WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.640 Well, good morning. 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:01.840 Good to be back with y'all. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:03.200 I was gone last week. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:11.039 I was with a team of people in Guatemala visiting and helping out our ministry partners there in Guatemala. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:11.919 We had a great trip. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.640 We were there for five days, and that rolled over into Sunday. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:20.239 We're going to share more about that trip, show some pictures, videos next Sunday. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:27.280 This morning we're going to continue our series that we're going through in this winter and this spring as we're studying 1st and 2nd Samuel. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:33.280 First and 2nd Samuel are actually sort of one book, one long book, one long Netflix series. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:40.000 Eli and Samuel, The Rise and Fall of King Saul, David and Goliath, just epic, epic stories. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:47.679 So this morning I want to tell you several stories from 1 Samuel, chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:49.600 So we have a little bit of ground to cover. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:51.439 Our first story is in chapter 3. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.679 The people of God have not been hearing from God, but then God speaks. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:57.840 Now remember in the Old Testament, they didn't have the Bible. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:00:59.840 So God spoke through prophets. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.159 The prophet then spoke to the people. 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.200 So God spoke to his people through these prophets. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.159 So we have Eli and we have Samuel. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:15.040 Our scripturing this morning is that story in chapter 3 that Samuel, the boy, is asleep in the temple. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.159 He hears a voice. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.519 He runs to the older guy, the priest, Eli. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:20.799 You called me? 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.680 You know, and Eli's like, man, why'd you wake me up? 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:25.120 Go lay back down. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:25.920 I was asleep. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:27.680 Again, Samuel hears the voice. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:28.400 No, no, no. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.719 Eli says, No, no, no, go lay back down. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.359 Finally, Eli realizes what's going on. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.359 We get 1 Samuel 3:9. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.280 Therefore, Eli said to Samuel, go lie down. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.719 If he calls you, you shall say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.000 So Samuel went and laid down in his place. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.200 Point number one is this God initiates revelation. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.239 We could say God initiates relationship with all of us. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:58.480 He speaks to us, we listen and respond. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:00.640 Well, good news. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.000 Puppy Masterson has arrived to the Masterson house. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.079 I know you're just waiting to hear about us here. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.159 On Wednesday, Christy and I went and picked up our new Bernadoodle puppy. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:11.599 This is Puppy Brock. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.000 He is Brock Bowers Masterson, of course. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:19.840 Brock was born on Thanksgiving week. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:21.919 He was fed and cared for by his mama. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:23.439 This is Mama Nikki. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:29.759 Nikki is a 60-pound Bernice, beautiful, beautiful mountain dog. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.360 Now I'm going to show you a picture of his dad. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:41.840 True story. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.479 Blaze is a mighty sixteen pounds. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.360 He's a little fancy. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.960 We will not be showing Brock a picture of his father at all. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:08.960 So Brock was born, his mom feeds him, Brock sleeps with his brothers and sisters, and then one day we just show up. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:10.000 We show up. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:20.000 We had gone online, we'd researched, we emailed, we called, we had a phone conversation, we prepared a home for him, we bought a crate, bed, toys, and then we showed up, right? 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:25.360 We initiated relationship with Brock Bowers, the puppy. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:26.960 He only received. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.840 That's how we are with God. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:35.520 We are the receivers of God initiating relationship with us. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:42.960 Our spiritual practices, which are good and needed, are putting us in the position to receive. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:51.840 God is always on the initiative to win over my heart and your heart and to speak to me and speak to you. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:54.879 Our role is to live in a receiving posture. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:01.199 So this 1 Samuel 3, Samuel is asleep, probably in the inner temple before dawn. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.800 Samuel is awoken by that voice, runs to Eli. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.520 See, the word of God came at last to a boy. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:15.680 Not a capable, like 30-year-old guy with mental and intellectual and ability and prowess. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.040 No, just a boy. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.839 God chooses to speak through a child. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.800 And Samuel receives a message for Eli, the priest, his mentor. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:31.120 See, Eli's sons had blasphemed the Lord, and Eli did nothing about it. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.279 So the message that Samuel receives is that Eli will no longer be the prophet. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.519 Can you imagine being this boy? 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:46.720 And you have to go to your priest and your mentor and say, hey, by the way, you're no longer the guy. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.279 1 Samuel 3, 15 through 18. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:50.800 Samuel lay until morning. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:51.680 Yeah, he did. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:56.079 He's like, I'm scared to go and tell this message. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:57.680 Samuel lay until morning. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:03.199 Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.199 But Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son, and he said, Here I am. