We come now this morning to the extraordinary
story of the Ark in Dagon's Temple.
Normally, it were to be in the Holy
of Holies of the Tabernacle, with the glory
of the Lord upon it.
But we now see that Ark, if you
please, placed in a heathen temple.
How it got there, and what happened when
it did get there, we're going to read
in the first book of Samuel, chapter 4.
The first book of Samuel, chapter 4.
And the word of Samuel came to all
Israel.
Now Israel went out against the Philistines to
battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer.
And the Philistines put themselves in array against
Israel.
And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten
before the Philistines.
And they slew of the army in the
field about 4,000 men.
And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten
before the Philistines.
And they slew of the army in the
field about 4,000 men.
And when the people were come into the
camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath
the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?
Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant
of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us,
that when it cometh among us, it may
save us out of the hand of our
enemies.
So the people said to Shiloh that they
might bring from thence the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth
between the cherubims.
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas were there with the Ark of the
Covenant of God.
And when the Ark of the Covenant of
the Lord came into the camp, all Israel
shouted with a great shout, so that the
earth rang again.
And when the Philistines heard the noise of
the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise
of this great shout in the camp of
the Hebrews?
And they understood that the Ark of the
Lord was come into the camp.
And the Philistines were afraid, for they said,
God is come into the camp.
And they said, Woe unto us, for there
hath not been such a thing heretofore.
Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out
of the hands of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that smote the Egyptians
with all the plagues of the wilderness.
Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O
ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto
the Hebrews, as they have been to you.
Quit yourselves like men, and fight.
And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten.
And they fed every man into his tent.
And there was a very great slaughter, for
there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
The casualties in the Old Testament, and we
must take these numbers literally, were far greater
than the casualties in modern war.
Save, of course, when the atomic bomb is
used.
Interesting that, isn't it?
And the Ark of God was taken.
Can you believe it?
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, were slain.
When the Philistines took the Ark of God,
they brought it into the house of Dagon,
and set it by Dagon.
And when day of Ashdod arose early on
the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his
face to the earth, before the Ark of
the Lord.
And they took Dagon, and set him in
his place again.
And when day of Ashdod arose early on
the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his
face to the ground, before the Ark of
the Lord, and the head of Dagon.
And both the palms of his hands were
cut off upon the threshold.
Only the stump of Dagon was left to
him.
Therefore, neither the priests of Dagon, nor any
that come into Dagon's house, tread on the
threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
But the hand of the Lord was heavy
upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them,
and smote them with emeralds, or with tumours,
even Ashdod and the coast thereof.
And when the men of Ashdod saw that
it was so, they said, The Ark of
God of Israel shall not abide with us,
for his hand is sore upon us, and
upon Dagon our God.
And they sent therefore, and gathered all the
lords of the Philistines unto them, and said,
What shall we do with the Ark of
the God of Israel?
And the answer, Let the Ark of the
God of Israel be carried about unto Gath.
And they carried the Ark of God of
Israel about thither.
And it was so that after they had
carried it about, the hand of the Lord
was against the city, with a very great
destruction, plagues I imagine, and he smote the
men of the city, both small and great,
and they had emeralds, or tumours, in their
secret hearts.
Therefore they sent the Ark of God to
Ekron.
And it came to pass, as the Ark
of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites
cried out, saying, They have brought about the
Ark of the God of Israel to us,
to slay us and our people.
So they sent and gathered together all the
lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send
away the Ark of the God of Israel,
and let it go to his own place,
that it slay us not and our people.
For there was a deadly destruction throughout all
the city.
The hand of God was very heavy there,
and the men that died not were smitten
with tumours.
And the cry of the city went up
to heaven.
It was a terrible day for Israel.
When the Ark of God was taken.
Eli, the old high priest, had permitted the
Ark to be taken into battle with some
misgivings.
And all the time the battle was engaged,
it says, his heart trembled for the Ark.
