Where the Ark of God Was

Israel's darkest day was not the day she went into slavery in Egypt or even the failure of Kadesh Barnea. The darkest day in Israel's history is when the light went out in the Temple of the Lord and as a result she lost the Ark of God, which typified and carried the presence of God from among her midst because of unbelief, rebellion and sin among the priesthood of Eli and his sons. The church's darkest hour will also result if we as Israel of old allow the light of the Lord to go out in the temple of the Lord and we lose the presence of God. As Eli represented corrupt leadership so today men of corrupt minds have promoted a false gospel that does not provide light but is full of darkness that will damn men's souls to hell. Without the preaching of the Cross, the light of the Holy Spirit will be put out in these last days prior to the rapture. We are either headed for revival or outright apostasy depending on whether or not the lamp of God goes out in the Temple of the Lord, of which the New Testament believer stands as a type.

EDITOR'S NOTE 4/17/07 : Just hours after this journals was completed the worst U.S. shooting in history took place in Blacksburg, VA.; 32 Dead, Many Injured

If the LIGHT goes out over our nation friend, the darkness will continue to descend! The only LIGHT that can change the hearts of men is the gospel of Jesus Christ!

TEXT: 1 Samuel 3:1-4 - And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; [3] And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; [4] That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

The circumstances surrounding Samuel's prophetic call as a young child and the existing condition of Israel are a serious warning for us today in the modern church. The lamp of God was going out and soon afterward the Philistines would capture the Ark of the Covenant, which sat in the same Temple where young Samuel ministered unto the Lord. Eli, the judge and High priest of Israel at the time, was close to death and "his eyes began to wax dim," a prophetic picture of Israel's declining spiritual leadership then and our declining spiritual leadership today.

The setting was at evening time, the light from the Lamp of God, which was fueled by OIL, a type of the Holy Spirit, was shining less brightly in the temple and there was "no open vision" (revelation) to point Israel's heart to God. The writer of Samuel said the Word of God was "precious," or "rare," in those days and it is becoming more "precious," and rare in the days we live as well.

It is very unusual that the lamp of God would have been going out at the very time of day when it normally should have been freshly fueled and burning its brightest but that is exactly what happened and would set the stage for the darkest hour of Israel's history - the loss of the Ark of God. The Church can learn valuable lessons from this story as we approach the end of the church age and face the greatest onslaught of apostasy we've ever seen since the time of the Reformation.

There are many prophetic tremors being felt throughout the land today that tell us the soon coming of the Lord is near! There has NEVER been a greater time in history known to man where we sit on such great prospects for revival, yet our most dangerous hour. It is at this crossroads we speak that we will either choose apostasy and revival; in the middle of this crossroads is the LAMP in the Temple of the Lord, which speaks to us of the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost!

I would like to relate a testimony we received into our ministry just a few days ago prior to us writing this third installment of this series that speaks to the peril the modern church faces as it regards the operation and moving of the Holy Ghost.

The event we were made aware of happened at a mainline Southern Baptist church in western Tennessee. The son of the individual who sent us this email is on the staff, and is Spirit filled, as are several other former Assembly of God members who have joined, along with the music directors also. A man and wife missionary team from Brazil had returned home on a Sunday night to give their testimony which included a miraculous story of how the man's young son was recently healed of Leukemia. This man was also filled with the baptism of Holy Ghost in a prayer meeting a few weeks prior to heading to the mission field in Brazil but had not told anyone in the church until he gave the testimony concerning his son's tremendous healing.

He told the whole congregation that night, (which is a church that runs over 300), that he had been baptized in the Holy Ghost and that he spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, and about seeing miracles, healing, etc., and what was happening by the power of the Lord and Holy Ghost. His wife also said she couldn't describe what it was like when she received the Holy Ghost baptism and spoke in tongues, except to say it was like her whole life was compressed in those five minutes or so, and how glorious it was. That didn't go over well with some of the congregation were traditional Baptists, who got upset and called a meeting with the staff for two nights later about the events that night. The Pastor was out of town the night the missionaries spoke, but the son of the individual who wrote us about what took place had called and informed him what had happened, so he came back for this called meeting we speak of now.

