Ark of the Covenant - Part 1 — Major Ian Thomas

Thank you very much. Good to see you folks again tonight. I hope you've got your Bibles and your fingers well lit. The form of Scripture is the Word of God. The character of the Word of God is gospel, and the content of the gospel is Jesus Christ.

So, no matter where we turn in the Bible from Genesis to the Revelation, we may anticipate that the Holy Spirit, whose gracious ministry it is to be our teacher, will focus our attention upon the person of the Lord Jesus.

This is what makes the Old Testament in particular so wonderfully fascinating. If we don't recognize the principle, of course, that no matter where you turn in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit will want to introduce you to Jesus Christ, then the Old Testament can become intolerably bought, and for many it is, because they've never learned to understand the language of the Holy Spirit.

In this part of God's Word that foreshadowed the birth and life and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit has been at great pains to give us some magnificent illustrations, charge the spiritual significance.

And so, in the evening session, parallel in Christ in many ways to our morning session, we're going to turn particularly to the Old Testament, though inevitably, of course, we shall from the Old Testament be referring quite often to the New Testament, because they are inseparable, the one from the other.

David Seeks to Restore the Ark

But, by way of introduction tonight, would you turn with me to the first book of Chronicles, and the 13th chapter. 1 Chronicles, and chapter 13. Now, very often, in order to understand what God has to say to us through the pages of the Old Testament, we need to do quite a bit of research, quite a bit of donkey work, and it isn't always initially obvious what God is getting at, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the pages of the Old Testament, and unfamiliar with the way in which the Holy Spirit unfolds spiritual truth.

And, if you are unfamiliar a bit with the Old Testament Scriptures, then just keep listening, and although at first you may be a little bit confused, I'm quite accustomed to that. Just come again, and I'll confuse you more.

But then, as you begin to accumulate facts, as you begin to sort of take a good long look, and see it panoramically laid out before you, it'll suddenly perk, it'll suddenly click. And, I believe that the Old Testament will become as exciting to you as it may already be as it is to me.

In the 13th chapter, 1 Chronicles, and the first verse, David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader, and David said unto all the congregation of Israel, if it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests, and to the Levites which are in their cities, and their suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us, and let us bring again the ark of our God to you.

For we inquired not at it in the days of Saul, and all the congregation said that they would do so. For the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So, David gathered all Israel together from Shihor of Egypt, even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kerjah Jerusalem.

Now, that's the introduction to our studies for these evening services. David summons all the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and the leaders, all the congregation of the people, with the priests and the Levites, and he puts forth a proposition.

He says, let us bring again the ark of our God to you, and all the congregation said we'll do it. For the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So, the theme is going to be how to get the ark back to where it belongs.

Now, of course, there wouldn't be any particular purpose in doing that if there weren't some spiritual significance, one in the ark, and two in where it ought to be. And I trust that we shall discover the significance as we explore it again.

Quite obviously, we shan't cover the whole progressive enterprise in this one evening. We'll just get as far as we can each night, and pick up the thread on the succeeding session. Getting the ark back to where it belongs, in other words, into its right context.

We'll need to discover what the ark was all about, what the ark contained, and where the ark ought to have been, and why. We've also got to discover why it wasn't where it ought to have been. Why was it necessary to get it back?

Israel’s Spiritual Decline Under Eli

What had happened to it? Well, let's have a look and find out. And, in order to discover that, you need now to go back a few pages to the first book of Samuel. The first book of Samuel. And, here we have recorded for us certain events that took place during the latter days of a pathetic old man by the name of Eli, one of the last of the judges and the priests, before the new era was introduced, with the establishment, contrary to God's will and purpose, of a monarchy in Israel.

For Saul became the first king of Israel because they wanted to be like their neighbors. Now, this was quite contrary to God's purpose for them, for Israel's king was God himself. But, like so many today, they didn't like to be different.

They were slaves to conformity, and so they said, let's have a king like everybody else. And, ultimately, God granted them their request to the considerable impoverishment of their national life. But, before that took place, and Saul became king, there was this man called Eli, and it was at a time of deep spiritual depression.

The whole spiritual life of the land was in a state of pathetic decline. That's why, in many ways, this particular story is very relevant to your day and mine, in our generation, because, without a shadow of a doubt, worldwide the Church of Jesus Christ, in spite of all its real estate, and its hierarchies, and its organizational institutions, is in a state of pathetic decline.

For one thing, when the Church ceases to be a brutal, dynamic force, bursting with the light of God Himself, when the Church has become institutionalized, everything has become respected, you'll always discover that the Church copies the world.