And when the news came, that there had
been this great discomfiture of Israel, and worst
of all, the Ark of God was taken,
that which had been Israel's glory, the old
man fell off his seat backwards, broke his
neck, and died.
Just about that time his daughter-in-law
was giving birth to a son.
And she heard the news that the Ark
of God was taken, just as the baby
was born.
And she gave that baby a very significant
name, Ichabod.
The glory is departed.
That really was a sad, ignominious day for
Israel.
How and why did it happen that God
permitted the Ark of His covenant with His
people to be taken by the Philistines?
Well, there was first of all an initial
grave defeat of Israel by the Philistines.
And then they got together after that defeat
and said, wherefore hath the Lord smitten us
today before the Philistines?
Let us fetch the Ark of the covenant
of the Lord out of Shiloh, which was
where the tabernacle was pitched when they got
into the Promised Land, that when it cometh
among us, it may save us out of
the hand of the Philistines.
Said somebody, I remember.
Don't you remember, Jericho?
We brought the Ark right into the midst
of the battle.
We encompassed the city.
Let's try that again.
And so they sought to repeat what had
happened before.
And it's interesting that it says that when
it cometh, it may save us.
I want to tell you, there's no power
in an it.
I've tried it before, the Christian life, whatever
it is, and it didn't work.
Of course, it didn't work.
It never does.
You may have various forms of it.
And you can be subtly trusting in that
it.
And you're always riding for a fall when
I'm trusting in a it, a repetition of
what happened before and what I did before.
These people were trusting in the Ark of
the Lord instead of the Lord of the
Ark.
That was only a symbol.
Well, this is an ever-present tendency with
us.
When there's been trouble, when things haven't gone
right, how easy to remember how it was
before, what you did before, how God seemed
to work.
And we have in our minds a formula
based on how we were blessed before, how
we were blessed at Southwold, maybe.
And we've only got to do it this
way and that way and repent as they
told us there and give our testimonies in
that way or do this, that and the
other and it will save us.
It may not be of that order at
all.
There's so many it's.
Sometimes a church has got its back to
the wall and they hear a wonderful way
of outreach and evangelism.
That's going to be the answer.
We'll apply that.
We'll go to that seminar, get trained and
it will change everything in our church.
And so often it's a disappointment.
It's never do.
Either for us individually or for our churches.
We hear how somebody's got a wonderful scheme
of Bible reading.
That's it.
That's why I'm so dull.
I'll take on that.
It's an it.
And we're trusting in the formula of the
Lord rather than the Lord of the formula.
When you were blessed, when things happened in
another place, but it wasn't red because of
that it.
The eyes were to the Lord.
And he showed them.
There you are.
Do that.
Just think of how they could have made
a formula.
Gideon could have.
How they overcame.
It was a wonderful thing.
Very good.
It was so calculated to produce the desired
effect.
Surrounding the camp with only 300 men and
each with torches hidden in pitchers and then
breaking them all together, blowing a trumpet and
all over the place the sword of the
Lord and of Gideon.
You know, they could use it.
That's a good idea.
We'll do that again.
Would they have written for a formula?
Would they have come down?
Why, that was a futile thing to do.
It was part of the originality of deity
to tell them to do that.
And because God told them to do it
and it was his way, we can go
on thinking that's going to be the way
the next time.
I can only suggest we keep our ears
and eyes open to spot the it which
we may be turning to.
It ill befits me to go into any
details because there is human cooperation with God.
But it's where your confidence is.
And so often he tells you to do
something, you say well that's a mad thing
to do but we'll do it.
You're not trusting that but in the God
who told you to do it.
So only God can show you the line
that divides right cooperation with God based on
faith and a wrong cooperation based on trusting
in our own arm or the arm of
an it.
But there was something else that was wrong
on this occasion.
There was sin, grievous sin in the nation
and it had been largely unjudged.
It began first of all with Hophni and
Phinehas, the priest's two sons.
And they'd been in the habit of taking
and grabbing more than was right of their
share of the sacrifices.
