Bible Commentaries
1 Samuel 7

Verses 2-5

Three Decisive Steps

March 8th, 1891 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892)

"And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord." 1 Samuel 7:2-5 .

Two enemies held Israel in subjection. The Philistines had fought against them, and defeated them, even though they sent to Shiloh, and brought the ark of the covenant, the symbol of Jehovah's presence, into their camp. The Lord was not with them, so they were smitten with a great slaughter. The crowning disaster of the day was "the ark of God was taken." The Philistines carried it away to Ashdod, and set it in the house of Dagon, their idol. You remember how God, jealous for his honor and glory, there worked mighty wonders, causing Dagon to fall, and inflicting punishment on every city whither the ark came, until at length the Philistines, wearied with their trials, sent the ark back to the people on whose behalf Jehovah had shown himself so strong. Twenty years the ark abode at Kirjath-jearim, and during all that time Israel was under the hand of the Philistines. But a worse enemy than the Philistines held sway over the land. Though the ark had returned, the people had gone away from their God, and had set up the abominable worship of Baal and Astarte, the idols of the Phoenicians and other heathen nations by whom they were surrounded. I will not stay to explain to you about these gods. Suffice it to say, that the Baalim were the male gods, and the Ashtaroth the female, and that the worship of these idols was attended with the greatest lewdness and filthiness; in fact, the holy things of Baal and Astarte we should call obscene and degrading. The people were thus in double bondage; the heavy yoke of the Philistines was upon them, because the heavier burden of a false worship crushed out the life of their hearts. It may very naturally be asked, "Where was Samuel all that time? "I know not what he was doing during those twenty years; but I have a suspicion, I may say, I have a firm persuasion, that he was going from place to place, preaching in quiet spots wherever he could gather an audience; warning the people of their sin, and stirring them up to seek Jehovah, thus endeavoring to infuse some spirituality into their national life. But "the time was long." He ploughed, and seemed to plough a rock. For twenty years the good man spoke. For twenty years he acted like a battering-ram upon a wall that did not seem to tremble beneath his strokes. For twenty years he went up and down, fleeing for his life from the Philistines, but venturing out, whenever he had an opportunity, to warn a household or a village group, or, perhaps, a township, that they could only be delivered from the Philistines by seeking God; that they had come into their present evil case by forsaking Jehovah; and that, unless they came back to the worship of the only true God, they would never have their liberties again. "The time was long," very long, for him to keep on speaking, warning a people who did not seem to care for his message. But constant dripping wears away stones; and at last the inert mass, against which he had battered, began to move, and there arose a general feeling of enquiry all over the country: "all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Then was Samuel's time to strike, while the iron was hot: he had spent twenty years in getting it hot, and he did not miss the opportunity when at last it came; but he pleaded with the people, and showed them plainly the only way in which they could expect help, namely, by putting away their false gods, and returning with prepared hearts to the service of Jehovah. That the continual prayers and efforts of Samuel were crowned with success, should encourage all those who, in days of unfaithfulness and apostasy, still lift up their voices for the truth. Keep pegging away, my brethren: though the people may seem to be indifferent to your message, or stiffen their necks against it; though in the service of the base idols they seem wholly to forget God, yet will the Lord arise in his own good time, and his cause shall triumph. Prepare a way for him, of whom it is written, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. "Now, I believe that my case, with regard to some to whom I am speaking, is something like that of Samuel. I have, at least, the same message to deliver. I hope to be able to make this plain by showing you, first, that these people were in a very hopeful condition; that, secondly, they were called upon to take very decided steps; and, thirdly, that they were helped to do so by faith. True, it was faith in Samuel; but you get much more help if you have faith in a greater than Samuel, who is here among us still, even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I. First, then, THESE PEOPLE WERE IN A VERY HOPEFUL CONDITION. "All the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." What does it mean? It means, first, that they were greatly oppressed. Their goods were taken from them. They were beaten. They saw their children slain. They were the slaves of the Philistines, and hence they began to say, "Why should we not return unto our God? When we were true to Jehovah, there were no Philistines to trouble us. They were put to rout when we served God. It was better with us then than now. Samson, when the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, slew a thousand of them with the jawbone of an ass. Oh, for a day of Samson back again! Oh, for a day of God back again! "Their oppressions made them think of God. Do I not address some whose many troubles are compelling them to think of God? All went well with you once, and then you were an atheist. Troubles are multiplying now, and atheism does not suit you. You have buried those you loved. Ah! the grass has not yet grown on that newly-formed grave, and your heart is aching after something, you scarcely know what. There were days with you, perhaps, in your youth, when you knelt at your mother's knee; and in your early manhood, when you went to the house of God, and seemed to be one of God's people. You sigh as you think of happier days; but all goes wrong with you now, and a voice seems to say to you, especially in the still of night, "Return, return, return." You have wandered, like a sheep, from the pasture to the desert, from the shepherd's care into danger from the wolf. May God grant that you may, in this way, begin to lament after the Lord! I think that, by the house of Israel lamenting after the Lord, is meant, next, that they began to be inwardly convinced that nobody could help them but the Lord. "Ah!" said one, "would God these Philistines were driven away!" "Ah!" said his companion, "nobody can do it but Jehovah." And then the first one answered, "Then, would that Jehovah were here! Oh, for his mighty hand, and his terrible power, to drive away our enemies!" "Israel lamented after the Lord." Samuel had taught them to some purpose, seeing that, when they saw their need, they did not look for help to him, but to his Master. Some teachers attract attention to themselves, and are like the moon; when it shines everybody says, "What a beautiful moon!" The true prophet of God shines like the sun, and people do not say, "What a beautiful sun!" but "How lovely is the landscape!" Let it be your ambition so to declare the Word of God, that people will not say, "What a splendid preacher!" but, "How glorious is his Christ"! "No man must come between the seeker and God, for the best of men are but men at their best. Not even the ordinances of religion can meet the need of the people, though they be God-appointed; they were meant to lead us to God, and not to be a substitute for him. When the Philistines triumphed, as we read in the fourth chapter, the elders of Israel said, "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." And lo! when it came, it did not save them. When people trust in the religious symbol instead of the spiritual power, they are idolaters in heart, and court disaster. But the house of Israel did not lament after the ark, they lamented after the Lord, without whose glory, shining between the cherubim, even the ark was void and valueless. Am I speaking to one who has come to this conviction "Nobody can help me but God. I am so down at the heel, so broken in spirit, I am brought into such a condition, that unless the heavens are rent, and the right hand of God appears, there is no rescue for me." I am right glad you are brought into that condition. There is much gained when you look away from all others, and from all else, to God. Say now, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." And