One of the ones who strongly objected was a woman on staff who ministered with the College youth who strongly objected stating speaking in tongues and miracles were not of the church's belief system at large and then made the accusation that the man's experience wasn't real nor was his son's healing real. Her reason for stating such was, in her opinion, "those who speak in tongues are doing things that are of Satan and I just don't see God healing anyone doing such." (THIS IS HOW STUPID RELIGION CAN MAKE US) The individual who wrote us the email said her son spoke up and said, "I wouldn't say that if I were you, because you are flat wrong, I was with Him when He received the baptism of the Holy Spirit" and spoke in tongues.

The son also told those gathered that the church's Pastor had known about both the healing and the tongues issue and had no problems at all with either. He just happened to be at that same prayer meeting where the missionaries received the baptism in the Spirit!! The son asked this lady along with the others there to protest the missionaries' statements how could they can question a man's personal testimony of his own personal experience with God, when the man had seen his son healed of cancer, and was testifying of other miracles witnessed and the salvation of souls for the glory of God.

The church's Pastor was also at this called meeting and asked those questioning this man's testimony if there was anything out of order, adding it wasn't, but only a witness of what God was doing. The Pastor said if God wanted him to speak in tongues, he was open, and whatever the Lord wanted would be welcomed there! The entire discourse continued with many questioning this man's testimony and trying to prove the miracle was not of God because he testified he and his wife had recently been baptized in the Spirit and had spoke in tongues.

There were people present that night more afraid of losing their Baptist heritage that has been 'passed along' or "tradition", instead of believing and rejoicing in a miracle only made possible by the power of the Holy Ghost because this denomination does not believe in speaking in tongues. Despite this stupidity and arrogance, God is showing those who will but believe that HE IS REAL and the anointing and operation of the Holy Ghost is of HIM, not of man!!!

The lady stormed out of the meeting and "promised to try and get 'this' stopped." Well, the "this," she is trying to stop is the same "THIS," and "THAT" which took place on the Day of Pentecost as spoken by the prophet Joel and declared by the apostle Peter as to things that God would do in these last days!! Men have tried to stop "THIS" ever since and have failed to do so and men today will fail to stop "THIS" as well! It's amazing how many theologians try to rip Mark 16:16-18 out of our Bibles but friend, each time I open my Bible - it's still there!

Mark 16:16-18
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. [17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Acts 2:14-18 - But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: [15] For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. [16] But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; [17] And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: [18] And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Sadly, instead of rejoicing in what God had done in the lives of these missionaries, a lady with a RELIGIOUS spirit stuck her fist in the face of God and sought to discredit a tremendous move of God's Spirit. It's the same attitude behind the recent decisions among the Southern Baptists to prohibit their missionaries who have been baptized in the Holy Ghost from speaking in tongues during their private prayer language. GIVE ME A BREAK.

Right after this meeting, others in the church who contended against what happened contacted a second staff member in hopes the church would repudiate what the missionaries had testified too. This staff member laughed and said he had recently been to a separate conference where he heard those around him speaking in tongues, and could not say tongues were not real and certainly would not repudiate the missionaries' testimonies of their son's healing based on the fact certain people didn't want to believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost!!!!

When the staff member refused to embrace this caller's unbelief and rejection of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit the caller quickly got nasty on the phone with the staff member vowing to put a stop to both the pastor, all the staff who spoke in tongues and the ministry of these missionaries in Brazil. That's the ARROGANCE of religion and the outright demonic spirit behind what is happening among many in the Southern Baptist denomination. Let this writer be clear, this resistance is not just from the Southern Baptist but from many independents and other denominations as well. It seems however that recently much has been stated publicly within the SBC ranks rejecting that which is SCRIPTURALLY SOUND and right in the sight of God concerning the gifts and ministry of tongues as they relate to the power of the Holy Ghost.

