on things that represent him, things that symbolize him. He wants their hearts to return.
7:19 He wants their soul to incline to him, not just for things to be all pretty and nice. No. He wants their soul. And they begin to realize that something is beginning to stir within them. They begin to finally lament after the Lord.
7:34 Listen. You've been here throughout the bible study over the past few few months. What does this remind you of? After twenty years, they begin to lament after the Lord. Somebody's saying it.
7:45 I don't know who though. You're all saying it. Judges. Right? Judges.
7:49 This is the same cycle that we've seen throughout the book of Judges. The enemy comes, oppresses them, they they win. They are slaves to a certain foreign foe. And what happens after a long period of time, they begin to crave God, want God, long for God, and they begin to cry out to God. We're seeing the same thing here.
8:06 Do you know why? Well, for many reasons, but contrary to common belief, Samson was not the last judge of Israel. Who was the last judge? Acts thirteen twenty tells us. All this took about four hundred and fifty years, and after that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
8:25 Samuel was the last judge. Samuel was the last judge that God gave Israel before he raised up a king. And here's the point. Hundreds of years have passed by, and things haven't changed for these people still. The same silly cycle.
8:42 And here's the thing. Throughout those generations, throughout the the different seasons of grief came from the same failure. And here's the failure, not setting God in his rightful place. Yeah. The Ark of the Covenant is back in the land, but God is not reigning in their hearts.
9:00 And the longer listen. The longer you do that, the longer you withhold God from sitting on the throne of your will, the stronger your sorrows will be experienced. Maybe you don't believe me, so believe the words of the lord Jesus. He says something incredible in John fourteen twenty seven. Peace I leave with you.
9:23 My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, nor let them be afraid. Peace I give to you. Then he says, my peace I give to you.
9:40 Not as the world gives do I give to you. The world offers a type of peace, and people are buying it like it's hotcakes. The world is offering a foreign peace, a pseudo peace, an illusion of peace through various means. And all the different options that the world provides, listen, are only mechanisms to provide some kind of tranquility and peace within the soul only to wear off and have you chasing another dose. And that's what people are doing this Friday night, I assure you, as things open up again.
10:19 They just chase one mirage after another because the world promises some kind of sense of settling, and people believe that they're gonna find it in this world. And all it does is create a vacuum in the heart because only one can really fill it. And the best peace that the world can offer is a sense of escape from any trial or tribulation. The less trouble you have in life, that's the best kind of peace the world has to offer. So the more money you have, the less issues you have to deal with and struggles you have to go through.
10:54 And so they they say, you know, live the American dream. And if you can go beyond that, then do that. And and they promise all these avenues because their sense of peace is the less tribulation you have, the more enjoyment you will know and the more peace you will experience. And so what do people do? They medicate themselves.
11:13 That's all they're doing, but they're not dealing with the actual cancer. And this is where Jesus' peace is different. Because Jesus' peace is so powerful. It's so profound. It's so real.
11:29 It's not just experienced in the absence of trouble. It's actually experienced in the midst of them. The world says avoid trouble, and you'll know peace. Jesus says even if you have trouble, you'll still have peace. And guess what?
11:42 I don't care what you believe in. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care what connections, networks, what kind of doesn't matter, because Jesus made it clear that's only his peace. My peace, I give to you. If you want access, this is John fourteen twenty seven.
12:02 But in order to unlock that peace, you gotta go to John 14 verse one. And he says here, this peace comes through something called believing. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
12:22 Believe also in me. So you know how you come to this peace? You don't get to it through emotional tactics. You don't get through it through psychological things. You don't get through it through scientific methods.
12:35 It's theological. Who you believe in and what you believe about him will determine how your heart will be free from trouble in a troubled world. It comes down to faith. Pump yourself with as much as antidepressants as you want. Do all that you think you need to do with all the tactics that the world has to offer you.
12:57 It comes down to this, a faith in God. Does that mean that God doesn't use practical means to bring us to a place of greater serenity? No. But if it's not stemmed from this, you're just gonna be again chasing one dose after the other. One tactic of the other.
13:11 One plan, one new innovation after the other. And so we have to understand that it comes theologically, not emotionally, not through manipulation, not through drugs, not through one sexual high after the other, not through one tryst or cheap thrill that you can find and buy. No. It comes through believing in him. Not this intellectual thinking that you believe in a higher being.
13:36 I'm talking about a faith that demands your obedience, A faith that pulls your affections and pulls your will towards him. That kind of a faith. Just because you have a cross around your neck doesn't mean that it's gonna engage your heart. You need to die on that cross when you believe on Christ to know this peace. And so we see here that twenty years passed by, and they're finally beginning to get it.
13:59 They start to lament after the Lord, and that's what revival is, when people begin to realize there's something more than this. There's something more to this life than this. They've been doing it for twenty years. They've been worshiping different gods. They've been trying to do life without God in his rightful place.
