In the first book of Samuel,
the Prophet Samuel, we read the account of Hannah, the wife of
Elkanah, who was barren, her desire for a son, her prayer
that the Lord would grant her a son. We read the wonderful
way in which the Lord gave her a son, Samuel, who she then gave
to the Lord's service. That son was given to go and
serve God in the house of Eli the priest, where he ministered
unto God in that house. But that house into which he
entered, in which he grew up, was a wicked house. For the sons
of Eli were those that indulged in wickedness. They made a mockery
of the things of God. They loved not God, they knew
not God. and God's angel was kindled against
them in Eli's house. And yet this was the house in
which Samuel served God. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel we read
that 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, 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, that the Lord called Samuel,
and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli and said,
Here am I, for thou callest me. And Eli said, I called not. Lie
down again. And he went and lay down. And
the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to
Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered,
I called not, my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did
not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again
the third time. And he arose and went to Eli
and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived
that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto
Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that
thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel
went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and
called us at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered,
Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears
of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will
perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house. When I begin, I will also make
an end. For I have told him that I will
judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because
his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not. and
therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity
of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. And Samuel lay until the morning
and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared
to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said,
Samuel, my son. And he answered, here am I. And
he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee?
I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more
also if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he
said unto thee. And Samuel told him every wit,
and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And Samuel grew, and the Lord
was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel
was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared
again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself
to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. Eli said, it is
the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Samuel here, the prophet who
anointed David is presented to us in various respects as figurative
of Christ. As with many of the types and
figures in the Old Testament, they have many different levels.
In preceding David, he could be figurative of John the Baptist,
who preceded the coming of Christ. But in certain ways, he's a figure
of Christ. He's that son born unto Hannah,
who's set apart to the service of God, given up for God's service
to minister in God's house. just as Christ would come, the
Son of God, born of a virgin, set apart for God's work. Christ
the Saviour, God made man, did not come for his own ends. He
did not live for his own glory. He did not serve himself. He
did not live to build up his own riches. but he came to serve
his father. At the age of 12, Christ the
boy, Jesus was found by his parents in the temple, asking questions
and answering questions of the priests and the scribes in the
temple. And when asked what he was doing
there, how he had left his parents and stayed in Jerusalem, He said
he must be about his father's business. He knew why he had
come. He had come as a servant of his
father. He'd come serving his lord and
father. And he came into this world to
serve his father by being a priest and an offering and a sacrifice
for sinners. He came into this world, into
a world which hated Him and despised Him, into a world which knew
Him not, into a world which rejected Him. He came into this world
to die for that people whom He loved, to die for those ones
whom His Father gave unto Him, His elect, the chosen, those
whom He loved, those sinners, those rebellious wicked sinners
who wanted him not, who knew him not, who cared not for him
for who he was and for what he would do, who shut their ears
to his gospel and do so today, but he came for sinners to die
in their place upon a tree, to take the judgment of their sins
upon his head, to drink up the cup of God's wrath, that they
deserve to drink, to drink it up to the dregs, to die in their
place, that they who are dead in trespasses and sins should
live. That they who were corrupt with
sin from head to toe should in Christ be made to be the righteousness
of God. He came to serve. He came to
serve his father and he came to do that service which would
serve his people and set them free who were bound fast by the
captivity of sin and the judgment which sin brings. Are you bound
fast by your sin? Does the judgment of God ring
over your head for your evil deeds? Have you rebelled against your
parents? Have you rebelled against your
maker, the Lord God? Have you gone after your own
ways? Do the hours of your days tick away to that day when your
life will be brought to a close and when judgment will rain down?
Is that your journey? Is that your pathway? Will it
if it is? have you heard of that one, that
son that was born as a servant of his father who came to save
sinners such as you who was set apart for the service of God
set apart this child Samuel set apart as
a figure of Christ set apart as a servant of God ministered
unto the Lord before the priest Eli He was born into Eli's house. But what a house to be born into.
What a house of corruption. Eli was the priest, yes, but
his sons, Phineas and Hophni, brought shame upon that house
and shame upon their father, who failed to correct them. who
failed to deal with them as he should. He tolerated the evil
which they did. They defiled the house of God.
