I. INTRODUCTION
I’ve already mentioned to several people that I grew up in Southern California. Now Don and the elders know that I have since repented of my ways and have been in Tennessee for a total of about 15 years. I attended Loma Vista Elementary School. Friend David Minasian. Birthday. Monkees were coming. Not from zoo, but a musical group. Only certain people invited. I was one of them! Day came, drove into driveway, David not there but his mom in driveway. He had made the whole thing up.
Have you ever been disappointed when somebody you expected failed to show up? Could have been special date, grandparent, somebody talking to you about job interview. And you were really excited, really wanted them to show up. Abut they never did. Well, maybe they didn’t show up because they didn’t appreciate how they were invited. You see, that’s one reason God doesn’t show up. Sometimes God doesn’t come because he doesn’t appreciate how he’s been asked to come.
Revival isn’t going to happen as long as we won’t God to come so that we can use him rather than serve him. And that’s what our lesson is about today. We’re going to study a revival under the prophet Samuel. Samuel is going to teach us how to invite God to come, so open Bibles to 1 Samuel 4.
II. ISRAEL’S EXAMPLE FOR US TODAY
Now it’s been a long time since the days of Moses we studied last Sunday morning. The children have entered the land under leadership of Joshua who has since past away. And they have been through a period of judges who have led Israel through a series of victories, but also, the judges have tried to bring Israel out of a cycle of spiritual regression, moving backwards. When Samuel was born Israel was in one of her darkest times. In fact, in I Samuel 3:1 it says, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.”
Because you see by that point the leaders of Israel, Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas were so corrupt they were perverting the very tabernacle of God with their practices. God wouldn’t give the people a word because he didn’t want to use them as his spokesmen. Now this is the situation Israel faces. She has wondered far from the Lord and her leaders are corrupt. Now they are in a land that has a border with a people called the Philistines who were going to prove to be a thorn in her side for many years. Three Principles to learn:
A. You Will “Reap” the Harvest of the Seeds You “Sow”
Look with me at I Samuel 4:1-3. READ. Now, before we go further I want you to notice something. Notice how quick Israel was to blame God for her defeat. Did you notice when she went out for the skirmish, 4,000 men were defeated, they said, “Why did God do this? Why did God let us lose in battle?” Now defeat should have caused them to ask themselves, “What is wrong with us right now?” Instead they asked what is wrong with God.
Let me share with you an important principle. When a man’s heart is not set on the things of God, he will make foolish choices, he will reap what he sows, and then he’ll get mad at God. Have you ever seen that happen. The write says in Proverbs 19:3, “A man’s on folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord.”
How many people do we know who’s recklessness ruined their marriage, or ruined their Christian example, or ruined their health, and they’re mad at God for simply reaping the harvest of the seeds they sowed. So Israel wants to make war against the Philistines but she does not want to battle her own sins. The Hebrews from the yoke of the Philistines, but they do not want to submit to the yoke of God. They want to treat God like a distant relative that they can invite for a visit whenever it suits their purposes. Only one problem: When you treat God like that he just might not show up.
B. You Will Be “Defeated” in Battle Without God’s “Presence”
Let’s read verse 4-11. READ. Now, no one in all of Israel could have anticipated such an event. They had their ace up their sleeve. They had the ark of God. If nothing else, they could just call on God to show up whenever they needed him. They let out a mighty roar. It says the ground shook. By the way a church can holler and scream until the building shakes, but that doesn’t mean God is there. They went out to battle and the Philistines gave them a mighty defeat. In fact, it says in verse 12-18. READ.
Now look with me down at verse 21. Phinehas had a wife back at camp who was about to deliver and she went into labor and gave birth to a son. It says, “She named the boy Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel’ because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.’”
The unthinkable had happened. In the minds of the typical Hebrew, the Philistines had captured their God. But let me tell you what Israel didn’t understand. They didn’t understand that they had lost God’s presence long before they lost the ark. See the Israelites mistook the symbol of the presence of God for the actual presence of God, failing to realize that an ark without God is just another box. You see, they had actually made an idol of the ark of the Lord. Because what is the appeal of idolatry? It is to fashion a god that emphasizes the things you care about, a god you can control, a god you can obligate. And Israel had degenerated into such a small view of God that they honestly thought as long as they did what they wanted with the box, God had to do their bidding. But you see, and this is important. While God had bound Israel to the ark, he had not bound himself to it. And God does not have to appear if he disapproves of the way he’s been invited.
C. You Will “Lose” God’s Glory When You Put Him in a “Box”
In fact, on your outline finish this phrase:
The glory leaves when people try to
box up God for their own selfish agendas.
You see what a selfish man wants of religion is for God to do his bidding. He’s always looking for the box he can use whenever he needs God.
