April 5th 2020 - Pastor Jeff Shipley

Listen, guys, and that's what we're going to be talking about today is the sovereignty of God. God is in control, and I believe

God is using this to get his people back on track.

And I tell you, when we come out the other side of this, the church is going to be different.

And that's not something to be scared of, okay? That's something to be celebrated. God is in control, okay?

Now we're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 2 -5.

And I'm just going to talk to us about three things this morning. About God being sovereign.

Yes, revival is coming. So I know that there are folks that are scared and losing their minds.

But I tell you what, if you lose your focus on God, losing your mind is a natural recourse to follow.

Well, let's begin. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in Christ, God is immutable.

God is sovereign. Now, some people ask, hey, what is immutability? Well, immutability can simply be understood by your

TV remote control, okay? Basically, there's a mute button on there to cancel all sound.

God cannot be canceled. Whether you see him or not, whether you feel him or not, whether you think he is or not,

God is sovereign and in control. You see, we can live in really weird times.

We can live in really emotional times. But that does not mean our feelings do not define

God's faithfulness. Now, I'm going to talk about three things this morning. Number one, God is sovereign even when leadership is corrupt.

God is sovereign even in the midst of national crisis. And God is sovereign even when it appears evil is winning.

So, let's turn to 1 Samuel chapter 2, verses 2 through 17,

I'm sorry, 12 through 17, starting in verse 12 of chapter 2, 1

Samuel chapter 2, starting in verse 12. It says this, Eli's sons were wicked men.

They had no regard for the Lord or for the priest's share of the sacrifices from the people.

Now, listen to what they were doing. You ready? When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come in with a three -pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling and plunge it into the container, the cooking pot, and then the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up.

This is the way they treated Israelites who came to Shiloh. Okay, so let me explain what's going on.

Eli was the chief priest of all of Israel. He was of that Aaronic priesthood.

And his two sons followed in his footsteps and they were priests. Now Eli was kind of semi -retired, okay?

And so his two sons were in Shiloh and they were in charge of all the sacrifices.

Now the way the priests lived is when people brought sacrifices, they were putting this boiling pot of water and the rule was that you stick the meat fork in and whatever comes out, that's what the priests eat that day.

It could be a neck bone, it could be whatever, but that's how the priests lived and that's how they survived.

But these guys weren't doing that. Let me tell you what they were doing. They had a couple of thugs that were coming along and they were getting the people to give them their meat before it was cooked.

Because see, here's what they were doing, okay? They were taking the meat and they were cutting the fat off the meat and they were rendering it oil and selling it on the open market.

You see, oil was important back then as well as it is today. Then they were taking that fresh meat that hadn't been cooked yet and they were selling that to the market.

They were selling that to Kroger and they were putting that in. You see, these priests were more interested in their popularity and money than they were in the house of Almighty God.

I am so glad in America today, the church doesn't have to struggle with corrupt leadership.

Guys, listen to me. I'm going to just address some of you pastors out there and I hope y 'all share this, okay?

Pastors, you are not a celebrity. Pastors, you need to get rid of the $5 ,000 suit.

Pastors, you need to quit having the parking place reserved for you. If you go to a church and a pastor has a reserved parking place by the front door, there's already a problem there.

Pastor, you should park at the other end of the parking lot. You're the servant of God and servant of the people.

Quit putting yourself first. You see, when leadership gets corrupt, it becomes self -focused and self -centric.

You are pastors, yes. You are the shepherd, yes. You have been selected by God to lead his people, so lead them by example and not your chasing of money or fame.

Now, leadership can be corrupt in the church, yes. It amazes me when people say, well, our country's leadership is corrupt.

Well, they're human beings. Of course, they're corrupt, right? But leadership in the church cannot be corrupt.

Here is the other thing where leadership is corrupt, is in the home, okay?

Read with me verses 22 through 25. Now, Eli's semi -retired, right? But he hears about what's going on.

Now, look here in verse 22. Now, Eli was very old. He had heard about everything his sons were doing to all of Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent meeting.

These guys were not only stealing, they were sleeping with the very people that were supposed to be serving

God's people. Have you all lost your minds? Listen to me for a second.

If you are satisfying your selfish needs rather than serving God Almighty, you are corrupt.

And it starts not in the church, not in the presidential office. Listen, if we want to turn our country around in leadership, it's got to start in the home.

When Eli heard everything his sons were doing, look what he did. Go down with me to verse, excuse me, verse 35.

I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. No, just keep going.

Verse 22. Now, Eli was old. He heard everything his sons were doing to Israel, how they were sleeping with the women who served in the tent meeting.