There was a portion of the sacrifices, certain
sacrifice that were reserved for the priests but
they were going beyond and taking that part
that wasn't for them but for the Lord
and forcing the people to give them in
excess of what was right so that men
abhorred the offering of the Lord.
It came into disrepute.
More than that, they were immoral men and
they were lying with the women sexually who
came to the door of the tabernacle.
Eli too was at fault.
In a feeble way he tried to say
something about it but God's verdict about Eli's
behavior was your sons made themselves vile and
you restrained them not.
And then the people too had largely departed
from the Lord.
And so along with trust in the formula
there was unrecognized, unjudged sin in their midst.
And so often these two go together.
Almost always.
Not only am I trusting in it but
I'm permitting unjudged sin to remain in my
life.
There are things that aren't right with me
or in our church or we're undertaking this
wonderful new it but how many things are
wrong in that church, in relationships there and
in other matters and not only in the
church but with us individually.
And of course it's much easier to resort
to a formula to do what we've done
before because that doesn't involve us in deep
dealing with God about sin.
Indeed these wretched it's are so often in
effect a substitute for getting right with God
of humbling ourselves before Him and finding Him
a God of grace that those are honest
with Him about sin.
Oh yes, they're substitutes for that.
Little wonder that God allowed them even when
the ark came to be defeated.
At first it looked as if it was
going to work everybody was shouting and the
Philistines were afraid.
It's working boys, I told you so.
Wait a minute.
When it came to the crops it didn't.
At first however it did seem as if
their attitudes were going to be right.
You get quite excited.
After that first defeat they get together and
they say Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us
to day before the Philistines?
What an excellent thing to say.
If only they'd stopped there.
Now that is the thing to say.
Why has God allowed us to be compounded
before the enemy?
Why have things gone wrong?
Why are we getting nowhere?
And if you stop there God will tell
you why.
It's a dangerous thing to ask Him.
Why am I so dry?
Why am I so down?
Why?
Ask Him why.
Then don't stop thinking of your own way
out.
And there would have been a prophet sent
to them to tell them wherefore the Lord
had allowed them to be smitten by the
Philistines.
But they didn't do that.
They went on to say Ah, let's try
the Ark.
With the results we know.
There's a very lovely contrast to this incident
of fetching the Ark to help them in
the battle while they were still in impenitence.
And that relates.
That is an incident of the life of
David when he was fleeing from before Absalom.
He and his faithful men and the priests
were with him.
And what they said if the rightful king
is going let's take the Ark with us.
It's a symbol of God's presence and God
is surely on David's side against Absalom.
And dear old David, bless his darling heart.
And the king said unto Zadok carry back
the Ark of God into the city.
If I shall find favour in the eyes
of the Lord he will bring me again
and will show me both it and his
habitation.
But if he say thus I have no
delight in thee.
Behold, here I am.
Let him do to me a seabed good
unto thee.
For your reference, it's in 2 Samuel 15.
If you want to note it down.
2 Samuel 15.
Isn't that beautiful?
Don't you love that man?
Could God resist a man like that?
His trust wasn't in the Ark of the
Lord but in a God of grace.
It may be he'll show me grace.
Because although Absalom was so wrong David recognized
this as part of the prophesied discipline upon
him because of his own sin.
They'd been forgiven completely.
But there was nonetheless discipline that was going
to be good, good for David.
And he submitted to it.
He didn't want to try and prove to
the world God was on his side.
God will do that.
Not so these people.
Let us send for the Ark that it
may save us.
And so it was.
This wonderful symbol this holy symbol that speaks
of so much of divine things as we've
seen was taken by the Philistines into captivity.
Psalm 78, 60 the Psalms have wonderful references
to Old Testament incidents.
Always read them because they're put in a
very succinct way and give you extra light
upon an Old Testament incident.
It says there in Psalm 78 So God
forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh and delivered his
strength into captivity his glory into the hands
of the enemies.
It would seem that God suffered grave dishonor
in the process.
That his name was besmirched.
But God said I'm prepared for that.
