Who's Running The Show?

“Who’s running the show”

by rev. Thomas B. Gates

Text:1 Sam. 4:1-11

Explain the ark of the covenant

Intro: Explain what’s happening

There is a lot of things that we need to know about God, if were going to serve him in a way that’s pleasing to him. Now Israel realized that they were in trouble, because God was not with them, and so they went about it trying to get God in their presence and they went about it the wrong way. And they discovered some things that I believe would help us if we would discover them as well, if we want to live for the lord.

1. God Will Not Be Used!!

Verse 3.

Now they Sent for the Ark and wanted it to

come among them.

Not that they may serve God or worship God

or that they might reverence him.

- they wanted the presence of the lord for their own personal use!

really in essence it bordered on superstition.

They said ,”if we can just get the ark of the covenant then that’s all that we will need.

So we find that they wanted to use God for their own personal use, but I want you to know that God didn’t fall for it!

We see a lot of folks that try to do the same thing:

we see some that may be having family problems,

and they say well if we can just go to church

then everything will work out.

or they may have financial problems and

they’ll get in church, or

if there is sickness in the family they come

and say well we have got to get in church they

think that it will solve all their problems.

We need to realize and understand,

Now if your coming to church for the right reason

that is fine, but what we have go to understand

is that:

God is not going to be used like a mop or a dish rag, or maybe when we spill our cup of tea over and we need God to come and wipe it up for us, Amen

now that’s the way a lot of folks try to use him

When they get in trouble they want to go get him and use him.

But as soon as he cleans up the mess then back on the stand he goes until they need him again.

- Now what we need to see is just like he wouldn’t

let Israel use him, he wont let us either! And

Israel found out the hard way. They thought that

as soon as their good luck charm got their then that

was all that it was going to take.

But God showed then that he was not the kind of God that was going to be used.

We Need to realize that there is more to it than just

showing up at church

or wearing a cross around a necklace

or carrying a bible around

There is also serving!

So they found out that they would not use God and so they lost the battle and lost the presence of the lord.

Now after the philistines took the ark of the covenant back home they said

“oh we have accomplished a great thing”, and so they took the ark and they place it in the house of their God “Dagon”

Tell about Chapter 5.

2. The lord will not share his glory with any

other God.

We have got a lot of folks who say “I have excepted God” And all they wanna do is add him to all the other Gods of the world that they have in their life!

In here to tell you that all that’s gonna do is make your life 10 times as miserable than it was before the bible says That we are to serve the lord thy God and have no other Gods before him. AMEN

If were gonna serve God, and be pleasing to him, then he has got to be #1.

So we find that as soon as they got the ark out of the house and put it in another place, then things began to happen they began to be afflicted with sores and boils, every time they moved him. they said “well what we need to do is get rid of him” because he is just causing us problems.

- Now I’m telling you that when you put on an front or a face that your living for God and you dont really except him then your gonna have problems! you’ll be like this group right here. And they said well we just want to get away from the lord, we want to get out of here and get back to our old life as it was before.