if your soul still sighs, "Oh, that he would help me! Oh, that it were true that he did hear me, and would come to my rescue!" remember his word, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." In some such case were the people of Israel; and when it says that they "lamented after the Lord", it seems to me that, while they desired him, they were afraid that he would not deliver them. They prayed after a fashion, but there was a dash of doubt about it. So have I known many go up to their closet to pray, and they have said, "O God, if so vile a sinner can be forgiven, if there be such a thing as salvation for a backslider, if sins like mine can be washed away, oh, that I might be saved!" They have prayed with an "if" and a "peradventure" and a "may be", lamenting after the Lord with many a moan, and sigh, and cry of despair, and then just a little drop or two of hope. Lamenting after the Lord I do not quite know how to describe it, but I know the distressing condition very well; that state in which the soul feels it wants God, and would give anything to be saved; is willing to submit to him, and is anxious to be forgiven; but always is haunted with the dark thought "It is not for you. He will never stretch his arm of mercy so far as to reach you. You are outside the covenant. You are past hope." Still, even though this is a very dark state of mind to be in, it is a hopeful state of mind. It is much better than presumption, or carelessness. Moreover, these people had very little hope, but they had very much desire. "They lamented after the Lord." I suppose their lamentation after the Lord was in this fashion: "Oh, that God would be our God! but then he never will be. Oh, that he would deliver us from the Philistines! but then he never will." Their prayer was damp for want of faith; their tinder would not burn. They did not rejoice to believe in the Lord, but they "lamented" after him: they kept sorrowing and sighing, moaning and crying; wanting him, but never coming at him. I know that I address some now who have regularly attended the preaching of the gospel for years. You are not without a sense of sin; you are not without anxious desires; you are not without very anxious feelings at times. Sometimes you would give your eyes that you might know Christ; and you feel as if you could die willingly if you could but know that you were saved. But, still, you cannot believe it possible; and that doubt still hangs over you. But it is possible; it is more than possible; it is absolutely certain, that he that believeth in Christ hath everlasting life, and him that cometh to him he will in no wise cast out. He is ready to forgive. He delighteth in mercy. He overflows with compassion. "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee." Thy lamentations after the Lord may be sweetened with a good hope that, coming to him, he will accept thee. If you read the third verse, you will see that, all this while, they had not parted with their idols. They lamented after the Lord, but they did not get the Lord, because they wanted to have the Lord and to have their idols, too. There are men in the world who want to go to heaven; but they want to keep on the road to hell, and yet get to heaven. They would get to the north by travelling to the south. There are some who would go home to their Father; but they would like to take the swine, and the swine-troughs, and the husks with them. A pretty sight that prodigal would have been, would he not, driving the hogs, and carrying the hog-troughs on his back, to his father's house? Such a picture is not to be imagined. It never existed in fact, and never can. John Bunyan tells us that, when he was playing at the game of "cat" one Sunday, on Elstow Green, as he was going to strike the cat with his stick, he thought he heard a voice, crying, "Wilt thou keep thy sins, and go to hell; or wilt thou give up thy sins, and go to heaven?" That question, without an angel's voice, you may hear at this moment. I put it now to some of you who would like to keep your sins, and yet go to heaven. You lament after the Lord. You would be a saint; but then you want to be a sinner, too. You would be a child of God; but then you would not like to turn out of the devil's family. You would not like to be ridiculed by the world. No, you want the crown without the cross. You want the end without the way. You want heaven without holiness, and forgiveness without repentance; and this can never be. It is useless lamenting after the Lord, if it does not lead you to give up your idols. One thing, however, was meant by this lamenting after the Lord. It meant that they could never rest till God returned. Some of you have tried many ways to get rest. Some years ago you got harpooned at a meeting; and though, like a big whale, you have dragged out miles of line, and gone to the bottom of the sea of sin, the harpoon sticks in you still. I know what you have been doing to get rest. You have tried the world, and now there is nothing there that pleases you. You have tried sticking to business; but you are unsatisfied. You have made money; but you are a poorer man than you were when you began business; poorer, really, than when you had not a penny to bless yourself with. In fact, you have not a penny that does bless you; all your pennies seem curses as they come in. And then you have tried philosophy. Oh, you are a wonderfully wise man, especially when you have just read a book full of infidelity! Then you are wiser than two Solomons rolled into one; and yet you are a fool, and you know you are; for you cannot get any peace by that means. You try sometimes to talk big blasphemies, and that is because you are afraid; as boys will whistle when they go through the churchyard, and are afraid of ghosts. They whistle to keep their courage up; and some people talk very big things just to keep up their confidence, a confidence which they really do not possess; for they are dreadful cowards when they come to die. I wonder what you will try next. Will you try dissipation? Will you try drunkenness? Will you try the use of drugs? Well, well; if God means to save you, you will never rest till you are anchored in the port of Christ's atoning sacrifice. Until you come to God by Jesus Christ you shall never rest. You shall be weary of foot; you shall be weary of brain; you shall be sick at heart; you shall feel that life is not worth living; you shall feel darkness over all your brightness, and you shall taste bitterness in all your sweets. If God means to save you, he will make you lament after him. He has lamented after you: you cost your Savior many a tear. You cost your Savior nailed hands and feet. You cost your Savior bloody sweat. You cost him his death, and he will not have you trifle where he is so in earnest; and if you will not come without strong measures, he will make you come. You shall be like Noah's dove. The raven rested on the corpses; but the dove could not. For her there was no resting-place; she must drop into the water and drown; but her weary wing at last bears her back to the ark, and Noah opens the window, puts out his hand, takes her in his grasp, and pulls her in unto him into the ark. Then was she peaceful and quiet. She had found her Noah; she had found her rest. And it is to be so with some of you now. You may stand out against my Master; but he means to have you. I sometimes hear of persons getting very angry after a gospel sermon, and I say to myself, "I am not sorry for it." Sometimes when we are fishing, the fish gets the hook into his mouth. He pulls hard at the line: if he were dead, he would not; but he is a live fish, worth the getting; and though he runs away for a while, with the hook in his jaws, he cannot escape. His very wriggling and his anger show that he has got the hook, and the hook has got him. Have the landing-net ready; we shall land him by-and-by. Give him more line; let him spend his strength, and then we will land him, and he shall belong to Christ for ever. Some of you know well what all this means, so I need say no more upon this point. II. Let us notice, next, that THESE PEOPLE WERE CALLED UPON TO TAKE THREE VERY DECIDED STEPS. See how plainly and decidedly Samuel puts the matter: "If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only." The first thing that they were to do was to "put away the strange gods." They were to go home, and break the images of Baal, tear down the vile statues of Astarte, and smash them to pieces, whether they were private images, or public ones. They were to clear out the whole tribe of idols. Now, if we would come back to God, we must get rid of all our false confidences.