One thing I'm going to have and that's
a holy people.
And if chastening them and allowing my Ark
to be taken captive seems to show my
honor has been besmirched I'm going to let
that happen at all costs.
I'm going to have a holy people.
And we find that God knew how to
look after his honor even when the Ark
was taken.
We have the extraordinary picture of the Ark
of the Covenant powerless in Israel.
God's people but mighty among the Philistines.
What a story it is.
And you know God is intent to have
a holy people.
And he's intent to let things go wrong
and discipline his people.
He's quite prepared to let the scandal come
out.
And for things to go all around the
town.
All the shame of dishonor has been brought
upon the name of the Lord because of
this thing.
He said I'm prepared for that.
I'm not going to hush it up.
I must discipline my people and have a
holy people.
And I know how to look after my
own honor.
And so it is sometimes the Lord Jesus
Christ seems utterly powerless among his people.
They seem to be without him.
Nothing's happening in that church.
It's utterly formal.
Things have gone wrong.
But at the same time that mighty Lord
Jesus is mighty in the world.
And someone has a little group or something
in a house and this one gets saved
and that one gets saved.
Great whopping conversions right out of the world.
Oh yes.
You didn't fear to him.
He'll look after his name.
But even at expense to himself he's going
to have a holy people.
And he isn't afraid of a scandal.
If that's going to help the saints to
judge sin.
And so it was this ark found itself
in Dagon's temple.
Dagon was the God of the Philistines.
A great huge idol half fish, bottom half
half man.
I don't know what unmentionable obscenities had taken
place in Dagon's temple.
And right into that dark temple was brought
the ark of the covenant of the Lord
of all the earth and sat beside Dagon.
The next day when they came in that
mighty awesome idol was on its face before
that simple ark.
And that's unfortunate, can't have that happen.
So they put him back in his place.
And the next day they came in, he
was down in his face before the ark.
This time his head had fallen off and
burnt his hands.
So they took the ark out of the
temple and they sent it to another city
and terrible things happened.
Plagues came.
And terrible things happened.
Plagues came.
And people began to suffer from tumors.
So they said, well what should we do?
Send to the next city.
For goodness sake don't bring that thing here.
And the same plagues and tumors broke out
there.
And eventually they had a committee.
What in the world are we going to
do with this ark?
And you have the words send away the
ark of the God of Israel and let
it go again to his own place.
They had to make a choice.
If they wanted Dagon they had to ship
the ark.
But had they, had they wanted the ark
they would have had to have shipped Dagon.
But they preferred to keep Dagon and send
away the ark.
They little knew what possibilities for blessing would
have come even to Philistia.
Had they been willing to pick up the
bits of Dagon put them out for the
garbage man and let the ark remain in
sole possession of Dagon's temple.
Now I want to confess to you that
by nature naturally my heart is Dagon's temple.
Naturally self reigns and has reigned sometimes still
does in that temple.
This great fish God of self.
My motives have been what they have because
self has been reigning.
Self interests me at the back of everything
and that's why I've done certain things and
wanted to excel at certain things.
My motives were self-inspired.
Dagon was in the background.
My actions, my reactions to events and my
reactions to people are all, have been what
they have because self was on the throne
and I've committed what sins I have only
because of Dagon.
The central letter of the little word sin
is I and Dagon has been on the
throne.
Why shouldn't I do that for my convenience
or my pleasure?
And even the good things I've done have
all been a bit fishy.
Oh smack to Dagon!
Maybe not the top part of Dagon but
the bottom part, the fishy part.
And I know that what I've said about
myself and I do really mean it.
Your heart says well that's true of me
too.
Naturally my heart for long has been Dagon's
temple that can very easily slip back to
that state of things again.
And right into that temple ruled for so
long in which terrible things have happened in
our lives, obscene things sometimes.
Jesus Christ.
Our heart, with the blood upon the mercy
seat, with acceptance.
It's good to accept the Lord Jesus.
I ought to.
Look how happy he's going to make me.
And I'm going to receive eternal life.