14:18 And isn't it sad that it took twenty years before they realize it? And that's not an exaggeration. That's why many people in their latter parts of life, 50 years old and 60 years old, begin to think, oh, there's gotta be more than this. Because you've just been running on a hamster wheel for decades, and then you finally realize that you're just in a rat race. And some of you in here, unfortunately, might not get it until you're 60, 70, even if you get there.
14:45 And I pray that you would realize it tonight, that God has providentially led you into this room to give you a wake up call. Don't wait twenty years before you begin to crave God. Realize that God is all you need now. Don't put him on the shelf and try him out later. He's all you got.
15:04 He's all you got. And they begin to realize we need him again. And I read these two verses, and I thought to myself, where was Samuel during these twenty years? You have to understand that they're under the subjection of the Philistines. They can't freely roam around all they want.
15:20 The tabernacle is gone now. Samuel ministered from the tabernacle, and that's not the case anymore. There is no tabernacle. So where is this prophet? He's been silent for twenty years.
15:32 Where do you think he's been for twenty years? Any ideas? Let me give you a hint. The answer is in the same chapter. So look at your Bible and look through a few of the verses.
15:43 I'll give you even a greater hint. It's in the first few verses. It's not in the latter portion. It's in the first few verses. And maybe you'll see or get a idea what Samuel has been doing for a great portion of his ministry for twenty years.
15:57 And if you got it and if you're confident the answer, just lift your hand and let's see. Any ideas? It's not as obvious. He was a judge. Yes.
16:11 He was. But we can know this based on how the Philistines are gonna respond. Samuel didn't have the liberty to have mass gatherings. Because once they have a mass gathering, it's gonna put him on the radar and the Philistines are gonna come after him. So he could have been, yes, judging in private settings and private matters, but there's another indication of what he gave his time mostly to.
16:30 Who said it? Yes. Where did you get that from? The answer was praying. Verse five.
16:41 Verse five. Then Samuel said, gather all Israel to Mizrahi, and I will pray to the Lord for you. The answer is right, and that is one place, but I believe the answer is even more concrete when you come to verse eight. Look what the people say to Samuel. And the people of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.
17:06 There's an important phrase there. What is it? Do not cease. Do not cease. This indicates that throughout these years, Samuel has been coming before God on behalf of the nation of Israel.
17:21 That as they've been callous and rebellious, and as they as they turn their back on the Lord worshiping different gods, Samuel has been occupying his time seeking the face of the Almighty for twenty years. You know, most people who profess to believe in Christ would say that that is not the greatest way to spend your energy and time in ministry to the Lord. But the Philistines, rather the Israelites at this time, would disagree with that thought. You know what's amazing about verse eight? Samuel's prayers were so impactful that the nation of Israel did not want to move on without them.
17:58 Don't stop praying for us because we feel it when you pray, and we know we'll feel it when you stop. The man's prayers were so powerful that this people realized that if he doesn't stand in the gap for us, we will be in greater trouble than we already are in right now. Think about that. Heaven so honored the prayers of this man that God was willing to listen to his righteous pleas on behalf of a people that did not deserve to have his prayers answered. And if we think that's just reading too much into it, God testifies of that himself.
18:41 Jeremiah fifteen one, he speaks to the prophet and he says these words, then the Lord said to me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight and let them go. Think about that. God speaks to this prophet, and the nation was in such a bad condition in Jeremiah's day that he says, even if Moses and Samuel stood before me and prayed on behalf of this generation, I would not listen to them. Implying what?
19:14 One, the seriousness of their apostasy at this time, and two, the serious power that both Moses and Samuel had as intercessors. I mean, out of all the people in the Old Testament up to that point, God highlights Moses and Samuel to say that these men have prayed with such a fervency and faith that it would move my heart to treat an entire nation differently. And what did Moses and Samuel have in common? You would say they're prophets and that would be true, but I believe it's something deeper than that. Moses and Samuel were both men who loved the people of God so much that they were willing to pray for them even when they didn't deserve it.
19:56 You know about Moses' life, and you're reading about Samuel's ministry now. These were men that stood in the gap and prayed for Israel when they deserved to be judged by God. And God turned the scene around because of the prayers of two different men in their respective generations. See, it's one thing to pray for those who are humble and broken. It's another thing to pray for people when they don't deserve to be prayed for.
20:21 And what Moses and Samuel have been doing throughout their ministries is reflect the character of God through their prayers, calling upon mercy instead of judgment for those who deserve judgment instead of mercy. And I believe God honored these men because through their pleas and their cries, God saw himself, And he was able to partner with them because he takes delight in mercy and not in punishment. But it got so bad in Jeremiah's day that he said, even if these men pray, I'm not gonna do anything about that. It's not gonna move me because at some point, it comes to a place where God has to discipline. Samuel was a prayer warrior.
