Title: God of Help, Ebenezer
Contents
God of Help, Ebenezer
(1 Samuel 7:7-14)
What was the most memorable thing about the past year? Among them, what was God's help, and what appeared as a failure? And what happened to them now?
Today's message consists of praising and giving thanks to God (Ebenezer-Stone of Help) who helped Samuel win the war against the Philistines, and through this, our church and the members of the Church and the members of the Church have lived (war) of the past year. ), I hope it will be a time to remember and thank God for the grace that has brought us up to this point. Also, I sincerely hope that you will continue to receive the grace of God's help, starting in 2011, and that you will be able to obtain the secret. Then what was the Ebenezer event at that time? (verse 12)
First, it was an incident where God received a cry of prayer (verse 9). At that time, the Philistines were enemies tormenting Israel, and they attacked not too long ago (1 Samuel 4:2-11), took the land and the ark, and killed Hophni and Phinehas. At this time, Samulel had the Israelites gather at Mizpah to realize their sins through the failure of the war and ask God for forgiveness. Then the Philistines, who were afraid when they saw the Israelites gathering at Mizpah, attacked again and put Israel in danger.
But this time, the people of Israel came to Samuel and prayed to God and begged God to save him, and in the end Samuel cried out to God and received an answer. It was a precious event of faith that was resolved by praying to God for a problem that could not be solved by fighting against it.
Second, Ebenezer was an event that God gave victory (verse 10). In verse 9, God heard the cry of Samuel and Israel and clearly answered them. He also defeated the Philistines according to the content of his cry. When we remember that God answers prayers, not always Yes, but sometimes He says No, and sometimes He says Wait. Please remember.
Third, it was an event that made us overcome the pain of failure (verses 13-14). As I said above, it was here that Israel was defeated by the Philistines not long ago. For Israel, it was a place of pain, trial, and sorrow. However, God did not leave it as it is, but raised it up again from there and made it victorious on the spot. It was a victory that was so precious that it cannot be compared with any other victory.
Dear brothers and sisters, there must have been many moments in the past year when we gained valuable victories like today's Word. If so, thank you more and hope that next year we will be able to glorify God with even greater victories. But some may still be in a state of fierce fighting. If so, I hope that you will once again take a deep look at the secret of victory today and experience a great recovery in the current fight.
In addition, we all do our best to the end and give thanks greatly, and I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will pave the way for 2011 greatly. Amen.