Verse 23. And he said to them, so he confronted his sons. Now, watch. Why are you doing these things?

I have heard about all your evil actions from these people. No, my sons, the report

I hear from the Lord's people is not good. If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him.

But if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? Now, listen. But they would not listen to their father since the

Lord had already intended to kill them. Listen to me for a second. Fathers, if you are a father and a husband, you are by default, by the word of the living

God supposed to be leading your family towards the Lord. Now, these two young men were under the authority of their father, but they were also in the authority of their boss.

Eli was the chief priest of all of Israel and they were doing wrong. So Eli comes to them and he goes, watch this.

He says, guys, what I hear is pretty bad. Y 'all don't need to be doing this.

No, he should have fired them right then. He should have followed the word of God and the rules of God and they should have been out on their cans a long time ago.

But he loved his sons and he loved the image of his sons more than he loved the holiness of Almighty God.

If you look here in verse 29, God actually tells him this.

He says, why then do you do all these despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship?

This is what God tells Eli. You have honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat with the best part of all the offerings of my people,

Israel. Church, pastors, fathers, listen to me. Your leadership is paramount in the health of a nation, in the health of a church, in the health of families.

And when you fail and violate that, you've got to look at why you're doing that.

Here, Eli loved his sons more than he loved God. In other words, Eli worshiped his family and the image his family presented to the world as being priests.

Listen to me, pastors and Christian leaders. Listen to me. Your kids cannot live in a fishbowl.

Your kids cannot be seen as they got to be perfect. Your kids have to follow your leadership.

And if you are not chastising them and correcting them and instructing them and disciplining them, guys, it is a worse testimony than your kids not winning the

Bible memorization verse or having the little Osh Kosh Bagosh shirt on or any of that other stuff.

Guys, quit worrying about the outside of your kids. It'll take care of itself. Worry about where your kids' hearts are.

Now, fathers, listen to me. This is really important. You are the ones responsible.

Listen, I hate this. I know in today's world, people don't want to hear that. Well, that's a patriarchal system.

Yeah, well, unfortunately for you, that's the system God set up, okay? You need to wrap your head, wrap your heart around it, wrap your brain around it, cry over it if you got to.

But wives, you are supposed to submit to your husbands. And children, you are supposed to submit to your parents.

There ain't no ifs, ands, or buts about it. God didn't sit there and go, oh, well, the feminist movement started in America.

Let's change everything. God's word is God's word. And if you want your family to be healthy, children need to be following their parents.

Wives need to be following their husband. Husband, you need to be following God. If you put your family's image above the worship of God, you have destroyed your family.

I see churches looking for pastors. Let me just address this just a second. Churches, if you want the qualifications of a pastor, they're very clear in Scripture.

If you want to understand what kind of leader they are, quit looking at their degrees, okay?

Just because a guy's got a THD and PhD and MDiv and all this other stuff, you want to know what kind of leader he is?

Look at his family. Look at his home. The word of God tells us if a man can't lead his family, he cannot lead the house of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you're on a pulpit search committee and you're looking for a pastor, look at his qualifications.

That's fine. But the greatest area, the absolute petri dish in which you're going to find out what his leadership is like, look at his family.

If his family is out of control, you can book it. It won't be long until your church is out of control, all right?

Now, having said all this, I want to read now verse 26, okay? Verse 26, it says this,

By contrast, now listen, By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature in favor with the

Lord and men. You see, listen to me. God is sovereign. It might seem that everything is corrupt.

It might seem that everything is out of control, but God is still moving in the lives of people.

God does not necessarily need us to do right for his plan to come to fruition.

God is going to raise up whatever he needs to raise up. God is going to use whatever he needs to use, but you can book it.

His plan is going to come to pass. There is no stopping it. It doesn't matter how many failures we have.

God is sovereign, and his plan will come to pass. That I assure you of.

So, God is sovereign even when leadership is corrupt. Now, read verse 35 with me, and I'll close this part with this.

Now, listen to what God says. It says, Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself, and he will do whatever is in my heart and mind.

I am, I know this is a hard thing to hear. But I'm going to say it. I'm excited.

Guys, I can't help it. I'm excited. I am excited about what the church is going to look like on the back end of this.

I really am. I'm not scared. I'm not worried, okay? Yes, we are in a very, very bad situation as a nation, but I tell you,

God's going to use this, and the church is going to look and be different after this is over.

My phone has been ringing off the hook for two weeks now.

The last two days, I've had to recharge it five times because people are calling, and they're wanting help, and they're wanting guidance from the

Word of God to repent. Listen, the church is going to repent. God is raising up a faithful servant right now.