And so when the chance was given that
the gospel was presented we very glibly and
happily accepted the Lord Jesus into a temple
in which Dagon had ruled for so long.
And it didn't turn out much as a
pleasant experience after all.
For if Jesus really comes into a Dagon's
temple he cannot doubt, challenge sin and reveal
self and convict us of it.
And Dagon wobbles and falls.
And when that happens what do we do?
We put him back again, that is we
justify ourselves.
I don't think I like those meetings very
much.
I don't like those sort of testimonies.
I don't believe in them, these personal testimonies.
Because it's revealing Dagon in our lives.
So we justify ourselves and put him back.
But Jesus is so persistent.
And later again he again challenges some of
the things we're doing.
And bids us agree with him.
And call them sin and take God's side
against them.
Well there may be a little bit of
coming down but at last our agreement with
God, our repentance is only partial.
When it says the stump of Dagon remained
after that second time when Dagon's head and
hands came off the margin of the revised
version says the fishy part remained.
Maybe the grosser part you give up but
the fishy part.
That's a bit fishy.
That's still there.
We try and be a bit better.
Oh how Dagon expresses himself.
How slow we are to agree with God.
How quick to justify ourselves and keep Dagon
there.
It may be in things we've done which
we won't agree with God about.
Relationships with others which we won't agree with
God about.
Jealousy or resentment.
We won't agree with God about it.
Impurity.
Indulgence in fantasies that aren't clean.
And he challenges you.
Indeed he might challenge you about all fantasies.
I believe all fantasies even if they're not
impure are part of Dagon.
Self-worship.
I've had been challenged about that so often.
And how you can brush it aside.
Only partially repent.
Not fully agree with God that this is
sin.
But it may not be only impure imaginations.
He may be challenging us.
He's challenged us when he came in about
impure actions.
If not always with another person.
On our own.
Such things as masturbation.
And into a heart that's long been ruled
by Dagon which has indulged itself as it
wanted.
Jesus comes.
The real Jesus.
And he cannot but challenge and convict of
these things.
And this goes on and our justification of
ourselves goes on for so long.
He's so persistent that eventually we have to
face a choice.
If we're not prepared for Dagon to be
really broken.
That is for us fully to agree with
God that sin is sin.
And must be confessed as such.
We must take God's side and go to
the cross with it.
Then we'll have to do what the Philistines
did.
We'll have to send the ark away.
We can't have both.
They can't live together.
And I believe when I don't fully agree
with God about sin, that he shows me.
I don't mean to say I turn my
back entirely on Jesus Christ.
You may still continue as a Christian worker
and still continue with that profession.
But as for anything dynamic or vital, the
ark's been sent away.
And you're left with simply routine in Christian
service.
And many Christians have become sometimes successful in
that condition.
Dagon on the throne and the ark virtually
sent away, although they've not yet abandoned their
profession.
But what's that if it lacks the glorious
sweet reality of Jesus reigning in our lives
and hearts?
On the other hand, if it's going to
be Jesus as we want, if we know
we'll never be happy until he's in control,
we can't go on with this half and
half thing.
Then Dagon will have to be shipped.
By that I mean you take a full
and complete stand of agreement with God that
this is sin.
You may be tempted, but you're on God's
side against it.
You make no excuses.
You do not say, I may be wrong,
but the other person's wrong.
There's only one person in wrong before God
and that's me.
And as you are shown various aspects of
Dagon, if you want Jesus, if I want
Jesus, I'm learning I must be ruthless in
agreeing with God about Dagon.
That's what I meant.
If it's going to be Jesus, we'll have
to take that attitude to Dagon.
Now supposing the Philistines had done this latter
course.
Supposing they had grace enough to recognize they
had in their midst the ark of the
God of all the earth.
They could see the glory of it and
they decided to ship Dagon.
And they got a cart and put all
the bits and pieces on, and even the
fishy part, they put that on the cart
and they took it out.
Wait a minute, what's it, an incinerator or
somewhere?