Because the LIGHT of the Holy Spirit has been snuffed out like these few tried to do in this Southern Baptist church in Western Tennessee, entire denominations are slipping into apostasy and darkness without conscience and without care!!!! I personally don't care whether the Southern Baptist Convention pushes or teaches; I am not the judge of the Southern Baptist denomination but this group is becoming precariously close to acting like the Pharisees of old in denying the supernatural power of God and attacking everything that is of the Holy Spirit and labeling it of Satan. Jesus said this is the most dangerous of all sins - the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. Israel's religious leadership called "evil," good, and "good," evil; they called 'light,' darkness, and 'darkness,' they called light.

They exchanged that which was truly of the Lord for that which was truly of Satan and did not know the difference. What took place in this western Tennessee church came precariously close to just that - people denying the healing of boy cured from leukemia just because they don't believe in tongues, something is found throughout the WORD OF GOD as a REAL, POWERFUL and NEEDFUL part of the believer's experience in Christ.

And friend, I don't care what denomination it is - ANY spiritual leadership who actively, not just passively in ignorance, but ACTIVELY in willful and cold-hearted religious arrogance stands against the HOLY GHOST like the Southern Baptists are doing are headed for destruction and apostasy. LOOK at the SBC denomination right now and you will see the results of the darkness that is descending upon them - an onslaught of child molestation among their pastors; their leaders claiming homosexuality is now heredity, not sin; a continued "stagnation," (that is the word used by one of their own leaders, not mine) of the growth within their ranks; and a continued embracing of humanistic psychology and new age humanism in the things they promote and adhere to among their leadership.

When you are told by a Baptist pastor that preaching against 40 days of purpose is "against their theology," and that when we tell people their only deliverance in Christ is not what they believe, friend we got problems!!! That is exactly what we were told three months ago by an inner city ministry leader in this city we live and asked not to come back. We preached out of Mark 3:1-3 about the man with the withered hand who was healed by the power of God only to have the religious leadership claim what Jesus did was of Satan. We told those present, many of whom were bound by the powers of darkness of alcohol, drugs, sex, immorality, homosexuality and all sorts of other bondages that their answer was the power of the CROSS of CHRIST and the power of the HOLY GHOST and NOT self-help programs, new age guru sessions and "NOT 40-days of purpose," seminars.

Boy, did the religious devils get mad among the leadership. In spite of 11 souls coming down and being touched by the power of God, we were told a day later we would not be asked back because "we encourage folks to get involved in these type programs; you were preaching against what we promote." Well, if preaching the Cross is preaching against your program, then I stand guilty as charged. I state it again and to my top of my lungs - THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS is FOOLISHNESS to them who perish, but to those who believe, it IS the power of God.

1 Cor. 1:17-18
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. [18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

We can't claim we embrace the Cross then put our faith in the Purpose Driven Life module for deliverance. The answer to man's problem has never been JESUS "and" something else no matter how much that something else is wrapped up in religious garb. But because we are in darkness and the light has gone out in the temple of God - we don't know the difference any more and we do exactly what Israel did of old - label that which is evil as "good," and that which is truly "good," and of God, "evil," and of Satan. That friend is a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, place to be spiritually but that is the place we are in today in the modern church.

1 Samuel 3:3-4 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; [4] That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

The temple of the Lord was important for it was not only the place of the Golden Lampstand, the Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense; it was where the ark of God resided, a type and symbol of the presence of God. The correlation is simple. If the light goes out in the temple of the Lord and the ark taken as in Israel's day, we will lose something more precious than gold!

The sad thing then as it is today is that the spiritual leadership of Eli and his sons had become so backslidden and his eyes had waxed so dim he didn't even realize the care of the lamp stand had eroded to this perilous point. His sons were so wicked they could have cared less and the modern preacher who does not preach with the anointing of the Holy Ghost on his life and refuses to preach the message of the mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost could care less as well.