"The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be, Help me to tear it from thy throne And worship only thee."

Every man seems to have a different idol. One has pride: he is so wonderfully good, so self-righteous; he has never done anything wrong. He is quite as good as a Christian, and rather better. An excellent character he gives himself; he could not have a better. If it were not for the name at the bottom, which is his own, he could get any situation with such a character as he has. But then, you see, he has given it to himself. You will have to give up that nonsense, for you have not a good character after all; and when you stand in the light of God, you will see yourself to be defiled from head to foot. Another man's god is his self-confidence. Hear him talk. He understands everything; he does not need to be taught anything; and if there is anything in the Bible that he does not understand, why then he does not believe it. He knows better than God Almighty and the Holy Spirit. He can judge of the Scriptures, and tell you what they ought to be; and he could have written a better book himself. So he says, sometimes, in his talk; or so he thinks. Ah, poor soul! you will have to break that image of pride; or it will be your ruin. Self-confidence, in all its shapes and shades, must be hurled down, if God is to be set up in the heart. Alas! there are some that have the images of Baal and Ashtaroth in the form of lust. Ah, you cannot keep your sin and go to heaven! Unchastity, fornication, adultery, uncleanness of body these must be given up. God is ready to forgive the harlot and the fornicator; but they must quit their sins, once for all, and for ever. You cannot lie in the sty, and yet go home to your Father. This abominable thing must be totally given up, and never thought of again, if you would be forgiven and saved. Others, who are more respectable, have the god of covetousness. To make money, to save money, to grab, to grasp; for this they will grind the workman in his wages; for this they will cheat in the quantity or the quality of their goods. All sorts of tricks in trade will be performed that they may get rich. Now, covetousness is idolatry. If you worship a god of gold, you will perish as much as if you worshipped a god of mud. Oh, that we might have this god driven out of us, and have a living, generous spirit implanted instead! How many do I know, too, who have for an idol the god of drink! Old Bacchus sits astride not only of the wine-cask, but of many a man's heart. The man when sober, and "all right", is what everybody calls "a good fellow"; but he must drink, and when once he is drunk, then he is by no means a good fellow; but foul and vile in language, and one knows not what he may do. Sir, you must quit strong drink if you would be saved. No drunkard has any inheritance in the kingdom of God, and drunkenness must be given up, and chambering, and wantonness, and gluttony, and all the sins of the flesh. These gods must be broken. "Put away the strange gods from among you." There are others I know whose strange god is malice. They cannot forgive. Perhaps even while sitting in the house of God they are saying, "Well, I can forgive everybody except my brother. He served me a very bad turn; I never can forgive him." Or, possibly, some are like the man who, when dying, told the priest that he forgave So-and-so for all the wrong he had done him: "that is," said he, "if I die; but if I get up again, I'll make him rue it." Are there not many whose forgiveness of injuries is of that kind? It is a mere sham. But there is no going to heaven unless, frankly and unreservedly, you can forgive others their offenses. Why, you cannot even pray the Lord's Prayer unless you do so. "Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." You cannot get through that prayer, much less get through the narrow gate, so long as malice is in your heart. But I must not stay to enlarge here. Every man must look out his own idol, whatever it may be. And now let me most solemnly put it to each one of you: "If thou wilt return unto the Lord with all thy heart, then put away the strange gods that have ruled over you, and turn unto the Lord." That is the first decided step. Are you saying, "Well, I will put away these evil things; I will give up these sins"? I am glad you have come to that; but when? Can you put them away now, just now, think you? "I was thinking," says one, "I have an engagement to-morrow that will be rather bad." Cannot you put the thing away to-night?" Well, I should like to have one indulgence of the flesh." Ah, sir, you will never put these sins away till you go and do it straight away! That prodigal son got back to his father because he went off directly. He ran away. I do not know upon what terms his master had engaged him, whether it was by the quarter, or by the week; but this I know he no sooner came to his senses than off he started, and never stopped: he ran off instantly. You must run away from your old master without giving him any notice; for if you give him any warning, you will never get away at all. God help us to break the images here and now! Down with them, whatever they may be, and turn at once to the Lord! Now, notice the nest step of decision: "Put away the strange gods, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord." The mere outward reformation was not enough. They might have torn down every idol in the land, and have been no nearer God for that. See, in France to-day, how the people, who have for long bent the knee in superstition and idolatry, have, many of them, flung away their vain worship, only to sink into infidelity. What better are they, when they exalt the "Goddess of Reason" where before stood the altars of the Papacy, when the heart is untouched, and God is not in all their thoughts? Still, there are many in that land, as, I trust, there are many here, who are lamenting after God, and only await the preparation of the heart, which comes from him, to bow in allegiance before his throne. What, then, is the way to prepare the heart? The first thing is, confession of sin. The people said, "We have sinned against the Lord." Go and confess your sin unto God. The more particular you can be in that confession, the better. Go and acknowledge your iniquity with many sighs and tears, and with deep regret that you should have sinned as you have done. Lay every secret bare, and let the light of God explore every hidden corner. The surgeon who means to cure must first expose the wound, and probe it to the bottom; and ere we can be forgiven, we must make a clean breast of our guilt, calling a spade a spade, and not trying to excuse ourselves, or cover up the evil. Then resolve in your soul that you will quit these sins. No half measures will do: chronic diseases require thorough cures. You remember when Augustine, after a life of sin, heard what seemed to him a voice bidding him "Take, read," he went to his New Testament, and his eye lighted on the passage, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Then and there he determined to leave all his former lusts, and, in the strength of Christ, to live a new life. It was the hour of his conversion; the axe was laid to the root of the tree, and the old profligate life was utterly renounced. The sinner became a saint, who led others in the way of holiness; and when he died, he left behind him a rich legacy of experience and instruction for the people of God. Whatever the sin is, it must go.

"Repentance is to leave The sins we loved before, And show that we in earnest grieve, By doing so no more."

