I Samuel 7:9-12 (NKJV)

9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day,

I Samuel 7:9-12 (NKJV)

and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

If It Ain’t Broke…I Samuel 7:9-12

If It Ain’t Broke… There is probably nothing more

frustrating than when something breaks

Our kids got a trampoline for Christmas…

We obviously only fix things or work on them if they are broke

If It Ain’t Broke… You don’t spend money to work

on or replace something that is working just fine

The same goes for most everything in life

If your system of doing things works, then why change it?

If It Ain’t Broke… How about our spiritual life? There may be times when things

aren’t going like they should That’s usually when we spend

some time in self examination We find what’s wrong and do our

best to fix it

The Israelites The Israelites were often broken They have never been credited

as being the brightest bunch They also have never been

tagged as the most faithful to God in their existence upon this earth

There was often a formula there

The Israelites We see that formula laid out in I

Samuel 7 Israel’s disobedience to God had

given place to the Philistines Following 2 prior defeats at the

hand of the Philistine army, the Israelites were told what to do to be victorious

The Israelites They followed the command from

Samuel and God gave them the victory over the Philistines

Following this Samuel raises up a stone and calls it Ebenezer

“Thus far the Lord has helped us”

(v. 12)

The Israelites As long as the Israelites were

obeying God, He was with them and helped them

When they turned from Him, He also turned away from helping them

God had helped the Israelites through so much in their existence

God’s Help Just a few chapters earlier, the

Philistines were recounting; something that the Israelites should have been doing

The Philistines recognized that God had helped the Israelites against the Egyptians (4:8; 6:6)

God’s Help It’s a shame that others saw

what God had done, but the Israelites seemed to always forget it

When God defeated the Philistines, the COI were grateful

So the stone was set up to signify God’s help

God’s Help A quick look back would have

revealed:• God led them out of slavery

• God led them through the Red Sea

• God destroyed the Egyptians

• God sustained them in the wilderness

• God brought them to the Promised Land

God’s Help The Israelites would not have been

where they were had it not been for God

As long as they were willing to serve God faithfully (and Him alone), He was willing to help them

This stone was set up to memorialize that fact

God’s Plan Worked What Israel must have

recognized that day was that God’s plan always worked

Never could they look back over their history and see where God’s way didn’t work

Yet they continued to try to change the plan to suit themselves

God’s Plan Worked God said to worship Him alone,

but they brought in foreign gods God commanded adherence to

His law, yet they followed it only when it suited them

God prescribed certain ways to do things, yet they changed it over and over

God’s Plan Worked It’s clear to us that God had a

plan that worked God commanded, they obeyed,

He blessed them We can see where they went

wrong…it always happened when they strayed from His commands

What About Us? Are we guilty of trying to fix what

isn’t broken? God’s will was established 2,000

years ago, yet it’s still relevant today

However, it seems as though most are itching to change God’s word and will

What About Us? Many are trying to change the

way God is worshipped Many more are changing the way

salvation is achieved Those claiming to be God’s

children are eliminating commands of God because they aren’t popular

What About Us? Is it the gospel that changes

people’s lives today (Rom. 1:16) or is it the show we put on to attract them to come and hear a watered down version of it?

Many wish to change what isn’t broken because they simply haven’t tried it

What About Us? God has brought His church

forward for 2,000 years His church will continue through

adherence of the plan He laid down

Are we wasting time trying to improve what is already perfect, or will we continue with what works?