A Dark Day - 1 Samuel 1:12-22
2024-07-28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kqMOGtNNaw

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

...with a word of prayer. So let's go ahead and pray together. Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus, and I thank you for grace, and I thank you for this opportunity to worship this morning, to spend some time. ...to be nourished at the table, to spend some time in your word. We just thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Be with us this morning, as we have gathered together. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would be standing, we're going to read from the book of Psalms before we sing, "This is our God." So we're going to be reading from the 59th Psalm. So just read together with me. "But I will sing of your strength. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you. For you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love." Let's start this morning by singing, "This is our God," followed immediately by "10,000 Reasons." Bless the Lord. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

The giants are dead now. This is our God. This is who he is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what he does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray. But he heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of his faithfulness. Never once did he fail, and he never will. This is our God. This is who he is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what he does. He saves us. He bore the cross, feed the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God. King Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus.

Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh. Who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Him. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross. Beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. He bore the cross. Beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship His holy name.

Sing like never before, O my soul. Worship His holy name. The sun comes up. It's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul. Worship Your holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. Time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, Worship His holy name, Send like never before, O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name.

You're rich in love And you're slow to anger Your name is great And your heart is kind For all your goodness I will keep on singing Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find "Bless the Lord O my soul O my soul Worship His holy name Sit like never before O my soul I'll worship Your holy name" And all that day when my strength is failing The end draws near and my time has come Still my soul will sing Your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forever Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before. O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name. I'll worship Your holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before. O my soul, I'll worship Your holy name. Yes, I will worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. Amen. Amen. Amen. As we come to the table, we're going to sing how deep the Father's love for us.

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away, as wounds which mother chosen one, bring many sons to glory. Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me alive. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know in all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom.

Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know in all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom. In Isaiah, the 40th chapter, it ends with a very well-known passage. It says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is not to faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not be weary.

Let the people renew their strength. And we understand the idea of renewal. We can see it around us, right? We got to the middle of the summer, and the rain stopped, and what happens to the grass, right? It all turns brown, and it dries up, and it takes a significant amount of rain at this point to renew that and bring it back to greenness. So it is, I think, with our souls that if we are not continuing to seek renewal in the goodness and the grace of God, we end up feeling weak and broken and dried out. Spurgeon shared a little bit of this in a short devotional he wrote. There's one for the morning and one for the evening. And he writes this: "As it is necessary to repair the body by the frequent meal, so we must we repair the soul by feeding upon the book of God, or by listening to the preached word, or by the soul-fattening table of the ordinances.

How depressed are our graces when the means are neglected? What poor, starving souls they are who live without the diligent use of the word of God and prayer." And he'll continue on like this: "If we suffer the good to grow weaker, if we are not nourished, evil will surely gather strength and struggle desperately for mastery over us. And as a result, a painful desolation and a lamentable disgrace may follow." So here's what Spurgeon says based on this passage in Isaiah: "Let us draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in humble entreaty, and we shall realize the fulfillment of the promise: those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength." Father in heaven, we ask this morning that You would renew our strength through Your Word, through Your people, and through this table. That You would strengthen our hearts, that You would strengthen our consciences, that You would call us into repentance for our sins.

That You would help us to find mercy and to find grace to help in our time of need. We thank You for Jesus. It's in His name we pray. Amen. If you would, take the bread, as Jesus shared with His disciples, and as they eat it... ...and Jesus taking the cup, that in the Passover meal was symbolic of God's redemption of His people, and in being about to redeem His people, He says, "Do this as often as you drink it." So we eat, and we drink, and we are nourished by the strength, and the grace, and the goodness, not just for ourselves, but to proclaim this goodness, to glorify things other than you, and that you would strengthen us with the hope of Jesus. It's in His name we pray. Amen. So before we look at this text, and we're going to kind of look at it verse by verse here in just a few minutes, I want to, instead of talking from the text, talk about the text.