Then there must be much prayer; for so it was with these people. Cry mightily unto God: "Lord, save me!" Cry again and again unto him, and make this to be your one cry; "Give me Christ, or else I die!" Nothing so prepares the heart for God as crying out after him. The water-brooks are sweeter to the hart that has panted after them; the blessing is twice valued that has been won by intercession. I have heard it said that a man who wins his wife too easily treats her too lightly; whether it is true, I cannot say; but I am sure that the richest blessings of God come to those who urge their suit again and again, and who will not be denied the grace they seek. May the Holy Ghost give you this preparation of heart by a full confession, a strong resolve, and a mighty prayer! Remember, too, that there must be trust, or else the heart is not rightly prepared. We must get beyond the stage of "lamenting", and begin the act of "consenting." Not only wish and pray for the blessing, but rely on the Lord to send it. He who smote Egypt in his firstborn, and with a strong hand and mighty arm brought their fathers out of the house of bondage, could easily deliver them. He who gave them at first the land for a possession, could still scatter their enemies. Why should they not expect him to work a work in their day? By the memory of what God did for your forefathers, I exhort you to trust in my Savior. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old." Therefore, O thou great Jehovah, will we trust in thee in this our day! Then, break away from the world. These people of Israel went home, and smashed their idols, and then they gathered at Mizpeh, once more a separated people. It was like a declaration of war. Declare war at once with evil of every shape. Now, come, and enlist beneath the blood-stained banner of the cross, and say, "I am a follower of the Lamb, and I will not parley with iniquity. Let the Philistines come, if they will; I will not submit to them again. I will break loose from the world, God helping me." Perhaps you say, this is not the preparation of the heart, but the beginning of the battle. I know it; but any old soldier who has been in the wars will tell you that the best preparation for the strife is the first encounter with the enemy: after the first shot or two, the coward heart becomes brave, and the trembling nerves are strung for action. Many a timid soul is kept from the joy of God's salvation simply for the want of a bold separation from the world. A little moral courage is all that is lacking in the case of some of you. Come out boldly, and declare your desire and decision. Difficulties will vanish in the act. The first confession of Christ is the best possible preparation for the next one. This matter of heart-preparation is most important. It is God's work; and yet, as his Spirit is ever present to help our infirmities, it is also ours. You remember how Solomon, in the Proverbs, says to his son: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." If the heart be divided, the life can never be true. You will notice how Samuel put before the people the necessity of being thorough in their decision: "Return unto the Lord with all your hearts," was his clarion call. If we expect God to be wholly for us, we must be wholly for him, and keep back nothing from his control. The Thessalonians "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God," and in like manner this preparation of heart, on the part of Israel, came between the two acts of turning from idols, and serving God, and was the spring of both. That is the next step, the service of God: "Serve him only," said Samuel. "Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only." It is not enough to give up serving evil; you must come and serve the Lord. That is to say, from this time forth your great aim must be to glorify God. If you would be saved, you must give up every object in life, as a guiding star to you, except serving God. Whatever he bids you do, you are to do. His will must be your law. Christ will save you, but he will have you take upon you his yoke, and wear it; and as he is meek and lowly in heart, he would have you learn to be so, too; and then you shall find rest unto your soul. This is Christ's way; that where he comes to save, he comes to sanctify, and make us obey his will, and live to his praise. His smile is reward great enough for the poor service we can render him; his "Well done" at last will be heaven to the heart that loves him. Oh, that many here would say, "Yes, I wish to serve the Lord, and serve the Lord only. Too long have I drawn near to him with my lip, while my heart was far from him. 'O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.'" III. Now, I think that I hear one say, "But these three steps are pretty stiff ones: give up the idols, prepare the heart, serve the Lord only." Yes, they are; and I do not believe that these people could ever have taken these three steps if it had not been for my third point, namely, that THEY WERE HELPED TO DO ALL THIS BY HAVING FAITH. It was faith in Samuel, as we have already noticed. You can be much more helped, yea, graciously enabled, if you have faith in Christ. They believed Samuel's word. He had spoken to them, and they said to one another, "Samuel says that God will deliver us from the Philistines if we trust him. Samuel speaks the truth." Well, now, God has sent a greater than Samuel his Only-begotten Son; and he says to you that, "Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." You need have no doubt about it; the word he has spoken shall never be broken. He means what he promises and not one jot or tittle of his word shall pass away till all be fulfilled. Believe what Christ says, that there is salvation for everyone who puts his trust in him. Believe that, and take hope; and, getting that hope, be bold to strike the decisive blow to-night, and give up the idols, and turn to God. These people believed chiefly in Samuel's prayers. He was a mighty man in prayer; and when the Philistines came, the children of Israel cried to him, saying, "Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us." How much greater faith should we put in the Lord Jesus, who died, and rose again, and ever lives to plead for us! "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Sinners, Christ is praying for you. If you trust him, his prayers will help you to break the fetters of sin.

"The Lion of Judah shall break every chain, And give us the victory again and again."

The people had faith in Samuel's sacrifice; for Samuel took a lamb, and burnt it whole upon the altar; and our glorious Christ has made himself the Lamb of God, and he has been wholly consumed as an offering unto God. Trust in his word. Trust in his prayers. Trust in his sacrifice. Believe that the precious blood can make you white. Believe that there is virtue enough in the death of Christ to make atonement for all the sin that is confessed and laid before him. If thou believest, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son has cleansed thee. If thou wilt trust him, thy sin is put away. This is the very errand on which he came, "To put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hear what the Lord hath said by the prophet: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." Believe this, and, believing it, thou shalt be helped to break the idols, helped to prepare the heart, helped to come and serve the Lord only. Let the prayer go up from your heart to him who poured out his soul on Calvary, but who is now alive, and attentive to the voice of our cry: "O Lord, I trust in thy sacrifice, I rely on thy blood, save me for thy name's sake, and cleanse me from my sin."

"Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole, I want thee for ever to live in my soul; Break down every idol, cast out every foe Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

Israel also accepted Samuel's rule: "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places." You see, salvation means being delivered from the power of sin. Salvation means being made a new man an honest man, a holy man, a gracious man; it means that Christ, who saves the soul, begins to govern the life; and this salvation is to be gained through faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord help you to believe in God incarnate, in God making sacrifice for sin, in Jesus dead, buried, risen, ascended, sitting at the right hand of God, and soon to come in glory! Let him enter your life, and dwelling in your heart, judge your every action, and rule over your entire life. I trust that none of you will say, "We will keep our idols." Ah, if you do so, you will not keep them long! If your idols are not taken away from you, you will be taken away from your idols. What will some of you do in the next world, when there is no gold to hoard, and no revelry in which to indulge, when you will have no occupation but to gnash your teeth upon yourself, because you committed everlasting suicide, and refused and rejected Christ for a few days' pleasure, or a few years' gain? Will any of you be mad enough to let eternity go, and let heaven go, and let God go for the paltry lusts of the flesh, for the fleeting gains of the hour? As I shall confront you at the bar of God, I charge you, seek him! Put away your idols, prepare your hearts, trust in Jesus, and serve the Lord only. God grant that it may be so, for his name's sake! Amen.

Verse 12

Ebenezer!

March 15th, 1863 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892)

"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." 1 Samuel 7:12 .