Let me explain that statement. One cannot preach the Cross of Christ and not preach the message of the Holy Ghost! You can't separate the Cross from the Holy Spirit; you can't separate Christ from the Holy Spirit, for it was the Holy Spirit anointing that produced the miracles in the Lord's earthly ministry. EVERYTHING He did was done as a man anointed by the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:38). When talking about the Holy Ghost one cannot separate the Holy Spirit FROM HIS GIFTS, MINISTRIES and OPERATIONS or pick and choose which ones we want to believe and which one's we don't.

Don't let people fool you. This crock that most people use as a cane for their unbelief that "well brother, if there is not an interpreter around then I just don't believe anyone should be speaking in those tongues," is just that - a crock. It's NOT about the interpreter. If there WAS an interpreter present these same people would run for the door 99% of the time should an utterance in tongues break forth. The interpreter has always been used by many to deny the validity of tongues as the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit in one's life after salvation when in fact the "gift of interpretation," is not for private devotion but for CORPORATE utterances and messages given to the BODY.

Some don't believe the Holy Spirit gives words of knowledge and words of wisdom today; some deny miracles still take place; some deny healing is available to the believer through Christ and therefore never pray for anyone to be healed by the power of God. UNBELIEF chokes out the light in the modern church and as a result wickedness and unrighteousness floods in like a river!

The lamp did not produce light on it's own - it was the OIL, a type of the HOLY GHOST, that was placed in the lamp stand that produced the light! The CHURCH is not in itself the source of the LIGHT; we are to shine to a lost world in sin and darkness! We must be filled with the Holy Ghost, who will always produce a radiance of JESUS and shine forth HIM, not the Church, to the world. There is no salvation in the church. People have their eyes on the church more than they have them on Jesus!!! There is certainly truth to the statement that those who have their eyes on Jesus will love the church - Christ LOVED the church and gave Himself for it.

However, loving the church deals with the BODY of Christ made up of every born again child of God who has been washed in the blood of the Lamb, not some apostate, great whore, system we see today parading itself as the true church. There are many in EVERY denomination that think because they belong to a church or a program or a ministry they are saved when in fact they are not! We must be BORN again! We must be FILLED with the Spirit of God. This is a daily filling, not a weekly, monthly, 10-year or 20-year experience. It's a daily walk with the Father in communion with the Son.

As a result of the light going out, the Philistines took the ark of God from Israel, set themselves in array in battle against God's people, and SMOTE Israel in defeat instead of what should have taken place and what DID take place each time God fought for Israel against her enemies!The child of God fights the same battle today against the powers of darkness, who are defeated by one power and one power alone - the HOLY GHOST who works exclusively within the parameters of the Cross of Christ. If the Holy Ghost is rejected and pushed out, thereby the lamp of God going out in the temple of the Lord, we will lose this battle!!! Millions have done so to their eternal peril and torment.

We don't war with flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness that are after our children, our grandchildren, our husbands, our wives, our families, our schools, our nation, our world, our souls! Someone wrote us a few weeks back and sardonically claimed all we talked about on this website seemed to be the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. Let this writer make it clear; we're not trying to make anyone Pentecostal. To be frank, I could care less what denomination or church you belong to. It amazes me how little preaching we hear over television about Jesus yet we hear TONS of messages about people's convictions over their denomination. We listened the other night to a Southern Baptist pastor preach just that - "Why I Am Southern Baptist."

What happened to the question, "how can I know for sure I'm born again? and going to make heaven our home" We're so worried about being Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Church of God and the like, we forget about what is MOST important! Are we saved? Have we been set free from the powers of darkness! Are we walking in overcoming victory in every area of our life? I'm telling you that the only power in this universe able to withstand the powers of darkness is the power of the Holy Ghost! And when churches fight this power they are in effect doing what Eli and his sons did in neglecting the lamp of God and allowing LIGHT to go out in the temple of the Lord! As a result, the ark of God will be lost and God's presence will be taken from our midst!!!!

1 Samuel 4:1-3
And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. [2] And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, who had set themselves in array against God's chosen people, who, in times past, had very little problems in such battles when they were right with God; now, without the presence of God, Israel was "smitten" before the Philistines leaving 4,000 men dead in this wake. After this shocking defeat the elders of Israel ask why the Lord has allowed such to happen to them.