And so if you've ever ridden, you know, a carnival ride, or done one of those buses that weaves through sort of an open-air car, they say, "Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicles. Keep your safety belt securely fastened." Those kinds of instructions. I want to do a little bit of that with this text before we dive into it. Maybe to help us understand it a little bit more deeply, but also to sort of warn and encourage us as we get ready to look at this text. And so the three things we're going to look at as we begin by sort of way of introduction is we want to see that the Bible is a book of books. This text is both dark and difficult, but it is for good reason. And then third, we're going to take a look from the book of Hebrews at a warning and an encouragement.

And so the Bible, I think, as probably most of us know, is not just a book, but it is a book of books. And it contains 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament. And this is more than just a little bit of trivia, but it has a direct impact on how you and I understand the Bible. So think about it like this. If we go to the library, we're going to read poetry differently than we read a reference book, right? We're going to read a book for kids differently than we would read a book for adults. And we're going to read biography different than we would read any of those. And so what happens is we understand in our world there's different types of books, and we read them differently accordingly.

And the same is true when we come to the Word of God, right? The Bible contains different genres. There's the law of God laying out his purposes and laws for his people. There's history about what God has done and what his people have been through. There's wisdom and there's poetry. And so we would read these in different ways. For example, we would read history differently than we're going to read wisdom literature. And if we try to read everything the same way, it kind of gets a little weird. Let me give you an example from the Song of Solomon. This is in Song of Solomon chapter 4. It's Solomon talking to his beloved. I don't know if I have it for the screen or not. I do not. It says, "Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful."

So it sounds like he's starting out pretty well so far. "Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young." Now, it's pretty easy for us to understand that Solomon is saying she's real pretty, right? He's not saying you're a monster with doves for eyes and goats for hair, and your teeth are sheep. When he's talking about her teeth, he's saying, "Hey, they're nice and white, and you're not missing any." He's saying that she's pretty, not that she literally has sheep jumping around on her head. You say, "Well, that's pretty common sense." We understand what Solomon is saying because he's speaking of the beauty in sort of a picturesque and poetic way.

So we read poetry different than we read the law of God. So 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, all one book in the Hebrew Bible is a book of history. And it's recording specifically in Samuel the history of this transition from being sort of governed and guided by judges to being ruled over by kings. And we need to understand very clearly that biblical history is factual events. But more than just the events, right? These events are recorded for a purpose. That we would see a history of God's work and His purposes in the world. And so as we come to this text, we are talking about real people, we're talking about real history, and we're talking about real things that God has done. And the writers of this history are aware of this, right? They understand that they are showing what God is doing in these events.

They're showing that God is at work. One of the places where we see this so clearly, right, think about the life of Joseph. The 11th out of 12 children, hated by his brothers, and perhaps maybe because he, as a young man, was a little proud of his position in the family. We aren't sure, but he is sold into slavery. In slavery he does well, eventually falsely accused, thrown into prison, works his way up in prison, is forgotten by people he has helped in prison. Ultimately, through all these years of suffering, he ends up second in command of all of Egypt. And his family comes, and when his fathers die, his brothers who have sold him into slavery, they're afraid of vengeance. And so Joseph comes to them, and he says this very famous thing in Genesis 50:

"As for you, you meant it as evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today." And so you see, in this book of history, there are real factual events recorded, but they are recorded with the purpose that we would see God's work through them, and God's purpose developed through them, whether they are joyful events or whether they are events that were intended for evil. And this is true in Samuel, and we'll see it a little bit this morning in some subtle ways. I want us to understand these are real things with real people, and there's real feelings. And so in a few moments, we're going to read through this text, and I want you to sort of notice as we're going through these verses,

one of the things is this is a text where the ark of God is sort of central. It's repeated over and over again. And these events are recorded in such a way that we see the spiritual reality of what is happening behind the scenes reflected in the physical events of the story. Next, we're going to see that this text is sort of a dark, and it's a dark and difficult day. And as we read this text, we're going to come across a lot of loss and a lot of sorrow. And if we come to this text without some context, it's a little bit like jumping into a really cold pool. It's sort of shocking, and it sort of takes your breath away for a moment. If you come to this text without understanding what surrounds it, our first response might be a lost battle, some death.