They defiled the ways of God. The sacrifices of God. They defiled
their position. They knew not God. They had an
appearance. They walked before God as the
sons of the priest. They looked religious before
other men. They took priest's offices. And
yet they were evil, they knew not God. They knew not God and they kindled
God's anger against them. And yet this is the house into
which Samuel entered. This is the house. Just like that people to which
Christ came. Christ had a people, a nation,
a nation of Israel. chosen in this world set apart
for him as a figure of that true Israel for whom he would die
and save but that natural people Israel though they had the appearance
though they had the form when he came into this world they
knew not God and he came into a house which was wicked and
he grew up amongst a people who were wicked and knew him not,
a people who wanted him not, a people who rejected him and
despised him, just like this house of Eli. And yet though
all around him despised him and hated him, he served God in the
midst of a wicked generation. Here's Samuel in Eli's house.
despite the sons of Eli. He grew up serving God. He grew up well. God's hand was upon him. And
there came this night when the young child Samuel went to sleep
and he heard a voice. He heard a voice. There are many
voices which we hear Many things which are said. Many voices in
this world which would tell us to do this and to do that, to
go here and to go there. Many voices to entice, many voices
to instruct, many voices to distract. Many voices presenting these
opinions and those opinions. Many things to be heard. But
on this day, Samuel heard a voice like none other. He heard the
voice of the living God for the first time in his life. Oh, he
knew he was in Eli's house. He knew he was there to serve
God. But though he'd heard of him
with the outward ear, he'd never heard his voice himself. You
can grow up in a house, in a home that leads you to hear the gospel. You can grow up in a home where
your parents take you to hear the gospel preached and where
they read the scriptures to you and tell you of Jesus Christ.
You can hear of God from a young age and you can hear of him with
the outward ear and you may be able to say, oh I know who Jesus
Christ is. and i know that he died upon
a cross and i know that he rose again the third day and i know
that he rose again because he came to save sinners and that's
why he died and having died he rose again in power i know these
things and you can have heard these things from others from
your parents from preachers by reading the word of god but you
can still have reached that day where you've never heard the
voice of god you know not god And yet, here came a day in Samuel's
life where he no longer heard about God, but he heard a voice
calling unto him. The Lord called Samuel and he
answered, here am I. And yet he did not know it was
God. His natural reaction was to run unto Eli. He thought Eli
was calling him, and he said, here am I, for thou callest me.
And Eli said, I call not. Lie down again. And he went and
lay down. And the Lord called yet again.
Samuel called him by name. And Samuel knew it not. He thought Eli was calling him.
And he went back to Eli. Here am I, for thou didst call
me. And he answered, I call not, my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel
did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him. He'd heard all about God, he'd
heard about God from Eli. He knew about God, but he didn't
know God himself. And he'd never heard the voice
of God truly calling to him personally by name. And when he began to
hear, he did not know it. He thought it was Eli. So the
Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose the
third time and went to Eli and said, here am I for thou didst
call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord
had called the child. That the Lord had called the
child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, go lie down. And it shall be, if he call thee,
that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel
went and lay down in his place. Yes, when Samuel heard the voice
of God, he ran to man. He thought this was man speaking.
He thought this was of man. He did not recognize it. He'd
never heard this voice before. And how like us this is. When
God speaks, when he speaks unto us, when he speaks through circumstances
unto us, when he brings events to pass in our lives, when he
begins to deal with us, we think it's all of man, we think it's
all natural. He starts to sound alarm against our sins. He starts to make the thunder
clouds gather and the rumbles of the thunder in the circumstances
of our life come and things don't go our way but troubles come
and things go wrong. Illness comes our way, bereavement
comes our way, financial ruin and trouble comes our way. Simple
things go wrong. All the events of life which
seem to cross our path and seem to cross us and go against us,
all we can see behind them are natural events and hand of
men. Someone says something against
us and we get angry with that person. Something goes against
us and we get angry at the circumstance. Who causes it? We blame men,
we blame others. We blame circumstances, we become
frustrated. But we're slow to see the hand
of God behind them. And we're slow to hear the voice
of God calling through them unto us. When things go wrong, we
blame men, we blame circumstances, we find something to blame, never
ourselves. Always somebody else. And when
we run for help, we always run to others. We never run to God. We go this way and that way.