Examples?
How about the man or woman who can live for their own selfish agendas six days of the week, saying things God doesn’t want to hear, going places God doesn’t want to go, doing things God doesn’t want to see, but you see on Sunday they come to the box where God is. And as long as they stay in touch with the box they expect God to take care of any crisis in their life.
Or, I heard one minister speak of the man who when he traveled, he always engaged in pornography and immorality, but if ever he was gone on Sunday he would always get out the Yellow Pages and find a church of Christ and make sure he took the Lord’s Supper. Because as long as you have the box.
I think sometimes we do that with baptism. People’s lives might be totally outside God’s will who will say, “Now preacher, when I was a kid I was baptized.” Do you really think you’re going to stand before the Lord on judgment day, having lived a life in total dishonor to God, but pull out this box called “I was baptized” and God’s got to show up and do what you want? You see, there is something about religion that is very appealing to people who love forms.
In fact listen to what Paul says in 2 Tim 3:1-5: READ. Now am I saying the Lord’s Supper, or baptism or coming to church unimportant? Absolutely not. In fact God has bound us to these things. But you listen to me church. We must not think that God binds himself to our forms if our hearts are not bound to his will. If you only invite God to get your will done, don’t be surprised if he’s a no-show.
D. You Should Not “Interpret” God’s Absence of a Lack of “Power”
But, now don’t you interpret God’s absence as impotence. God is till powerful. I wish we had time to preach on chapters 5 and 6. A quick synopsis the Philistines take the ark to a town called Ekron where they had a temple to their god Dagon. They put the ark down next to Dagon it was a symbol of the superiority of their God. Guess what? They showed up the next day and Dagon was laying flat on his face. Strong wind maybe so they put him back up and came back the next day and his head and arms were shopped off and he’s down on his face. They sent the ark off to other cities and those people also have sickness and plagues. Everywhere the ark was sent the same thing happens. Evidently God was sending a plague to every city where the ark went and panic would come and people would be inflicted with tumors. They began saying, “What are we going to do? This ark is a curse to us. Let’s send it back to Israel along with five golden mice and five golden tumors to tell them we’re sorry.” Now at this point someone said, “How do we know this is not just a coincidence? So they had a plan. They said, “Let’s put the ark of the Lord on a cart. Let’s pick to ox that have never pulled a cart who are taking care of calves, milking. Now if these two oxen who have never pulled cart, who have suckling calves, take off toward Israel, we’ll know we need to get rid of this ark.” So guess what happened? They hooked up the oxen and they went straight towards the land of the Hebrews.
Now, you would think the Hebrews would learn their lesson. Immediately they saw the ark and began to look inside it. And God had to send a mighty plague and many died that day. So they became afraid of the ark and they kept it in a place called Kiriath Jearim for many years. Now the question we’re asking is how long is Israel going to settle for not having the presence of God with them? How long are they going to live in a land where the glory of the Lord has departed? Remember what I said last Sunday? Revival never comes until the absence of God is mourned.
III. SAMUEL’S CALL FOR REVIVAL
Turn over to chapter 7:2-4 READ. Now do you remember what I said are the three conditions for revival according to 2 Chronicles 7:14? We’ve got to humble ourselves, pray and seek his face, and turn from our evil ways. Did you notice all three? It says first they began to mourn, that’s humbling themselves. It says they began to seek, that’s praying, and it says they began to turn and put away their idols. By the way, there cannot be any competing loyalties with God. Let me tell you what always happens in revival. God is going to identify and he’s going to demand that you release whatever is his chief competition for your affection. You see, all these Hebrews had those little Baals back at their tents. And God is going to come and make it known what he wants you to put away. That’s what Samuel did. And he sensed the day he longed for was near, that Israel was ready for revival. It was time to invite God the right way. So I want to show you the two things the prophet did.
A. Samuel’s Call for “Corporate Repentance” I Sam. 7:5-6
Not just for repentance. All revival demands repentance but notice we’re going to see over and over again this fall that revival almost always has a call for corporate repentance. Look at chapter 7:5-6. READ. Now I think it’s significant that Samuel realizes the people are ready for revival so the fist thing he does is he calls an assembly. He said, “I want everyone to come together.” You see revival is not going to happen if you’re afraid to go public for it. If you’re afraid to stand up with other people for it. Notice it said, “They drew water and poured it out for the Lord.” You say “Where’s the Old Testament Scripture for that?” Guess what. There is none. There is no parallel in all the O.T. Now the Jewish Targum, which is kind of like the Aramaic interpretation of the Scriptures. It says there they poured out their hearts in repentance to God. The idea seems to be this and we know this right now with the drought we’ve been going through. It’s so hot and dry right now if you poured water on the ground your not going to get it back up. What they’re doing is saying, “We’re going to give you our lives and we’re not going to take them back up.” Samuel says, “I want public rededication. I want you to not only give your life to God, I want you to give your life to God in front of each other. I want you to go public with your consecration.”