It's rough, and it's terrible. These verses this morning are filled with hurt and with pain. And they are demonstrating, especially in the central part of this text about the house of Eli, the result of a life lived seeking glory for self rather than seeking God's glory. We're seeing in this text the judgment of God against the priesthood of Eli and against his sons. These events are not sudden, nor are they surprising. God has given his law to his people that includes both blessings and curses. When we talk about curses, what we mean is the consequences or the results of not following the law of God. And so the law of God has been given, and in 1 Samuel 2, God explains his judgment against the house of Eli, against his family and his descendants. He says, "I've blessed you, I've revealed myself to you, I've chosen you, I've provided for you,

and you," and literally in the Hebrew it says, "You have kicked at my offerings, that you've treated me with contempt, that Eli has put his sons in a place of honor above God." And Eli is not in trouble for loving his kids, he's in trouble because he has diminished God and lifted up the evil desires of his sons. He cares more about the opinion of his children than he does about God, and his sons are not good priests. We find in 1 Samuel 2:15 they have henchmen. They're stealing from God by using threats of violence. They're abusing the people of God by sleeping with women who have come to serve in the temple. And so when you see the darkness and the difficulty in this text, this has been a long time coming. God has warned through the law of Moses. They've seen it in examples of those who have tried to serve God in the wrong way in the wilderness.

The people have complained. Eli has warned. And God has promised judgment. And we sometimes struggle with the judgment of God, but this should not, I think, be one of those places. Imagine driving down a road, and you see a sign that says, "20 miles ahead, and the bridge is out." And you drive a little further, and it says, "15 miles ahead, the bridge is out." And you drive a little farther, "10 miles, and the bridge is out." And then it starts going every mile, right? "9 miles, 8 miles, 7 miles." And then at five miles, every half mile says, "Warning, detour, bridge is out." And that last mile, every few hundred yards, right? "The bridge is out." "Stop, stop now, take a detour." And you just keep the cruise control set, and you find yourself sitting in the river with your car going, "Well, why didn't somebody warn me?"

That's the situation in this text. They have not just been warned, but by the very book, they are supposed to proclaim to God's people. And proclaiming it, they're declaring their own guilt. And it's not that they don't have the instructions or have been warned. It's simply they said, "We're going to do what we do, and we don't care." And this text is where the car ends up in the river. What you find is that Eli and his sons have lived for their own glory. And one of the most dangerous things, and one of the most terrifying things and heartbreaking things is when God finally looks at our desires and said, "I'll give you what you want." That's what happens here. God says, "You want to serve yourselves rather than following me?" Okay. And the presence of God, it seems, departs from the people.

Which brings us to this third thing that we need to know. There is in this text for us, I think, both a warning and an encouragement. And I want us to read and walk through these verses in light of this warning and this encouragement we find in Hebrews chapter 3. And the book of Hebrews is filled with this purpose of reminding those who are struggling that Jesus is far superior to anything else that you could glorify in your life. The very situation we see here in 1 Samuel chapter 4, God's judgment in the family of Eli who has not glorified. The author of Hebrews says, "We're here so that you don't glorify something else." One of the illustrations he uses is Israel in the wilderness. And in Hebrews chapter 3, you hear these words. "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness."

The book of Hebrews looks back to the rebellion of God's people before they get to the promised land. The plan is to guard your hearts. Watch out for your hearts. Protect your hearts. Focus your hearts on the goodness of God. You say, "Well, how can I do that?" A few verses later comes the encouragement. But exhort, or encourage, or stir one another up. Help each other. Exhort one another every day as long as it is called today. How many days are we supposed to exhort and encourage and help each other? Is it today? Then yes. Here's the purpose. That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And there is a warning in this text to not harden your hearts, but there is also an encouragement. One of the ways that we do that is by encouraging and strengthening and being near to each other.