It is certainly a very delightful thing to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints. How profitable an occupation to observe God's goodness in delivering David out of the jaw of the hon and the paw of the bear; his mercy in passing by the transgression, iniquity, and sin of Manasseh; his faithfulness in keeping the covenant made with Abraham; or his interposition on the behalf of the dying Hezekiah. But, beloved, would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of his goodness and of his truth, as much a proof of his faithfulness and veracity as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? I think we do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that he wrought all his mighty acts in days of yore, and showed himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare his arm for the saints that are now upon the earth. Let us review, I say, our own diaries. Surely in these modern pages we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had no deliverances? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the Divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you not been saved in six troubles? yea, in seven hath not Jehovah helped you? Have you had no manifestations? The God that spoke to Abraham at Mamre, hath he never spoken to you? The angel that wrestled with Jacob at Peniel, hath he never wrestled with you? He that stood in the fiery furnace with the three holy children, hath he never trodden the coals at your side? O beloved, he has manifested himself unto us as he doth not unto the world. Forget not these manifestations; fail not to rejoice in them. Have you had no choice favors? The God that gave Solomon the desire of his heart, hath he never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty, of whom David sang, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's," hath he never satiated you with fatness? Have you never been made to he down in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters? Surely, beloved, the goodness of God of old has been repeated unto us. The manifestations of his grace to those gone to glory has been renewed to us, and delivering mercies as experienced by them are not unknown even to us, upon whom the ends of the world are come. I beg you, therefore, dear friends, for a little time this morning, to fix your thoughts upon your God in connection with yourselves; and, while we think of Samuel piling the stones and saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us," let us lay the emphasis upon the last word and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped US," and if you can put it in the singular, and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped ME," so much the better. Again, it is a very delightful exercise to remember the various ways in which the grateful saints recorded their thankfulness. Who can look without pleasure upon the altar which Noah reared after his preservation from the universal deluge? Have not our eyes often sparkled as we have thought of Abraham building the altar and calling it "Jehovah-jireh, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen?" Have we not read with intense satisfaction, of Jacob setting up the stone which had been his pillow, and pouring oil upon it, and calling upon the name of the Lord, naming the place Bethel, though the name thereof was Luz at the first? Who has failed to rejoice in the martial music of Miriam's timbrel, and the glorious notes of Moses' song at the Red Sea? And have we not paused and looked at the twelve stones set up in the midst of Jordan by good old Joshua when Jordan was driven back, that the hosts of Israel might go through dryshod? Surely, brethren, we have rejoiced in this stone which Samuel set up and called Ebenezer? And, in looking upon all the various ways in which the saints of God have recorded his lovingkindness of old, we have felt a satisfaction in beholding the perpetuity of God's glory, since one generation showeth forth to another all his mighty acts. Oh, would it not be quite as pleasant, and more profitable for us to record the mighty acts of the Lord as we have seen them? Should not we set up the altar unto his name, or weave his mercies into a song? Should we not take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise, and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus? Ought not our souls to give forth musics as sweet and exhilarating as ever came from David's harp? Ought not the feet of our gratitude to trip as lightly as Miriam's when she led the daughters of Israel? Have we not some means of praising God? Are there no methods by which we may set forth the gratitude we feel within? I trust we can make an offering unto our Lord. We can entertain our beloved with the spiced wine of our pomegranate, and the choice drops of our honeycomb. I hope that this day our souls may suggest unto themselves some way in which we may record the Lord's mighty deeds, and hand down to coming generations our testimony of his faithfulness and of his truth. In the spirit of these two observations then, looking at God's hand in our own life, and acknowledging that hand with some record of thankfulness, I, your minister, brought by divine grace to preach this morning the five hundredth of my printed sermons, consecutively published week by week, set up my stone of Ebenezer to God. I thank Him, thank Him humbly, but yet most joyfully for all the help and assistance given in studying and preaching the word to these mighty congregations by the voice, and afterwards to so many nations through the press. I set up my pillar in the form of this sermon. My motto this day shall be the same as Samuel's, "Hitherto, the Lord hath helped me." And as the stone of my praise is much too heavy for me to set it upright alone, I ask you, my comrades in the day of battle, my fellow-laborers in the vineyard of Christ, to join with me in expressing gratitude, while together we set up the stone of memorial and say, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." This morning there are three things I want to talk about three yet only one. This stone of help was suggestive as to the place of its erection, as to the occasion of its setting up, and as to the inscription which it bore. I. First, then, much valuable instruction, much excitement to devout thankfulness may be found in THE SPOT WHERE THE STONE OF EBENEZER WAS SET UP. Twenty years before on that field Israel was routed. Twenty years before, Hoplini and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were slain upon that ground, and the ark of the Lord was taken, and the Philistines triumphed. It was well that they should remember the defeat they had sustained, and that amidst the joyous victory they should recollect that the battle had been turned into a defeat unless the Lord had been upon their side. Brethren, let us remember our defeats. Have we forgotten when we went out in our own strength determined to subdue our corruptions, and found ourselves weak as water? Have you forgotten when you reposed in the ark of the Lord, when you rested in ceremonies and ordinances, and not in the rock of your salvation? Have you forgotten, I say, how you were discomfited before your sins and found no place of refuge from your adversaries? Have we forgotten our pitiful failures in preaching and prayer when we waited not upon God for strength? O those times of groaning, when none have believed our report because the Lord's arm was not revealed. I call to remembrance all my failures as I stand on this hill of joy. I doubt not, that on the field of Ebenezer there were the graves of thousands who had been slain in fight. Let the graves of our past proud notions, the graves of our