"Repent and depend on God's deliverance"

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Good morning. So reading is from 1, Samuel, chapter 7. I'm gonna go from verse 1, and it's on page 2 77 of the Bluechurch Bible. 1 Samuel 7 verse 1, page 2 7 7. So the men of Curieth Jerim came and took up the ark of the lord.

They brought it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eliezer his son to guard the ark of the lord. The ark remained at Kyith Jeremiah a long time, 20 years in awe. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, if you're returning to the lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the asteroids and commit yourselves to the lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the israelites put away their boughs and astras and serve the lord only.

Ben Samuel said, assemble all Israel at Mishpah, and I will inter sealed with the lord for you. When they had assembled at misper, they drew water and poured it out before the lord. On that day, they fasted, and there they confessed we have sinned against the lord. Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizzpa. When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizzpa, the rulers of the Philistines came up to a attack them.

When the israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. So 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. Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the lord. He cried out to the lord of Israel on Israel's behalf, and the lord answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle.

But that day, the Lord's thundered and the loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mispur and pursued the Philistines slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Carr. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mispur and Shen. He named it Ebonese saying thus far, the lord has helped us. So the Philistines were really subdued, and they stopped invading Israel's territory.

Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the lord was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Ghat, but the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philist lines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel continued as Israel's leader all the days of his life. From year to year, he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgau to Mispur, judging Israel in all those places, but he always went back to Rama where his home was.

And there, he also held court for Israel, and he built an altar there to the lord. Thank you, Paul, for reading that to us. Hi, everyone. If we haven't met before, my name is Leon, I remember, part of the church family here. Do keep that passage open in front of you page 2 7 7, as we will be referring back to it as we go through.

But as we start, let me, pray for us as we begin. Heavenly father, we thank you for your word that it is true and trustworthy. We thank you that it shows us who you are and what you've done for us. We pray that you would help us to listen now to your word, that we would learn from it. And what we'd see, is how to respond to it, as we lesson.

In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. Over the past few weeks, we've been making our way through the book of 1 Samuel as a church. Now our passage today marks the end of a story arc that started in chapter 4. In that chapter, we saw Israel was totally defeated after treating God as their lucky charm, their rabbit's foot, against their enemies, the Philistines. Israel were left 30000 fewer and leaderless with Eli's tragic death.

Now in chapter 5 and 6, God shows us his true supremacy, his greatness, defeating the Philistines and their gods going from town to town, inflicting them with plagues and tumors. And last week, we were shown god's unbearable holiness, that left even Israel god's people asking the question who can stand in the presence of this holy god? Ultimately, Israel's relationship with god, is deteriorated. It's fractured. It's on the rocks.

They're in big trouble. They desperately need someone to help them, to help them restore their relationship with God because clearly they cannot do it on their own. Our passage today is going to show us, that Israel's relationship with God can be restored. But they won't be able to on their own. They need a leader.

They need Samuel, who brings them god's word as god's prophet, god's priest, and Israel's intercessor. For us today, we'll see that this, is true for us as well. We too can enjoy a restored relationship with god, not by our own efforts, but because of Jesus Christ, who came in, because of what he's done for us who came down to earth, we can come into the presence of the lord, god, almighty. We'll see that it goes well for Israel because they listen to god's word through Samuel's leadership, which causes them to first, term for idols. Second, turn to god.

Third, depend on god's deliverance. And fourth, remember god's deliverance. And we'll see that the same is true for us today because of Jesus Christ. So first again, heading number 1, turn from idols. After being missing from the story since the end of chapter 3, Samuel finally comes back into frame.

He calls Israel to turn back, from their idols completely. If Israel are genuine in their repentance, if Israel are wholehearted in turning back to god. Then first, they need to rid themselves of their false gods. And we see this in our passage starting from verse 2. So look down with me, as I read that for us starting at verse 2.

The arc remained at Kerith Durham long time, 20 years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the lord. So Samuel said to them, I said to all the Israelites, If you are turning to the lord with all your heart, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods, and the ashtoreths, and commit yourself to the lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines. 20 years has passed since last week's passage, and that seems like a long time for nothing of note to have happened, for Israel after such a tragedy that we saw last week. 70 of Israel were left dead after looking in the ark of, of the lord.