So, with all that being said, we're going to spend some time taking a look at this day that is filled with a deep loss. And so, because this is history, and it's a story of real events, not embellished, just a simple account of history. And it's written as such. I want to take this piece by piece. I want to begin in verses 12 and 13. A man of Benjamin, if you remember the context, Israel has gone to battle. They've lost several thousand, gotten scared, ran, and gotten the ark of God, contrary to the word of God, who has said that the people are to come to the ark, not that the ark was to go out and be brought to them, and they bring the ark as a good luck charm. And the Philistines defeat them to the tune of 30,000 people dying, and they take the ark.

And so here, a man of Benjamin, and this oftentimes signals a new section in Samuel, and you hear this unnamed man, or in some cases, a named man announced. The book begins in 1 Samuel 1:1 with a man, the prophecy against Eli's family that begins this section, begins with a man, a prophet, and now we have a man of Benjamin. "Ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head." And this text will reflect in physical appearance the circumstances of the spiritual reality. So in this time period, and through much of the Bible, torn clothes and dirt are not the result of being in a battle and getting all beaten up, but rather a picture of what you are feeling inside, and so in deep grief and anguish you would tear your clothes,

you would pour dirt on your head, the purpose of which is to show through outward appearance what you are feeling inside. And so right away, this messenger we know from the previous part carries bad news, but anyone who sees him would know that this is not a good news messenger. When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching. For his heart trembled for the ark of God, and when the man came into the city and told the news, the city cried out. So this man comes into the city and cries. And the people cry out, and you say, "Well, what happens to Eli? Why doesn't Eli hear? Why doesn't Eli see what is happening?" If you read a little further, when Eli heard the sound of the outcry. Remember, he's sitting, and he's watching, and he's guarding. He said, "What is this uproar?"

Then the man hurried and came and told Eli, and now we get an explanation for why Eli hasn't seen. Now Eli was 98 years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see. Eli is sitting by the road watching, but we learn now that he can't see. Eli is a blind watchman, and he is a blind shepherd of Israel. Once again, you see the physical reality is reflected in the spiritual realities. Or the spiritual reality is reflected in the spirit. Here's a blind watchman and a blind guard in the same way he has been a blind watchman and a blind guard over God's people. Now his physical reality reflects that. The one who is supposed to watch over the lives of God's people can't see. I am he who has come from the battle.

I fled from the battle today, about 20 miles is what this distance would have been. And he said, this is Eli, "How did it go, my son?" So I think at 98 years old, you're allowed to call anybody you want son, right? Sometimes, depending on who you are, somebody goes, "Hey, son." It's like, "I'm not your son." But at 98 years old, I think you're allowed to do that. But I don't think Eli is being conciliatory. I think Eli knows that it is bad news for several reasons. One, he is heard as the messenger comes to town, and the people scream out in anguish. But secondly, this guy says, "I am the one who has come from the battle." And then he says, "I fled from the battle today." You generally don't have to flee from battles that are going well.

And so Eli knows that this is bad news. And he says, "How did it go, my son?" I don't think he is being like, "How did it go, my son? I care for you. I'm worried about you." He is going, "Spit it out, kid. Like, tell me what has happened. I know it is not good news." And he, who brought the news, answered and said, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been great defeat among the people." So there's defeat. "Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead." Worst news. "And the ark of God has been captured." The worst news. And as soon as he mentioned the ark of God, remember, Eli has been trembling over what would happen. Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate.