21:04 Go to chapter 12 of first Samuel, and I want you to see his own words. In verse 23 you know what happens in twelve twenty three? This is his farewell address. He's about to say goodbye because his ministry as a judge is coming to a close as they have elected a king. And here's just a heads up, that wasn't a good idea.
21:26 To come up with a desire for a human king was to replace God as their king, and so they demanded a king because they wanted to be like the nations. That's next week. It's very dangerous when the church wants to become like the world. They demanded a king because the nations had kings. Not knowing well, they figured out that they're replacing God.
21:48 And even in this chapter, they've realized their offense and they asked Samuel, Lord, please forgive us. Would you forgive us? Would you pray for us knowing that what we've done? And even through all the frustration, the fluctuation of these people, up and down, revival, backsliding, apostasy, faithfulness, all this look what he says in verse 23 of chapter 12. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.
22:19 Every time I read that verse, it's like I get punched in the gut, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Samuel had a revelation about prayer. And as a leader, he confessed that to actually cease to pray is actually to be in sin. If I don't pray for you, I'm actually sinning against God because he knew that a great part of his call to oversee the people and to shepherd the people and to judge the people and to direct them was to bathe them in prayer. To bathe them in intercession.
23:01 To bring them as a people before the throne of grace and to call upon God on their behalf. And what's amazing here did you see the order? Read verse 23 again. What comes in order? What does he say?
23:14 Far be for me to cease to pray for you that I would sin against the Lord, and then what he will do? And then I will instruct you. Before teaching, before preaching, before evangelizing, before exegeting and commentating, before all of that was prayer. Do you think that's a random order? Do you think he just said that thinking that no, because what does the early church say in Acts six four?
23:42 What's the order there? In Acts six four, we are told that the apostle said that they had to focus on two things. And what were those two things? The ministry of the word and prayer? No.
23:53 The the ministry of prayer and the ministry of the word. What came before the word? Prayer. Prayer. Think about that.
24:03 Because in many ministries today and in the lives of many ministers, prayer is a last resort, not the first one. It's a very humbling truth found from the old to the new that prayer for this prophet and prayer for the early church was top priority in their spiritual service before God and before man. And so Samuel knew within himself, if I don't pray for you, I am neglecting a major part of my responsibility as a leader over you. You know, that verse can jolt us into conviction. Maybe you're jolted right now by conviction, But I choose to read a verse like this and actually be more excited than anything else.
24:46 You know why? Because to choose not to pray is a severe failure, but for greater reasons than is just an obligation that God has given us. Failure to pray is actually a withholding of the potential to unleash great power on those who are being prayed for. In other words, to not pray is to withhold a grace that can be lavished on the lives of those that we choose to pray for, and that's why it is a crime not to take advantage of this wonderful thing called prayer that can alter the lives of those that we choose to target in our pleas and petitions before God. Do you see how you can look at it differently now?
25:32 Samuel is not just saying, I'm going to sin against God because he just tells us to pray because we should just pray. Samuel understood that there is some potential in prayer that if I don't engage with it, then the people that I am called to shepherd will not experience it. Wow. And here's the reason why many people don't pray, because they don't actually believe that. They don't really believe it.
26:00 And the answer whether we believe it or not, ultimately, if we're honest, if we're honest, all of us. One finger at you, three back at me. The answer whether we really believe that or not is determined by our prayerfulness or lack of it. That's just honest. We can theologically say, yes, it's right.
26:19 Acts six four, first Samuel twelve twenty three, but it's ultimately measured by, do I really believe that when I pray, there's power and God will do something? You think this is old covenant? Paul believed it. Can I show you a powerful verse? I pray that it would be embedded in your mind for the rest of your life.
26:41 Second Corinthians chapter one verse 11. Listen to the request of the apostle Paul, and notice what he says to confirm this truth. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. You also must help us by counseling. You also must help us by raising funds.
27:13 You also must help us by sending extra help through other faithful ministers. All those things do help. All those things have a contribution to our sanctification, but the man here requests for prayer. You must help us by this strange mysterious thing called prayer. Paul believed that when people prayed for him, he would know help.
27:41 What did he ask prayer for? Hey. I heard that you have, like, a Moses type of guy in your church. Can you ask him to pray for me? I heard that you have a modern day Samuel in Corinth.
27:51 Can you ask him to pray for me? No. He's asking the Corinthian church to pray for him. And I can't think of a more chaotic assembly than the Corinthian church in the New Testament. You wanna know people say, let's go back to the New Testament church.
28:08 I I hope you're not talking about the Corinthian one because they were a mess. And the way they did things and argued and let sin in the nonetheless, with this church, Paul said, pray for me. Pray for me. Because when you pray, something will happen to me. Something will happen in our ministry.
