Christians: Would you belong to a church that refuses to read, teach, and preach particular sections of the Bible because they might be offensive to certain factions within our society? Would you take a church seriously that has a casino in the basement? Would you attend a fellowship of believers who publicly proclaim their financial support for the mission of abortion on demand? Would you faithfully commit to a fellowship that proudly encourages promiscuity, homosexuality, and invites same-sex couples to be “married�?within the sanction of the church? Would you stick around for a service that featured pictures and movies of senseless violence and pornography before and after? Would you expect a holy and righteous God who is Judge of all creation to attend to such a fellowship? I pray your answer to all these questions is an unequivocal, “No! Of course not.�?While I am sure that there are those who subscribe to every cultural paradigm shift away from Scriptural Godliness and toward those things which should not be done—I have to believe that there is still at least a remnant of believers in the United States who cling to the real foundation of a fundamental belief in the full gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here’s the problem: Even if I attend a gathering of the faithful who are devout in their striving for the righteousness of God, but I support those elements within our society who propagate so called hate crime legislation, gambling, promiscuity, homosexuality, “same sex marriage,�?abortion, and pornography then I have made their sins my own and I am bringing those sins into the camp of the true Israel. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them (Rom. 1:32; NIV). Though I may or may not ever consider any, or all, such evil practices within my own life, because I support those who do, like Achan, I have buried the ways and the stuff of the world deep within the heart of the tent of this flesh (Joshua 7). Like Israel’s defeat at Ai, I am responsible for the absence of Godly power and protection in my battles, the battles of my fellowship, and the battles of the Church Universal against the dark forces that threaten our very existence.

In First Samuel Chapters Two and Three we read about the last days of Eli’s leadership of Israel some 400 years after Joshua and Achan. While the old and venerated Judge’s 40 years of rule were marked by Godly wisdom and strength, his two sons did not follow their father in the paths of righteousness and they sinned greatly before God and before the people. In Chapter Four we learn that because of those sons Jehovah had withdrawn His protection and power from the Hebrews and they were consequently suffering defeat at the hands of the Philistines. As a last ditch effort, the Jews brought out their “secret weapon�?and they carried the Ark of the Lord (the Ark of the Covenant) out onto the battlefield. Having heard of the miraculous power of the Ark, the Philistines were duly frightened, but they desperately attacked anyway. 30,000 Hebrew soldiers were slaughtered that day, the sons of Eli were killed, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured. The news that the Ark was in enemy hands caused Eli to fall backwards and the 98 year old man broke his neck and died.

We pick up this story at verse 19: [Ely’s] daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"--because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured" (1Sam. 4:19-22; NIV). The Ark of the Covenant had been designed by Jehovah, Himself, and built under the direction of Moses. As the Mercy Seat where God met with the High Priests of Israel, the Ark was the focal point of God’s presence with His people. Although it had often symbolized God’s power during crucial moments in Israel’s past, now it was gone, and with it went God’s glory: �?I>Ichabod�?(that is; “the glory has left…�?

The wife of Phinehas did not understand that God’s glory had already departed before their defeat, before the death of her husband and her father-in-law, and that the Ark, in and of itself, had no innate, no “magical,�?power. Like the staff of Moses (Ex. 4:1-4), or the bronze snake (Nu 21:8&9), the Ark had power only because God Almighty imbued it with power. Their defeat by the Philistines was an after-the-fact manifestation and the result of God’s earlier departure due to the sinful and disobedient nature of her husband’s and his brother’s leadership during their lifetimes. Friends, the Body of Christ is the Ark of today because God has come to dwell within the individual believer and He meets each of us at the Mercy Seat of our hearts. I fear that the Church, as individuals and corporately, is confronted by defeat on the battlefields of this life because our good and Godly leaders have grown old and, as their sons and daughters, we are selling ourselves to the evil practices of foreign gods. We may still have the stuff of Christianity—the Bibles, the buildings, and the resources—but has God’s glory departed because of our sin and disobedience? Are we actually left naked, starving, and alone as we confront the enemies of God? If we have any real power it is only because God imbues us with His power through the Holy Spirit. When we look above the entrance to the sanctuary of our spirits, do we find inscribed there the word, �?I>Ichabod�?

Second Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected (NIV).

We are surrounded by men and women in positions of leadership who are connected to and support gambling, abortion, promiscuity, homosexuality, “same sex marriage,�?and pornography—Scripture is clear that we are to have nothing to do with them. As responsible Christians and as responsible citizens of the United States, we must tell all those who run for public office, and those whom we have elected, that we will not tolerate an un-Godly, an anti-Christian position on any of these issues. "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (Jn 14:23; NIV). Just as I would not make my home in a fellowship that embraces obviously sinful philosophies and activities, God will not come to dwell within me, or He will depart, if I speak of righteousness with my mouth but repeatedly practice immorality with my hands, and/or continually support evil with my head and with my heart. If we would set aside our secondary religious differences and stand up as one voice we would see this nation become a people with whom, and within whom, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit would come to dwell. In Second Chronicles 7:13 & 14 we are told that if we, the Church, will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear us from heaven and forgive us our sin and He will heal our land.

Let us make David’s prayer of Psalm 51 our own: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar. Amen.