In a state of spiritual decline, the Church always hates the world. It's only in times of great spiritual awakening that the world starts copying the Church, and we're in such a state of spiritual decline now, where every kind of device is adopted by the Church, which is characteristic of the world, in order to capture the world's attention.

And that's always a very, very, very bad thing, and we'll see that this also was characteristic of this particular day and generation, which we shall be discussing together as recorded here in these pages.

In the third chapter of the first book of Samuel, it says that the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. Now, don't misunderstand what's being said there.

It doesn't mean to say that they had a very high regard for the Bible, and they treasured it greatly. It doesn't mean that at all. You might imagine that it means that, you know, the word of the Lord was precious.

No, it simply means that the word of the Lord was so seldom heard that it was a rarity. That's what it means. It was a rarity. To hear the word of God expounded was a very infrequent occasion. The word of the Lord was precious.

The Bible, by and large, was a thoroughly neglected book. There was religion, but there was almost no revelation. The word of the Lord was precious in those days, and there was no open vision. And Samuel was brought up in this particular context.

He was only a youngster. I suppose he might have been about 12 years of age, perhaps, at this particular time, and he was quite unconverted. It says in the seventh verse of this particular chapter, now Samuel did not yet know the law.

Neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. In spite of the fact that he ministered to Eli, that he helped him in the service of the temple, he wasn't converted. And it would appear that Eli couldn't have cared less, whether he was or whether he wasn't.

Because, you see, the situation spiritually was in such a state of decline and bankruptcy that, so long as everybody went through the motions, nobody really cared whether there was any vital relationship between the individual and God in service.

The whole thing has been rigidified. The whole thing has been reduced to a process, to a procedure, to a religious externalistic practice. That's all. There was no spiritual content, whatever. But, it came to part at the time when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see an air the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord.

Air the lamp of God went out. Now, in point of fact, the lamp of God should never have gone out. But, you see, total obedience to God had been set aside, now, simply for token obedience to God. And so, it had become the practice simply to light the lamp in the temple for so many hours a day, then stuff it out.

Saved expense. You didn't need so much oil. And this is another symptom, you see, of spiritual decline when reality is reduced to ritual. Now, there is a place for ritual if it reminds you of reality.

After all, the sacrament of baptism, if you like, is a ritual. But, it's designed to remind us of the reality that a true believer has been buried with Christ, and raised with him too. Of course, the moment the ritual takes the place of the reality, and has no real spiritual content, then it becomes just a piece of pagan idolatry.

The Lord's Supper, the breaking of the bread, what we call the communion service, is a ritual. The Lord Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. Of course, it's a ritual. But, it's a ritual that is designed always to bring us to the reality, the glorious fact that the Lord Jesus once laid down his life a ransom for men, and that his precious blood was shed upon the cross, that we, through his precious blood, might have boldness of access into the into the holiest of all.

But, the moment the breaking of the bread, the communion service, the Lord's Supper, simply becomes a ritualistic device that takes the place of the reality of a living, saving faith in the crucified, now risen, all-triumphant and soon-coming Lord, of course, it just becomes the object of our idolatry.

And, you see, where ritual takes the place of reality, you will either despise the ritual or deify it. And that, by and large, is what's happened in the world today. Religious processes have become so rigidified that the vast bulk of people aren't the slightest interested.

And so, they pass it by on the other side of the road, because they've got things so much more interesting, so much more attractive, and so much more fascinating. But, those who are religiously inclined, you see, if there's no reality beyond the ritual, then they will fight for their ritual, because if you take away their ritual, they've neither ritual nor reality.

So, from then on, they detain the system, because they don't know God. And, this is what has happened in the days of this pathetic old man. In the 27th chapter of the book of Exodus, you'll have to keep the place open there.

And, the 20th verse, God's instructions were very clear. Exodus 27, verse 20, Thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure oil, olive, beaten for the life, to cause the lamp to burn always.

It was a lamp that was never to go out. In the 24th chapter of the book of Leviticus, Leviticus 24, the Lord spake unto Moses, verse 1, saying, Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil, olive, beaten for the life, to cause the lamp to burn continually.

Token Obedience Versus Total Obedience

But, when your own personal relationship to God, and your obedience to his command, has ceased to be a matter of any real importance, then token obedience will take the place of total obedience. How would you characterize your personal relationship to the Lord Jesus, tonight?

How would you characterize your practice of what you may describe as the Christian faith? Token, or total? If we really had courage enough to sit down and discover just how far we have rigidified our own religious practice, we'd be horrified.

That's why we don't take time enough to sit down and do it. You see, the church has been reduced to a building. Isn't that right? When you give somebody instructions and say, you go down the road and you'll see a church on the right.