Got the garbage man to do it.
And they left the ark in sole possession
of the temple.
What do you think would have happened?
Knowing the God of Israel, knowing Jehovah as
a God of grace, I know what would
have happened.
I believe the blood stains sprinkled on the
mercy seat would have availed even for Dagon's
temple, in which such terrible obscenities had taken
place.
The blood of sacrifice would have been enough
to cleanse and put right even Dagon's temple.
And do you think it might have happened?
The Shekinah glory would have come right into
Dagon's temple.
And the people would have bowed before Jehovah.
I know that's what happens when we take
that choice of bowing deeply before the Lord
Jesus, agreeing with Him, calling Him to do
what He will and take over.
We take this attitude to Dagon.
The blood of the Lord Jesus upon the
mercy seat, that precious blood has power to
transform even our Dagon's temple, in which such
terrible things may have happened.
And Dagon's temple becomes the temple of the
Lord, in which Jesus alone is reigning.
Be those things what they may.
The blood of Jesus Christ is enough for
God on your behalf.
And puts all things right.
Apart from efforts of your own, you've done
the one thing necessary.
You've called these things by their right name.
You've judged them for what they are.
You've put the blame where it belongs.
And the blood immediately availed for you.
For it was shared and it paid the
price.
For those very things.
And your heart can be filled with the
Shekinah glory, after having so recently been the
scene of such wrong things.
Such is the mighty power of the blood.
And when we think of that possibility, well
may we see there is power, value, wonder
-working power in the blood of the Lamb.
And the things that otherwise would have remained,
and gone on condemning us and making us
feel uneasy and taking away our joy and
peace, are gone.
They cease to condemn.
Sins, condemnation is over and gone.
Jesus alone knoweth how.
And this brings me to something very important.
It's an amplification of our subject.
I believe what I've just said is tremendously
important.
The major part of sin's power over us
is its ability to condemn us.
It's its guilt.
It isn't merely its main power.
It's to so charm us and entice us
that we keep on doing it and can't
stop doing it.
It's possible for a man to commit certain
things years ago and not to have repeated
them.
But for him still to be under their
dominion, for those things still to be condemning
him, there may be things in your life
about which people are not to ask any
awkward questions, long ago or recently.
And when that's so, we really are under
the dominion of sin if it's not being
repeated.
But you're under its dominion if only by
the fact that it still has ability to
condemn us.
And if, in that condition, we try and
engage in Christian service, the devil sees to
it there's one of his little demons on
your shoulder.
And even if you try and do that
bit of service, that demon is saying to
you, hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite.
Do you get on all right like that?
We certainly don't.
And so often, if there's weakness and lack
of positive joy and action and power in
our service, it's because we're still in measure
under the guilt of certain things that are
happening.
And that demon is still saying to us,
hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite.
And in that condition, there's little incentive but
to go and do something else.
The devil says, you feel so down, you're
so out, got nothing, why not indulge yourself
again?
Or why be particular about how you act
and react?
You aren't going to lose much, you've lost
so much already.
A little more isn't going to make much
difference.
And you go on and on and on.
You say, oh I'm under the bondage of
sin.
But do you know where it began?
That bigger bondage of guilt.
And it is that with which the blood
of Jesus deals.
The guilt was exhausted and painful when Jesus
said, it's finished on the cross and if
you and I know how to go and
say, sorry Lord, I'm wrong.
And do say, not as a mere act
of apology to the deity or apology to
others, but done in faith in what that
blood of Jesus means, a finished work.
That guilt is gone.
You cannot be made more right with God
than what the blood of Jesus makes you
when you call sin, sin.
Not even the Archangel Gabriel has a better
righteousness before God than what you and I
have when we take the sinner's place.
There isn't one.
This is all my hope and peace.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This presented before God is all my righteousness.
And you can walk into the Holy of
Holies if the place belongs to you.
Which it does by the blood of Jesus.
That's the very basis of victory.
We talk about threatening yourself dead to sin.
What does it mean to be dead to
sin?
