1 Sam 4:3, When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies." 
	The Lord is using this passage to bring to the forefront of our minds the issue of how we represent the testimony of The Lord to those around us. What are the motivations and methods with which we show our interest and our dedication and our fealty to the Lord? Do we actually trust in Him to do all that is necessary to show Himself mighty and glorious? 
Or, are we, as did these Israelites, rather trusting in the works of the hands of man, trying to do it on our own without any true basis of faith and acquiescence unto the Lord? Is it truly Him Who we serve on this earth or is it our own self interests that reside in the manner of our delivery of the words we speak and the actions that we take? 
	Scripture is filled with those examples of men and women who declared that they were the Lord’s and yet they were anything but His! They acted in accordance with that which would enrich them at the sake of what others might need. There was no real concern for the manner in which the Lord was represented. It was all about what they could get from their self-elevated ruling over those who were less fortunate and less educated and less spiritual in the eyes of the governing magistrates and religious leaders of the day. 
	Rather than truly being the Lord’s ministers, and prophets, and kings and queens, these were people who had no real interest in the Lord. They had no real relationship with Him. They had no real desire to serve Him. They had no heart after Him. They just stood before the people and took what was offered to God as their own possession to do with as they so desired. 
The honor to be given to the Lord, they took for themselves. They paraded themselves in their pitiful and meager human glory. They declared through their own self-righteousness and self-elevation that their corrupted spiritual confusion would be suitable to direct the so-pitiful lives of their constituents.
	This is something which we each need to guard against in our minds and in our hearts. It is so easy to succumb to the idea that we know the Lord. We often think that we can speak for Him in our day to day walk on this earth as we so vilely proffer counsel and advice. We deceive ourselves with the idea that our relationship with the Lord is such that we can look down on those in need and in the filth and the mire of this age. 
Our eyes see them as less worthy to be the subjects of our thoughts and deeds. We easily by pass those who are struggling. We convince ourselves that we know better and we judge them with the declaration that they deserve the consequences of the choices they are making. We can haughtily dismiss them as non-consequential in the manner in which we are so blessed with all the material goods at our disposal. 
	They may need help, but we are too proud to see them as anything other than the sadly necessary dregs upon our society. Those in need simply serve to show others how great we are and how despicable they may be. We need the needy and the helpless to show our superiority in terms of our abilities and our prowess and our strength of manipulation to make a place for ourselves at the expense of what others may have to endure.
	The Lord, through the Prophet Jeremiah, has a great warning for those who so elevate themselves above others through the use of religiosity and the deceitful exploitation of spiritual devices. Please turn in your Bibles to Jer 7:3-11.
	Jer 7:3-11, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. "Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.' "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. "Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. "Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say,' We are delivered!' — that you may do all these abominations? "Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the Lord. 
	There is such an urgent caution and definitive warning in this pronouncement and yet we might just gloss over it saying to ourselves that was then. Thank God we are no longer in that position or condition. …"Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say,' We are delivered!' — that you may do all these abominations? 
	We are very much allowing ourselves to offer sacrifices to the Baals of this world when we seek after fame, fortune and worldly riches! When we are consumed with getting human praise, recognition, and any of the other tawdry and enticing temptations of this world, we are very much an abomination before the Lord. All of these human desires and idols only distract our eyes and hearts away from the Lord. They are the false gods, the idols, the Baals unto whom we offer the sacrifice of service in our lives. Our worship after these other gods makes our presence before the Lord tainted and defiled and worthless! The words of our hollow and menial supposed praise are an affront unto the Lord God Almighty!
Our statements and prayers may sound proper, but they are merely the verbal manipulations and misappropriation of any true heart-felt reverence to God. …"Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the Lord.
	The Prophet Micah, in Micah Chapter 3, puts before us the reality of the choices that we are making this very day in our lives. Consider all that corruptness that we detailed at the beginning of this message. Remember how guilty we are in our ill treatment and judgment of those who are struggling and in such dire need of the love of God! 
The Word of Jehovah stands determinedly against any who practice such vile conduct against another. These pronouncements from the very mouth of the Lord God Almighty through this prophet dare never be ignored as just the manner of some people in the Old Testament! It can very easily be the determination of our legacy on this earth! The severity of this warning must be heeded in the way we choose to honor and obey the Lord today! We are making choices which are very much akin to those which are so decried by God through Micah.