28:32 Something will happen with the situation that we're dealing with. Oftentimes, we say pray for me as just like in passing, like goodbye and hello. Pray for me. And then we say, I I'll pray for you. And we don't pray.
28:41 We know that. Come on. Admit it. We said it. Right?
28:44 That's why I make it a habit. When I sit when somebody says pray for me, I pray for them as soon as I can. Really? Unless you're gonna write that down on a piece of paper and you have a habit of praying for people that request it and you write, we will forget. And we do that.
28:58 It just becomes part of the Christianese. I pray for you. Oh, yes. I'll pray for you. Okay.
29:03 Pray for me. Paul said, pray. I really need you to pray for me because we're into some deadly pale right now, and if you don't pray, we're sunk. He really believed that. He didn't say, you know, I need you to call the officials, the officials in Rome.
29:17 We're in a situation here. He doesn't say what it is in second Corinthians one. Does God use practical means? Absolutely. I'm just trying to drive a point that there's something reserved only in prayer.
29:27 And would you like to know why God only exercises his grace, his wisdom, his love, his provision in the place of prayer? The answer is found in the very same verse so that many will give thanks. In other words, God connects power to prayer because when the blessing comes, He will be recognized and receive glory. That's why. So that's why there will be some things, if not most things, if not all things, unless you wanna do it in the flesh and it's hollow and fruitless, all things should be done through prayer so that when the thing comes about, God will get glory.
30:05 Many will give thanks for the blessing that only comes through prayer. Granted to us through the prayers of what? Many. And we love the apostle Paul. And he's a champion of a missionary.
30:17 And he was an apostle of apostles, and he planted churches, and he he weathered storms and whips and lashes. But here's my question. In light of a verse like this, do we consider the hidden devotion and discipline of some random unnamed Corinthian that prayed for him? I don't know if the whole church prayed. I'm sure they did.
30:40 But I can imagine a pocket of Corinthians that said, if Paul said pray, pastor read the letter to us last Sunday on the Lord's day. Paul said we needed to pray, so let's pray. And you'd never hear of their name. You see Paul. And I wonder with the things that have been recorded in the scripture, how God partnered with some prayer of some Corinthian, unseen and unknown.
31:05 Do you know why people don't wanna pray? Because of that very reason. They're unseen and unknown. They want they want the the platform. They want to be seen.
31:15 Nobody wants to go in silence and in the dark. Because prayer is hidden, and prayer is hard work. It's hard work. As much as it is a privilege, you better believe this, you are wrestling with principalities and powers. Read about Daniel.
31:41 Talk about wrestling. There's a all out war going out for three weeks as this one man is praying. And I believe that when a man prays, it taxes his body. It exhausts his mind. It demands much of his energy.
31:59 If you've prayed seriously, you know what it's like. If you've come here on a Wednesday night, you know what it's like when you get in your car after those that time, and you drive home, and you're like, woah, it's like I got hit by a Mack truck. Why? Because there's something being engaged or something being pulled out of you, and it's hard work. Have you ever wondered why when you choose to pray instantly, you feel like you wanna fall asleep?
32:21 It's like I was fine up to this point, and the moment I begin to pray, my eyes are heavy, and I can fall asleep right now because it demands much. And I believe the enemy will do everything he can to make sure that you will not pray. Not pray for this church, not pray for your family members, not pray for those that you know that are unsaved at your workplace. If the devil can't make you bad, he'll just make you busy. You know, a verse like this, you can easily whip up a crowd into conviction.
32:57 And I made sure I pray, said, Lord, I don't want that to be the fruit of a verse like this. Please. If anything, I want you to be exhilarated that the apostle Paul himself requested the prayers of Corinthians. The stumbling, bumbling Corinthians could partner with God in such a way that Paul would be more successful in his ministry. So you might not be like a Paul.
33:27 So what? You might not be known. You might not have these amazing revelations, but you can pray. Glory. And I hope that excites you more than anything else.
33:53 If I stop to pray, there's so much in this that if I refuse to pray, I am doing you a disservice, which in the spirit realm is a crime. So I refuse to do that. I know that as a leader, I must pray. I must seek God. And so pray for your spiritual leaders to be prayer warriors, whether this is your church or not.
34:16 Because the more they pray, the more power they have. And the more power they have, the more you will be blessed. When we come back here to chapter seven, those are just the first two verses. So let's go to verse three. And Samuel said to all the house of Israel why?
34:34 Because word began to go around the nation. There is a lament. There is a cry. There is a yearning for God again. And Samuel comes out of the dark.
34:45 He comes out of the private scene, and he comes on the public scene, and he says, if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtar from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him, what's that word say, only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they serve the Lord only. Do you know how they got into this mess? It wasn't because they abandoned God completely. It wasn't because they utterly forsook God.