Does it mean dead to sin solicitations?
No.
Because in Romans 6 it says that Jesus
died unto sin.
Not only for it, but unto it.
Was there a time when he was alive
to sin solicitations and he died to it?
No, no.
He never was alive to sin solicitations.
What dying to sin meant to Jesus it
means to us.
What did it mean to him?
Having uttered the great words on the cross,
it's finished.
And having been raised from the dead, having
paid the price, he was dead to sin's
power to condemn him any longer.
The moment he took our sins upon him,
sin had power to condemn him.
Which it did.
But the moment he paid the price, sin
lost its power to do so.
He was dead to it.
And you can, instead of having that hangover,
no freedom, be as dead to sin's power
to condemn you as it was to condemn
your surety.
And be as free from that hangover as
Jesus is.
He's free by his blood, you can be
free in the same way.
This is the basis of victory.
Because, my dear friends, new motivations come into
our hearts.
He that's forgiven much and released much loves
much.
You're so free!
You see, some people never get free.
Always asking, may I not do it again?
But they aren't free as to what's already
happened.
But when Jesus has set you so gloriously
free that you, so to speak, got winds
of praise, not emotion mainly, but objectively based
on grace and what this God of grace
has done for you, there's a motive in
the world for you to hate that thing.
And to be sharp on it should you
begin to return and agree with God quickly.
He that is forgiven much and released much
loves much.
New motivations come in.
And more than that, new, blessed reinforcements of
the will.
And when we've got right there, God knows
how to come in and sweep.
But best of all, just because, not because
we're victorious, but just because of the blood
of Jesus which we've now had sprinkled, so
to speak, upon us, day God's temple becomes
a habitation of God through the Spirit.
Amen and amen.
That's what it means.
Sin shall not have dominion over you for
you're not under the law but under grace.
The law only condemns you.
People who feel that bit down and go
to the law only make things better worse.
They make promises, they embrace higher standards only
to fail on those higher standards and only
to give the devil more to condemn them
about.
But you're not under the law that asks
for that.
But under grace that tells you it's all
been done and Jesus is on your side
not against you.
When you agree with him, as we heard
the other night.
Ah, it's wonderful.
This is the way.
And you know for lack of understanding of
the way some Christians have begun to come
to terms with certain sins and even I've
read certain articles in evangelical journals excusing certain
things, saying okay and I have an awkward
feeling it may be the writer is rationalizing
his own defeat but we can't blame him
because perhaps not yet has he seen this
marvelous way of grace.
Good news is a bad thing.
I want to close with a New Testament
incident that ties up very much with this
in Matthew 21.
Matthew 21 and here's the Ark of the
Covenant coming into view.
Well it really was Dagon's Temple.
Though it was actually the Temple of the
Lord in Jerusalem but it had slipped back
into Dagon's Temple.
Chapter 21 verse 12 and Jesus went into
the Temple of God and cast out what
he found there.
All them that sold and overthrew the tables
of the money chambers and the seats of
them that sold out and said unto them
it is written my house shall be called
a house of prayer but you have made
it a den of thieves you're making it
a place of profit for your wretched selves
out of my service.
Wasn't that Dagon's Temple indeed but look at
verse 14 having cast them out having begun
to possess his own house verse 14 and
the blind and the lame came to him
in the temple and he healed them.
And I believe this is how it can
be with us when he's looked round and
what's there when he's put his finger on
this and that and you've agreed with him
you've called it sin and the money chambers
are cleansed and turned out.
The blind and the lame begin to come
to him in your temple.
Many a time that's happened.
When they really got through on this others
somehow were attracted to that Jesus had done
it and some began to lead other people
to Jesus for the first time in their
lives.
They weren't doing it he was now in
the temple and they were coming to him
in the temple and he healed them.
Isn't that worthwhile?
It is worth living for this said John
Wesley, Giles Wesley it is worth living for
this to administer bliss and salvation in Jesus
name.
Praise the Lord for this glorious possibility.
Let us pray.