Building Altars | 1 Samuel 7

Tonight we're going to be looking at chapter 7 in 1 Samuel. And I'll read verse one and remind you of a few things and then we'll get into our study. 1st Samuel 7 verse 1. Then the men of Kurjath Jereim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. Obviously we need to remind ourselves of what's taking place here. We last time we were together, we saw how the Philistines had captured the ark of the covenant and they had taken it to one of their temples in a place, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. It was a place called Ashdod. We saw how they had placed the ark next to their false god, a god they called Deeon. And the reason they had placed it next to Deeon was to symbolize that Israel's God was in subjection to their god. And we discovered as we went through the passage last time that that wasn't a good idea because when they had entered the temple, they found that their idol was lying there at the feet of the ark of the covenant. And so what did they do? Well, they set it back in its place. Next day they entered in and again it was on the ground, but this time its hands and the head were removed and it was symbolizing that this god had been defeated. And so this is one of those examples of how God views and commands us against idolatry. And we use that word quite often in our day. You know, we have American idol. And we use the word idol for a variety of things. But what is idolatry? Well, a very basic u definition of idolatry is giving honor to any created object. Idolatry is giving honor to any created object. It's elevating anything that rivals or replaces the worship of God. It's worshiping a created object instead of the true God who created all things. Now, if someone says, "Well, what's wrong with that? What is wrong with doing something like that?" Well, God is the creator of all things. Therefore, he has the exclusive right to all worship. Remember how he earlier in the history of Israel had commanded the nation to worship him only. And God commanded them to be faithful to him. You see it in Exodus in chapter 20:es 4 and 5. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents of the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. You shall not have any false gods before me. So idolatry, is it just a is it just having a statue of some sort? Idolatry in fact is an internal condition. Idolatry is something that springs from our fallen nature. In the Bible in Romans chapter 1, Paul took time to explain a few things concerning it. In Romans chapter 1:es 21-2, he speaks of fallen men. And he says, "They knew God, but they didn't glorify him as God, nor were they thankful, but became feudal in their thoughts. Their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they made they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and for-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who's blessed forever. Amen. So, idolatry springs from fallen nature. We have been created to worship, and some have chosen to worship idols instead of the true God. And so the nations that are surrounding Israel are pagan and are completely trapped in idolatry. And what they're doing is they're trusting in things that cannot help them. Idols cannot help us. One of my psalms that I appreciate that speaks concerning this is Psalm 115:es 4-8. Let me read it to you. Speaking of idolatry, the idolatry of pagans, the psalmist said, "Their idols are silver and gold. the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throat. And then he goes on to say, "Those who make them are like them." Isn't that interesting? Those that make them are like them. What does that mean? They are lifeless. They have no life within them. So is everyone who trusts in them. See, so we are commanded in the old as well as the new to worship the true God, the father of life. And the problem is is when this is taking place here, as we saw in the previous chapters, the Philistines, we saw that they're idoltors. And what has been taking place there with their god quote unquote deeon should have awakened them. The idol's face down, the hands are broken off. Only the torso is intact. And the fact that they had they had to help their own god to get back up should have made them think. Now in the old testament we have prohibitions about idolatry. In the new testament we also have prohibitions. 1 Corinthians chapter 10:14 reads, "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." In 1 John 5:1, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." I met a girl named Marie. And Marie was a very devout Catholic. So she had her little statues and things. She had a statue of St. Joseph and that she had put on the dashboard of her car and St. Joseph was looking forward towards the traffic as she was driving. But his hands were like this. No, actually actually this little statue she had melted in the sun. So it was like the hunchback of St. Joseph, you know, and so when Marie and I first got together, I I I shared with her a number of things concerning we don't need statues, we don't need things of that nature because she had scapulars and she had all kinds of things. Her mama used to walk into her room when she was asleep with holy water and sprinkle it on her, you know, and Maria goes, "That burns." No, she wouldn't do that. See, I don't know. I'm tired. Forgive me. Idolatry. It's It's placing something before God. It's an image or anything that you place your trust in. And anything that takes precedence over God in our lives can be an idol. anything that that can include the things that we don't even