35:16 It's not because they ceased to believe that he was the true and living God. The mess that they got into with the Philistines stem from this. They worship the true God along with false ones. There wasn't an exclusive devotion to God. And that is why many professing believers do not believe that they have idols in their lives.
35:40 I'll tell you why. Because they would never deny that Christ is in their belief system, and they will point you to religious observances that line up with the word of God. But they would not also realize that at the same time, you can have idols with God in the picture. This is true. That's why in the New Testament, the apostle of love, John, in first John.
36:05 Do you know the last verse of first John? Who knows it? I know some people that know it. What's the last verse of first John? Little children, keep yourself from idols.
36:16 That's the last verse. That is the last verse of first John. And that whole wonderful glorious epistle wants to provoke a fresh affection of fellowship with the father and the son, and to reassure the believers that they are in the faith, and to encourage the understanding of the love of God, that their hearts can be free from condemnation and judgment, and that they can walk with the sense of joy in the Lord. And then how he ends it? Yeah.
36:45 By the way, keep yourselves from idols. Little children, implying what? That's a spiritual familial term that's bound in faith. He's calling the children of God to be warned, little children, keep yourself from idols. And sometimes those idols are obvious, other times and most times they are subtle.
37:06 But this apostle of love that laid his head on the chest of the Christ warned the people of God that it is possible to understand your faith, to be secure in your faith, and at the same time, to exalt idols in your heart. See, Samuel says, your problem isn't that you don't believe in God, that you don't worship God. It's that there are other things that are on the same level as him, if not more. So he says it's time it's time to say it's Jesus above everything. My affections, my devotion, my plans, my desires are targeted towards the Lord, and everything else bows to him.
37:51 And so they they listen. And they say here in verse five, then Samuel said, gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you. So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water. They drew water, and they poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, we have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
38:17 I love that picture. So here's the nation. They gather now as a congregation in a massive way, in a way they haven't for twenty years, and it dawned on them to to do something. And they took water, And before the presence of the Lord, they began to pour water out before him. Why?
38:37 I believe it's a picture of what their hearts were doing, and that's found in Lamentations chapter two verse 19. This was the command for people that have been exiled, that were seeped into the consequences of their sin. And look what the Lord says through the prophet concerning the people. Arise, cry out in the night. At the beginning of the night, watch as pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord.
39:09 Lift your hands to them for the lives of your children who faint for hunger at the head of every street. Do you see what he says? Take your heart out of your bosom and pour it out like water on the ground before the presence of the Lord. You know what that means? Empty your heart in such a way that you cannot retract or take back what you gave up, leaving it empty only for God to fill it himself.
39:37 That's what that means. If I pour water out onto the ground, if I pour water back onto the dirt, it's very difficult for me to try to get that water back into that vessel. Right? I would be insane to try to do so, and that's the point. It's almost a call of consecration with no thought of returning to the way things were.
39:55 I pour out my heart. I I empty myself before you. Lord, I'm done. I just need you to fill me now, and everything that you want me to get rid of, I'll get rid of, and you pour it out. So you can tell here that there's a desperate repentance.
40:09 This isn't just like, okay, Lord, we're here. We're gonna worship you alone, and help us with the Philistines. No one says desperate surrender. I prayed. See, that's what revival does.
40:20 That's what true revival does. Revival causes people to give up everything afresh, to just show God I that's this is it, Lord. I I I have no intentions of turning back again. It's not just like, man, I think I wanna follow Jesus. No.
40:36 It's this brokenness. Like the alabaster flask of the woman. I'm breaking this jar with no intentions of taping it back up again. It's yours forever. Done deal.
40:46 And that's what this nation is doing. They're surrendering. They're pouring it out before the Lord. And then something happens here in verse seven. Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.
41:00 When the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. They gather at Mizpah. They're worshiping God. They're worshiping. They're fasting.
41:09 They're repenting. They're crying. They're confessing. And the Philistines hear about it. And you better believe that what the enemy of the nation of Israel is doing here is what the enemy of your soul and mine will do.
41:25 Because if you think that you can crave after God again, and seek him, and consecrate yourself without a plan of the enemy to divert you from continuing in that path, you're fooling yourself. Oh, he'll send you distractions. He'll send you temptations. He'll send you discouragements. These people are ready to come back to the Lord, and what timing for the Philistines to say, let's come after them now.
41:53 It's no different today. It's no different today. That's why when we have conference every year, do you think the enemy is just gonna sit back and be like, oh, a bunch of Christians from different states are gonna gather for three days and seek the Lord, and I'm not gonna do anything? That's why we pray and we prepare and we understand that there's gonna be a war when there is this kind of assembly. The enemy wants nothing to do with it, and he wants to try to withhold anybody from making such a dedication.
