If you would join with me in the Scriptures, 1 Samuel, Chapter 5. 1 Samuel, Chapter 5. This has to do with the account of the loss of the ark of the covenant to the Philistines. I hope that we will be able to make clear the meaning and the importance for us. But let's hear in this story. There has been a time of decline in Israel spiritually at this point. Israel is not what it once was. There is a sense of even a loss of understanding of the will of God and of the knowledge of God among the people. There are neighbors who are serious enemies who seem to be getting the upper hand and having the victory, the Philistines. And so unfolds an account of the loss of the Ark of the Covenant. Hear the Word of God. After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the Ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, his head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold. Only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priest of Dagon nor others who enter Dagon's temple of Ashdod in its vicinity Let me read that verse 5 again. That is why to this day neither the priest of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod's step own the threshold. May God then add His blessing to the reading of His holy and precious Word of God. In my lifetime, I have seen religious changes. Within our culture, I have seen spiritual changes. They have been sources of great concern because when you sense that maybe much of the church in spiritual decline And when you see that often times churches were not what they used to be. You see a generation that is preoccupied with other things other than the things of God. That many of the cherubim don't even know the hymns of the faith that we once knew and were raised on. You become concerned when you see churches not even being able to agree on some of the fundamentals and the elementary things of the Gospel and of the faith. You scratch your head and say, what are we talking about this for? I thought the Westminster Fathers settled this one or the Scriptures settled that one a long time ago. You begin to be concerned when you realize that there's a spiritual challenge to the Christian faith in your culture And that challenge seems to be growing. I want to temper that sense in my own heart that much of the church in our own culture is declining and not even able these days to agree on some of the basic things. To say that I think we have every reason in Scripture to be encouraged But however, you need to realize that there comes times when you feel like that maybe the Philistines are winning. And they have the Ark of the Covenant. And you're concerned about the way things are going. Do any of you sense spiritually some of the same things in our day as to where we've been spiritually? But I read this passage and it brought to me a great encouragement and a wonderful, wonderful reminder. Much of the description of where the children of Israel at this time, I think is synonymous of where some of our culture is today spiritually. They were a people that had the advantages of the things of God. God had blessed them in so many ways, but they had turned aside from the things of God. They had come to a place in the time of their history where they had just forgotten the things of God. They stopped reading the Word of God, if you will. They stopped going to church. They started being preoccupied with other things. Matter of fact, things got so bad in one sense that the Philistines were right at their door and Israel said, well, we'd better raise up an army and we'd better protect ourselves. And what happens is they raise up an army, they go out to meet the Philistines. Certainly God's going to be with us and certainly that profession that God is going to be with us because where Israel was hollow, because it was a hollow confession and because they had already forgotten God. And so they went out to the battlefield and the Philistines whooped them bad. And they went running back to Jerusalem with their tail between their legs. And they said, well, what in the world happened? I mean, we're Israel. What happened? Somebody said, well, I've been reading this old dusty book. Get the dust off. I read this book and you know, God is with us and the Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God and all we've got to do this next time is take the Ark of the Covenant with us into battle and we'll win because that represents the presence of God. Did they read the whole Word of God? Did they know the whole Word? They had forgotten God. They didn't even know His Word anymore. The priests weren't even teaching and preaching the truth anymore, because if they had, they would have known what? The Lord God said, don't you dare take the Ark of the Covenant from its place. But they got this bright idea, interpreting religion in their own mind. Well, let's just take the Ark of the Covenant with us this time. So they raised another army and went out to meet the Philistines, and guess what? Not only did the Philistines whoop Him again, but God allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be taken. So that very thing that they had done in their disobedience, in their ignorance and in their spiritual forgetfulness, the attempt to do things their own way, God delivered the ark of the covenant into the hands of the enemy, the Philistines. Don't