self-confidence, the graves of our creature-strength and boasting, stir us up to praise the Lord who hath hitherto helped us. Perhaps on that spot there stood a trophy raised by the insulting Philistines. Oh, let the remembrance of the boasting of the adversary, when he said, "Aha! aha!" let that come into our ears to sweeten the shout of triumph while we glorify the God of Israel. Have you done anything for God? You would have done nothing without him. Look to your former defeats. Do you return victorious? You would have returned with your garments trailed in the mire, and your shield dishonored, if God had not been upon your side. Oh, ye that have proven your weakness, perhaps by some terrible fall, or in some sad disappointment, let the recollection of the spot where you were vanquished constrain you the more to praise the Lord who hath helped you even to this day to triumph over your adversaries. The field between Mizpeh and Shen would also refresh their memories concerning their sins, for it was sin that conquered them. Had not their hearts been captured by sin, their land had never been captured by Philistia. Had they not turned their backs upon their God, they would not have turned their backs in the day of conflict. Brethren, let us recollect our sins; they will serve as a black foil on which the mercy of God shall glisten the more brightly. Egypt's fertility is the more wonderful because of its nearness to the Lybian sands, which would cover it altogether if it were not for the Nile. That God should be so good is marvellous, but that he should be so good to you and to me, who are so rebelhous, is a miracle of miracles. I know not a word which can express the surprise and wonder our souls ought to feel at God's goodness to us. Our hearts playing the harlot; our lives far from perfect; our faith almost blown out; our unbelief often prevailing; our pride lifting up its accursed head; our patience a poor sickly plant, almost nipped by one night's frost; our courage little better than cowardice; our love lukewarmness; our ardor but as ice oh, my dear brethren, if we will but think any one of us what a mass of sin we are, if we will but reflect that we are after all, as one of the fathers writes, "walking dunghills," we should indeed be surprised that the sun of divine grace should continue so perpetually to shine upon us, and that the abundance of heaven's mercy should be revealed in us. Oh, Lord, when we recollect what we might have been, and what we really have been, we must say, "Glory be unto the gracious and merciful God who hitherto hath helped us." Again, that spot would remind them of their sorrows. What a mournful chapter in Israel's history is that which follows their defeat by the Philistines. Good old Eli, you remember, fell backward and broke his neck; and his daughter-in-law in the pangs of her travail cried, concerning her child, "Call him Ichabod, for the glory has departed, because the ark of the Lord is taken." Their harvests were snatched away by the robbers; their vintage was gleaned for them by alien hands. Israel had twenty years of deep and bitter sorrow. They might have said with David, "We went through fire and through water; men did ride over our heads." Well, friends, let the remembrance of our sorrows also inspire us with a profounder thankfulness while we erect the stone of Ebenezer. We have had our sorrows as a Church. Shall I remind you of our black and dark day? Never erased from our memory can be the time of our affliction and trial. Death came into our windows, and dismay into our hearts. Did not all men speak ill of us? Who would give us a good word? The Lord himself afflicted us, and broke us as in the day of his anger so it seemed to us, then. Ah, God thou knowest how great have been the results which flowed from that terrible calamity, but from our souls the memory never can be taken, not even in heaven itself. In the recollection of that night of confusion, and those long weeks of slander and abuse, let us roll a great stone before the Lord, and let us write thereon, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." Little I ween did the devil get by that master-stroke; small was the triumph which he earned by that piece of malice. Greater multitudes than ever flocked to listen to the word, and some here who otherwise might never have attended the preaching of the gospel, remain as living monuments of God's power to save. Of all evil things out of which good has arisen, we can always point to the Surrey Hall catastrophe as one of the greatest goods which ever befel this neighborhood, notwithstanding the sorrows which it brought. This one fact is but a sample of others; for it is the Lord's rule to bring good out of evil, and so to prove his wisdom and magnify his grace. O ye that have come from beds of languishing, ye that have been bowed down with doubt and fear, and ye that have been poverty-stricken, or slandered, or apparently deserted by your God, if this day the glory of God's grace resteth upon you, pile the stone, and anoint the pillar, and write thereon, "Ebenezer, hitherto the Lord hath helped us." While dwelling upon the pecuharity of the locality, we must remark, that, as it had been the spot of their defeat, their sin, their sorrow, so now before the victory, it was the place of their repentance. You see, beloved, they came together to repent, to confess their sins, to put away their false gods, to cast Ashtaroth from their houses and from their hearts. It was there that they saw God's hand and were led to say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." When you and I are most diligent in hunting sin, then God will be most vahant in routing our foes. You look to the work within and overcome sin, and God will look to the work without and overcome your troubles and your trials for you. Ah, dear friends, as we pile that stone thinking how God has helped us, let us shed tears of sorrow to think how ungrateful we have been. On earth penitence and praise must always sing together. Just as in some of our tunes there are two or three parts, we shall always need repentance to take the bass notes while we are here, while faith in praise can mount up to the very highest notes of the divine gamut of gratitude. Yes, with our joy for pardoned guilt we mourn that we pierced the Lord, and with our joy for strengthened graces and ripening experience, we must mourn over ingratitude and unbelief. Hitherto the Lord hath helped thee, and yet thou didst once say, "My God has forgotten me." Hitherto the Lord hath helped thee, and yet thou didst murmur and complain against him. Hitherto the Lord hath helped thee, and yet thou didst once deny him like Peter. Hitherto the Lord hath helped thee, and yet thine eye hath gone astray after vanity, and thy hand hath touched sin, and thy heart hath played the wanton. Let us repent, my brethren, for it is through our tears, that we shall best perceive the beauty of these grateful words, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." You must remember, too, that Ebenezer was the place of lamentation after the Lord. They came together to pray God to return to them. We shall surely see God when we long after him. How delightful it is to see a Church earnest after revivals, crying, pleading for God to come into her midst. When you know, brethren, that without God your ordinances are nothing, when you cannot rest satisfied with the dead, dry letter, but really want to have the power and the presence of God, then it will not be long before you have it. So while you and I express gratitude for the past, let us breathe another prayer to God for renewed grace. If you personally have lost the light of his face, pray this morning