Pass the church and take the second on the left until you come to another church on the left. What a crazy idea! Is that a church? Is a church made of bricks and mortar? No, the Bible tells us very plainly that those who claim redemption through the blood of the Lord Jesus, and are indwelt by his Holy Spirit, are thereby baptized as individual members, in particular, of the body corporate of which he is the head, and his presence through the Holy Spirit is the life content, so that every boy, girl, man, or woman who is genuinely converted becomes a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.

So, the Church of Jesus Christ is not a building, it's not an institution, the Church of Jesus Christ is a fellowship of men and women, boys and girls, whose flesh and blood is that which today makes incarnate the living Son of God.

That's the church. How can you go to church? You can't go to church. You are the church. There are times, of course, when the church comes together to worship, and it is right, and proper, and convenient to have such a place as this.

I'm glad there's a building like this where we, as members of the church, can come and study God's Word, and worship it, and pray, but this isn't the church. This is just a piece of real estate. We're the church.

That means the moment you're genuinely born again, you're never out of church. But, you see, we have reduced it to token acknowledgement of the fact that there is a church, and we say we go to church on Sundays.

That means one hour, or an hour and a quarter, or if you're on all-age Sunday school, perhaps two and a half hours, and you go into a building, and you go to church. Token. Of course, if you want to spend the rest of Sunday fishing, you persuade the pastor to have an early morning service, nine.

That gets you away quicker, and you've already been to church, you see. Token. Anything but token. And, if it isn't raining too hard on Wednesday prayer meetings, then, of course, you come for another hour, token, attendance at church.

And, long since, of course, prayer meeting has ceased to be a prayer meeting, hasn't it? People don't really come to prayer meeting on Wednesday to pray. Only last week, I was talking to a bunch of kids, and they said, on Wednesday night, we used to have about 10 people who prayed, but now the pastor just named somebody, and he just prays for everybody.

So, I had dinner with a pastor of a church, a large church. He had about 3 ,000 on his Sunday morning service, and I said, supposing you were to get up next Sunday, and with all the enthusiasm, with all the urgency, all the seriousness that you could muster, you were to say to your people, the members of your congregation, there will be a meeting on Tuesday night of this church congregation, which is absolutely vital to its continuance, and to its spiritual well-being, and to its proper function.

And, as your pastor, I plead with you, with all the urgency, and all the seriousness that I can possibly muster, that every single one of you be there. It is absolutely imperative to the future of this church community.

I said, when you've done that, how many would you expect out of your 3 ,000? He said, two or three hundred. And, I know he's right, because, you see, for the last 37 years, I've been traveling from one church to another, of every denomination, all parts of the world, and the five continents of the earth.

And, I know, quite frankly, I know that when I preach to a congregation on Sunday, I can say goodbye to 90 percent of them, if I'm going to preach every night for the following week. Because, on Sunday, they're there at a token attendance.

All they're doing is tipping their cap to God, and saying, nice to see you, see you next week. Right? Now, has that anything to do with Bible Christianity? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. It has an awful lot to do with the kind of practice of religion that was being perpetrated by this pathetic old man, Eli.

But, you see, long since there had ceased to be any real spiritual content to the performance in which they were all engaged, his sons were in the ministry. Wicked men. Dishonest. Heed. Immoral. And yet, Eli, who was responsible for their ordination, tolerated their sin and their apostasy on the grounds of family experience.

He wanted his sons in the ministry. Now, the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, verse 12 of chapter 2. They knew not the law, and Eli knew perfectly well they didn't know the law. But, he allowed them to minister.

And, in times of great spiritual depression, you see, as to whether or not a man has a personal relationship to the Lord Jesus, as to whether he's genuinely converted, as to whether he's been cleansed in the shed blood of Christ, as to whether he's really regenerate, as to whether really the life of God has been imparted to his redeemed humanity so that he can live day by day in the unction and power of God the Holy Spirit, whether or not he really believes the Bible, whether or not he's really going to proclaim its message with an authority that derives from an unshatterable conviction that it's that that's the law, is today a matter of total indifference.

So long as we can keep the institution going. Now, this was the situation at this particular time. And, ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, Samuel was laid down to sleep.

God Calls Samuel Amid Apostasy

And the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel said, here I am, and ran to Eli. You see, God spoke, but he answered Eli. Why? Well, very simple. You see, nobody in the temple ever expected to hear anything but the voice of man.

And the preacher, quite frankly, never expected anybody to hear the voice of God. So, Samuel, brought up in this apostate condition, hearing the voice of God, quite naturally thought it was the voice of man.