Mark my words, God is raising his church again. We have prayed for revival.

We have prayed and prayed and prayed for a generation for revival. I believe that is right around the corner.

I believe we're seeing the threshold of that revival. You know why? God is immutable.

God is sovereign, and God is in control even when leadership is corrupt. Number two,

God is in control even when there's a national crisis. Read with me chapter four, verse one.

So here are the children of Israel. Their nemesis right now is the people called the

Philistines, and their capital was in Ashdod. They were on the coast there of what is now

Israel. They were on the coast there, and they were constantly at war with the people of Israel.

Now, understand that sometimes people trust in things.

I know this is going to be weird to hear this, but people trust in things other than God, okay?

Yes, sarcasm included. Guys, we're in a national crisis. So were they, and look to where they looked.

Chapter four, verse one. Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer while the

Philistines camped at Aphek. The Philistines, verse two, the Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and the battle intensified.

Israel was defeated by the Philistines who struck down about 4 ,000 men on the battlefield.

Listen to me. I don't care how strong the United States of America is, okay? The hope that we have to have is not in President Trump, nor the

World Health Organization, nor the CDC. Now, we need to follow guidelines. We need to follow common sense guidelines.

I had a nutcase, and if you're watching, you're about to be offended. I had a nutcase tell me that we still need to meet at Witten in the sanctuary because we're disobeying

God, because we're not meeting. Listen, take the tinfoil hat off your head, okay?

Please, stop it. Stop being a conspiracy theorist. Relax, okay?

These guidelines are common sense guidelines. God has told us in Romans that we need to obey the leaders who are put over us.

Right now, the government of the United States is telling us that we need to be separate to stop the spread of this pandemic.

That is a common sense, very logical, very lucid, and very appropriate response.

Church, you need to be leading in this. You need to be leading in this. Your parking lot is not what's holy, okay?

You need to be setting a good example for our community, pastors. You need to be setting a good example.

Have a little leadership. Don't give in to the emotional pleas of people.

Have a little backbone. Reach behind there and feel. You got one. Have a little backbone and do what's right, okay?

God is still in charge. If you're trusting, though, only in the

United States government, you're going to be seriously disappointed, okay?

God's sovereign will is going to take place. Your job is to trust in his word, his will, and not what the government does.

This is going to end. You know when? Exactly when God said it's going to end. This is going to be over and God's people are going to be reunited.

You know when that's going to happen? Exactly when God said it's going to happen. You need to relax and even though there's a national crisis going on,

I promise you God is still sitting on the throne. God isn't sitting there and all of a sudden like Captain Kirk goes red alert.

There's a pandemic. Michael, Gabriel, Jesus, Holy Spirit, what do we do? He's not running around with his arms waving the air going, oh

God, now what? He's sitting on the same throne he's been sitting on. He doesn't have to jump up.

He don't have to fix anything because exactly what he has declared and what he has decided is going to happen, that is what's going to happen.

Now look at this, verse 3. Church, now this is towards us. Now pay attention here.

Verse 3, it says this. When the troops returned to the camp, okay?

In other words, when what was left of Israel's army returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked.

Now listen very carefully. Why did the Lord lead us to be defeated today by the

Philistines? They're about to answer their own question. Let us bring the

Ark of the Lord's Covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from the hands of our enemies.

Pastor Jeff, my daughter was baptized here and married here.

Oh, that pew, that's where me and my mother sat and sang praises to God.

This church is holy. I just channeled that chick from Poltergeist.

This house is clean. Guys, listen to me. It's not just that there's a national crisis.

The national crisis is not the pandemic. You know what our national crisis is? Our church has lost the will to serve

God. They're serving religion and churches rather than God Almighty. It is not a church building that holds the glory of God.

It is not the teaching or the preaching of a charismatic pastor that holds the glory of God.

The glory of God is held by his church and it's not a stupid building. It's not the

Ark of the Covenant that God's people should have been following. It was the word and the will of Almighty God.

But people put more trust in a physical representation of the church, i .e.

the building or the preacher, rather than putting it in the will of God. There are people who are so misled by pastors and preachers because they have put their trust in men rather than put their trust in Almighty God.

Do you really think the Ark of the Covenant was the embodiment of the will of God? No, it was a representation of the glory of God.

It reflected the glory of God. Just like we're supposed to do, church, we are supposed to reflect the glory of God in our lives.

But when we are more in tune, when we are more loyal to a church building or denomination rather than the word and the will of God, the church starts to corrupt and the church starts to crumble.

In America today, people are defined by stupid things like race. Let me say this to you again.