	Micah 3, And I said, "Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice? "You who hate good and love evil, Who tear off their skin from them And their flesh from their bones, And who eat the flesh of my people, Strip off their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them up as for the pot And as meat in a kettle." Then they will cry out to the Lord, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time, Because they have practiced evil deeds. Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets Who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, They cry, "Peace," But against him who puts nothing in their mouths, They declare holy war. Therefore it will be night for you — without vision, And darkness for you — without divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, And the day will become dark over them. The seers will be ashamed And the diviners will be embarrassed. Indeed, they will all cover their mouths Because there is no answer from God. On the other hand I am filled with power — With the Spirit of the Lord — And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin. Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And twist everything that is straight, Who build Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with violent injustice. Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, "Is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us." Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, And the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest. 
	We need to have those personal and deep dealings with The Lord as to how we see others! What is the manner of our treatment and our consideration of those around us? Where does our heart go when we are faced with those choices of how we prioritize our time, how we spend the money that the Lord provides, how we hoard away the food with which we satisfy our hunger, and the course manner of the words that pour forth from our mouths?  
	As well, consider the warnings issued by another who spoke from the heart of God. The parallels are unmistakable with those who are so-called “Christians” in our country. These are those who choose to show the true course of their greed and their apostasy. They practice their vile and despicable means of subjugating others to the building up of wealth and fame and earthly adoration. Please turn to the proclamation of John the Baptist as recorded in Matt 3:7-12.
	Matt 3:7-12, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves,' We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 
	Next, please consider the recorded words of Jesus, in Matt 23:25-28, as He dealt with those who were the religious hierarchy of that day. They were leading the people astray with their self-elevation as being so righteous and pious. They put themselves forward as the objects of everyone’s adoration and admiration. All were to give these learned ones the earthly honor for that which was merely an appearance of holiness. Jesus pronounced the true and eternal determination of what they were peddling to the masses in their absolute effrontery to The Lord God Almighty.
	Matt 23:25-28, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. "Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 
	The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome, Chapter 2, verses 14-16, sets before us the fact that God has written His law within the very fabric of humanity. No one can excuse the course of the action taken in one’s life. There will be no manner of accusing God of not fully showing the way that should be the course of every man, woman, and child. All have received the full knowledge, within our beings, of right and wrong. It is just that we exert the greatest of efforts to twist and manipulate it to suit our cravings and lusts! This is rather than letting it point us to our Creator and the great gift of His salvation in Jesus Christ.
	Rom 2:14-16, For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. 
	Mankind tries to twist and manipulate in order to make the words that are spoken in a spiritual setting as something that others should regard as true and trustworthy. This is in order to take advantage of those who hear and become deluded by the craftiness of humanity’s evil intentions. In a stern warning to be on guard against this the Apostle Paul wrote the following to his protégé, Timothy. 
In 2 Tim 3:1-7, the Apostle Paul details, with great precision, that which will take place in the days that signal the end of time as we know it. We are not prophesying that these are the end of days. We just need to be aware of what kind of society will be in place. 
This passage does seem to describe the corruptness of our current time, but that is not the point. What is relevant in the course of today’s passage is the fact that people will be using the Name and the instruments of God without any real knowledge or relationship with Him. They will be holding to a form of godliness, espousing all kinds of religiosity and spiritual gobbledygook. They will do so with the motivation to delude and subjugate and captivate those who can be exploited through the perversion of that which is holy and just. 
	2 Tim 3:1-7, But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
	We need to take all these warnings against the use of the Name and the Word of God with supposed prayers of holiness and piety to the Lord. We need to ask Jehovah to show us, right now, today, as His people, that which needs to be cleansed away from our thoughts and our ideas and show us what it means to be truly spiritually minded! Are we truly seeking to know more of the fullness of the risen Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of the glory of God to be in evidence and proclaimed on this earth? 
Or, are we simply using the words that we have been taught to try to show that we are someone who is so religiously versed that we deserve the praise and the glory? Are we elevating ourselves over others so that we do not even see them as worthy of our endeavors and our time and our help? Are we really Christians in the focal sense of what it means to be a slave to Jesus Christ? 
Or are we just socially and nominally called Christians because we are not Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or any other of the religious groups of this earth?
Please take to heart and to the Lord that which we read in John the Baptist’s exclamation. "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." So be it and Amen. 

	

This morning’s benediction is Rom 8:26. And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; Amen.