necessarily consider something that is uh some that we could be worshiping or desiring or whatever. It can include money. It can include power. Uh an idol can be a relationship. Uh you might find this interesting, but it also can be just self-love. I love myself more than anything else. We have a plague of self-love today. It's called narcissism. We have a plague of it. Putting ourselves before anybody else is a form of idolatry. Anything that takes precedence over God in our life in our life can be an idol. Again, money, power, relationship, self-love. Matthew 16:24, Jesus said it like this. He said, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross, follow me." It has to be Jesus and Jesus alone. And so God was moving. He was chasening. He was actually punishing, if you will, the Philistines. And these are things that are taking place and all. And so instead of returning the ark immediately, what did they do? Well, we saw this. They began to move it around to various cities for around seven months. And each place in each city that they they took the the ark, disaster struck. The people were stricken with tumors. the land was infested with rats. So ultimately they had put the ark on a a cart. They sent it back to Israel and as we saw it ended up in the priestly city of BCamesh. If you were looking at a map of Israel, Betamesh would have been a city about 20 miles to the southwest of the city of Jerusalem. And so when the ark is coming, the people see it coming and they respond with joy. But remember their lack of reverence was met with judgment because some had looked into the ark and they were not able to do that. They were for forbidden to do that because you could not look into the ark. This kind of of thing was restricted to certain priests. In numbers chapter 4:1 15 it says when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary when the camp is set to go then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them. They shall not touch any holy thing lest they die. These are the things in the tabernacle of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry. In verses 19b, you know, second part of verse 19, in verse 20, it says, "Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint each of them to his service, his task, but they shall not go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, lest they die." These priests should have known better. They had God's commands. This was a priestly city. They should have known better, but they did it anyway. And so God dealt with their impiiety. He did it severely. Many of them died. And so what happens while in fear of the people that sent the ark away to another city called Kuratarim, which is what we're looking at in this passage. Because it says in verse one in chapter 7, the men of Kath Yarim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Alazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. Now Kirim for those who take notes if this matters it wasn't a priestly city but it was a city that was close by and these people are acting reverently. They take charge of the ark properly and he mentions Abinadab and it seems that Abinadab was a priest and so his sons were consecrated to care for the ark. So verse two, so it was that the ark remained in Kuratarim a long time. It was there 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 20 years. For 20 years, Israel was under the oppression of the Philistines. Now, during that 20 years, Samuel begins to grow in influence as well as ministry. There's no doubt that over these 20 years, this man Samuel is calling the people to turn to God, to return to God. Remember in 1st Samuel 3:19, it said that the Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground, which means his words were something worthy of trust. And so Samuel has grown in influence as well as ministry. Undoubtedly, he's calling the people to repent, to return to God, and gradually they begin to wake up. His voice is being heard. Undoubtedly, he's going throughout the land sharing with the people and they're beginning to respond and and gradually they're waking up. It it it says in 1st Samuel 3:20, all Israel from Dan to Beersa, which are borders north and south, knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. And so over the 20 years, Israel finally came to her senses and is returning to the Lord. Notice in verse two it says, "All the house and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Lamented after the Lord. The word lament, we don't use that word every day. Probably never. To lament means to mourn, to seek with great humility. They lamented. They were mourning and seeking with humility the Lord. You may find this interesting, but as I was preparing the study and doing a little bit of a word search here, the word lament carries with it a joyful connotation. You wouldn't think so, would you? Because it speaks of mourning, but it carries with it a joyful connotation. Why? Well, because God is going to move amongst them. During the 20 years, Israel became broken before the Lord. They began to seek him. And through the influence of Samuel, Israel began to grieve over their sin. And instead of ignoring it, they began to turn from it and began to seek God. They began to sorrow over their sin. But also a joy grew in them through a renewed relationship with the Lord. Sorrow. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. there. There sometimes what happens is in your brokenness, you're surprised by the joy that results because what happens is you turn from your sin and that sin was plaguing you. And when you turn from that sin, there's a relief of the burden and then you can be surprised by the joy that comes because you're now free. And so Samuel was giving a message. Notice verse three. Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, put away the foreign gods and the asheretses from among you, prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only. He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." And what we have there is a very brief uh uh way of of of the fruit of repentance. Notice he says, "If you return to the Lord," that's where revival begins, guys. It begins with returning to the Lord. I want you to note that Samuel didn't say, "Return to the Jewish religion." He said, "Return to the Lord." Because sometimes people can substitute religion for relationship. It's not hard to do. You become very religious, but your heart is still far from God. With your mouth, you profess honor, but your heart remains distant. You're doing the right kinds of things. You're fasting, you're praying, doing those kinds of things, giving like Jesus would say, but in fact, what is happening is you're actually just becoming religious and you're not repenting and becoming righteous. He didn't say come back to the Jewish religion. You know, sometimes even here in the United States, what we want to see is we want to see people come to faith in Christ. We want the nation to come back to the foundational kinds of Christian beliefs and the theology that at one time ruled our our nation at least in principle. But he's not calling them to return to a religion. He's he's saying you need to repent and come to your God. You need to return to God. Now I want to show you something or remind you. I already had mentioned it earlier, but let me remind you of a few things. after the death of Joshua who was the assistant to Moses after the death of Joshua and he died right around400 or so BC Israel at that time was what we would refer to as a tribal confederation so Israel had needed care and guidance and also God gave the nation that through judges that was his response to the cries for help that they were having or calling out to him because they went through times of of oppression when you read the book of judge and study uh Judges gives us a pattern that Israel as a nation would go through. They they would first turn away from God primarily through idolatry. Then they would become oppressed. They would be sold into the hands of their enemies. And at that point they would repent and cry out for deliverance. And then God would raise up a judge, deliver them, and they would find rest. That was their pattern. They did it several times. The book of Judges gives us a list of 12 judges who led the nation. And and I say that to remind you that Samuel is the last judge. He's the first prophet to lead a nation. But once again, Israel had fallen into the pattern that you see in the book of Judges. Once again, they're oppressed. They're under the hand of uh of the Philistines. And once again, they're crying out. Now, what are they to do? Well, we have to ask what is the answer for the misery that they're living in. Well, we're we're told here they're to repent, follow the Lord, produce fruits of righteousness. So verse three, Samuel tells them, "Return to the Lord." Do that with complete sincerity. That's a call for repentance. In Isaiah 55:7, "Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Hosea chapter 6 verse one. Come and let us return to the Lord for he has torn but he will heal us. He has stricken but he will bind us up. So one, turn to the Lord. Even though you've been broken, he desires to heal you. So one he says re return to the lord repent return to the lord with all of your hearts. And then second he says put away put away the foreign gods and the aster from among you. So a second thing he says uh put these idols away. He speaks of u the uh baal and aster baal or baal if you wanted and starte were phoenician idols. They were thought to be husband and wife. They represented nature and they represent reproductive power and they were worshiped in sexual orgies. That's how you worship them. A starte is po possibly not a name that we're familiar with, but you may know her by the name Aphrodite. And in Jewish mythology, she was the demon of lust. So he's saying this, and I'll look at this for just a moment with you. He's saying, he says, "You need to return to the Lord. Repent. Return to the Lord with all your heart and put away your foreign gods." Now, because these gods were symbolic and worshiped through sexual orgies, he's saying, "Repent from your sexual immorality," which was a form of worship. In the Old Testament, you might find this interesting. Idolatry is associated with fornication. Idolatry is associated with fornication, sexual sin, because of its sexual rituals. Part of this is because sexual immorality includes the entire person. Sexual immorality includes the entire person. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6:18, flee sexual immorality. Listen, every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Sexual sin is a different kind of sin. It's a it is a form of idolatry. And the Bible says engaging in sexual sin diminishes you as a as a person. Sexual sin is bent on self-satisfaction. And sexual sin, when you're unmarried, involved in sex, or when you're married, and you're having outside partners, it destroys you at the deepest human level. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, the question is asked, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who's in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. Sexual sin is one of the great sins in the Christian church today. One of the most rampant sins in the Christian church is sexual sin. One of the very most rampant. There's a guy by the name of George Bara. You may have heard him. He does what is called the Bara polls. And uh in a recent Bara poll he said 42% listen to this 42% of practicing Christians say it is wise to live with someone before you marry them. 42% of practicing Christians see we have what you call nominal Christians in name only. You know, if you have some kind of form application or whatever and it says religious preferences, they used to have that. You could write Christian or whatever. I mean, everybody has a religious preference or none at all. But we're not just talking about those in name. We're talking about those who go to church. 42% of practicing Christians say it is wise to live with someone before marriage. It's been demonstrated that such an arrangement has major problems. I looked some of the things up to share with you. Unmarried couples lack legal protection such as spousal or inheritance rights. Emotional strain is experienced because of insecurity about the future. People who live together and have children are more likely to break up producing emotional damage to the children. God says to to have one husband, one wife over one lifetime because there are practical reasons for that because it's destructive. And when you take of yourself and give it to somebody else, you are always losing a part of yourself and you're never gaining anything. You're always losing. Always. You're always losing. And so idolatry in the Old Testament, God had said, "Do not give your your allegiance to false gods." It wasn't simply, and we're going to see this again on Sunday, by the way, as we go through Galatians, but it's not simply a physical thing. It's much deeper than that. And so, idolatry in the Old Testament is associated with sexual sin. And that's why one of the reasons Samuel is saying you need to re you need to repent from these sins. He went on and he said prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only. The word prepare means to settle that you're going to do this. Arrange your heart in this way. He's saying you're you're to have only one God and you're to worship no foreign god. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 13:4, it says, "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him. Keep his commandments. Obey his voice. Serve him. Hold fast to him. Settle your hearts for the Lord and only serve him." In Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mamine earthly wealth. You cannot do so. You cannot be divided. There has to be a single God that you worship. A single God, one God, not a variety. And so he says, "Settle in your heart that you will follow him. Serve him only. And if you do, he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. And so verse four says, "The children of Israel put away the Balss or Baal and Asheretss and served the Lord only." So they put them away. Now this is a courageous faithfilled act of repentance on the part of Israel. Remember that true repentance will always be obvious. It's referred that repentance is John the Baptist said, "Therefore, bring forth fruit that demonstrates repentance." Repentance will always be obvious. You were at one time had done this, but you've turned from that. It'll always be obvious, and it's even costly. In 2 Corinthians 7:es 10 and 11, it says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." See what this godly sorrow has produced in you. What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done at every point. You have proved yourself to be innocent in this matter. True repentance is demonstrable. There's something that you actually see. Remember with me, and I'll say this briefly, there's a difference between regret and repentance. Sometimes people regret. You're sorry that you did something, but you don't turn from it. You're sorry, but you do it again because you're not repenting. You're just regretting. You just feel bad, but after a while, you go back to it. True repentance is completely turning away from something and turning to the Lord. Now, the Philistines at this time, part of the reason why it was courageous is the Philistines at this time were dominant. And the fact that they are getting rid of the Baal and Asher and serving the Lord only is an act of defiance. And so it was a courageous thing to do. So verse 5, Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to mitzvah, and I'll pray to the Lord for you." So they gathered together at Mitzbah, drew water, poured it on uh poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day and said, "We've sinned against the Lord." And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mispa. And so when it says they gathered together at Misbah, Mispa, that means watchtower. It's a hill. And it was high enough there for people to see everything around it and what was taking place. So it was an outward declaration of faith in God. When you came to faith in Christ, you didn't hide that light under a bushel. when you came to faith in Christ, I would hope you were open about it. I would hope you spoke about it. I would hope you I hope you still do, but obviously when you first get saved, I would pray that you were open about it and got into the habit of being open about it, telling people that you love the Lord, telling people that you've been born again, telling people that what Jesus has done for you. And and it's an open thing. You know, this closet