There is only one race of people. I was trying to explain this to a brother of mine in another country, and he was just flabbergasted.

He said, no, there are many races of people. You're defying their culture. If I put a

Dalmatian and a Chihuahua next to each other, okay, what are they?

Dogs, canines, if you're a lay person. Guys, they're dogs, okay?

A German shepherd and a poodle look totally different. But guess what? They're both dogs.

Guys, I don't care if you're Mexicanese. I don't care if you're Filipino, my Filipino mafia.

I don't care if you are white, black, brown, blue, pink, or purple.

I actually have people that are green in my church, their hair. Guys, you are a human being.

You were created in the image of God, meaning that you are a trichotomy, a mind, a body, and a spirit.

That is who human beings are, okay? God does not look at races.

He does not care because there's only one. Everything else is a social construct. Quit smoking crack and get back to some truth.

And I hate to tell you this, not only is there just one race of people, there are two genders, two, male and female, okay?

Last count, there were 72 genders according to the world. You people have lost your ever -loving minds.

They're little boys and little girls, and they're both human, okay? Guys, when we walk away and start celebrating and worshipping the vessel instead of the creator, we lose our ever -loving minds.

Mankind is in a place where they're worshipping humanity, they're worshipping themselves instead of worshipping the creator.

You're worshipping creation instead of the creator. And when you do, there was this guy that said this, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

We have entered a time where cow farts are destroying the world. That's what science says.

Really? Have you people lost your ever -loving minds that there are 72 different genders?

You have lost your minds. You know why? Because we're worshipping that which was created to hold the glory of God rather than worshipping

God himself. That's a national crisis, and it isn't a pandemic, all right?

It's sin. That is the national crisis that we have. It is sin. Now, listen to me.

Understand, church people, I'm fitting a step on your toes a little bit, okay? The sin that needs to be repented of has to start with the people of God, okay?

Revival has to start with the people of God. Quit looking at the crack -smoking whore walking down the street and going, oh, she's so unclean.

Your gossiping tongue is what's killing the church. Book it. Quit looking at the drug addict.

Quit looking at Republicans and Democrats. Quit looking at the government. Quit looking at everything and blaming our problems on them.

It isn't guns. It isn't drugs. It's that the house of God is corrupt. It is sitting on a foundation of idolatry rather than on the glory of Almighty God.

Yes, I said idolatry. When you worship a pew or you worship a building and have more love in your heart for the nostalgia of your youth than you do in the holiness of God in your life right now, that is corruption and idolatry, and we have to repent of it.

We have to repent. The national crisis is not our pandemic. The national crisis is the hypocrisy and lies of people who say they're

God's people. You look down on other folks, you look down on this, but your own lying and gossiping tongue, you won't convict.

Listen to me. Repentance is not calling lost people to the cross. First, it's calling

God's people to get out of their sin. Verses 21, chapter 4, verses 21 through 22.

Look at this. Sorry, I'm getting a little excited. Verses 21 through 22, chapter 4.

Now, Israel comes back to the camp, all right? The elders of Israel go, what happened?

The Ark of the Covenant was there. You know, we had up our little cross, you know? We had the manger scene at the municipal building.

So, therefore, everything's all great. By the way, quit spending so much time getting upset because your government doesn't have a manger scene.

It's not even biblically correct, okay? God, it's just ridiculous. Start looking at your own life and repent of your own sins.

Everything else will fall right into place. And dads and fathers, I'm talking to you. But anyways, when this is happening, people look to clean up the outside.

Verses 21 and 22 of chapter 4. Israel came back defeated.

The elders are like, what happened? Eli's daughter -in -law, Eli, falls off a stool.

It said because he was old and heavy. In other words, he was portly.

The word is portly. Not fat, not bald, clean -shaven and portly.

So, he fell off the stool. His neck was broke. His sons were dead. Well, his daughter -in -law, the wife of one of his sons, gave birth.

And she named her kid Ichabod. Yeah, he was going to have a tough time in elementary school.

You can book it. She named him Ichabod. And this is why she named him Ichabod. Because she said the glory has departed from Israel.

What she didn't understand is the glory done did were departed a long time ago. Church, that's what we're waking up to right now.

We're sitting there going, oh, what's happening? We are getting the result of the causality of us turning to religion rather than turning and following Almighty God.

We're seeing and reaping the harvest in which we've sown. And then we have the audacity and arrogance to go, well, why is all this happening?

Because we haven't raised our kids in the admonition of the Lord. You know how many Christians have told me, Brother Jeff, I don't know what happened to my kids.