1 Sam 4:3
3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

Our nation right now sits at a dangerous time in her history. We have witnessed during the last elections in 2006 that a deep spirit of discontent rests in the hearts of many who seem to want to throw off ALL Godly restraint from our society and elect leaders who will promote homosexuality, continue to legalize the killing of innocent babies and continue to do all things necessary to silence the true Godly voices in our nation. The SAME temperature that existed prior to 9-11-2001 exists right now concerning the attitude of the American media at large and Christians.

Lisa and I sat in a Boston airport one day before the worst terrorist attacks in our nation's history. Had Lisa flew out one day later we would have been right in the middle of this horrible tragedy that took 3,000 of our American citizens. America found out that two oceans could not protect us from Islamic terrorists flying gasoline-filled airplanes into buildings as if they were firing torpedoes. The attacks shook our nation unlike any in our history and should have sent us to our knees but it did not. Many in the mainstream media and society in general asked "why" and "how" could a religion hate us so much it would do this without provocation and warning?

It's also rather interesting that after 9-11-2001 many "elders" within the Body of Christ were asking "WHY?" and offering a myriad of reasons - none of which addressed the MORAL issues that produced this horrible event. It pained me then and it pains me NOW to hear any preacher get on television today and be asked "is Christ the only way to make heaven your home and inherit eternal life, to hear them deny the Lord and the truth. Whatever happened to Bible based repentance? What happened to us as a nation admitting our sin and declaring our need for a Redeemer and recognizing our guilt before an offended Creator? What happened to America is a mirror of what happened to the church! When the ark of God is taken and the LIGHT GOES OUT in the temple of the Lord, darkness always ensues. America stopped feeling its need for repentance because the church lost its sight and need for repentance!

We should have been asking "WHAT LORD WOULD YOU HAVE US DO??" Religion always asks, "why" this and "why" that and giving a humanistic reason for something that cannot be explained outside supernatural and divine answers! When the light is out in the temple of the Lord and there is no power, no anointing, no deliverance, no salvations, no healings, no believers being filled with the Holy Spirit, no life, no freedom. We have staggered in the dark since 9-11-2001 not sure where we are headed as a nation or as the church here in America.

Prior to 9-11-2001, we heard very little preaching of the gospel and very little warning that something was coming to America except we repent. After 9-11-2001 the tone turned patriotic for a week or so but we did not repent. Since March, 2003, and the start of the Iraq War, America has found itself fumbling at the foot of one of the world's most dangerous religions - the religion of Islam, which most in Washington look at as not threat but just a religion "hijacked," by a few radicals. Friend, what took place on 9-11-2001 was not the work of a few radicals from a peaceful religion!

Just a few weeks ago President Bush stood in front of the London press and was asked, "Mr. President, do you think that the god of Islam is the same God of Christianity?" President Bush did not hesitate and said "yes, I do." Mr. President I seriously DISAGREE! The god of Islam is NOT the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! It is like our entire nation right now sits in a fog that clouds the minds of our leaders, our Congressmen and yes our pastors and church leaders.

God warned Israel time and time again through the season of the judges such an event that took place under Eli's leadership was coming yet Israel refused to listen and kept neglecting the tending to the lamp until the light went out. Prior to 9-11-2001, God spoke through many prophets warning something was coming but those voices were few and far between and not given a national platform. Those who were given such a platform preached what men are preaching today - a soothing, self-help appeal to America to better themselves, while ignoring the very enemy within seeking to destroy this proud nation. If the church allows the light go out in the Temple of the Lord, the nation will wind up in darkness.

The church should be speaking with CLARITY as to WHY America is sinking into this darkness but we are in just as much darkness ourselves! When sodomites stand behind pulpits and lead singing and there is not rebuke and outrage, friend we are in darkness! When preachers of the gospel, who should know better, get on national television and deny that Jesus Christ is the only way men may be saved, we're in darkness! When churches throw out the Word of God and replace it with a self-help book that is full of half-truths, outright lies and pushes people away from the Cross of Christ, friend we're in darkness!