you feel like that sometimes in our culture? That the things of God and all the walking of the Lord and in the churches that we've been in and through the years, that oftentimes we're losing the battle to the enemy. You feel that. I mean, you know it's not true, but you feel that. That the challenges spiritually are greater today. I happen to believe that the spiritual challenges are not greater. I think that there probably have been times in the past where spiritually Christians have faced even greater challenges than you and I know against the forces of the world. But that's the nature of the thing, isn't it? Spiritually. It hasn't changed. It does with some intensity with which we experience spiritual opposition. But if you look back on history, have you ever read Fox's Book of Martyrs? I'm glad I wasn't there. Scary. It is very scary. The opposition to the faith through the years. But what do you do when the Philistines win? What do you do when you feel like they have the ark of the covenant captured, and when you feel like the church is in spiritual decline? Is that a description of this passage? What in the world do you do? It's not a very pretty picture, is it? No, you live during a time in which you Confess the faith, the Orthodox Christian faith. And I tell you the discouraging thing about it at times is that you not only have to defend the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of the word of God, not just before the world. But you have to defend it among that which is called the church. In our day and time now, you know, you know, That can get you. Because among the world you expect it. But where? In the church. You expect an understanding of the basic elementary things of the gospel and an agreement on the fundamental orthodox faith. Surely we would agree on those basic things. But not so today, is it? There are worlds of spiritual difference. I remember how one person came up to me and said to me, you know, I know that we're from different perspectives, but you know, we're all headed to the same place and fighting for the same thing. I said, I hope so. Because she had just stood up and given a speech for pro-choice furthering, extending abortions into the third trimester and allowing partial birth abortions. Ever seen a partial birth abortion? You don't want to. Let me just tell you briefly, they birthed the baby. In the back of the neck, they inject and destroy the baby's brain and then pull the rest of the baby out. Give birth to the baby. Destroy the baby from the brain stem. I don't know whether we have the same faith or not. I don't know whether we're going to the same place or not. You mean you make that one issue the cardinal issue? No, it's only representative. It illustrates the difference. Because this person called himself a Christian. He called himself a faithful member of an upstanding, well-known denomination. You stand with what's called a brother or sister in Christ and you say, I'm sorry, I don't agree. I don't see that in the Word of God. You see, I think there's a sense of the loss of the Word of God. There's a sense of the truth of God being the Word of God and what it is and a loss of sense of the gospel, what it means. Yes, that is before us. The Philistines are among us. And not only in the world, but they're among us. The gods that we are establishing today, do you know that many churches are in transformation spiritually? From being churches of the Gospel to being churches in which gods of men are being made. Because what is important now is not whether the Bible is the Word of God or the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true or pertinent and saving. But it's whether or not our agenda is being propagated and whether our views are being put forth. You know many of the other issues of the challenges of the gospel today. I probably don't have to espouse a lot of them in which you know of which the church is being challenged. Church has a tremendous responsibility today in this whole matter. And I was trying to think through as we look at it, where do we go from here and how are we encouraged? And what I want to say to you is that from this passage in these first five verses of 1 Samuel chapter 5, I find that in it is an encouragement. And that encouragement is from God Himself. So as you have this dim spiritual picture, You kind of look at the children of Israel and your heart kind of breaks that they have forgotten God and all the many wonderful things that the grace of God has afforded. And how do they approach their life in forgetting God? Well, they have to fill it with something, so they just do it according to their own understanding. It was a day in which each man did what was right in his own eyes. Very similar to our time. The Philistines must have rejoiced when they conquered the Ark. But listen, there's going to be a downside to this thing of the victory of the Philistines. And you as Christians need to hear the message today that where the presence of God is, be careful. It's kind of a funny picture about the gods that men make in relationship to the living God. Be careful when you claim victory over God and over His precepts and over His will. And be careful of gloating over taking the God of Christianity into the victory room of the enemy. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ and the presence of God can be a blessing, but it can also be what? To a people that know Him not, the presence of God can be a tremendous curse and warning. And so it is in this picture of The Philistines rejoicing, and I see much of the world rejoicing over Christianity. You people believe in those old archaic things. Well, we're going to change culture, we're going to change abortions, and we're going to change definitions of family and marriage. We're just going to change everything. Oh man, you guys just wait. We're going to institutionalize it. Our representatives can represent it. Let's institutionalize that which is wrong in the eyes of God. A day and time in which we live in which right is called wrong and wrong is called right. That's a perfect description of that day, perfect description of our day in which we live. But be careful, Christians, because the Philistines rejoice over their victories over Israel and they take the Ark of the Covenant and they decide to get the bright idea they're going to have a victory march. And so they take the temple and the Ark of God And they take it into their temple. When they take it into their temple, they set down the Ark of the Covenant beside Dagon, their god. Dagon was stone. And there he stood. The Ark of the Covenant was set down as a victory element in this procession. After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon." Something very interesting happens the next day. The priest gets up. He goes in to light the candles and the lights in the temple. And lo and behold, he gets in there and what's happened? Dagon, the statue of their god, is laying face down in front of the ark. Who's been messing in the temple? Somebody's been messing around in here. Just wait till we call the Philistine police. We're going to find out who's done this vandalism. I mean, you better not put in the work somebody. You better, we'll take a warrant out. We'll... And so I think the priest said, well, you know, it's no big thing. We'll just stand him back up. So, just a mistake, just a coincidence. Straighten him back up. The stone that he is, the gods that men make. Just a coincidence, right? I mean, the wind must have blew real hard. There's got to be a scientific explanation for all this stuff, right? Talking about another enemy that attacks, more Philistines, oh my, more Philistines. That will be a scientific explanation for all of this. So the priest gets up the next morning. Wipes his eyes, he comes to the temple. And what is taking place at this time? Kind of funny in a way, but a really interesting point. At this point, Dagon is fallen again in the same place, prostate before the Ark of the Covenant with God. But this time, he has no arms and he has no legs. What do you think that represented? Why did God remove the arms and the legs? To show that it was stone. It was just a God. It was just something man-made. And that the God of Dagon was a God who maybe had stone arms and stone legs, but He didn't really have any arms and legs and He couldn't do anything. So, God just said, well, I'll make my point. I'll just take His arms and legs and all that's left there is the stub. before the ark of God. And where are the arms and legs? They're at the threshold of the temple. My dear friends, I found great encouragement from these verses because, can I ask you a question? When the ark of the covenant fell among the Philistines, what did the Israelites do about it? What did the Israelites do about it? Nothing. That's the point. Nothing. Who did all the action here? Was it not God Himself? Was it not God Himself who declared His mighty power among the Philistines? Oh, Philistines, be careful if you want to drag the Ark of the Covenant into your temples and among your gods. Because there's a real danger with the presence of God among the enemy. We know about some of that before, don't we? Remember when Moses comes to Egypt and he brings Aaron and he brings the staff with him and Pharaoh says, don't you know how great I am? I'll not let your people go." And that was just a stick of wood. You know what that stick of wood was for, don't you? Because Moses even had a hard time believing that God would deliver and God would act. And Moses, what's that at your feet? Well, it's a piece of wood. Pick it up. My dear friends, God and His power, wasn't Moses simply He used? What did He use to demonstrate His power? It ended up in the Ark of the Covenant, by the way. That Ark that the Philistines had, it was a staff. I like what Dr. Francis Schaeffer said, God can even use a stick of wood. Don't you think He can use you? I said, I don't know. I'm not sure yet. That's what Moses said. And God said, well, I'll show you the power through a stick of wood. Was that stick of wood important wherever it went? My dear friends, when the Philistines, I mean, when the Pharaoh in Egypt in all their might and all their power, when the presence of God stood in their midst and there was a flying in the face of God, did God respond? Was God's presence in their midst? Did it present some difficulty for them? And I want you to know that that's the way God works today. You need not be afraid, O Christian. Don't you think God is big enough to defend His name? Let me tell you something about the presence of God and His truth in the world. God's providence and His mysteries are