"Return, O holy Dove! return, Sweet messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made thee mourn, And drove thee from my breast."

And if it be the entire Church, and in any measure our love has grown cold, and the converting and sanctifying spirit has departed, let us pray also the same prayer.

"Savior, visit thy plantation; Grant us, Lord, a gracious rain! All will come to desolation, Unless thou return again; Lord, revive us, All our help must come from thee!"

The place of revival should be the place of gracious thankfulness. On that day, too, Mizpeh was the place of renewed covenant, and its name signifies the watch-tower. These people, I say, came together to renew their covenant with God, and wait for him as upon a watch-tower. Whenever God's people look back upon the past they should renew their covenant with God. Put your hand into the hand of Christ anew, thou saint of the Most High, and give thyself to him again. Climb thy watch-tower and watch for the coming of thy Lord. See whether there be sin within thee, temptation without thee, duty neglected or lethargy creeping over thee. Come to Mizpeh, the watch-tower; come to Mizpeh the place of the renewal of the covenant, and then set up your stone and say, "Hitherto, the Lord hath helped us." It seems to me that the spot where Samuel said "Ebenezer," was exceedingly similar in many respects to the position occupied by us this day. I do not think the children of Israel could with heartier joy say "Ebenezer!" than we can. We have had many sins, a share of sorrows, and some defeats by reason of our own folly. I hope we have humbled ourselves before God, and lament after him, and desire to behold him, and to dwell very near him, and that our soul doth bless his name while we renew the covenant again this day, and while we come to the watch-tower and wait to hear what God the Lord will speak unto us. Come, then, in this great house which the Lord's favor has builded for us, let us sing together, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." II. We now change the subject to look at the OCCASION OF THE ERECTION OF THIS MEMORIAL. The tribes had assembled unarmed to worship. The Philistines, hearing of their gathering, suspected a revolt. A rising was not at that time contemplated, though no doubt there was lurking in the hearts of the people a hope that they would somehow or other be delivered. The Philistines being as a nation far inferior in numbers to the children of Israel, they had the natural suspiciousness of weak oppressors. If we must have tyrants let them be strong ones, for they are never so jealous or cruel as those little despots who are always afraid of rebelhon. Hearing that the people had come together, the Philistines determined to attack them; to attack an unarmed company, mark you, who had come together for worship. The people were alarmed; naturally they might be. Samuel, however, the prophet of God, was equal to the occasion. He bade them bring a lamb. I do not know that the lamb was offered according to the Levitical rites, yet prophets in all ages had a right to dispense with ordinary laws. This was to show that the legal dispensation was not permanent, that there was something higher than the Aaronic priesthood, so that Samuel and Elijah, men in whom God expressly dwelt, were mightier than the ordinary officiating priests of the sanctuary. He takes the lamb, puts it on the altar, offers it, and as it smokes to heaven he offers prayer. The voice of man is answered by the voice of God; a great thunder dismays the Philistines, and they are put to rout. We, I think, have been in similar circumstances. Hear the parallel. The victory obtained was by the lamb. As soon as the lamb was slaughtered, and the smoke went up to heaven, the blessing began to descend upon the Israelites, and the curse upon the foes. "They smote them" note the words they "smote them until they came under Betlicar," which, being interpreted, signifies "the house of the Lamb." At the offering of the lamb the Israelites began to fight the Philistines, and slew them even to the house of the lamb. Brethren, if we have done anything for Christ, if we have achieved any victories, if in this house any souls have been converted, any hearts sanctified, any drooping spirits comforted, bear witness that it has been all through the Lamb. When we have pictured Christ slaughtered, have described the agonies which he endured upon the cross, when we have tried to preach fully though feebly the great doctrine of his substitutionary sacrifice, have set him forth as the propitiation for sins, then it is that the victories have begun. And when we have preached Christ ascending up on high, leading captivity captive, and when we have glorified in the fact that he ever liveth to make intercession for us, and that he shall come to judge the quick and dead, if any good has been accomplished it has been through the Lamb the Lamb slain, or else the Lamb exalted. Hark you, dear friends, as we pile our Ebenezer this morning, we do it honoring him. "Unto the Lamb once slain be glory for ever and ever." You have overcome your foes, you have slaughtered your sins, you have mastered your troubles. How has it been? From the altar of that bleeding lamb, onward to the throne of him who is to reign for ever and ever, the whole road has been stained with the crimson blood of your enemies: you have overcome through the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb shall overcome thee. He that rides on the white horse goeth before us; his name is the Lamb. And all the saints shall follow him on the white horses, going forth conquering and to conquer. "Ebenezer; hitherto the Lord hath helped us." But the help has always been through the Lamb, the bleeding, the living, the reigning Lamb. As in this occurrence the sacrifice was exalted, so also was the power of prayer acknowledged. The Philistines were not routed except by prayer. Samuel prayed unto the Lord. They said, "Cease not to cry unto the Lord for us." Brethren, let us bear our witness this morning that, if aught of good has been accomplished here, it has been the result of prayer. Often have I solaced my heart by the recollection of the prayers offered in our former house of meeting at New Park-street. What supplications have I heard there; what groans of wrestling spirits; times we have known when the minister has not had the heart to say a word, because your prayers to God have melted him stopped his utterance, and he has been fain to pronounce a benediction and send you away, because the Spirit of God has been so present that it was hardly the time to speak to man, but only to speak to God. I do not think we always have the same spirit of prayer here, and yet in this I must and will rejoice I know not where the spirit of prayer is to be found more in exercise than in this place. I know you hold up my hands, you that are like Aaron and Hur upon the mountains. I know that you intercede with God for the conversion of this neighborhood, and the evangelization of this great city. Young and old, you do strive together that the kingdom may come, and the Lord's will may be done. But, oh, we must not forget as we look upon this vast Church two thousand and more members walking in the fear of God we must not forget that this increase came as the result of prayer, and that it is in prayer still that our strength must he. I charge you before the Most High, never depend upon my ministy. What am I? What is there in me? I speak, and when God speaks through me I speak with a power unknown to men in whom the Spirit dwells not; but if He leave me, I am not only as weak as other men, but less than they, for I have no wisdom of years, I have no human learning, I have taken no degree in the university, and wear no titles of learned honor. If God speak by me, he must have all the glory; if he saves souls by such a frail being, he must have all the glory. Give unto the Lord glory and strength; lay every particle of the honor at his feet. But do continue to pray, do plead with God for me that his power may still be seen, his arm still put mightily to his work. Prayer honored must be recollected when we set up the Ebenezer and say, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." Again, as there was prayer and sacrifice, you must remember that in answer to the sweet savor of the lamb and the sweet perfume of Samuel's intercession, Jehovah came forth to rout his foes. I read not that Israel shouted a war-cry. No, their shouts would not have been heard amid those great thunders. I find that they dashed to battle; but it was not their bow, their spear, their sword, that gained the viotory. Hearken, my brethren, the voice of God is heard! Crash crash! Where are you now, ye sons of Anak! The heavens shake, the earth rocks, the everlasting hills do bow, the birds of the air fly to the coverts of the forest to hide themselves, the timid goats upon the mountains seek the clefts of the rocks. Peal on peal the thunders roll till mountain answers mountain in loud uproar of affright. From crag to crag leaps the live lightning, and the Philistines are all but blinded by it, and stand aghast, and then take to their heels and fly. Quit yourselves like men, O Philistines, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews. Quit yourselves like men, but unless ye be gods ye must tremble now. Where are your bucklers and the bosses thereof? Where are your spears and the sheen thereof? Now let your swords flash from their scabbards; now send out your giants and their armor-bearers! Now let your Gohaths defy the Lord God of hosts! Aha! Aha! Ye become like women, ye quake! ye faint! See, see! they turn their backs and fly before the men of Israel, whom they counted but as slaves. They flee. The warrior fhes and the stout heart quails, and the mighty man fhes like a timid dove to his