42:17 So he comes, but I love the insight that is presented in this verse. I want you to think about how they responded to the Philistines before the ark was captured in comparison to this. Think about this. They're getting right with God. They're repenting.
42:35 They're now being reconciled back to Yahweh, and they are now in the right place with God. And when the enemy comes to threaten, they're afraid. If there was a time not to be afraid, it's when you're in the right place with God. Right? Now compare this reaction to chapter four verse five when the people and the leaders were worshiping false gods, were in sin, and were superstitious.
42:58 Look at verse five of chapter four. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. This is hilarious. When they're in right relationship with God, they're afraid of the enemy. When they're in a wrong relationship with God, they're confident against the enemy.
43:24 They have their backs towards the Lord. They're superstitious. They're in sin, and they have this confidence. We are going to overcome. Proving what?
43:37 That what you feel often isn't right. That's what it proves. And what I see here with the Israelites is what you and I see many times today. It's it's so true. You talk to nonbelievers that have a perverted view of Christ, of faith, of heaven, of hell, of sin, and they are so confident of their eternal destination.
43:59 I have no worry or fear. I've met people that have faced death and have escaped death. And when I asked them, were you afraid to die? No. Wasn't afraid to die at all.
44:10 Not saved. No righteousness. They're wicked. People know they're wicked. No.
44:15 Not afraid at all. And I've met Christians, genuine born again Christians, tender, pure, lovely, that have put their faith in Christ, and they have no confidence in the love of God. Always doubting. Always questioning. Always thinking that God is ready to lash out on them, and you're in the faith.
44:34 Just like the Philistines. There is the world. They have a wrong view of God, and many of them are confident. They have more joy than Christians. And here are many Christians who understand the faith, who've confessed Christ, who've been baptized, and they spend most of their Christianity miserable and doubting the love of God.
44:52 Why? Because like the world and like many people who are in that state in the faith, they have esteemed their feelings over divine truth. They have made their personal perception the determiner of what is true, and it affects the way they think and act and feel. What they felt here was wrong. What they felt earlier was wrong.
45:16 Why? Because they didn't wire themselves to be governed by truth. First John three twenty tells us a wonderful thing concerning what I'm saying. If your heart condemns you, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. So this is a problem even in John's day.
45:39 There are Christians that he knew that their hearts condemned them. They felt they didn't know they were saved one day. One day, they feel saved. The next day, they don't feel saved. Their past sins keep rehearsing in their minds, and they keep recollecting what they've done and what they've said even after they came to Christ.
45:56 And their hearts only condemn them. There's no song. There's no joy. There's no thrill. There's no peace.
46:03 And John says this, if your heart condemns, remember, God is greater than your heart. Let me translate. If your feelings tell you one thing, God is better and greater and more trustworthy than your feelings. So how do I get to that place? Well, John is presenting a truth.
46:19 God is greater than your heart. Yes. Your heart. No matter how strong the surges of your emotions are, you have to so saturate your mind with truth that it overcomes what you feel. And oftentimes, those who do have this introspective kind of attitude towards their stand with God.
46:37 I have to say most, not all, but most have not even read through the entire bible. They have bits and parts here and there, and then they wonder why they don't have a revelation of the goodness of God. You haven't even discovered who he is completely yet. You're at the foundational level. You've trusted in Christ.
46:55 You believe in his atoning work. Now dig deeper in him. You're just at the base. According to Hebrews, God is greater than our hearts. So when I feel a certain thing, I have to line it up with what God says, and in that moment, I have to say, God, I believe you more than what I feel.
47:12 The Philistines here, they got it wrong both times, but here's the grace of God. He's still gonna work with them. Even in their fear, even when they were in false confidence, he was willing to take them back. So what happens? Verse eight.
47:25 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us. That you may save us from the hand of the Philistines. Good for you. I applaud them. You know why I applaud them?
47:39 Because earlier, they put their trust in the ark of the covenant, and it failed them. And now that the ark was back, they didn't resort to the same solution. They said, now we're coming to God directly. They're not trusting in superstition anymore. Now they're trusting in God's faithfulness through prayer, so they're learning.
47:58 God, we're coming to you. Before we trusted in some image of you, though we were in the wrong place in our heart, but now we come directly to you. Would you help us? What does Samuel do? I mean, this is this is a tense scene.
48:13 The Philistines are coming. The people are panicking. They're vulnerable. They've been worshiping. They don't have their weapons.
48:19 They don't have an army ready. They're about to be swallowed up by the Philistines. They're about to be a slaughter now. And so they look to the prophet and they say, Samuel, come on. You gotta pray now.
48:27 You've been praying for twenty years. If there's any time to pray, it's now. And you can hear the chariots. You can hear the shouts, the cries of the Philistines getting louder and closer. And look what Samuel does in verse nine.