The church failed to speak with clarity after 9-11-2001 and its refusing to speak with clarity NOW. When one of America's most prominent black pastors gets on national television and denies God had anything to do with 9-11 or Hurricane Katrina in 2005, then we're in darkness friend! Warning a nation to repent of its sin or face judgment is never easy and it seems politically "incorrect," these days. Friend, more serious events are coming to America, mark it down and once again men will look for answers why our nation will suffer such calamity. The question is, "what will the church answer?" When Israel asked the question concerning their defeat at the hands of the Philistines, there was no answer given; and as America sinks into greater apostasy and darkness, no answer is coming from those who HAVE the answer in Jesus Christ! When the light goes out, we wind up in darkness friend!

1 Sam 4:3-6 - Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.

The elders go fetch the ark with little respect for the presence of God but only as an "object," they thought would save them in this battle against their sworn enemy. That is what the modern church world is doing today - worshipping objects and not respecting the presence of God. Upon Israel's spiritual leadership fetching the Ark, the people shout so loud that the scripture declared, "the earth rang again." The Philistines hear it, and respond how the world responds to the modern church world today, "WHAT DOES THIS NOISE MEAN??"

Without the TRUE anointing and touch of the Holy Spirit, that is about what our worship and activity sounds like to the world today - NOISE; noise that makes people's ears tingle and probably soothes the flesh but does NOTHING to change the hearts of sinful men and bring LIGHT to a society that sits in darkness!!! When the ark of God is taken from among us, our churches lose the presence of God and become just buildings with people in them. As the woman in Samaria, we know NOT what or WHO we worship. We have substituted TRUE worship for ungodly entertainment. We have substituted HOLY GHOST inspired and unction-based preaching for user-friendly sermons that no longer convict but make people feel comfortable in their condition. This is spiritual DARKNESS and adultery!!

Woe Unto Us, For God Has Come Into This Camp....Be Strong And Fight Like Men!

1 Samuel 4: 7-11 - And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. [8] Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. [9] Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. [10] And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. [11] And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

The Philistines understood the ark of the Lord had come into the camp and were frightened of it!. If the world can understand it, why can't preachers of the gospel discern when the ark has left??? I want to ask that question again. If the enemy of the Lord KNEW and understood when the ARK OF THE LORD came into the camp, why is it that so-called preachers of the gospel cannot discern when the ark has LEFT US?????? We sing our songs and the HOLY GHOST is not there. We preach our sermons without Holy Ghost unction and anointing, Jesus stands outside our churches begging to come in and MOVE on hearts and we keep preaching and keep singing and keep doing everything else without THOUGHT on conscience!

God help us, God help us. Revival is not found in a man running up and down an aisle or bringing in a "specialist" to preach a few minutes. It's a move from heaven, an outpouring of the Holy Ghost on our hearts and souls, our homes, our churches, our LIVES!

The power of the ark of the Lord scared the Philistines. They were afraid of the God of Israel. But instead of running, their fear turned them into men who figured if they were going to go down to this God of Israel, they would go down like men and fight to the death. NEIGHBOR, this is the nature of the battle we are seeing formed before us in in these last days. This fight is for the souls of men that is neither fair nor is it without causalities. People are dying. People are getting hurt. People are wounded in their spirits. Our children are perishing as Hophni and Phinehas were. Our foundations are being attacked. People are departing from the faith, giving HEED to seducing spirits and doctrines of DEVILS. Christian homes are busting at the seams. Homosexuals are being promoted and pushed into leadership without even a blush among our leadership that this is wicked, sinful and WRONG in the sight of God.

This is not a Sunday school picnic or tidily winks. This is eternity. This is spiritual warfare. It's not cowboys and Indians. It's the conflict of the ages that we are in the middle of and the only power on this planet that will keep us in this fight and out of darkness and despair is the power of the HOLY GHOST!