His neck was broken, and he died. For the man was old and heavy, and he had judged Israel for forty years." Okay, so before we talk a little bit about this. Every time I'd tip in my chair at dinner growing up, my grandma would go, "I've got a Bible story for you about that. Maybe don't tip in your chair at dinner time. You want to end up like Eli?" Now that's not the point of this, but it does bring up that memory from Grandma. This messenger reveals the losses starting with the battle and ending with the catastrophic loss of the ark. And I want to zoom in on what he says here in verse 18, where this messenger will say this as soon as he mentioned the ark of God. "Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for the man was old and heavy,

and he judged Israel for 40 years." Remember the importance of the ark is that it's symbolic. It's the ark of the covenant, the promises of God, the word of God, the provision of God, the presence of God. It contains the manna, which shows how God provided in the wilderness, the staff of Aaron, which shows the chosen priesthood, the law of God. And there is a spiritual reality to this physical loss. The ark is in the center here, and for the rest of the chapter, and God, it seems, has said to the house of Eli and to Israel, "If you don't want to follow me, if you don't want to listen, okay?" If that's what you want, then so be it. And there is a play on words in this text, that really reveals the heart of the problem. We read here where it says that Eli was heavy.

One of the reasons that he is heavy is because in 2:29 it says that they are fattening themselves or making themselves heavy on the offerings for God. And for us in English, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but in Hebrew, the word for heavy that's used of Eli is kabed. And the word for glory is kabod. And what you see in this text is that because Eli has taken that glory and made himself heavy, kabed, that the glory, taking that which was meant for God's glory to make himself heavy, leads to the kabod, the departing of God's glory. In fact, you see it in the name Ichabod, right? The loss of the glory. And the writer is making a play on words here by saying, "Eli, by taking what is intended for God's glory and

putting it into yourself, you've gotten it backwards." And because of this, we're going to see the departing of the glory of God. Because Eli takes what is God's, glorifies himself to that. There's a consequence to that. Eli has chosen himself instead of God's glory, and it has catastrophic consequences, not just for Eli, but for all of God's people. And in his death, and in the fact this guy points out his heaviness, we're reminded how we got here. And there is this lie that fills our world and our culture that my decisions only impact me. My sin is a private matter between me and myself and no one else. And it's not. When we exchange the glory of God and glorify something else, it's catastrophic. We come next to probably the saddest part, but also the part that maybe shows that not everybody in the

house of Eli is as spiritually devoid of seeking God's glory. Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant, about to give birth. Notice how the news now is reversed, right? It starts with the battle with Eli and his sons and the ark, but she hears it in the reverse. When she heard the news that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law Eli and her husband were dead, she bowed down and gave birth for her pains came upon her. This is the wife of Phineas, and we don't know much about her, but from the way she is written about and from what she says as almost her last words, it seems that she cares deeply for God's glory. She is proud of her and suffering for the loss that Israel has encountered and the loss in her family, but it seems from the way it

is written and emphasized, and we see the quotation marks around her words in the end that ultimately her heart was focused on the glory of God. Now, we don't know her story, but I can't imagine being married to one of Eli's sons is easy, right? He's an immoral guy. Imagine the whispers. If you are his wife, and we've learned in Scripture that he's been sleeping with these women at the tabernacle, and she goes out through town, and in her life she would have heard these whispers. There she goes, the wife of Phineas. She's nice, but have you heard about her husband? And the shame that followed her from her husband. But she seems more than anything to care about God's glory. And this moment shocks her into this tragic moment of giving birth. And when the time of her death, the women attending to her said, "Do not be

afraid. You have born a son." But she did not answer or pay attention. She named the child Ichabod, the word for glory, saying the glory has departed from Israel. That's her quote. The quote from the author says, "Because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband." And then she clarifies even further, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured." Not an easy moment, but her last words are a lament for the glory of God. And those around try to comfort her. You achieved what you had wanted to achieve. There is a son, but her concern is for God's glory. And the name Ichabod simply means the glory is gone. The glory has departed from Israel. And so in this dark and difficult day, the question is, is there any good news? The priesthood is

toppled, quite literally, Eli in his chair. A baby born named that God's glory has departed. There is funerals and loss, and in the midst of this darkness and difficulty, what good is there? We have a guy who shows up specifically to bring the bad news. In the midst of all of this, God is at work. You might say, "Well, how do you know?" This book begins with another child being born. It begins with another birth. Another mom who names this child based on her worship of God, who names him Samuel, because I have asked of him from the Lord. And we see that God hears. And God hears Hannah. And it's not just that he hears, the child grows up to hear and to listen to God. In 1 Samuel 4:1 says, "The word of Samuel came to all Israel." That God's word