48:39 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel, this is not a time for a sacrifice. There's an army invading, and there's a people that are about to be killed. You're a prophet, and we are told earlier that anything that he said, God honored. There was not one word that fell from this man's lips to the ground.
49:03 God took it, and he honored every request that this man uttered. Samuel, come on. You see it? Say something. He goes, hold on.
49:12 Bring me that little precious lamb. Grab the lamb. He slaughters a lamb. The second part of the verse. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.
49:26 What's the understanding? Samuel knew that his prayers would not be effective apart from the atonement of a lamb. In essence, the innocence and the purity of this precious baby lamb took the place of this guilty nation, and the blood of this lamb not only provided a way for forgiveness, but opened a way for heaven to hear their prayers. And it's a glorious picture of the lamb of God that in his humility and in his tenderness and in his holiness was slaughtered, not only to subdue our spiritual enemy as pictured by the Philistines, but also that our prayers would have way to reach his throne. See, people have often asked this question.
50:18 If we boast, even in our times of prayer, that we can only come before the throne of grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then how is it that many people in the Old Testament were able to pray and God heard them? Where's the need for the blood of Christ? Have you ever thought that before? I mean, what's the difference between prayer in the Old Testament and prayer in the New? What many people fail to realize is that there is a strong connection and even a demand for a blood sacrifice in the place of prayer in the old covenant.
50:48 You see it here with Samuel, and not only is it just here in this random scene, it was actually an ordinance for the people of Israel in the house of God when they would pray as pictured through what? There's a specific furniture in the temple that is known as what? The the what? Altar of incense. The altar of incense was a specific instrument that was placed right before the veil of the most holy place.
51:18 And that altar of incense was was was actually smaller than this pulpit with horns on it, was the nearest thing to the most holy place showing us that the closest thing to the presence of God and the closest thing to access to God is prayer is prayer. And there would be something on that altar day and night, and there would be an incense that would actually seep into the veil, into the presence of God. But what's amazing is the instruction given when the altar of incense was built, and you have to see this because it it just confirms this point that we're trying to make tonight. Listen to these words, and if you wanna highlight it, I would encourage you to highlight it. In Exodus 30 verse 10, listen to what God says to Moses.
52:06 This is about the altar of incense that symbolizes prayer. Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement, he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generation. It is most holy to the Lord. Every year, when they would make a sacrifice of sin for the nation of Israel, they would take the blood of that sacrifice and stain the horns of the altar of incense.
52:35 And year after year, the priest would come to the altar, and as they would refresh that altar with a fresh incense, they would see the stain of blood. And they would realize the only reason why these prayers can reach God is because a sacrifice was made to make it accessible. So even in the old covenant, there was the requirement of blood for prayers to reach God. So then what's the difference between the old and the new? Well, in the new covenant, Christ's sacrifice is sufficient.
53:11 And you and I don't have to offer bulls and goats throughout the years. What he did two thousand years ago, we can appeal to today and come before God afresh. That's the joy. It's a complete sacrifice. It's a it's an adequate sacrifice.
53:26 It's a once and for all sacrifice. And so we don't need to apply fresh blood on the altar of prayer in our hearts. We can come immediately and appeal to the blood of Jesus Christ, and you can be in your car, and you can be in the sanctuary, and you can be parked up on your bed with your back on the headboard, and you can say, Lord, I come before your throne of grace through the blood of the lamb of God. That's the difference. And so he's showing us here that we can't move on until an innocent lamb dies.
53:58 Because God is so holy, even our voices are not worthy to be in his presence unless they are washed and cleansed. And so what happens here? Verse 12. There is victory, intervention from heaven. A thunder breaks out.
54:18 The Israelites see victory. The Philistines are scattered. They regain much land and much territory. And verse 12 tells us, then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer. For he said, till now, the Lord has helped us.
54:37 Till now, the Lord has helped us. This was such a remarkable intervention from God that Samuel and his wisdom said, we cannot afford to not set up a memorial for future generations to realize what God has done. What does Ebenezer mean? Stone of what? Stone of help.
54:58 Stone of help. And they erected this stone, and this is what Samuel declares. Up to this point in Israel's history, God has been faithful. And it was not just so that they can recall the past, it was so that they would stumble upon the stone, and they would realize what God has done up to this point, he will do in the future. Every Christian needs an Ebenezer in their life.
55:26 Do you know Paul had an Ebenezer? The apostle Paul had an Ebenezer. It's actually in the same chapter where we learned his desire for the people of God to pray for him. So go back there as we close. In second Corinthians chapter one, not verse 11, but look at verse 10.
55:42 Before he asked for the prayers of the Corinthians, he says this in verse 10. He delivered us, being God, from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him, we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. God has helped us before. He's gonna help us again.
56:04 Yeah. He had an Ebenezer. You don't need an actual rock. All you need is a testimony. And people would look at what Paul says here, and they would say, I wish I can say that.