Samuel ran to Eli, you called me. It was you. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. All things are
in God's hands. all things in this world, everything
that comes our way, every circumstance of life is from a sovereign God
who rules over all. We have seen this week the examples
in the middle of summer of the strange weather in our day, flooding
here all over the country, dreadful floods in Russia that have brought
the lives of many to be taken away. God is constantly at work
in this world, constantly speaking through events and circumstances
and the world shuts its ears. And the world goes to its science
books and puzzles and works out what will happen. Why are these
things? And the world blames this person and that person.
Why did you let this happen? Why didn't you prevent this?
And the world goes to this person and that person for help. And
we do the same. And believers do the same. Things
come about and we're so quick to run to man for help. So quick
to run to our friends and our family. Before we get down on
our knees and call out to God. And say unto God, speak. for
thy servant hereof. And yet behind all events and
all circumstances there is one who moves and one who speaks. God speaks and it is done. He
says I will send a storm there and it happens. I will blow the
wind there and it happens. He says I will take away the
life of this one and it's taken. No man can stand in his way.
He causes life to be given. He causes babies to be born.
Here was Hannah Barron. God brought that child into this
world. And here were the wicked sons
of Eli. God destroyed them. He gives life and He takes away
life. He heals and He wounds. He creates
good and He creates evil. He works over all things. And
all things work together for the good of those that love the
Lord. All things work together. He
is speaking through events. He is speaking through circumstances. And He is speaking through His
gospel, by His Son, through His Spirit. and we shut our ears. We hear the gospel and we say
that's man's words. We hear the scriptures and we
say that's the writings of men. And God speaks to this evil generation
and evil world and the voice speaks and the world says it's
just tales. The world says it's just myths.
The world picks up the scriptures and say this isn't true and yet
God says this is the truth. His speech is there. And how
swift we are to run unto man. And yet this was not man speaking,
this was God speaking. Eli told him, go and listen,
it is the Lord. So he went and lied down. And the Lord came, and stood,
and called us at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered,
Speak for thy servant hereof. Speak for thy servant hereof.
His father, the Lord God, spake. The voice he heard was the voice
of God. Not Eli, not a man, but God's
voice. God's voice. The Father. The Heavenly Father. Christ of whom Samuel here is
a figure, set apart for God's service. lived a life of faith
in which he walked before his father, in which daily he communed
with his father, and he heard a voice calling unto him in his
heart each and every day. That voice was not the voice
of those around him, but that voice was the voice of his father. He walked before his father,
he heard his father's words, he declared unto man the words
of God his father, his heavenly father. His Heavenly Father. Christ ran not to man to find
out the Word of God, but He walked by faith before God and He declared
what God told Him. And Samuel the prophet here heard
the Word of God, and that's the Word he was sent with. As a prophet,
that's the Word he was sent to declare. Not man's Word, God's
Word. There are many who call themselves
prophets and preachers, who get their words from books and from
other men, who put these things together and stand up and declare
many things, many things which may be true, many things about
Jesus Christ and his gospel, but they've never heard it from
God. It's all from man. Not so with
Samuel. He heard the word of God. And
when he spake, not one of his words fell to the ground. And Samuel grew and the Lord
was with him and did let none of his words fall to the ground,
because what he spake was the word of God. When we want to hear God's word,
we tend to run to men to tell us. We go to men to be our intercessor. So many in professing Christianity
and religion, go to men to find out God's ways. In the Catholic
Church, they have their priesthood, their false priesthood, which
mimics the Old Testament priesthood that God has done away with.