And that was like a whole new generation has come into the story, but clearly little has changed. They still need their relationship with god. To be restored. And suddenly, all the people of Israel turn back to the lord completely out of the blue. They changed their attitude towards god.

This is clearly god's hand at work here in our story to create such a dramatic change without any cause. God is bringing them back to himself. And so god's prophet renowned among all Israel speaks to Israel, and God lets none of Samuel's words fall to the ground. Samuel tells Israel that if they are truly turning to god, they need to wholeheartedly turn from their idols. Idols are basically anything that we can rely on for some blessing, or help or guidance in the place of wholeheartedly depending on god.

Now they could be physical objects, but the statue of Daagon that we saw in chapter 4, chapter 5. Or they can be more like concepts. The bowels and asterisks that are referred to in our passage, were associated with fertility and agriculture at the time. So those that have been worshipped by many of the nations around Israel. Now it struck me that this is the first time we've heard Israel are worshiping idols in the book of 1, Samuel.

We've heard of the Philistine's pantheon of gods, but not Israel. It would be easy to assume that Israel were only worshiping God and that they weren't worshiping idols like the rest of the nations around them. But we find in our passes that they are. They are just like the Philistines. I think this is, the author of 1 Samuel, subtly highlighting this sudden realization.

Idle was a probably normal day to day for them, they would have become so desensitized to them. That it warranted no significant mention in our story. Just like how we don't hear what, Israel ate. Maybe they ate eleventh Century BCuster Tarts or wore Eleventh Century BC night trainers. We don't know.

Ultimately, Israel didn't recognize their worship of idols as something wrong. The worshiping idols while trying to worship God was their biggest problem that they needed rescuing from. They need Samuel, their leader, their prophet, to share god's word with them, to call them to turn from idols. Now we're just like Israel here. As theologian John Calvin put it, our hearts are like idle factories.

Like Israel, our hearts are a workshop that constantly creates and produce idols to worship. We turn good everyday things into false gods. That take us away from worship in God alone. Perhaps like Israel, we don't even realize we're doing it. It fades into our normal day to day.

We become desensitized to them. And without someone prompting us and shining a light on our idol worship, we too can slip into worshiping them alongside or even instead of God as Christians We need to be on our guard. We need to keep asking the question. What am I serving? A worship be alongside god, and put them away.

This is the same command that we saw in our colossian series earlier this year. Paul says in colossians 3, put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, ill desires, and greed. Which is idolatry. So is there anything that we've become complacent with?

Is there a sin or an idol that we've started to stir instead of god? What's rivaling our worship of god? The ideals that we might have today may not be as obvious as a giant statue. It could be our career success, seeking a comfortable and happy life, the feeling of being in control, or seeking approval from others. Idols affect everyone here, whether or not you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, and we need to take god's words seriously.

Turn away from them. Put them to death. They cannot give us the meaning, the significance, the purpose that we are seeking. Only God can do that. If you struggle with this, know that you're not alone, you're not the only 1, This is something that I too struggle with for sure.

Notice Israel couldn't do it on their own either. It took Samuel to shine a light on their sin, their idol worship, and to lead them to turn away from it. Today, we've got a better leader than Samuel. We have Jesus Christ who understands our struggles and temptations, and he has set us free from our slavery to sin. So turn away from your idols and trust in Jesus Christ as your king.

God word, god's word shows that it is vital, that we truly repent by first turning from idols. And that's exactly what Israel does. As it says in verse 4 of our passage. So the israelites put away their vows and after threats and served the lord only. They listened and obeyed god's word.

Israel turned from idols. And second, listening to god's word through Samuel causes them to turn to god. After Israel obeys and wholeheartedly turns from idols, Samuel as god's mouthpiece calls Israel to turn back to God in confession. And we see more detail of that in verses 5 to 6 of our passage. Let's read those together.

Then Samuel said, assemble all Israel at Miss Parr, and I will intercede with the lord for you. When they had assembled at Miss Parr, he drew they drew water and poured it out before the lord. On that day, they fasted there they confess. We have sinned against the lord. Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Ms.