1 Samuel 4:12-16 - And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. [13] And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. [14] And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. [15] Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. [16] And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

A man from the tribe of Benjamin runs from the army back to Eli and the people in Shiloh where the tabernacle and ark of God once resided. The Bible says Eli "trembled for the ark of God," but it was too late - the ark was already gone.

Preacher it will be too late to tremble for the presence of God when it's gone. You can keep preaching your unbelief and your sardonic sarcasm of the things of the Spirit to your people, but the presence of Almighty God will depart from your church. The church needs to be trembling before the ARK OF GOD NOW before the lamp of God goes out in the temple of the Lord!

The presence of God is what gives us the LIGHT in the person of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost brings anointing, He brings healing, He brings deliverance, He brings power, He brings truth, He brings conviction; preacher if you have a "barren altar" problem - GET THE HIGH SHERIF OF HEAVEN BACK IN THE CHURCH and you'll be surprised how much different your altar service will be!!!

Eli sat by the wayside "watching," long after he and his backslidden, decadent sons had let the light go out in the Temple of the Lord. That's what we seem to be doing a lot of today - "watching" in the church. "Watching" for this fad, and watching for that fad and when something new comes along after these other fads, we watch and chase after that. Over the past few years the church world has brought in Purpose Driven Life modules that we somehow foolishly think will streamline our churches and bring it into modern times. Neighbor, the Holy Ghost don't need the PDL to streamline our churches. He has ALWAYS been in vogue and in step with the heartbeat of heaven. What has been out of sync and out of step is unbelieving, cynical, backslidden, mossy back preachers and ministry leaders who stuck their fingers in the face of God and said "we don't want that Holy Ghost stuff here," as one pastor arrogantly and cynically boasted to me not too long ago. My question is just what "stuff" do we want in our churches? Christian rock concerts? Bingo games? Polka dances??

The messenger ran home with his clothes rent when he found the leadership (ELI) by the wayside watching. That is a picture of the two streams in the Body of Christ today. There is a group of people right now as I write this in deep intercession and travail for the days we are living in. These people know the power of the Holy Ghost, walk in the gifts of the Spirit, have the character of Jesus, the heart of a praying Daniel, the humility of a weeping Jeremiah, the worship of a King David, and the wisdom of King Solomon. They have been to the wilderness and been pushed aside by most of the outward, visible church. Most are lampooned and mocked behind closed doors; some are attacked more openly as these missionaries from Brazil were we spoke of at the beginning of this message. No matter the opposition however, they go on, pressing on to the high calling of God, listening, watching, waiting on the voice of the Holy Ghost before they move or do anything. They are willing to wait on the Lord for all things and if necessary be like the messenger - unknown with rent clothes - a type of the obscurity that comes from Holy Ghost intercessory ministry.

Many of these same people will never be household names over TBN but they are heroes of the faith in the eyes of Heaven! They know God and when they come across those lost and without God they are always quick to give a reason for the hope that is within them. They don't need witnessing classes to teach them how to witness. They don't need leadership classes to teach them how to lead. They don't need a PDL module to find their purpose. They are dead to themselves, risen WITH CHRIST, setting their hearts on things above, not below, and they are DEAD for all practical purposes to ALL things carnal and natural but alive to Jesus through the power of the HOLY GHOST. Their life is HID WITH GOD IN CHRIST and full of the HOLY GHOST. Hell trembles when they pray and preach! Sadly, these persons are usually turned out of most churches and labeled as divisive because they don't march to the drum of this fake unity most are pushing in the church today.

Col. 3:1-4
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. [2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. [3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Another stream sadly is like Eli. They preach a gospel that requires nothing, says nothing and does nothing. Their preaching has no unction, no power, no tinge that it is a word from heaven, and as a result preach without ANY true eternal results. They may move the crowd with their eloquent speech and may even get people to come forward because of their promised charisma - but they are, like Jude called them, "waging seas without foam," and "clouds without water!" They sit and WATCH and hope things happen. They watch for the denominations they belong to for the latest church growth fads to make our church rolls grow and remain full. However, all the while the lamp of God has gone out and the ark of God has been taken from the house of the Lord!! Eli didn't know what had happened and we don't know what has happened today! He asks the young messenger, "What is there done, my son,?" a question we need to ask ourselves today!