hiding-place. "Glory be unto the Lord God of Israel: his own right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory." Beloved, if aught of good has been accomplished, or if you and I have routed sin, how hath it been? Not by our strength, not by our power, but by the glorious voice of God. When the gospel is truly preached it is God thundering. It may sound as feebly as a child's voice when we tell of Jesus crucified, but it is God thundering, and I tell you, sirs, the thunders of God never so smote the heart of the Philistines as the gospel of Christ does the heart of convinced sinners. When we preach and God blesses it, it is God's lightnings, it is God's flashes of divine fire, the glittering of his spear; for never were Philistines so smitten with the blaze of lightning in their faces as sinners are when God's law and gospel flash into their dark eyes. But to God be the glory to God to God to God alone! Not a word for man, not a syllable for the son of man. "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, unto him be glory." This is the song of perfect saints above; shall it not be the song of imperfect ones below? "Not unto us not unto us," the seraphs cry as they veil their faces with their wings, and cast their crowns at Jehovah's feet. "Not unto us, not unto us," must we say while we exult in his power and magnify the God of our salvation. III. This was the occasion then. I need not tarry longer, but turn at once to THE INSCRIPTION UPON THE MEMORIAL, "Ebenezer, hitherto the Lord hath helped us." The inscription may be read in three ways. You must read first of all its central word, the word on which all the sense depends, where the fullness of it gathers. "Hitherto the LORD hath helped us." Note, beloved, that they did not stand still and refuse to use their weapons, but while God was thundering they were fighting, and while the lightnings were dashing in the foeman's eyes they were making them feel the potency of their steel. So that while we glorify God we are not to deny or to discard human agency. We must fight because God fighteth for us. We must strike, but the power to strike and the result of striking must all come from him. You see they did not say, "Hitherto our sword hath helped us, hitherto Samuel has encouraged us." No, no "hitherto the Lord has helped us." Now you must admit that everything truly great must be of the Lord. You cannot suppose a thing so great as the conversion of sinners, the revival of a Church can ever be man's work. You see the Thames when the tide is ebbing what a long reach of foul, putrid mud, but the tide returns. Poor unbeliever, you who thought the river would run out till it was all dry and the ships be left aground, see, the flood comes back again, joyfully filling up the stream once more. But you are quite certain that so large a river as the Thames is not to be flooded except by ocean's tides. So you cannot see great results and ascribe them to man. Where there is little worlk done men often take the credit themselves, but where there is great work done, they dare not. If Simon Peter had been angling over the side of his ship and had caught a fine fish, he might have said, "Well done fisherman!" But when the boat was full of fish, so that it began to sink, he could not think of himself then. No, down he goes with "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." The greatness of our work compels us to confess that it must be of God, it must be of the Lord alone. And, dear friends, it must be so if we consider the little with which we began. Jacob said as he came over Jordan, "With my staff I crossed this Jordan, but now am I become two bands." Surely his becoming two bands must be of God, for he had nothing but his staff. And do you not remember some few of you here present one morning when we crossed this Jordan with a staff? Were we a hundred when first I addressed you? What hosts of empty pews, what a miserable handful of hearers. With the staff we crossed that Jordan. But God has multiphed the people and multiphed the joy, till we have become not only two bands but many bands; and many this day are gathering to hear the gospel preached by the sons of this church, begotten of us, and sent forth by us to minister the word of life in many towns and villages throughout these three kingdoms. Glory be unto God, this cannot be man's work. What effort made by the unaided strength of man will equal this which has been accomplished by God. Let the name of the Lord, therefore, be inscribed upon the pillar of the memorial. I am always very jealous about this matter. If we do not as a Church and a congregation, if we do not as individuals, always give God the glory, it is utterly impossible that God should work by us. Many wonders I have seen, but I never saw yet a man who arrogated the honor of his work to himself, whom God did not leave sooner or later. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Behold this great Babylon that I have builded." Behold that poor lunatic whose hair has grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws that is Nebuchadnezzar. And that must be you, and that must be me, each in our own way, unless we are content always to give all the glory unto God. Surely, brethren, we shall be a stench in the nostrils of the Most High, an offense, even like carrion, before the Lord of Hosts, if we arrogate to ourselves any honor. What doth God send his saints for? That they may be demigods? Did God make men strong that they may exalt themselves into his throne? What, doth the King of kings crown you with mercies that you may pretend to lord it over him? What, doth he dignify you that you may usurp the prerogatives of his throne? No; you must come with all the favors and honors that God has put upon you, and creep to the foot of his throne and say, What am I, and what is my father's house that thou hast remembered me. "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." I said this text might be read three ways. We have read it once by laying stress upon the center word. Now it ought to be read looking backward. The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in that direction. Look back, look back. Twenty years thirty forty fifty sixty seventy eighty "hitherto!" say that each of you. Through poverty through wealth through sickness through health at home abroad on the land on the sea in honor in dishonor in perplexity in joy in trial in triumph in prayer in temptation hitherto. Put the whole together. I like sometimes to look down a long avenue of trees. It is very delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of leafy temple with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves. Cannot you look down the long aisles of your years, look at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear your joys? Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely, there must be many. And the bright sunshine and the blue sky are yonder; and if you turn round in the far distance, you may see heaven's brightness and a throne of gold. "Hitherto! hitherto!" Then the text may be read a third way, looking forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark and writes "hitherto," he looks back upon much that is past, but "hitherto" is not the end, there is yet a distance to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; more slanders, more comforts; more hons and bears to be fought, more tearings of the hon for God's Davids, more deep waters, more high mountains; more troops of devils, more hosts of angels yet. And then come sickness, old age, disease, death. Is it over now? No, no, no! We will raise one stone more when we get into the river, we will shout Ebenezer there: "hitherto the Lord hath helped us," for there is more to come. An awakening in his likeness, climbing of starry spheres, harps, songs, palms, white raiment, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. Yes, as sure as God has helped so far as to-day, he will help us to the close. "I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee; I have been with thee, and I will be with thee to the end." Courage, brethren, then; and as we pile the stones, saying, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us," let us just gird up the loins of our mind, and be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be revealed in us, for as it has been, so it shall be world without end. I want some oil to pour on this pillar I want some oil. Jacob poured oil upon it and called upon the name of the Lord. Where shall I get my oil. Grateful hearts, have ye any oil? Prayerful spirits, have ye any? Companions of Jesus, have ye any? Ye that commune with him day and night, have ye any? Pour it out, then. Break your alabaster boxes, oh ye Mary's. Pour out your prayers this morning with mine. Offer your thanksgivings with my grateful expressions of thanks. Come each of you, pour this oil upon the top of this Ebenezer to-day. I want some oil, I wonder whether I shall get it from yonder heart. Oh, says one, my heart is as a flinty rock. I read in scripture that the Lord brought oil out of the flinty rock. Oh, if there should be a soul led to believe in Christ this morning, if some heart would give itself up to Christ to-day! Why not so? why not? The Holy Ghost can melt flint and move mountains. Young man, how long are we to preach to you, how long to invite you, how long to pain you, how long to entreat you, to implore you? Shall this be the day that you will yield? Dost thou say, "I am nothing?" Then Christ is everything. Take him, trust him. I know not a better way of celebrating this day of Ebenezer and thanksgiving, than by some hearts this day accepting the marriage ring of Christ's love, and being affianced unto the Son of God for ever and ever. God grant it may be so. It shall be so if you pray for it, O true hearts. And unto God be glory for ever. Amen.