I raised them in church. You ain't supposed to raise your kid in church. You're supposed to raise them in the word of Almighty God.

They don't see it reflected in you. They don't see it taught by you. And then all of a sudden we're wondering why our kids think the church is full of hypocrites.

They saw it every day for 18 years in your life. Anyways, verse 22.

Watch this. The glory has departed from Israel, she said. Now watch what she's focused on.

Watch what she's focused on. All right, you ready? The glory has departed from Israel, she said, because the ark of God has been captured.

She didn't say anything about repentance. She didn't say anything about let's turn away. Let's get right with God.

She was so focused on that little ark of God. And because it was captured, everything was in chaos now.

Now there's a problem. Now, church, listen to me. You know what national crises do?

They bring into sharp relief that which is already in moving. It's what's already in movement.

Guys, this national crisis we're facing, you can rest assured that it is absolutely within the control of almighty

God. Now, here's what we need to do. Okay, all of you watching, listen to me. If we try to clean up the outside without repenting on the inside, nothing is going to change.

Okay, we don't need reformation. We need regeneration.

That's what the word revival means, to bring back to life. Okay, us sitting there and ranting and raving that heathens are acting like heathens is not really any news and it's not helping the situation.

We're still doing that. We're still looking at the ark. We're still measuring our own value of how we should be behaving to God by based on what the heathens are doing.

That's the national crisis. Stop chasing the reformation of our country and stop chasing the reformation of your life and submit and let the

Holy Spirit regenerate you from the inside out. Can I get an amen?

There's no amens, but amen. All right, last thing and I'm done.

God is still sovereign even when leadership is corrupt. God is still sovereign even when there's a national crisis.

But you know what? God is still sovereign even when it appears when evil is winning.

Okay, Christians, now for you people that are not Christians, hold on a second.

I'll get back to you in a second. By the way, you're lost. I'm going to hell, but hang on.

Christians, if you're one of those Christians that says, I can't watch the news because, oh my goodness, everything's just so bad.

You are such a Nancy, okay? Who are you trusting in?

There are these things called Bibles and in them, God told us what was going to happen in the future.

Come here. The world's going to end. It is. The kingdom of God is not.

Well, it just seems like the world's coming to an end. It is. How is that a shocker to you, right?

That's not a shock. God said it was going to end. I bleed red, white, and blue.

I love my country, but the United States of America is not going to last forever, okay?

Sorry. I love my church. I really do. But my church is only a small cog in the wheel of the kingdom of almighty

God. The only thing that is going to last forever is God's kingdom.

You need to quit looking at the world and its constant degradation towards sin and then go, where is

God? God ain't moved. He's in the same place he always was. He said this was going to happen in those last days.

People were going to have preachers who itch their ears. God loves you, right?

I mean, why is that a shock? That should just redouble your faith. God said this was going to happen.

You're living through it. It's happening. You should be going, wow, God knows what's going on.

He's in control. What's next? That's how we need to look at it.

Here's the other thing. I call these people bunker Christians. Come on.

Y 'all know some of y 'all are out there, okay? You're in a little bunker. You got your 5 ,000 rounds of ammunition, your freeze -dried food, and your

King James Bible, and you got Hank Williams Jr. playing in the background, country boy can't survive, okay?

Y 'all know who I'm talking about, right? Now, there is nothing wrong with preparing, but what you need to be prepared to do is lay down your life.

The guy who wins is not the guy who's the last guy standing. The guy who wins is the last guy who is still serving

God, no matter what happens. Now, guys, I don't know. I have no idea day -to -day what's going to happen, okay?

But I know this, that no matter what I do to prepare, God's plan is still going to happen, and I might die tomorrow.

I might die before I finish this next sentence. I mean, look at me. I weigh, what, 185 pounds plus another 100?

I'm old. I'm 51 years old. I'm fat. I could have a heart attack and a stroke before I finish this next sentence.

But you know what? God's still in control. God's still in control. Evil does not win.

Evil will not win, no matter what. And I'm going home one day, and nothing's going to change that.

It doesn't matter what happens here. I'm going home. Yeah, but, no, I'm going home. Yeah, but what if,

I'm going home. But what if you get the, I'm going home. That's called faith.

Now, you can prepare for certain things, right? You can prepare for certain things.

You need to protect your family the best you can. But you need to trust in God more than anything else.

And people, fathers, husbands, leaders out there, your people don't need to see you running down the street, waving your arms in the air, going, oh,

God, what are we going to do? Here's what you're going to do. You have been given a set of orders by God Almighty. They have not changed.

You are to praise and worship God. You are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you are to be an example to a lost and dying world.