Christianity is is is it's really an offense to the Lord. It's really offense. It's amazing how the world itself is so open about its sin and Christians are so closed about their faith. It amazes me. People will parade in the most outlandish costumes and it will celebrate so many different things and we're kind of closet Christians, kind of quiet. No, when you're when you're a believer, you are open about your faith and it's something that that is observable and it's something that sometimes even requires a bit of courage. In verse six, he says they poured out water. Pouring out the water is a symbol of repentance. Why is that? Well, because if you ever went to Israel, and I'm assuming some of us in this room, we've been there. Uh I don't know what you you think of Israel, but today, and I'm pretty sure it was similar back then, it's very dry. It's a very dry place. And um water is life in Israel. Without water, you're dead. That's why Jesus is the water of life because in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, he is the true water. That's why he points himself as being the water of life because you need water to survive. And so in this dry land, pouring out the water symbolizes pouring out your life. And so it's a demonstration of yielding to God. In verse six, it says they fasted that day and said, "We have sinned against the Lord." Fasting can be a symbol of repentance. Notice in verse six it says we have sinned against the Lord. No excuses. No blaming of other people. Just a complete ownership of sin against you and you only have I sinned and done this thing. Listen, if you're ever going to really repent, you don't say it was the way I was raised. You don't say it's my culture. You don't say it's my disadvantages. You know, I have a lack of education or my ethnicity. It's just God forgive me a sinner. I've sinned. I have sinned. It's my fault. I did it. God forgive me. But if I'm saying, you know, I did it, but that's because I was hungry. My mom didn't ever teach. If I start making excuses, that doesn't work. No. Real repentance is simply saying, "God, forgive me a sinner." It's like what it says in Psalm 51:4. Against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. I'm sorry. When you got saved, that's what you did. You came to the Lord and you said, "I did it. I'm the sinner. I'm sorry. Forgive me for what I've done." That's how I got saved. That's how you get saved. You come and you say, "God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. I am sorry. I don't want to do it, but I do it." So, God, I need your help. And so, they truly repented and they really came to faith in the Lord returning. It says in verse 7, "When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mispa, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. So the children 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." Now the Jews had destroyed the places of worship, and they had destroyed the idols. And so because of this, the Philistines immediately moved to destroy Israel. Always remember, here's a little practical application. Not everybody's happy when you get right with God. Not everybody kills the fatted calf. Sometimes they want to kill you. They They're not real happy. Not everybody is. Now, if you have a believing mom, leaving dad, brother, sister, or husband, wife, whatever. Of course, they're going to rejoice. But they don't always, as a matter of fact, some of them will do everything they can to keep you from following the Lord. in this very room many years ago. We were having a Bible study and I gave an invitation. People came forward and you know we pray with them and all of that. Afterwards, someone came and said, "Did you see what happened?" And I said, "No, what?" They said, "Off to your right over here." A young lady was wanting to get up to come forward at the invitation, but her boyfriend grabbed her and pulled her back down in the chair in front of these people who were sitting over there and told her, "You're not going forward. You're not going forward." Not everybody rejoices when you get saved. Not everybody rejoices when you come to faith in God. I've shared before how that we received a phone call from a mother whose son had come forward at an invitation to give his heart to Christ. And she said to us, "My son was addicted to drugs, but I could handle that. What I can't handle is a Jesus freak." And she didn't want her son to go to church because she didn't want the transformed son because because she had gotten used to the drugaddicted son. Not everybody rejoices when you come to faith in Christ. Not everybody rejoices when you get right with God. Always remember that. And so the people are afraid. So they asked Samuel, "Please keep praying for deliverance." Verse 9 says, "Samuel took a a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord." Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. When it says he took a suckling lamb, that was a lamb that was only 7 days old, that reveals that it was small obviously and very tender. And he actually offered it as a burnt offering, a picture of complete consecration. And so this was the best offering that Israel had. It was a picture of the nation coming to faith in God. Verse 10 says, "Samuel was offering up the burnt offering. The Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them, they were overcome before Israel. The men of Israel went out of Misbah pursued the Philistines and drove them back as far as below Bethar. And so the burnt offering is an atoning sacrifice. It's indicating complete dedication. The lamb is being sacrificed. Here come the Philistine armies. They're drawing up for battle. Israel sees this. They're in great fear. But God steps in and thunders against the Philistines. Isaiah 59:1 19 says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him." And the result was Israel was strengthened and the Philistines began to flee in confusion. In Romans 8:31, Paul asks the question, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Well, Samuel verse 12 took a stone and set it between Mitzbah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." The word Ebenezer speaks of a stone of help. But notice he says thus far. Thus far the Lord has helped us. Meaning he has to continue to do this. We we we must continue needing his help. We must rely on him. and the Philistines verse 13 were subdued and they didn't come did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. A hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Now let's see if I should share this with you. Philistines were subdued. That's a significant victory. They have what is called, "Yeah, I will. I'll share this with you." You say, "Oh, please do." Okay, I will. They have in the Old Testament, and we'll be seeing this, they have things called stones of remembrance. the places where God met you in a certain way and they would place stones in certain way and that way when they would come across them they would remember what had happened there or they would tell their children concerning the great victories God had given the nation. So they had different places that they would put stones of remembrance. There would be places that they would remember significant activities of God, significant victories. But it was intended for the nation of Israel not to forget that the this remembrance stone would keep the victory before their eyes constantly. And so when they would pass it by, they would remember what God had done. You may find this interesting, maybe not, but I have my own stones of remembrance. The rolling stones. No, I have my own stones of remembrance. They're petrified whenever I have driven in Ontario on Uklit going uh rather on uh mission I think it's no it's Halt going towards Uklit but I've gone in that direction you'll come to a street called Vine Street and you can take left go north on Vine Street and you'll go up half a block or so. Is it Holt John? It's hold. John used to have a pharmacist on hold, didn't you? Just before you click. The reason I asked John is that live and John lived in that area. I wanted to make sure of that. I couldn't remember that it was it was home. Anyway, if you go up and you get, excuse me, you get to Vine Street and you take a left turn, you go up few hundred yards. Off to the left is a small church and that's where we began having Sunday services when our church was three three months old. That's a stone of remembrance for me. And every time I've had to go into that area, I I've made my little pilgrimage. Actually, it goes even deeper than that because in the same general area, um, there is D Street off of Vine. And if you took a left off of Vine on D Street, there's a park. I think the street is San Antonio, but I'm not sure. I think it's San Antonio. There are there's an apartment complex there. Um, actually several right across the street from the park. and Marie, my wife and I have pulled over there on occasion, not that often, over the years, just to think for a moment because that's where I used to teach a Bible study at my brother's house. It's a stone of remembrance. That's where I met Marie. So, I'll sit there and she'll cry that she met me. Just a stone of remembrance. Or we go to the Vine Street location and it's a stone of remembrance. We go to Central School in Ontario. And uh for me, as I've driven by it, I remember that's where we moved after we had left my my sister-in-law's house in Ontario and we had gone to these other places. After the Vine Street location, we went to the school there, Central School. It's a stone of remembrance. And I sit there and I'll look at it and I'll remember what the Lord did. Go to Ontario Christian for me. Ontario Christian elementary school. It's a stone of remembrance because we used to meet there for two or three years on Sunday mornings. And as I drive by and my gr my grandchildren go to school there, many of them. And I think of what God has done. I go by this place on Maple Street. Maple Street was at one time we we purchased the property. I have a lot of memories there. What the Lord did, how we built it out, how we added to it. And I have stories concerning that. It's a place that I remember what God did. Go to Ontario High School. Ontario High School, we would have our Sunday morning services there and the Lord moved. And when I drive by Ontario, it's a stone of remembrance. you go to to um Chaffy High School, Gardener Spring Auditorium. We used to have uh Easter services there and Christmas services there and it's a stone of remembrance for me. You go to Ayala Park in Chino, we had Easter sunrise services there number of years. It's a stone of remembrance for me. I remember what God did because one of the special memories I have is giving an invitation there at that park back. I believe it was like in 1999, giving an invitation at that park. And my sister Rebecca, who had been trapped in lesbianism for over 20 years, came forward and gave her heart to Jesus Christ in that park. And that to me is a stone of remembrance. And I wonder if you have any in your life, places that God met you in a very special way where you can just sit there and you can look and you can say, "I