incredible. Let the atheist declare his unbelief of God. Let the world attempt to take the direction that they go Let them even attempt to take over much of what's called the church in order to build their own gods. Let me tell you, there is a danger in it. And it is not the people in the church that you have to be concerned about when you do that. A warning to the people of God who have forgotten Him, who are supposed to serve Him. And a warning also to the enemy, the Philistines. You toy with the presence of God nature of God and the hand of God, and there will be consequences. Don't you see it here? It's kind of interesting. There's a fundamental thing. I'm sure that the temple that Dagon was in went on for months and years of the Philistines, but when did the trouble begin? The trouble began when they brought the ark of God into the temple of Dagon. Did the presence of God upset and interrupt the Philistines' plans? Did it upset the priests of Dagon? You better believe it. They had some cleaning up to do. And then they had to appear before the subcommittee of the Philistines to explain why Dagon didn't have any legs and arms and why they were in the threshold of the door. Oh, man, we've got to start search committees now. We've got to start talking about why all this happened and how much taxpayer money it's going to cost. Here, I want you to remember who did this. No, the church stood up and rebelled. The church stood up and said something about it. And the church just took its stand. And the church defended the name of God. Oh, my friends, God acted for His own honor and in the presence of the Philistines, in the presence of the enemy. Let the world mock God, if it will. But there's no reward in it. Because He will break in and He will interrupt plans. It's funny, as our own nation has developed some interesting gods. I read a book called Idols for Destruction some years ago. And I thought that that was an interesting book. And it talked about our own culture of what an idol looked like. Anytime our culture attempts to replace the things of God with something that he thinks is more important. Did you know that that's what our own nation is doing these days for the most part? Saying that the things of God are not It's not important anymore. We've got to do something new and innovative and we've got to change definitions and we've got to change things and we've got to make it new. My dear friends, there's a real danger in that. Has it been frustrating for our whole system of politics? I hate to bring that into it, but what have we faced over the last, let's just say, eight or ten years? Has it been frustrating? It must be. Did you know that there are many members of the House of Representatives now who are quitting after this term? And why are they quitting? You know why they're quitting? I went to Washington thinking I was going to be able to get something done, but I've gotten up there and because of everything that's going on, we've reached what? We've reached an impasse. We just can't seem to get anything done You know, I want to say that there might be a reason for that. We just can't seem to get anything done. We just can't seem to make any progress. Isn't that what God does when He thwarts the gods of this world? He just kind of comes into the temple. There's Dagon on His face. Well, I wonder how that happened. The church must have rose up and said something. All that frustration and all that inability to do something, it must have come from somewhere. I know what it is. It's the far right. I know what it is. It's the Tea Party. I know what it is. It's those people in the churches. That's thwarting our ability to get something done. Would you think it a far leap if I use the passage this morning and say maybe God is defending his own name among the Philistines? Can God defend his name among the Philistines? He can and he does and he will. He breaks in and he interrupts the plans of the gods of men to make them nothing. The other thing is that he even humiliates them. I mean, in their own camp, in the middle of their own town, in the middle of their own temple. Dagon. Boom! On his face. You just wait till we find out who did this. You just wait. We're going to pass a law. We're going to tax them more. Just wait. And little did they know, did they? The living and true God. Little did they know the living and true God. presence known in the world, and He does it in mysterious and providential ways. What is at God's disposal to make His will known to us? He has all things at His disposal. The peach trees in South Carolina, the cabbage patches in the hills of Virginia, the water supplies to Chicago and to Las Vegas. God has all things at His disposal to get our attention and to warn us, to warn us, to warn the Philistines that there is a God in heaven. Do you know that there is a God in heaven who will not be toyed with? You're just trying. Go ahead. Try it. See what you think when it's all over with. God is alive and well, isn't He, my friends? Amen? Isn't God alive and well? Yes, He is. Don't be disheartened. We should be concerned about the church in these days. And we should be faithful and do all those things that God has called us to do. Be faithful to the faith. We should remember that the Philistines are real. But what finally should we remember? That God is on His