And they go to these priests to be their intercessor between
them and God. But in God's Gospel, in Christ,
we have no intercessor but Christ. We can run to Christ and hear
the voice of the Father through him. We're bid to go to the Father. We've no need of a priest on
earth for our priest is in the heavens. Christ is our intercessor. He ever liveth to make intercession
for his people. We can go and we can hear God's
speech unto us through Christ, if we know Christ. Do you know
Christ? Have you heard God's voice through
him, through his gospel? What voices are you listening
to? Who are we listening to? Which voice? Man's or God's? The word of men or the word of
God? Are we running to Eli every time
we hear something? What do we say? Speak Lord, for
thy servant heareth. Has God put faith in our hearts
to listen to a voice greater than any man's? When Eli heard what Samuel had
been told, he said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth
him good. It is the Lord. The Lord. Is ever the way of the prophet
of God, like Christ, to walk before God, to hear his voice,
to declare his speech? And what a speech this is, what
a message was given to Samuel here. The Lord said to Samuel,
behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears
of everyone that hear of it shall tingle. I will do a great work in Israel
and none will stop it, no man can prevent it. Their ears will
burn when they hear of it. They'll be in awe and wonder. I have said I will do things
to the house of Eli. And I will in that day, I will
perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house. When I begin, I will also make
an end. This wickedness will be judged. These wicked sons of Eli, I will
destroy. I am the Lord, I do whatsoever
I purpose. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy, and whom I will, I hardeneth. Oh what a message
Samuel here was given. He lived in Eli's house, he saw
Eli's sons, And on the day that God spake to him, and Eli said,
tell me what God has spoken to him, what sort of a message did
he have to bring to Eli? Could you in Samuel's shoes have
stood up before Eli and told him what God had told you? You
can imagine the fear in Samuel's heart, naturally speaking. Samuel
lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house to the
Lord. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. He had to tell
him that God was going to destroy his house. He was going to slay
his sons. How could he tell Eli such a
message? Naturally speaking, he could
not. And yet he did. Yet he did. Eli said, hide it
not from me. God do so to thee and more also
if thou hide anything from me of all the things that God has
said unto thee. And so Samuel told him every
wit and hid nothing from him. He told him that God would destroy
his house. And Eli's response was, it is
the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
What a message Samuel was sent with. Life unto life and death
unto death. Though this message meant the
fall of Eli's house, Samuel held nothing back. And no prophet
of God and no preacher of God that God sends with his word
can do that. They cannot hold it back. It's
life unto life and death unto death. They must declare what
God has said in power and boldly and plainly. God will save a
people in Christ his Son, but he will judge those who despise
and reject him, those for whom Christ has not died. There are
those whom He has chosen unto salvation, elect chosen, for
whom Christ died, those names laid upon His heart, for whom
He suffered. And there are those, equally
rebellious, equally sinful, whom God has not chosen, whom He will
destroy and judge forevermore. We cannot presume upon God's
salvation. We cannot presume that we are
one for whom Christ died. And we cannot, if we're sent
to preach this gospel, dare to sugarcoat it with any sort of
message which gives people false hope. which takes away the edge
of this message, which makes out to many that Christ died
for all, that he loves all, that it's there for the taking. You
cannot play with people's souls and lives like that and imply
that they are saved just because they say a prayer and accept
Jesus when they are headed for destruction. When they only hear
with the outward ear and never hear the voice of God calling
them by name themselves. They, like Samuel, need to hear
this voice. We all need to hear God calling
our name. Samuel, Samuel. You are mine. I sent my son for
you. I loved you in Christ. He died
for you. He was judged for your sins.
Therefore I have washed you in his blood. You are mine. You are no longer a sinner from
head to toe, but in Christ you are made the righteousness of
God. You're mine. We need to hear
that voice cry in peace to our hearts. Have you heard it? If you do, if you have, you will
hear it through the gospel as God speaks by his spirit by it. But that preacher of the gospel
will not fail to preach that those who know not God, those
who hear not this voice, are headed for destruction. When Christ came to the Jews,
to the priests, to the scribes, the Pharisees, His message condemned
them. This religious people, who with
the lips draw close unto God when their hearts were far from
Him, and His message found them out and condemned them, and they
hated Him for it. And such was their hatred that
multiple times they tried to put him to death, they tried
to stone him, and yet he could not hold back. He must declare
the truth. And yet in the end, they crucified
him. They crucified him. Did he hold
back? Did he alter his message? Did
he soften it? Did he sweeten it? Did he keep
his peace? Was he prudent and cautious and
careful? No, he could not. Like Paul,
his heart would cry out, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. The gospel. Because though it's
death unto death, it's also life unto life. And it will cease
to be life unto life if we corrupt it and sweeten it and soften
it. But he must declare what God has said. And Samuel declared
unto Eli what God had said. And far from Eli raging at Samuel,
Eli knew that God had spoken this, and owned the speech of
God. And cut to the heart, he had
to cry out, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
It is the Lord. And Samuel grew, and the Lord
was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
None of them, none of these words fell to the ground. No words
of the gospel will fall to the ground, it's effectual. Every
word of God is effectual. When Christ preaches his gospel
by his Spirit, the word of God is not in vain. You may hear
it and you may harden your hearts against it but it has the effect
that God purposes. It will either harden your heart
or it will break your heart. It will either slay you or it
will save you. It will either harden the condemnation
against your sins or it will deliver you from your sins and
set you free. But none of these words will
fall to the ground. Have you heard the words? Have
you ears for the words? Do you care for the words? Or
are you a Hophni and a Phineas who will corrupt them and run
away and think that you will prosper serving yourself? Well, don't play the fool because
God destroyed them and he will destroy you if you stay in that
way. But if your ears hear a voice
calling you, Samuel, Samuel, then listen. and fall to your
knees before that voice and say, Speak, Lord, thy servant hereif. Have mercy upon me, Lord. Have mercy upon me. All Israel, from Dan, even to
Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
the Lord. Just as those that heard Christ
who followed him knew when they heard him, that here's a prophet
like none other, and his speech is with power and authority.