B. Samuel’s Call for “Public Confession”
It says, “On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’” As I have been studying revival the one thing I have become more and more persuaded is that the Christian faith in the 20th Century has become far too privatized.
We talk a lot about the personal relationship with Jesus. Have you ever noticed that most of our hymns, for every song that says “We” there are ten songs that say “I”. But when I read the Scripture, I am more and more committed to understanding that this is a community thing. In fact, did you know the word “saint” is nowhere in the N.T.? You say, “Yes it is, I’ve read it all the time.” No you haven’t, you read the word “saints”. The word saints is all over N.T. God wants a people that go public together. Revival comes when the community accepts responsibility. It doesn’t come when one person and two persons say we need revival. It comes when the church says we need revival. That’s one of the reasons I’ve asked you to each pray for revival. It’s not because God needs to know you’re going to pray. It’s because we need to know you’re going to pray.
Revival demands that we go public together. That’s why Samuel called the assembly. He didn’t send everyone back to their tents and say, “You’all pray for it in private.” He said, “Let’s get together and ask for it. Let’s come together and repent. Let’s come together and fast. Let’s come together and pray.”
IV. THE ENEMY’S ADVANCE AGAINST GOD’S PEOPLE
Now, you better expect if we all ask God to come, somebody else is going to show up that’s not invited. Read verse 7. You see Israel regarded this as an act of rebellion. Now what is Israel going to do? You see in the past they would go and try to get a token of God’s presence and go fight the Philistines. But this time they don’t want a token of the presence of God, they wanted the reality of God’s presence. So notice in verse 8 “They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Now the casual observer would look at this situation and say this looks like it did 20 years ago. The Philistine’s and Israel are going into battle and the Philistines are probably going to whip them again. This time, God saw something different in the hearts of the Hebrews. This time God was eager to accept the invitation. And so Samuel he lead prayer for divine deliverance. He said, “God, we want to invite you the right way. We have mourned and we have sought you and we have turned and put away our secret sins. We have confessed and fasted, we have stood together. This time God, we want to ask you the right way.”
Verse 9-13. READ. Isn’t it amazing? 20 years earlier they went out to fight and got routed. Now this time, you see this was not a military camp. They had not come together for battle. They had come together to worship. They weren’t prepared for war. But during revival God’s army always discovers her best weapon. Which is prayer. That’s why the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. Because we can come under the cover of the blood of Jesus offered for the sins for all of us. And because of that blood we have access, not into a form, not into a symbol, we have access into the presence of God. And under that cover we can invite God to come and fight our battles.
The Hebrews knew. They knew that God came this time because their hearts were right.. They knew that this time it was the Lord who was the victory. That’s why they set up the stone. There was no boasting that day. The only boast they could say is the Lord has helped us. And I think God longs to hear his people boast the same way today.
Now I want you to notice something very important. You need to realize that Satan declares war on any community experiencing revival. It was not a coincidence that the Philistines showed up just as Israel was turning back to the Lord. Because Satan always responds immediately to spiritual stirrings. He may be uninvited but he will try to crash the party. I can go ahead and tell you now if we get serious about praying to God an asking for revival to come that we might powerful witness to this community, Satan will try to do something to upset this church. In fact, just knowing that he will do that is part of our defense against him. Revival will always provoke an attack. But isn’t it worth the battle to be a part of something that matters eternally.
Story. Desert Storm, Amer. Colonel named William Post. Just as launching campaign into Kuwait and Iraq. It seems got an fax from headquarters that 400 cases of jelly were not accounted for in the Colonel’s records. He sent a private to look for jelly but couldn’t find it. Got another fax more urgent that they give an account for that 400 cases of jelly. He ignored it, had a war to fight. But a third fax demanded that Colonel respond to jelly. So Colonel Post responded, “Look, I can find the jelly or I can kick Sadam Hussien out of Kuwait. Which do you prefer, I can’t do both.” One thing about revival is that it helps a church decide what the battle is and what the enemy is, and what matters. And I’ll tell you right now, one way Satan will try to derail revival is to get us fussing about jelly when there is enemy territory that needs to be re-claimed for God.
By the way, Satan has no defense for prayer accept to try to keep you from praying. And we need to remember that Ebenezer Prayers ask God to take over and not just take sides. I am asking you this morning to join together in a season of prayer to ask God to take over.
OPTIONAL: HAND OUT EBENEZER STONES
INVITATION
(Fashioned for my audience from a series by Rich Atchley)