1 Samuel 4:17
And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

The messenger returns to Eli with three statements that show us what will happen if the light of the lamp goes out in the temple of the Lord:

If the light goes out in the temple of the Lord as it did in Israel's day I can guarantee you that there will be great slaughter among the people. We're not talking so much physical death as much as we are spiritual death, but in reality if we lose our way as the church, in reality there will be a great onslaught of BOTH!

Listen to me friend. The church's NUMBER ONE OUTREACH and ministry is the LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL. It's not entertainment. It's not sports. It's not even leadership conferences as important and great as those may be. The church's main outreach and ministry is NOT even displaying the gifts of the Spirit for the world to see as wonderful as that may be as well. IF THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT are not pointing people to Jesus then that church or individual ministry is more than likely chasing "another spirit" or "spirits" instead of the HOLY GHOST!

2 Cor. 11:3-4 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. [4] For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

We recently did a tape regarding abortion and Dr. Raymond Finney stated that nearly 42 MILLION babies have died since Roe V. Wade was passed in 1973. That was the law the Supreme Court upheld which basically legalized abortions in this nation. Aids has claimed nearly 1 million people worldwide. Deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide are in the millions as well. NEIGHBOR THERE IS A GREAT SLAUGHTER AMONG US.

People are dying in sin and their only hope is the mighty gospel of Jesus Christ. You can close every abortion clinic in America and pass every anti-Abortion law you want to but sad to say that will NOT STOP ABORTION! Abortion will be stopped when the hearts and lives of the people involved in this - the man, the woman and the doctor - are changed by the power of God and set free from sin by the BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! We cannot legislate freedom. Law has never saved anyone nor will ever save anyone today. Yes, we need law. Law is the fabric of society and God-ordained. But when it comes to spiritual matters, the law only does us good if our hearts are in tune with THE LAW - the laws of GOD!

Violence corrupts this earth. Men kill each other for things like stop watches and less money than you would need to purchase a coke. There is a great slaughter among us. Suicide rates are going up - even in the church - because the LIGHT IS GOING OUT! THE LIGHT IS GOING OUT! THE LIGHT IS GOING OUT! Neighbor, when spiritual leadership within our churches resist the HOLY GHOST, we are putting out the LIGHT!!!

Church, if the light goes out in our fellowships and congregations, the people who will die first are our own people! The world which already sits in darkness will ultimately perish as well. Judgment BEGINS at the house of GOD FIRST! The church has been placed on this earth to be the LIGHT that brings men out of the darkness of sin! There is no other substitute!

Secondly, when the light goes out in the temple of the Lord, our children will perish. The generation of young people in our churches right now are BORED with what they see and feel. That is why we have had to resort to all sorts of foolishness to keep their attention and attendance in our churches. It used to be that the power of God was enough to keep them. They saw things like people getting healed, people getting delivered, people getting saved, people receiving the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. Those are SPIRITUAL matters that will keep them. If we have to entertain them to get them in we will have to keep entertaining them to keep them. That is not God's WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God's way is for the light of His Spirit to burn so brightly and powerfully that all those who come into the sanctuaries of our churches and tabernacles of our fellowship will feel the ILLUMINATION of the Spirit and want to return.

Contrary to what you've been told the youth are NOT the church of tomorrow. Friend, we are not promised tomorrow. They are part of the church TODAY! They are a vital part of what the Lord is doing in Planet EARTH now! We can't wait for tomorrow to teach them righteousness and holiness and show them the power of God in our lives. The sons of Eli perished because of sin and the fact that the LIGHT was going out in the temple of the Lord. Our sons and daughters are perishing too.

I've said this recently and I will say it again. If the church of the living God doesn't stop fighting the Holy Ghost we are going to get what we ask for!!!!!!