Par. Now that Israel had turned from idols, Samuel understood that they needed to go before God and make reparations for their relationship. Samuel saw their need to acknowledge and admit their guilt of sin before god. So Israel Bay. Samuel gathers them as a nation at a place called Mispar.

Now Msar is an important place in Israel's history, both for tragic reasons, as well as more positive ones. It's a high elevated place, that peep the people of God would go through to seek god. In Genesis chapter 31, Ms. Par was where, Jacob and Laben made a covenant before god. And interestingly enough in Joshua chapter 24, we see a similar pattern, occur as our passage.

On another high elevated place, Joshua led Israel to renew their covenant relationship with the lord, not long after their time in the wilderness. So the biblical pattern repeats under the leadership of Samuel, Israel gather on a high elevated place to renew their covenant relationship with the lord to seek the lord for forgiveness. They humble themselves before him, with openness and honesty. They confess their sins before god. They show how serious they are about their sin and the weight of it by fasting before the lord, going without food.

They pour out water before the lord, throwing away a precious life sustaining resource because they are showing their full dependence on god. Knowing that we are like Israel here, it's good to ask ourselves the question. Do we take our sin seriously? I know that I often don't. I find it all too easy to pass it off as just another bump in the road.

I'll say a quick, sorry to god, and move on. He'll forgive me. Right? Let's be careful. We need to take the opportunity to see the seriousness of our sin.

It's no small matter. It's what Christ came down to die for us after all. Yes. We should feel the sorrow, for our sin like Israel does in our story. And that should allow us then to see how awesome God's mercy is.

Jesus willingly endured the cross for the sake of our salvation and took the sins, the punishment that we deserve, for our idol worship on himself, not because we deserve it, but because god, so loved the world. So let's confess our sins like Israel wholeheartedly. Not because we think it ticks the confession for giving God granting box, instead because we know that God is merciful. And because we want to enjoy again our relationship with him as our king. At Miss Parr, Israel gathered to confess their sins to God as a nation, corporately, This highlights the importance of confessing together as a church.

This is something that we do in our church services as we have done this morning, because it helps us as a gathering to acknowledge our sins together. Doing so, we bring our sins to light, and they cannot be hidden at from others' view. It shows each of us the goodness and the mercy that we have because of God because he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need to be led and reminded to do this because our own we won't. I certainly know that that's true of myself.

Israel, he did to Samuel to lead them. And as Christians today, we have Jesus as our leader and our savior because Christ came down to earth to die for us ins, we know that we have complete forgiveness in him. So trust in Jesus Christ and obey his words. This is a vital part of our relationship with god, and so confessing should be a continual part of our walk as a Christian. We should follow Israel's example here, listening to god's word through Samuel, which causes them to first, turn from idols, second, turn to god, and third, depend on god's deliverance.

Having shown their right attitude towards god, Israel are humble before him, and they are depending on his mercy to deliver them from their sins, as well as whatever danger comes their way. They are now depending on god's deliverance and not on themselves. We see this in our passage, starting from verse 7. So read, down with me as we look. When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mispar, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them.

When the Israelites heard of this, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, do not stop crying out to the lord our God for us. But he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines. Then, Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the lord. He cried out to the lord on Israel's behalf, and the lord answered him.

The so called reward for the right attitude that Israel has towards God isn't what we'd expect. It seems like an attack from the Philistines. It seems a repeat of chapter 4, and that didn't go well. Back in chapter 4, Israel fought the Philistines and lost not just once, but twice. We might be thinking it's just gonna be a repeat.

Instead of the Philistines being afraid here, the Israelites are afraid gonna be an absolute bloodbath. But this time there's a difference. In chapter 4, Israel considered god's ark to be their rabbit's foot, their lucky charm in battle, but now in our passage, Israel have humbled themselves to forgot and show their dependence on him. They rely on their weapon of prayer through their priest, Samuel. Instead of seeking to save themselves or even running for their lives, as I'm sure I would have, they go to Samuel first.

They ask him to cry out to the lord their God for their rescue. They aren't just taking advantage of Samuel's clear, priestly connection. They are genuinely asking God for help. Notice in verse 8, they call him the lord, our god. They are depending on god's deliverance.