He'd never been accustomed to hearing God speak. So, when God spoke to him, he jumped up, he ran to Eli and said, here I am, you called me. And Eli said, I didn't call you, lie down, and don't eat cheese so late at night.

So, he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, here I am, you did call me. And Eli said, I called you not, my son, lie down again, don't bother.

Little wonder he never knew the Lord. Do your Sunday school teachers, does it really bother you whether your kids know the Lord, or the men and the women to whom you minister? If you're a Sunday school teacher, how long does it take you to prepare your lesson?

Or, quite frankly, have you learned that because the material is handed down to you from above, all you've got to be able to do, quite frankly, is to be able to read English reasonably well. And you can scan it over during your breakfast, with your lesson in one hand and a piece of bacon in the other, toast.

Now, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him, and the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and he went to Eli and he said, here I am, you did call me.

And at last this pathetic old man perceived, wonder of all wonders, that the Lord had called the child. What an extraordinary thing he thought. God has spoken. Must be quite a surprise, mustn't it? Under these lamentable conditions.

But he had long since come to terms with a godless society, and he had long since, even in his own family circle, learned to live with sin. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, go and lie down and it shall be if he calls you that you will say, speak Lord thy servant here.

So Samuel went and lay down his place and the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, speak for thy servant here. And, of course, this is an amazing thing.

No matter how apostate may be the condition in which you and I live, no matter how bankrupt may be the institutionalized church to which we belong, as it was in the days of the Lord Jesus where Judaism was simply an apostate, dead, ritualistic form of Christianity, where they preached the Messiah and they preached the Lord, but never knew him when he came, but crucified him.

In spite of all that, no matter how depressing may seem the environment, spiritually, in which you find yourself, again and again and again, God will speak, and a boy here and a girl there, man somewhere else, will come alive.

It's happened all down the centuries. Quite incredible. Because, you see, man is never indispensable to God, but God is always indispensable to man. It simply means that it is, as in the case of Judaism, an apostate form of Christianity.

Those to whom had been entrusted the very oracles of God, if it becomes totally apostate, then God bypasses it. That's all. God isn't limited, and if the Christian faith is rigidified into some institutionalized form in such a way that God no longer has a place in it, he'll move right out of it.

That's what happened at the time of Martin Luther and the great reformation that swept the world. God simply walked out of the existence, then, institutionalized forms of religion, and the voice of God was heard again, clear and loud.

Hannah’s Prayer and Samuel’s Calling

No credit to Eli. Eli was so insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit when Anna, the mother of Samuel, came because she had never borne a son. She poured out her soul to God. She was in bitterness of soul.

Chapter 1 and verse 10. Prayed to the Lord and wept sore, and vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.

There shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli mocked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.

Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken, and Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from her. So insensitive that she thought a woman crying out from the bitterness of her soul to a living God.

There's nothing more nor less than a drunken star. Hannah answered and said, No more, Lord. I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord.

Wherefore it came to pass, verse 20, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and she called his name Sam, saying, Behold, I have asked him of the Lord. And in the discharge of her vow, she brought him to the house of God.

For this child I prayed, she said, verse 27, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also have I lent unto the Lord. As long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And God answered her prayer, and Samuel came to know the Lord.

Samuel grew, we're told, in verse 19 of chapter 3, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. So, you see, side by side with the appalling apostasy, and the degradation of the priesthood, and the scarcity of the word of God, and the indifference of those upon whom should have rested the spiritual responsibility for minister life, God was laying his hand upon a young boy, and preparing him for his service.

Israel Trusts the Ark Instead of God

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel, chapter 4 and verse 1. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and they pitched beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines pitched in Apex. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel, and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines.

And they flew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were coming to the camp, the elders of Israel said, wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?

Let us set the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemy. Thrashed by their foes upon the field of battle, at a last resort, like so many, they turned to religion.

And they said, let's go and get the ark, let's get it, and bring it, and it will help us. And so they went to Shiloh, to the temple, and they took the ark out of the temple, so that it might save them.

So, the ark was wrenched out of its content, and their confidence was vested not in him, but in it. Now, we shall discover that the ark and its content represent the marvelous provision that God has made for you and for me in the person of the Lord Jesus.

The ark is symbolic of our salvation. In a sense, comprehended, and the contents of the ark are the doctrines of the Christian faith. Now, in their need, they took it, and they hoped it, detached from him, might help them.

Now, that's what you do when you cherish Christian doctrines, until they become no more than evangelical traditions, but totally destitute of spiritual content, because they've been severed from Christ.

You see, the moment you detach your Christianity from Christ, even though it is Bible believing evangelical Christianity, you've got nothing more nor less than a dead religion around your neck, because Christianity severed from Christ is bankrupt.

