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Raising Ebenezers
Introduction
1. The hymn, “O Thou
Fount of Every Blessing,” # 420 raises curiosity
2. second
verse, which begins, “Here I raise my Ebenezer.”
3. What in the world is
an Ebenezer
Why am I raising it?
What is it?
I. What is it?
A. In the time of Samuel
1.
a. Exodus from
b.
All the while, God had watched over
her and given her victories over enemies
c. For
all this help, God had been repaid with grumbling
and complaining, and an unwillingness to exterminate the
heathen nations and their idols
d.
For 20 years during Samuel’s life,
the ark of the covenant was not even in
but was exiled to Beth Shemesh and
Kirjath Jearim,
The
nation was continually threatened by the Philistines
Weakened
Read - 1 Samuel 7:1-14
B. “Ebenezer” is Hebrew for “Stone of Help,”
1. Significance
for Samuel:
“Thus
far the Lord has helped us”
2. He
raised up that stone, not as an idol,
a. memorial
to God’s supernatural care
b. gratitude
3. Following the raising of the Ebenezer:
a. Because of the nation’s penitence; and that
gratitude the Ebenezer stone
expressed
b. the enemy was
subdued
c. further skirmishes
were prevented
B. Interesting that all this happened near Mizpah
1. Jacob had set up one of his own Ebenezers there long ago (called
2. Jacob’s Stones of Help - Gen. 28:10-22
3. Jacob had not shown much interest in God
but the Lord
4. Jacob awakes - his attitude toward God is
changed
5. Sets up his stone pillow
a. as a memorial
to this night and the “house of God”
b. this stone
signifies a covenant between man and God
c. God and Jacob renewed this covenant in
Gen. 35
C. Joshua’s Stepping Stones: Joshua 4:1-7,
19-24
1. In their journey
into
a. had come to a
great boundary (river
b. God helped them to cross
stopping up the river miraculously
2. When
they reached the other side, the Lord sent them back into the river to collect
some stones that would serve
as an Ebenezer to this great event and the one that preceded it, the parting
and crossing of the
3. These stepping stones of
II. Practical Applications
A. Raising Ebenezers
1. I am not suggesting we build rock garden
monuments –
to raise up stone pillars literally
2. I will encourage you to do so figuratively
today
a. raise up
memorials to the providential care of God
b. ever be
reminded of all he has done for you
c. to instruct
your children & grandchildren
B. HOW?? --- We can raise
up “stones of help”
1. like Samuel when
we stop to reflect on how God has preserved us
2. When we tell our children, grandchildren,
each others children
3. We can build up
4. we can assemble
our stepping stones for
future generations to study, to show how God has led us to where we are
today
5. If we don’t, these lessons will be lost
on them and us
B. “Here I raise MY Ebenezer”
1. What should YOUR Ebenezer show?
2. Count Your Blessings
a. Samuel raised that Ebenezer because he
saw how richly God had blessed him and the people of
b. How
hard is it for the people of spiritual
Paul preached that God “did not leave
himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and
fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts
James wrote that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow of turning” (1:17).
More……………..
Even the poorest person among us is physically blessed beyond the dreams of any
of the early Christians
Spiritually, we have a greater blessing also in that the entire
Bible has been collected for our age……….
………….. they were receiving it only a piece at a time
We have an opportunity to raise our Ebenezer every time the weekly
offering is made…..it is the divinely appointed time for each saint to count
his blessings: 1 Cor. 16:1-2
a. how will you know what to give
to the collection unless you first take
time to assess how God has prospered
you that week?
b. This act of worship
should broaden our inventory of all the ways the Lord has prospered us
c. Counting your
blessings in this way gives
you one more blessing: a grateful heart ready to share
C. Gratitude Is An
Anchor
1. After Samuel set up his Ebenezer
a. he found the
Philistines defeated,
b. peace on the
horizon
c. a restoration
of what
2. Gratitude is an anchor that
assures future blessing
a. gives birth to
a sense of contentment rather than anxiety (Col. 3:15)
Col.
3:15, And let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in
one body; and be thankful.
3. God does not bless us just to hear a “thank-you,”
a. an expression of gratitude goes a
long way in showing him that you are deserving and capable
of receiving future blessings
b. we have much for which to be thankful: 1 Thess. 5:16-18
1 Thess. 5:16-18, Rejoice always; (17) pray without ceasing; (18)
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Philip’ns 4:6, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
D. Build The House of the Lord
1. Jacob
promised to build the house of the Lord when he set up his pillar of stones,
a. reference to
the nation of
2. One way that we
show our reverence for God is to build up
his house today: READ 1 Peter 2:1-5
a. like the
living sacrifices of Romans 12:1-2,
1) be an integral
part of the church
2) not a spare
brick
b. we must build
up the church on the foundation of the apostles and prophets
1) on their
inspired words and records
2) not on our own
traditions
3) READ Eph. 2:19-22
3. Build for the future: READ
Matt. 7:24-27
a. making applications of Christ’s doctrine
b. Speaking
of those who have already become Christians
c. Denominations
– anyone building by their own plans - are building on the sand
d. storms of trial will afflict both
1) but the one who
has on the rock will be able to withstand
4. Building
plans always plan for expansion
a. Instruct Future Generations
b. We
are encouraged to raise our young in the nurture and admonition of God (Eph.
6:4),
c. we must look
to concrete reference points to show them how God has blessed us
1) if we moan and complain about the Christian life - they will
not choose it
2) if we circumvent the word and go our own way, they, too,
will rebel against God
d. Teach
our children to look around them when they pray and praise God for all they
have!
1)
physically and spiritually
e. we must use the language of gratitude
1) as a stepping stone through the Jordan
and a memorial
Conclusion
Be sure to raise an Ebenezer today and every day.