remember. I remember what you did here. I remember how you moved. I remember those are excuse me, those are very important to me because God has shown himself faithful every step of the way." And we should never forget the wonderful things that God has done. We should never forget those things. We ought to have those things buried in our hearts and we should share them with our children. I was just doing that with my my daughter Anna just today. I said because she sat with us as a family right across the street here when we bought this property before we bought it. We were just praying about it and she and my kids and we all sat in a little van right across the street here looking at this very property and saying, "God, if it be your will for us to be here in Jesus' name, I pray that you would give it to us." And that was back in 1992. And look what the Lord has done over all of these years. Never forget what God has done and have an Ebenezer, a stone of help, a memory, a memory of what God has done and watch what God will continue to do into the future. Finally, in verse 14, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel from Echron to Gath. And Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also, there was peace between Israel and the Ammonites. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethl, Gilgal, and Mitzpah. Judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Rama for his home was there. And there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord. The cities that had been taken were restored. In other words, they recovered the things that at one time they had lost. God restored to them the things that at one time were taken from them. And it speaks concerning these Amorites I just mentioned that they were a powerful nature uh rather nation and they had been in conflict with Israel and the Amorites are asking for a truce. They they actually were the first enemies that Israel had to deal with when they entered into the land. And so Samuel judges verse 15-17 Israel all the days of his life. So as a priest he went about his ministry duties. He judged and he cared for the people. But he always returned home and he made sure to perform sacrifices to the Lord there. He performed his duties and he cared for the things of God in his hometown. And so his base of operations was there in Chino. I mean in Rama he always returned and always ministered there. Father we bless you and we thank you for the work of your Holy Spirit in our lives. And Lord, I can't help but think of how good you've been to us in this fellowship. All the good that you have done. And Lord, this place has become for me a place to remember. And Lord, I thank you that that in your mercy, even when we have yielded up certain things, Lord, that we ought not to have, that you have have a way of restoring to us those things that at one time we thought were forever lost. And thank you, Lord, for being our help, for being our our help in our time of need. And Lord, I pray that we would never take for granted all the good things that you have provided for us. Lord, I ask that you would work in us and through us and that you would continue to remind us because Lord, sometimes we get busy with life and we forget how faithful you have been. How very faithful you have been. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Even as our eyes are closed for a moment, some may need to get right with the Lord right now. and you know it and you need prayer. You may be a backslider or you may have never yielded yourself to the Lord. You know your own spiritual condition, but if you want to come back to the Lord or come to the Lord and would like prayer, would you would you raise your hand? Let me pray for you right where you're at. Father, you see these hands. You know the reason why they're being raised to you. You know what's going on in each heart, Lord. and I'm asking that you would meet them exactly where they need to be met. May your Holy Spirit work within them. Father, thank you for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin. And thank you for your Holy Spirit who takes residence within us. Thank you for the life that we have in him. And we by faith would turn from whatever it is that keeps us from you. And we would ask for forgiveness, Lord. And we would ask that you would wash and cleanse us and that you would dwell within us. Lord, we yield ourselves to you right now. And we bless you and we thank you, Lord. Thank you. Bless you, Lord. You can put your hands down. And there may be some in the room right now who are going through an illness and you would like prayer. If so, would you raise your hand and let me pray for you? Father, you see these hands. You know the reason why they're being raised. Lord, you are the healer of our body. We're simply asking that you would do what you can do. Lord, if it be in your will, I would pray that you would reach down and touch those whose hands are raised and they're saying to you, "God, be merciful to me. Touch my body, heal me." And Lord, we think of people that we love that are going through something. I I would include them in this prayer that you would touch them and that you would heal them. Lord, we we open our hearts to you and by faith we ask and I simply pray that you would listen and that you would on our behalf do it. Lord bless you in Jesus name. Thank you Lord. You can put your hands down and father we are about to leave. I pray that as we're about to go that you would just receive one more song of praise to you and may we be found faithful as we go in Jesus name. Amen.