The moment you've got a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, which is God himself, you've got a legalistic straitjacket that may have taboos and do's and don'ts, but it's spiritually terror.

And the moment you've got a spirituality that is detached from the person of the Holy Spirit, you've got a nauseating fraud. Christianity without Christ, a dead religion, godliness without God, a legalistic straitjacket, and spirituality apart from the Holy Spirit, is just a nauseating fraud.

That's it. If you've got a theology, you see, which is less than a theocracy, then it won't be long before you're worshipping your theology, but you won't be worshipping God. When your dogma is less than deity, when your creed is less than Christ, when your religion is less than regeneration, then you've got it in the camp, and it will do as much for you today as it did for them then.

Wherefore, hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

If it were the Lord who had smitten them, it would have been far wiser to get back to the Lord than to try to get it to help us. So, the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubim and the two sons of Eli, those wicked, evil men, Hosni and Sinhath, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. You see, their knowledge of God had been reduced to a pagan superstition, and there is nothing so sacred in the Christian life that cannot be used by Satan as the object of your idolatry.

And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, what meaneth the noise of the great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is coming to the camp. And they said, woe unto us, for there hath not been such a thing here before. The enemies of Israel, in their ignorance, knew more than the people of God.

They knew enough to identify it with him. The people of God had detected it from him. Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smoke the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

Be strong, quit you like men, you Philistines, that you be not servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Quit you yourselves like men, and fight! This, for the Philistines, was a crisis. To them, it represented him.

It represented the one who had delivered them marvelously out of the hand of the Egyptians. It represented to them the one who had marvelously led them through the Red Sea. It represented to them the one who had marvelously led them into the land of Canaan, and chased their enemies from before their face.

But not to the children of Israel. All they had was it, and God refuses to honor it detached from him. And I don't care how sacred it may be, the thing that has become the object of your idolatry. It may even be your Bible, it may be soul winning, it may be missions, it may be your church, it may be your denomination.

Detached from Christ? It's bankrupt, and God will refuse to honor it because God has chosen only to honor his son, to whom he has given the name which is above every name. He has highly exalted him. That's only at the name of Jesus, every niche above, and every tongue can say that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And, if however unwittingly you have substituted your churchmanship, or whatever denomination it may be, for Christ, God will not honor it. If, no matter how unwittingly you have substituted your service to Jesus Christ, to Jesus Christ himself, God will not honor it.

He refuses to honor it when it has been detached from him, out of context. By and large, God isn't particularly interested nor impressed with our activities. He is very deeply concerned about our attitude.

It's not our religion that God is concerned about, but our relationship. What role does the Lord Jesus actually play in your life? Said the Pharisees one day to the Lord Jesus, when will the kingdom of God come?

And, they were thinking of it. He answered and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. It doesn't come without which show. It can't be defined in terms of a human organization, or an ecclesiastical hierarchy, or blocks of real estate.

You won't determine by the vestments that men may wear, nor the professions in which they may take part. The kingdom of God does not come with observation, neither shall they say, lo, there it is, or here it is.

Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. That is why you can never enter the kingdom of God without becoming part of it, because the kingdom of God is within you. And, if you have entered the kingdom by becoming part of it, then there is only one place for the king, and that is in his kingdom.

And, from that moment, there is only one role for the king to play, as the king in his kingdom, and that is to be king. Which means that your body, soul, spirit, your mind, your emotion, and will, the totality of your being as a man, every area of your personality is yielded to him without reserve.

Christ’s Sovereignty Over the Believer

You present your body a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable unto God. It's your reasonable service. You no longer ache the world in which you live. You are not conformed to this world. You are transformed by the renewing of your mind, by adopting an entirely new attitude that bows yourself out, and bows him in, and gives him total jurisdiction.

And, you allow the Holy Spirit to re-establish the sovereignty of Jesus Christ in every area of your being, so that you step out in the dawn of every new day as a living member of his body corporate, of which he is the head and member of the kingdom.

In which Jesus is king. Anything less than that, God repudiates. And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent. And there was a very great slaughter for their fellow Israel.

And the ark of God, it that God refused to honor, in the midst of his own people, detached from him, was taken, captured by the enemies of God, fell into the hands of the Philistines. And the two sons of Eli, Hosni and Phinehas, were slain.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he came lo, Eli sat upon his seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God.

And when the man came into the city, and told it all, the city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, what means the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.

Now Eli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see. And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the army. I fled today out of the army. And he said, what is there?

What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines. And there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hosni and Pinnahath, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

And this pathetic old man fell back, and died of a broken neck, just before he had time to die of a broken heart. He came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died.