has taken up residence in the life of Samuel and stands as a contrast. Now, we won't see Samuel again until chapter 7. But God has provided him as an answer to prayer in chapter 1. God has prepared him and God has speak to him. And we see him again. He's leading the people in repentance. And we've moved from Ichabod. The glory has departed to Ebenezer. God is my rock and my help. That even in this dark moment, God has worked and has prepared an answer to the spiritual brokenness of Israel and the one who would lead them to repentance. And I want you to know that even in the darkness and the difficulty and the grief and the sorrow and the hurt and the uncertainty and the brokenness of the world, God is at work. And maybe this morning we feel a little bit

like Ichabod, right? I'm empty. It's departed. I've chased my own glory and I've come up left for me. What's left is that the emptiness and the departing. About a thousand years later, from this moment, another baby is born. And we learn of this child as the angels sing, "Glory to God in the highest." And in John, we find these words, the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, "Glory as of the only Son, from the Father, full of grace and truth." And as Jesus begins His ministry, this, the first of His signs, that Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. In Samuel, you have this picture, and this child that speaks to the heart of our souls, that it seems as if glory has departed. All of those things that I have sought for a hope

and meaning in my life have left me empty. That the glory has departed, the joy has departed. And here comes another child born, not with glory departing, but with glory arriving. And He comes with grace and truth, and the angels proclaim His glory, and He demonstrates His glory through His ministry. And you see this child, Jesus, grow into a man. And He brings glory into the lives of the broken and the hurting, to a leper and to an outcast, to a demon-possessed man, to a woman sick and hurting, to those in darkness who needed a great light. In Jesus, the glory comes into the Ichabod, to the emptiness, the withdrawal of glory in our life, and restores, not just for those who are outside the church, but for those of us who are inside, it might be calling us to repentance. Those things

that we have glorified and chased after and found empty, only can our hearts be satisfied in Jesus. And for those in the church, this is a call to repentance, to turn our eyes to Jesus, to see his glory, to proclaim his glory, to live for his glory. And for those who are separated from Jesus, this is an invitation to come to his glory, not in fear, but in hope for transformation, to turn our eyes toward Jesus. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus and for grace. Forgive us where we have chased after our glory, or the glory of things, or experiences, or prestige, or power. Help us to see that in the end, all these things disappear, but your glory does not. So instill in our hearts a longing and a desire and satisfy us with your glory. Help us to see Jesus. Thank

you for the hope that we have in him. It's in his name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing "Turn Our Eyes."

We're going to stand and sing "Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus." Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.

Turn your eyes to that hillside Where justice and mercy embrace There the Son of God gave His life for us And our measureless death was erased Jesus, to You we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore You, behold You Our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to You Turn your eyes to the morning And see Christ the Lion away What a glorious dawn Fear of death is gone For we carry his life in our veins Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you Behold you Our Savior ever true Oh, Jesus We turn our eyes to you Turn your eyes to the heavens Our King will return for His own Every knee will bow Every tongue will shout All glory to Jesus

Jesus, to You He lifts our eyes Jesus, our glory to our eyes We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You Jesus, to You He lifts our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You

We'll be back Wednesday night, 6 p.m. I wrote down the time to make sure I got it right this week. We are studying through the book of Colossians on Wednesday nights, also right after our service. I think everybody knows we're having lunch, so we can go down and kind of get things set up and ready to go and share a meal together. So we're thankful for that. So I'm going to pray and read a verse of Scripture, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in heaven, we thank you for Jesus and for grace, and we ask that in a world filled with distractions and worries and cares that you would help us to turn our eyes to you. We thank you for the good news of the gospel. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

At the end of the book of Revelation, it ends after John's vision with all of those things happening and ultimately seeing the victory of God over all things. It says this, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.'" And John's response to that is, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all."

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, Holy Ghost.