Interestingly though, Samu's first action isn't to pray. Instead, he offers a sacrifice, a whole burnt offering to god. Samuel knows their needs are more than what they're asking for. They need their relationship with God to be made right. So Samuel offers a suckling lamb to God as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of Israel.

The right actions of Israel's priest in order that they may have a restored relationship with god. For us, Jesus is our high priest He not only calls us for a pen. He also provides for us the sacrifice we need to have a restored relationship with him. He himself became our sacrificial lamb on the cross to a tone for our sins to bring us back into a right relationship with him. And when Samuel cries out to the lord, as Israel's intercessor in our passage, the narrator tells us that the lord answers Samuel.

Let's read the answers to that prayer, starting from verse 10 in that passage, look down with me. While Sammy was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew, drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day, the lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic they were rooted before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Ms's power and pursued the Palestine, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth's car. Simply put Israel depend on god's and God mercifully delivers them.

In the same way we saw in Hannah's prayer in chapter 2, the most high thundered from heaven, and Israel win the fight because they depend on their god. Listening to god's word through Samuel causes them to depend on god's deliverance. And so for us, we might be tempted this week to turn away from God instead of depending on him, just like how, Israel did back in chapter 4. So how are we going to respond? We need to be prepared for that next time, staying on our guard.

We need to go straight to god, for his strength and deliverance. Rather than relying on ourselves, Israel went through Samuel, and today as Christians, we go to God through Jesus, our high priest, our sacrifice, our intercessor, and now through him, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus doesn't promise to deliver us from every hardship we face in life right now. Therefore, we may see god, or we may not see God give us the victories like we sit we see Israel experience in our passage. And that may be hard for us to hear this morning, and I'm I'm sorry if that's hard for you to hear.

Know that no matter how big or small your struggles are, God cares. The Bible tells us that he hears our prayers when we cry out to him. We know that the lord is a fortified tower that we can run to for safety. As Proverbs chapter 3 says, trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight Even when God doesn't answer our prayers in the way that we might expect, we can still turn to him and depend on God because he is in control.

And through Christ's deliverance, we have a certain hope. On the cross, he rescued us from our biggest problem in life, the problem of our sin. Jesus has won for us the victory that we most need. Only because of Jesus, do we have true deliverance? Christ's death and resurrection brings us hope of eternal life to come, meaning that we can look forward to a time when there will be no more mourning no more pain, no more tears, when Christ returns to bring in the new creation.

All Jesus calls us to do is to depend on his deliverance, trust in Jesus, and his dependence that he has won for you. If you're here and you wouldn't call yourself a follower of Jesus, know that this victory isn't withheld from you. Jesus offers this victory to you. His arms are outstretched wide on the cross to save you and me and to welcome us in. No matter who you are or what you've done, Jesus has provided for you the rescue you need.

All you need to do is trust in him. So let me encourage you trust in Jesus Christ depend on god's deliverance. Or at the very least, can I encourage you to find out more? Jesus died for you? Surely that's worth finding out more about.

Depending on god's deliverance isn't just a 1 off. We need to continue coming back to God and relying on him. If you're anything like me, you forget to. Human beings aren't the best at remembering things. So we need to be reminded of this, which leads to our fourth and final point.

Listening to god's word through Samuel causes them to heading number 4. Remember god's deliverance. So following god's to incredible deliverance, Samuel sets up a monument to God in the very same place that Israel had previously been defeated by the Philistines in chapter 4. Samuel places this monument to remind Israel of god's help to remember god's deliverance. And we see that in verse 12 of our passage.

Let's look down again. Verse 12. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Msa and Shen. He named it Ebonese saying thus far, the lord has helped us. Knowing Israel's pattern of behavior, they are very likely to forget what God has done for them in saving them from the hand of the Philistines in our passage.

In judges, Israel are all too quick to forget god's deliverance. And return to their old way of worshiping idols and not worshiping God wholeheartedly. So here, Samuel is making sure that Israel don't forget what God has done for them. If things are gonna continue going well for Israel, If they are gonna, continue obeying god's words, they need to remember. God mercifully, forgave them and answered their prayers by delivering them from the Philistines.