Those orders have not changed. They have not faltered. They have not been reorganized because of this national crisis.

God has not told us to do anything different. So let's read chapter five, verses one through five.

Israel went back out. They had the little Ark of the Covenant. They went out there and they got whooped again.

They got whooped again. And this time, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines.

Oh, no, our church was torn down. You can't tear the church down, man.

It's not in a building, right? It's in God's plan. God said, I'm going to bring the church home.

It's not made up of rocks and stones and stupid, stinking carpet. And just a little side note here.

I know I'm squirreling a lot. Oh, man, I've been preached a while. Sorry. Listen to me, pastors.

Do me a favor, okay? Please do all of us other pastors a favor.

Please take the gold faucets out of your bathrooms. Please, please stop buying smoke machines.

Please, for the love of God, get rid of glitter bombs and telling people that it's the

Holy Spirit falling from heaven. Please stop being stupid. I mean, I know you like skinny jeans, okay?

And if you wear skinny jeans, great. God bless you. Personally, I think you need to be a man.

But please stop trying to invest in your building and start investing in your people.

Because that is the church. That is the church, okay? So the people got defeated.

The Ark of God was captured. The Ark of the Covenant. Harrison Ford couldn't even find it, okay?

Indiana Jones was totally out of luck. The Philistines had it, and nothing was going to change that.

So read with me chapter 5, verses 1 through 5. It says this, After the Philistines had captured the

Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, brought it into the temple of Dagon, and placed it next to a statue.

Verse 3. When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was

Dagon, the idol, fallen down. With its face to the ground before the

Ark of the Lord. All right, now watch. So they took

Dagon and returned him to his place. But when they got up early the next morning, there was

Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And this time, both Dagon's head and palms of his hands were broken off, lying on the ground.

Church, it might appear that evil is winning. I want you to notice this.

That Israel had no idea what God was doing in Ashdod.

They had no idea. They thought everything was over. God had left him. God wasn't working anymore.

God had lost control somehow. It was just all chaos. But you know what?

Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. Every knee will bow.

Even when you don't see it, I promise you God's still in control. Even when you don't recognize it,

God is still sovereign. And a stupid statue and stupid religion will bow to the

Lordship of Jesus Christ. I want you to understand that Dagon down,

I'm falling and I can't get up, is not a surprise. Listen, you are trusting in a religion that keeps failing you.

You are trusting in your feelings and emotions. Listen to me, Christian. If you're out there right now and you say,

I just don't feel God. Okay, get out of the 1980s little country kitchen

Christianity and realize that God has not moved. God does not sit there and go,

Oops, left that one out. No matter whether you see it, feel it, hear it, or whatever, you can book it.

God is in control. There is nothing outside of his control. Absolutely nothing.

And just because you don't see it, don't mean that it ain't happening. Creation knows God's in control.

All of the angelic beings know God's in control. The demons in hell know that God's in control.

Everything knows that God's in control. Quit listening to your feelings and your lack of faith to determine

God's sovereignty. I promise you this, he's still in control. Dagon, that stupid statue,

God was trying to tell the people of Ashdod. Now there's no one above me.

And yes, the little Ark of the Covenant was there, but God wasn't in the Ark. God wasn't in the

Ark. Sorry, Indiana. He wasn't in the Ark. God is sovereign over the

Ark, over Dagon, over people, over creation. He is way beyond our thoughts and feelings.

Ladies and gentlemen, God is in control. Listen, do me a favor, church.

Quit lifting up Christianity and start lifting up Christ. That's what we need to do. We need to quit lifting up Christianity, that our moral, that we've taken

God's word and applied our culture and morals to it. And we call it Christianity here in the

Bible Belt in the South. Give me a break. Lift up Jesus Christ. That's what we need to be lifting up.

Not our silly religion or our denomination. Now, turn with me to chapter 7 and I'm going to be done here.

I know I'm running long. But turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 7.

For you folks from Mississippi, it's right after chapter 6. I'm so funny.

I should be a stand -up comic. I really am. Everybody keeps telling me I look like Jason Mimosa.

No, Mimosa, Minoa, whatever. I look like Aquaman. I'm going to be an

Aquaman too. Another comedic relief. All right, chapter 7. Ready?

Oh, yeah. And let me explain this. People always say, Pastor, don't do that. You've got everybody like their emotions are there.

They're shouting. Don't change that because you'll change people's feelings. Listen, I don't want you to commit to Jesus Christ based on your feelings.

Because as soon as you walk out the door of that sanctuary, your feelings are going to change. Your faith is an inch deep and a mile wide, right?