His doctrine is not like the doctrine of men, but it's the
word of God. and the Lord appeared again in
Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by
the word of the Lord by the word of the Lord that's how he reveals
himself by his word The word is Christ. If you're ever to
know God, you will know him through Christ and Christ alone by the
word of the Lord. The word as in the scriptures
and the gospels first, but ultimately the word as it is Christ as he
speaks and makes himself known unto you. You must hear Christ
and his gospel. You must. Why did the ears of everyone
that heard this message tingle? Why was this message so effectual? Because of the great work which
what God would do in saving Israel. He slew Eli's house, yes. He destroys the wicked, He comes
not to save the self-righteous but sinners. He comes not to
save those that profess God yet know Him not, but He comes to
save those who are nothing, whose hearts are melted and broken
before Him, and who hear His words. That still small voice
in the Gospel. He comes to save them. And He
saved Israel. by sending his son, of whom Samuel
was the figure, into that evil world, into that house of sinners,
into that den of thieves, into this den of iniquity. He sent
his son into the lion's den. where his enemies would rip him
up and tear him asunder, where his enemies would pull the flesh
off from him, where they would slay him and beat him and crucify
him. He sent his son into the midst
of his enemies that he should die in the place of sinners. and that though they meant that
for evil, that though they meant to put the Son of God to death
and silence his message, God sent him there because God would
turn what man sought to use for evil for good. God would turn
it around and what they thought would silence Christ and his
gospel, all the more opened up his voice. Because when he died,
he died with a cry that it is finished. He had accomplished
the work, he had taken away the sins of his people, he died as
their substitute, he took all their sins upon him and he took
it all away. And when he rose from the grave,
far from that Son of God being laid in the grave forever, far
from his voice being silent forever, far from that gospel being dismissed
with. It made that voice cry louder
to the end of the age, it made that gospel greater. He rose
from the grave with a shout of triumph. He who loved Israel,
he who loved his people, he who gave himself for that people
he loved, he who died for that people, rose with them and went
forth in power, declaring what he had done. In that day, I will
do a thing in Israel. at which birth the ears of everyone
that hear of it shall tingle. Whether you hate it and reject
it or whether you come to see that He is your Saviour crucified
for you, your ears will burn when you hear that Gospel in
power and when you come to know the reality of it. Your ears
will burn because He wrought a mighty salvation which could
not be taken away. Have you heard His voice crying out from heaven? There
comes a day when all will hear the voice of God the Father speak
through His Son. There comes a day when every
knee will be brought to bow before the Son of God. There comes a
day when we will all hear that voice But we will either hear
it this side of the grave or the other. And we will either
hear it calling our name this side of the grave and calling
us unto salvation. Or we will hear it the other
side of the grave. Casting us out into outer darkness
in judgement. We must hear that voice. But
oh that we should hear it now. Oh that we should hear it now
in the Gospel, speaking not death unto death, but speaking life
unto life. Have you heard? Are you listening? Are you running to man? Or are
you falling on your knees and saying, speak, Lord, thy servant
hereof? Oh, may we hear that voice. And
may it be said of that voice, when we hear it, by faith, it
is the Lord. It is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good. It is the Lord. Amen.