They need to remember that deliverance So Ebonese is set up as a witness to Israel, a monument so that they might remember. As Christians, we too need to make sure that we remember god's deliverance Our deliverance isn't being rescued from the hands of the Philistines, but from our biggest problem of sin, the monument or the symbol that we are best known for as Christians is the cross, isn't it? What was a first century symbol of gruesome torture is to us a symbol of victory like ebenezer. Although it's not a physical monument that we can look to like a stone, the cross acts as a constant reminder of god's deliverance. In Christ dying in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve, that we can be forgiven, and enjoy a restored relationship with god.

This is why we focus on Jesus every Sunday, why we focus, on the fact that he died for us on the cross. Many of us services sound like a broken record to some, but it's for good reason. We need to be constantly reminded of god's merciful deliverance. In order that we can depend on it, we need to be reminded that first, we need to turn from idols, turn to god's and depend on god's salvation that he won for us in Christ. I don't know about you, but this is something that I find only every week.

After each, service on a Sunday, I can feel encouraged and a fight to go out and continue walking for Christ during the week. But by the time the next Sunday rolls around, I feel like I need to be reminded again to keep walking with Christ in this way to remember what he's done for us. Life is full of distractions into it. Fill lots of things that take our priority and they fill our minds. So we do need to be reminded.

We do need to remember god's deliverance. Perhaps for you, you have other ways of remembering, price deliverance perhaps you've got stories of the times that he's answered your prayers, and that they remind you of what God has done for you. 1 example that we all have as a church is communion. Every time we take communion together as a church family, We should be remembering the deliverance Christ has mercifully achieved for us and hit a call to repentance and to remember. After Eboneseza, we hear of a great restoration for Israel experience.

And we see this, in our concluding verses of our passage. Let's read those together now starting from verse 13. So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading Israel's territory. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the lord was against the Philistines. The towns of Ecron to Gath, that were that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered them delivered the neighboring territories from the hand of the Philistines.

And there was peace between Israel and the ammonites. Samuel continued as Israel's leader all the days of his life. From year to year, he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgau to Mispar, judging Israel in all those places. But He always went back to Rama where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel, and he built an altar there to the lord. Israel are restored.

Their lands returned to them and the Philistines are kept at bay. I got hand. With Samuel as their judge, their leader, Israel is now able to live in peace with God as their king. We've seen that it goes well for Israel. Because they turn from idols, turn to god, depend on god's deliverance and remember his deliverance.

Now this hasn't come about by chance or by any of the actions of Israel themselves, Like we saw at the beginning of our passage, they turned back to the lord out of the blue, a miracle that was only possible because, of God that he established, Samuel as their leader to lead them. He was their prophet, their priest, and their intercessor in our passage. Previously in 1 Samuel, Eli led Israel, and he was shown to be a weak and ineffective leader for god's people. During his leadership, Israel didn't even know god's word we actually saw that the Philistines had a better understanding of what God had done for Israel than Israel themselves. Whereas now, we see that Samuel is the better leader for Israel.

As god's prophet, he calls Israel to obey god's word by turning from idols and turning to god. As Israel's priest, it doesn't steal from their sacrifices instead he makes the atoning sacrifice they need for Israel on their behalf. As Israel's intercessor, he prays on Israel's behalf asking God for death of ruins. Now we get hints in our passage that Samuel's leadership cannot last forever. It seems that only in the days of Samuel's life, does Israel enjoy this peace and restoration with god.

They need a better leader, 1 who's able to stand from age to age. Christ Jesus is that fulfillment, not only for Israel, but also for us. He's the prophet we need, the priest we need, the intercessor we need. Jesus is the king who we need to put our trust in because he helps us to turn from idols, turn to god, depend on god's deliverance, and remember god's deliverance. Let's pray.

Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have learned from your word this morning. Thank you that Jesus Christ is the greatest Samuel Thank you for he is our prophet and our priest, our intercessor, and ultimately our king who we can put our trust in. Father help us to continue to see the need to confess us in and to turn back to you in our walk. With you. Help us to wholeheartedly depend on you and not ourselves.

Thank you that Christ has done it all for us. And father help us to remember that, as we continue, walking with you in Jesus' name, we pray. Our men.