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:10.000 And Eli said, What was it that he told you? 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:11.279 Do not hide it from me. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.279 May God do so to you. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:17.439 And more also, if you hide anything from me, all that he told you. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:20.560 So Samuel told him everything, hid nothing from him. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.399 And he said, It is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:31.279 Eli becomes a warning to us about taking responsibility for what's ours to be responsible for. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.240 And Samuel becomes an example for us of how to live in a receiving posture before God. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:39.360 How to live as Christians. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:40.560 How do I live as a Christian? 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.480 Well, you live in a receiving posture. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.759 That's what Samuel does. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:47.519 He receives, he listens, he knows, and then he grows. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:51.120 That's what it means to be a Christian, to walk with Jesus and grow. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:57.040 That you're receiving, you're listening, you're knowing the Lord, and you're growing in the Lord. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:01.519 For Samuel, after this first hearing, everything changed for Samuel. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.680 Everything changed because he heard the Lord. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.800 He didn't hear tradition, he didn't hear church, he didn't hear religion. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:11.759 He actually heard the God who created him and loved him speak to the core. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:13.040 That's what we're talking about. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:13.759 We're talking about speaking. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:19.439 We're not talking about like you're hearing things in your ears, you're hearing things in the core of who you are. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.040 About who you are, about how the world works. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.680 I can remember being in college when that first began to happen for me. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:33.839 It wasn't about church, it wasn't about tradition, it was about God actually beginning to speak to the core of who I am. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:35.920 And I couldn't get enough of this. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:45.279 To hear what is true about me and the world, to hear truth and grace for my anxious, weary, needy, sinful heart, I couldn't get enough. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.519 So I phone called Desiring God. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:48.959 It's just pre-internet. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:51.439 Phone called John Piper's ministry. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:53.120 Hey, I need some sermons. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.680 Sent me those binders of tapes. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.399 Y'all remember the binders of sermon tapes you get? 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.160 You pop the tape out. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:07.040 Called Passion, Louis Giglios, send me some more sermons, send me sermon, those binders with the sermon tapes. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.199 I go to the UGA business library computer lab. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:13.120 We had free printouts. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:14.079 You couldn't believe it. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:23.519 I went in there and just print out theological documents, like just stacks, and they'd hand it over to me like I'm not sure you're supposed to be printing out theological documents in the business lab. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:24.319 But here you go. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:25.040 It's free. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:27.600 I couldn't get enough because I had heard something. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:29.680 I wasn't special. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:31.360 I'd heard something. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:33.519 God had initiated something. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:34.800 You know the moment. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:46.480 You can remember the season as a Christian when you begin to hear from the Lord in the core of who you are about what is true about you, what's true about your relationships, what's true about the world. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.439 From this point on, Samuel has changed. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:56.959 It's not a growth by effort, it's a growth by receiving what's true. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:58.959 Second story, 1 Samuel 4. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.480 Israel carries this ark into battle. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:07.279 Now remember, the Old Testament, the ark is a symbol of God's presence. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:09.920 But they don't really care for God, these people. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.040 They just want a victory. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:12.480 They don't want to lose. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:14.319 So they're religious. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.240 They want to do certain things to get certain things from God. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.720 And God allows them to be defeated. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:21.839 And the ark is taken. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.600 1 Samuel 4, 10 and 11. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:28.000 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:34.559 And there was a very great slaughter, for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell, and the ark of God was captured. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.120 And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, died. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.679 So Eli's two boys, they died. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.279 Point number two is this God blesses us because he is gracious. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:49.519 Not because we're religious. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:50.960 Not because we earn it. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:55.440 God decides to be gracious and bless us out of his own initiative to us. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.559 The Israelites thought they were going to get this battle secured by what they did. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.759 We're going to carry the ark in, we'll get the victory. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.360 They could control God by their actions, but they never really cared about God. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:20.159 Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher, he said this: To love God for what he is is the noblest of all affections. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.559 To love him for what he gives is a lower form of grace. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:33.679 Now that doesn't mean we don't love God for what he gives us, it just means there's an even greater spirituality, and that is to love God himself. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.799 Here's how we paraphrase Spurgeon's teaching. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:42.240 We are too prone to treat God as a reservoir rather than a fountain. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:49.279 Coming to him only when we need supply instead of dwelling in him as our joy. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:10:00.240 It's okay to come to him for needs, but the greater spirituality is that he actually is your joy, which means this, and this is what Spurgeon taught. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:06.320 Using God treats him as a means to comfort, success, or relief. 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.200 And that's what the Israelites were doing. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:17.440 Enjoying God is a fruit of grace, loving him for himself, even when gifts are withheld. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.759 You see how that's the greater spirituality? 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:24.000 Because what that means is that when the gifts come, you say, Praise God, thank you, God, so much. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:24.559 It's amazing. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:28.080 And when gifts are withheld, you say, Well, God, I still have you. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:29.919 You're still my joy. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:34.480 Now, back to the story in that defeat, Eli loses both his sons. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.679 The shock of all the news is too much for him. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.159 He falls off his chair, breaks his neck, and dies. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:43.440 End of story. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:44.399 All right, third story. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:45.919 1 Samuel 5. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.639 The ark is in pagan territory. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.600 The Philistines take this ark, they place it next to their created God, Dagon. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:56.000 Here's an image of a statue of Dagon. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.000 They created this god, made up God, their chief god of fertility and grain. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:07.279 So they set the ark next to this statue they have, and the statue falls over next to the ark and breaks. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.519 1 Samuel 5, 4 through 7. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:15.679 But when they rose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.759 The head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.399 Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:29.759 This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashdod to this day. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:38.480 The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:48.639 And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our God. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:51.360 They said, We gotta get we got rid of this. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:52.559 This is horrible. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.200 And point number three is this all of our idols will fall, just like Dagon. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.679 All of our idols will fall, but God remains faithful to provide. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:06.080 Dagon is no different than any of the idols we have today. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:13.840 Money, sex, power, acceptance, the next thing we want that suddenly is gonna make us whole or forgiven or okay. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:19.120 Idols always promise, but never deliver. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:23.120 They just don't have the power to give us that. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:29.759 The best teaching on idolatry that I have found comes from Saturday Night Live with Adam Sandler. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:34.960 We've watched this before because it's priceless on how idols work. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.240 They're always promising, they just don't have the power to deliver. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:50.879 Sandler runs a travel tour company for trips to Italy, and he is brutally honest about what these trips actually have the power to do. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:52.080 Let's watch about two minutes. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:59.840 We always remind our customers if you're sad now, you might still feel sad there, okay? 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.879 You understand that makes sense? 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:08.080 Our tours will take you to the most beautiful places on earth. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.799 Hike the cliffs of the Amafi coast, fish with the nets in Torento. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.120 Do this, I don't know. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.159 But remember, you're still gonna be you on vacation. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:30.879 If you stand where you are, and then you get on a plane to Italy, and Italy will be the same statue from before. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.480 Just in a new place. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.159 Does that make sense? 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:36.879 There's a lot of vacation you can do. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:49.279 Help you unwind, see some different-looking squirrels, but it cannot fix deeper issues like how you behave in group settings or your general baseline move. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:53.919 That's a job for incremental lifestyle changes sustained over time. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.200 I want to be very clear about what we can do for you. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.240 We can take you on a hike, we cannot turn you into someone who likes hypo. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:11.360 We can take you to the Italian Riviera, we cannot make you feel comfortable in a boating school. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.879 We can provide the zipline, we cannot give you the ability to say we and mean it. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.039 You're not your sister. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:24.720 We can provide you with a wine-tasting tour of Tuscany. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.279 We cannot change why you drink. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.639 Or the closer you become when you do, okay? 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:32.720 I'm sorry, but it's true. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.840 And our friendly tour guides are happy to take your picture. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.960 But remember, the pictures you're in are gonna have you in them. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:47.840 And if you don't like how you look back home, it's not gonna get any better on a gondola. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:52.559 It's just brutally true, and we laugh because it's true, right? 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.519 We've all done it. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.279 The same sad you in your house. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:00.080 If you got on an airplane and go somewhere else, it's still the same you. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.039 Idols just don't have the power. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.480 They don't have the power to change our inner issues, right? 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.080 An idol always works like this. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:14.320 If I get blank, then I can be whole or victorious or enough. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.919 But the idol doesn't have the power to deliver you. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:21.840 The idol falls like Dagon. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:34.080 That's why this story of Dagon falling is such a great metaphor for us, just to see how these things in the world that make great promises to us, but they can't deliver, how they fall. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:38.399 But we remember Jesus' words, John 4, 13 and 14. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:44.639 He's speaking these words to a woman who's tried to find wholeness in other places. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.799 Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:53.039 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.720 The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:05.679 So the Philistines have this ark, it's causing bad stuff, so they move it around, but the bad stuff keeps happening. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:08.399 After seven months, they've had enough. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:10.720 And they think, we gotta just send this thing back. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:11.519 We've had enough. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:13.679 Take it, please, take it back. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:15.600 1 Samuel 7, 3 and 4. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:29.679 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he would deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:36.159 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.480 The idols were falling. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:44.559 So Samuel called the people to repent, to surrender their pointless ways to joy, turn to the Lord. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:51.279 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:56.480 But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.159 They were defeated before Israel. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:04.640 And the men of Israel went out from Metzpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them as far below Betkar. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:12.000 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Metzpah and Sheen, and called its name Ebenezer. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.920 You know, we sing that song, we sing a song every once in a while that has the word Ebenezer in it. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:16.720 We forget what it means. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.160 The word Ebenezer means stone of help. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.680 And this is about how we live out the Christian life. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:24.720 It's our last point. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:30.799 We live in God's grace remembered, not our strength celebrated. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:42.079 What we said when we started the church 13 years ago is we said, we want to be a church that people leave thinking more of the Christ, less of the Christian. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:47.599 That we live our Christian lives in God's grace remembered, not our strength celebrated. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:55.279 The Ebenezer stone stands as a testimony to grace that the Lord helps us, not because we're strong, but because he delights to help us. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.799 That he delights to help you and care for you, have relationship with you. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:17:59.920 He initiates that. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.240 He pursues you, moves toward you. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:05.359 This word Ebenezer is not a new word. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:16.400 Back in chapter 4, 1 Samuel 4, Ebenezer was the site where Israel was defeated by the Philistines, where the Philistines took the ark. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:21.200 By placing the stone here, Samuel's saying something really profound. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:35.200 He's saying that the place of shame, where you were defeated, where you did not trust the Lord, that very place of shame, that weakness is not the end of our story. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.240 Because God wants relationship with us. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:44.240 That He comes into that very place to forgive, to redeem, and to transform. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:51.440 That in our very places of shame, we can have Ebenezer's, we can have God's grace remembered. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.839 And yet the problem in all these stories is the same. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.799 The problem is that God is holy. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.279 It's a holiness like fire. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.119 You know, you have like a campfire and you throw a leaf in, it consumes the leaf. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:07.519 You throw a little piece of trash in, it consumes the trash. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.039 Like God's holiness is like that. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.559 Fire just consumes anything you throw in. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.000 But God also wants to be near his people. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.480 He also wants to be near you. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.400 And this is the reason and the greatness of Jesus. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:31.039 That holiness of God is fully met in Jesus, and God can have relationship with us. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.960 Paul explains it to us in Romans. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:33.839 I close with this. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.079 Romans 3, 23 through 26. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.359 This is the message translation, so it's a paraphrasing. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:47.119 Out of sheer generosity, he put us in right standing with himself, a pure gift. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:53.680 He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.720 And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.599 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.440 Having faith in him sets us in the clear. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:18.240 God decided on this course of action and full view of the public to set the world in the clear with himself to the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:22.079 This is not only clear, but it's now. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.640 This is the current history. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:31.440 God sets things right, he also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:32.960 Let's pray together. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:43.519 Heavenly Father, we're so thankful for the Ebenezer stone that in our very place of weakness, shame, lack of trust, you show up. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:53.119 That your grace is enough, your provision of Jesus is enough, that the idols will fall, they can't deliver. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.839 And that you provide. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.000 Help us to not just enjoy your gifts, but to enjoy you. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:08.400 Help revive in us a spirituality that's in love with you, that receives your love for us. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.119 Help us to enjoy you. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:13.839 Help us to trust more in the gift of Jesus. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:21.599 Think more of the Christ, less of the Christian, live more in grace remembered, less in our strength celebrated. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:23.599 In Jesus' name we pray.