56:15 I would love to be in a situation like Samuel and Israelites where I see God do such a mighty work, an intervening work, a supernatural work. Be careful with that request. Why do you think that's a dangerous prayer? Because it will require you to go through a situation that would require supernatural intervention, and oftentimes, those situations are uncomfortable. And that's how we are as Christians.
56:38 We're like, Lord, I wanna see miracles. I wanna see you intervene. I wanna see prayers answered. And then you go through a situation that disturbs you, and you go, God, why am I in this? Why are you not coming through?
56:49 Why is your voice silent? Why do I why are we not seeing provision? Why are we not seeing an answer? Why are things being prolonged? And we begin to complain rather than say, maybe he's preparing me to set up a new memorial.
57:02 You can't really have an Ebenezer until you need an Ebenezer. Unless you wanna just coast through this life and never see God come through, which, I mean, go for it. But I only have one life, and you do too. And I want as many Ebenezers as I can get. I want my life at the end of the road to be able to be a museum that I can bring people through and show them different parts of my personal history with God and say, God showed up at this time.
57:42 That was a long season of questions, a long season of not having answers. But let me tell you how he came through. Oh, yeah. And this time, yeah, that was tough. But look how God showed up.
57:59 That's available to us. And you don't have to be like the Israelites to go through a backslidden slate state only to come back and see God's faithfulness. You don't want an Ebenezer that way. You want it like how Paul experienced it. He was faithfully serving God, and by God's providence, he was going through difficult circumstances, and God said, just wait.
58:20 I'm gonna show you my faithfulness. And I hope that that's what you desire. As we come back here in closing, verse 16, Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life, and he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there. And there also he judged Israel, and he built there an altar to the Lord.
58:46 The reason why he built an altar was because there was no what? There was no tabernacle. Israel and is in a place of revival. They are free from the oppression of the Philistines. Things are going well.
58:59 They can meet in public. They don't have to fear the sword. They can live their lives in relationship with God. But unfortunately, in chapter eight, they're gonna get tired of how things were and demand for something new. And you gotta come next week to find out what happens then.
59:17 Let's pray. Here I raise my Ebenezer. God, we've heard your voice tonight. You are an awesome God. We love you.
59:56 We adore you, Lord. Thank you that you offer a peace that can only be experienced when we make you the prince of our hearts. Lord, if there's even one person in here that does not know the peace of Jesus Christ, let them know that it can all change it can all change when they make you lord and savior, And they can stop chasing the false narratives of this world that promise fulfillment, but in the end, fail us. Lord, your voice must go out into their hearts. You must call them by name, and we petition that that would be the case tonight.
1:00:44 Lord, help us believe in the power of prayer again. Revive our prayer lives. Revive our prayer lives. Lord, help us not in condemnation, but in excitement to know that we can partner with ministries and churches and men who are out into the field like the Corinthians did for Paul and pray and bring great contribution to the kingdom's advancement. Help us believe to pray again for our lost family members, our friends, our daughters, our sons, our parents, our uncles, Lord.
1:01:20 Help us to really believe that prayer is so pregnant with power that to refuse to pray is to withhold a grace that can only come through that discipline. Lord, even in this moment, help us to pause and realize that we are speaking to almighty God. You are God. Pray for every person in this place, Lord Jesus. Strengthen every heart.
1:01:58 Revive every heart. Let faith arise in every heart to believe you, to love you, to chase after you. Pray for a revival for the Word of God. A hunger for personal devotion to sit at the feet of the master. To know how to worship you in private again, Lord.
1:02:16 Lord, we pray for a fresh love sickness again. An ache of the soul to say, I want to be with the Lord. I want to seek him. Lord, for spontaneous prayers to be real in our everyday living. Praying in the car.
1:02:29 Praying while we commute. Praying while we walk to our office. Lord, we ask that we would be so in love with one another that when we say we will pray, we will actually pray. I will pray for you because I believe that God will hear me for you. Help us believe that, Lord.
1:02:49 We are very fickle. We are very bound to even traditional phrases that have no value in them, Lord. But you said, let your yes be yes and your no be no. Help us come back to that. God, you are merciful.
1:03:07 Thank you for showing us the power of prayer. Thank you for showing us that we can stand in the gap, and you will honor us because we reflect your heart to call for mercy instead of judgment. Lord, we just wanna worship you. We wanna worship you. Thank you for making Jesus real to us.
1:03:34 Thank you that he's real in this place right now. Thank you, Lord, that we see him in our heart, and we wanna cherish him and love him. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for glorifying Christ, the precious lamb of God, who not only made heaven available to us, but made our prayers accessible to heaven. Thank you, Lord, for your blood. We worship you and adore you.
1:04:04 You're everything, everything to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