throne and there is nothing, there is nothing that is from under His sovereign hand. Nothing. My dear friends, we should be aware of the message. What was the message of the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God in Dagon's temple? It was a warning to the Philistines. It was a warning that the God you men have made is just stone. By the way, even now, on the second go-round, he doesn't have any arms and legs. So, the next time you see somebody in the world who's giving you a hard time and you know their felicities, say, Dagon doesn't have any legs and arms. I just want you to know that. Dagon, you don't have any legs. See, I can't ever think of a good report. I'm challenged with regard to my faith and I say, well, I'll say the right thing, but I don't have to say the right thing. Because God will act for His own honor. And I tell you, my dear friends, if there is something for us as the church to say, where do we go from here? I would say that you and I need to reconfess before this world, even in the midst of the challenges, the serious spiritual challenges to the church and to the gospel and to our Lord Jesus Christ and to the faith today. We should faithfully declare our humble dependence upon God every day. We should confess that He is a God that acts on behalf of His own honor. He is able to defend the gospel of His Son. And He will save whom He will in this world. And it doesn't matter what the Philistines say. God will save whom He will. And His gospel will be effectual in any heart He chooses to see fit to reveal His life. He will accomplish His glory and His honor in the earth. The gods that men make just doesn't stand the test of time. Well, how are those gods going to be met? The living God will meet those gods that men have made in their own temple. And the difference will be shown. O church of Jesus Christ, be sure that we here who are the church do this. Let us make sure that we don't have to face the Lord when He comes to the temple and He says what? He turns the tables over. Remember that story? He comes to the temple and He said, You have what? You have made My house a den of thieves. My house shall be called a house of prayer." Oh, my dear friends, may the lesson that we learn as His children is the importance of the church for us to be His people indeed. And for our hearts to be humble before Him as He works in and through us. And may the warning be for us to be careful how we approach God. That we don't approach God frivolously That we don't think that somehow the presence of God or the worship of God or that which we do here in the church is somehow insignificant. Let all the earth keep silent. For the Lord is in His holy temple. Amen? Amen. Know the Lord God. That He is with His people who truly love Him. But no matter what, God will be honored. And He will be honored in the earth. And He will be honored among the gods of men. Kind of a hard place to leave it, isn't it? That we would just simply depend upon God to defend His name. But may the Lord help us. that may we agree in our heart. I like what the Lord said. He said, if you will not glorify Me before men, what? I will cause these stones. I will cause these stones to rise up and honor Me. Don't you think He would prefer you honor Him than the stones? Yes, I think so. I think He prefers your heart a whole lot more and your love a whole lot more. May the Lord be with you to understand the God in whom you believe and the Lord Jesus Christ who has saved you. May the Lord be with you as you think on these things of the Philistines and the children of Israel who forgot God. May our heart be turned back toward God in a very special way. And may we love Him from the heart, honor His gospel, and humbly depend upon Him for all things. Let's join our hearts together. Father, we bow now before You. We have heard the Word of God in this most interesting passage in 1 Samuel chapter 5. Lord, how You honored Your name among the Philistines. Lord, we pray that You would lead and guide and direct us in the days in which we face an unbelieving world in which the gods of men have raised up their heads and there appears to be such respect for them and they are making seemingly such headway. Lord, much of the church that is so-called has seemed to have agreed with it. We pray that, Lord, You would lead and guide and direct us in our day and time Know that we trust in a Lord who defends his name, defends his honor, who would help us to be a people that honor you from the heart. We thank you for this passage of Scripture and we thank you for what it teaches us, warns us, shows us that God is mighty to act in his sovereign power. We pray, Father, that you would help us to return unto thee. with sincerity of heart, help us, Lord, to once again be a people of revival and vitality in life. Father, we pray that for our nation, our world. We pray that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would go forth in power and in light and that many a soul would hear Your voice, O Lord, and that it would turn from the ways of the gods of men. And Father, You would empower their life and that You would be with them. Father, thank You for this day and we thank You for Your great love in Christ. Continue to help us, Lord, to walk in this world faithfully looking to You for all that we need. In Jesus' name we pray.