I mean, it doesn't go anywhere. Because your entire Christianity is based on your thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

I want you to commit to Jesus Christ, not because someone's playing a sweet song in the background and the preacher is going to take me by the hand.

I want you to commit to Jesus Christ because he is sovereign and he is the only answer for your life. Sorry.

Chapter 7, verses 1 through 4. Let us read together.

So the men, and I'm not going to try to pronounce these. The men came for the

Ark of the Lord and took it to this other place in this house on the hill. They consecrated the son of Eleazar to take care of it.

So here's what happened. The Philistines, after they saw Dagon fall a couple of times, got a little nervous. But when plagues started hitting them, they were saying, uh -uh, this is the same

God who brought these people out of Egypt. These are the same God that destroyed the gods of Israel.

I mean, the gods of Egypt. We're scared. We're getting him out of here. And they had like a poltergeist moment, okay?

And there wasn't no one to make the house clean. They had to get the Ark out of there. So they sent it on a cart and they sent it back to Israel.

Well, Israel's like, that's right. We bad, we bad, we bad. Listen, they were scared too because they knew that they had sinned against God.

So you know where they left the Ark? Right where it was. They didn't want to come get it and bring it back. They were scared too.

And this is the great thing. Listen to me. I can only imagine what life will be like when

I see Jesus. I can only imagine. Maybe I'll run up and hug him. Maybe I'll go sit in his lap and we can have a hot cocoa with marshmallows in it.

Now, I tell you what, when you come face -to -face with Jesus, when you come face -to -face with God, you're going to do what every angel and every human being in all of scripture did.

You're going to fall on your face before a holy and righteous God because you're going to realize how sinful you really are.

When the holiness of God shows up, man, you will go on your ground. You ain't going to go up and go, hey, JC, what's up in the house?

High five. Stop it. When you come face -to -face with almighty

God, you're going to be just like that statue Dagon. You're going to be on your face before a holy and righteous

God. But anyways, so the Ark of the Covenant was sitting there and for 20 years, nobody wanted to go near it

Now, they had someone taking care of it, but everyone was scared. Now, watch when they started desiring, watch when they started desiring to get right.

It says here, time went by, verse two, chapter seven, verse two, time went by until 20 years had passed since the

Ark had been taken to this place. Now, listen, the whole house of Israel began to seek the

Lord. That's exactly what I'm talking about right here during this pandemic. The whole house, the whole house of Israel, not the

Baptist, not the Pentecostals, not the Presbyterians, everybody is going to start seeking the Lord.

I promise you this, when God sends revival in this land, it ain't going to be to that Pentecostal church in Florida.

It's going to be to the whole house of God. Okay, everybody coming to the supper table. Okay, God is reviving his church.

Now watch this, verse three, Samuel told them, okay, if,

I want you to circle that if, see, that's conditional. If you are returning to the

Lord on Sunday mornings between 10 and 11 o 'clock, uh -uh.

If you're returning to the Lord with all your heart, not your little tithes and your little offering envelopes, not with your little fuzzy pen and your little devotion book with your little cup of coffee and your little, little kitchen table on the morning time, so you'll start feeling your whole heart at 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Okay, that's when Jesus happens, all right? If you're returning to the Lord with your own, with all your heart, here's what you got to do.

Get rid of the foreign gods and astros that are among you. Dedicate yourself to the word, to the

Lord and worship only Him. Well, my pastor, your pastor's an idiot just like I am, okay?

Your pastor is a sinful human being just like the rest of us, right? My mama said, mama, man, you ain't

Forrest Gump. Quit quoting your mama. Start quoting the word of God, all right? You need to come to a place in your life where all of your heart, not just your feelings, all of your heart changes.

You know how to know if all of your heart changes? Because your brain will start thinking differently, your soul will start behaving differently, and your body will follow, okay?

Revival encompasses everything, not just your heart on Sunday morning, all right?

It encompasses everything. Are you ready for revival? Well, if you are, you need to get rid of the gods in your life.

Brother Jeff, I don't have an ashtroth pole in my house. Well, okay. How's that 401k doing?

Oh, pastor, I don't know what to do. The stock market's gonna crash, and I'm losing my 401k. Yeah, your

God is stupid cotton with dead dude's faces on it. That's what your God is.

Your comfort comes from having money. Really? Really? The word of God tells you, you can't serve two masters.

Now, there's nothing wrong with savings accounts. There's nothing wrong with 401k plans. But if your faith is shaken because your 401k ain't doing good right now, you're serving the wrong

God. Well, brother Jeff, this chair used to be over here in the sanctuary, and now it's over here.

And this change is just making me feel all nervous. Guys, listen to me.

When revival happens, change happens. If ain't no change happening in your life, you ain't in revival.

You need to get rid of what you feel, you think, you want, you decide, all that other stuff.

In other words, the common denominator in that is you. You need to get rid of you.

Even atheists serve a God. It's called themselves and science. Everyone serves a

God. The unfortunate truth of the matter is, unfortunately, it ain't the God.

Jehovah Jireh, Yahweh, that is the God we serve. So you need to search your life right now and find out what

God you're serving. Some of you church folks, it's going to be pride. It's pride, okay?

Some of you, it's a spirit of rebellion. Some of you, it's that gossiping little tongue.

Man, I just want to sometimes rip them little things right out of your head. Listen to me for a second.

If revival's truly happening, it's not based on a moral comprehension of what is ethically and socially correct in the church.

It's based upon with all of your heart. Don't sit there and try to do

God halfway. It's all or it's nothing. And remember this, a little disobedience is still total rebellion.

Book it. A little disobedience is still total rebellion. Now watch this.

So watch what they did. Verse four. So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Astros and worshiped only the

Lord. Church, today, what are you going to do?

What are you going to do? Are you going to worship only the Lord? Are you going to worship your fear? Are you going to worship your political party?

Are you going to worship the Lord? Are you going to worship your heritage? Are you going to worship the Lord? What are you going to do?

Now the bad news, if you don't choose the Lord, is this. He is sovereign.

You know what happened after this? Exactly what God said it would do. And guess where we are today?

We are still here. You know why? Because diseases, military campaigns, false religion, poor leadership, national crises, and evil apparent does not change the power of a sovereign

God. I ask you today, listen to me. I ask you today, I don't want you to trust in Jesus with all your heart.

I don't want you to, I want you to submit to the Lord God Almighty. Submit. That means you die.

I have people tell me sometimes, well, I need the Holy Spirit to fill me up. Josiah was telling me this.

I need the Holy Spirit to fill me up more. You know how you get the Holy Spirit to fill you up? Drain yourself.

Drain yourself. If you are a vessel of God's glory, quit asking God to fill up that much room that you've left because there's that much that you've filled with yourself.

You want more Holy Spirit? Drain yourself a little bit. Drain yourself. Humble yourself before Almighty God and He will lift you up.

That is His promises. Drain yourself. Stop praying for something that you're not willing to repent for.

Stop it because you're just wasting your breath. Listen to me today. I'm asking you to make yourself less, to tear down those idols and those altars and those false senses of security.

And I'm asking you to trust in the Lord today. Do not be, do not be like the rest of the world running around going, oh

God, now what? What are we going to do? We're going to do exactly what God told us to do. And our orders have not changed.

We're going to move straight forward. Our shoulders are going to be back. Our chin's going to be out. And we're going to swing until God calls us home.

There is no other choice unless you want to be disobedient to a sovereign God. Unfortunately though, when

God is sovereign, your disobedience will only end in failure. Pastors, be leaders.

Be leaders. Get rid of the Reverend Bishop, Dr. Superintendent, all that other guy.

Get rid of that. Stop it. You're making an idol of yourself. Okay?

Husbands, fathers, start raising your kids in the admonition of the Lord. That means see them reflecting in you.

And that also means get ready for it, kicking a little butt when necessary. Okay? Start acting like a man.

1 Corinthians 16, 13. Start acting like a man. National crises, they've been happening now for, oh, about 6 ,000 years.

Started with this guy named Adam. It's kind of been that way ever since. Doesn't matter what happens down here.

God's still sovereign in control. And listen to me. There's this little passage that says,

Satan and all of his followers are going to be thrown into the lake of fire. I already know what's going to happen.

I already know. I already know what's going to happen. God is going to win. I choose to follow

God. I hope you do today. Tonight at 7 .30, we're going to continue our study in Galatians.

And every night at 7 .30, including Wednesday, Whitten, every night at 7 .30,

we're going to be having a word from God. I also want to, in this closing moment, I also want to direct you to 6 o 'clock tonight on the same public face thing.

I want you to be here. Josiah is going to be preaching out of Philippians 2, verses 1 through 11.

And let me tell you this. He just shared with me a little bit of what he's doing. And I'm going to be here.

That is, it's awesome. Don't forget also Wednesday nights, Jeremiah is going to be sharing at 5 .30

on the public page. And then we will be on at 7 .30. Guys, it's a great day to be alive in Jesus.

Be encouraged today. Look at your life. Look at where you're at and choose to follow a sovereign

God. Because I promise you, we're going to win if we follow him. In the name of Christ, we pray.