It's good to see you this morning.
I'm very thankful that we have, again, this privilege to be able
to meet together. I'm going to ask you this morning
to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Samuel,
chapter 1. While you're turning there, I have With much prayer and deliberation and concern, pressure. And I'll tell you why
I'm saying pressure. Because of the way in which I'm
going to handle this First Service. It's a little out of the ordinary. the way I would normally preach
out of the book of John or something, I'm planning to read the first
three chapters of the book of 1 Samuel. The reason I'd like to read the
first three chapters of 1 Samuel is because the second service
I'd like to preach out of the third chapter of 1 Samuel. Comparing the message of 1 Samuel
3, I realize that unless there's a good understanding of what
happened in the first two chapters, I would be trying to go back
and forth, trying to explain and read back. Now, the pressure
that I have. spoken of comes from this. You get to thinking to yourself,
well, what are the folks going to think? You're just reading,
you know, commenting, making a few comments, putting pressure
on myself. Driving over this morning, I
thought to myself, you know what, how foolish you are. We'd be a whole lot better off
listening We're in the midst of a time
in our lives where there's so much concern about everything
going on. What's going to happen over in
the Middle East? What difference does it make? Well, if they don't
get this budget thing worked out, the United States might
be downgraded to something else. So what? Yeah, but you know gas may go
to five dollars a gallon, but who cares? It's just gas. But what God Almighty has to
say is the only thing that's going to endure. Therefore, let's
ask the Lord's blessing, and I'd like to read, and I will
make a comment. I'll stop and make a comment,
and the Lord will in preparation. for what the Lord might be pleased
to say. And I say then, as Scripture
is speaking, the Lord might be pleased, and I pray so that he
might be pleased to bless for the sake of his precious Son.
Let's ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, Lord, you have this service. Lord we assemble together to
worship. Oh could it be that this day
you might give us a heart truly to worship. That we might say
it's been good to be in the house of the Lord. Help us. Help us hear. Help us read. Help
us worship. Speak I pray to our hearts for
Christ's sake. Amen. 1 Samuel 1. Now, there was a certain
man of Ramothaeum, Zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah, the son of Jeroboam, the son of Elihu, the son of
Tohu, the son of Zoth. And he had two wives. The name
of the one was Hannah. The name of the other, Penina.
And Penina had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his
city yearly to worship and to sacrifice In Shiloh, oh the blessing of
being able to read, at time, the Lord of Hosts, to know that
He rules and reigns in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants
of the earth, no man stays His hand. That He's God. That all the earth keeps silence
before Him. Isn't it wonderful just to be
able, to just be in the presence of God? And the scripture says, and the
two sons of Eli, Hopni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were
there. And when the time that Elkanah
offered, he gave to Paninah his wife and to all her sons, her
daughters, portions. I was reading that again this
morning. tried to read this scripture
numerous times. And as I read this morning, I
looked at, here was this man. Scripture says he had two wives. And one of them, and I saw in
that, here's a picture of the bride, truly, And this world,
false religion, the battle that you're going to see between these
two women, just think upon these things. Verse 4 says, From the
time that Elkanah gave to Peninnah his wife all her sons and her
daughters' fortunes, it rains on the just and the unjust. God
is merciful. In this city, I'm telling you,
there's ungodly rebels of this world that's benefiting from
the mercy of God's grace to his people. But, verse 5, unto Hannah,
he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. But the Lord
had shut up her womb. Almighty God, does what he does
according to his own, according to his purpose and will. And the scripture says that her
adversary also provoked her sword, for to make her fret, because
the Lord had shut up her wound. Oh, the struggle between flesh
and spirit. the war that goes on. And as he did so year by year,
verse 7, and she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked
her. Therefore she wept and did not
eat. Oh, how often Satan takes occasion
to harass God's people by attempting to misconstrue the Lord's merciful
dealings with his own. Why do things happen? Hannah
was barren, and the wife of Elkanah, Panana, harassed her, provoked
her. Surely God can't be blessing
you. This shows the Lord's dealings of evil and madness. The scripture sets forth, Psalm
119, Psalm 175, I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
and that thou, in thankfulness, hath afflicted me. Verse 8, Then said Elkanah
her husband to her Hannah, Why weepest thou? And why eatest
thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am I, am not I better to thee
than ten sons? Oh, the mercy of Almighty God
to speak in the midst of a friction. Hannah, Hannah didn't know why
she was going through what she was going through. says, rose up after they had
eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk, obviously by divine
constraint and mercy. Now Eli the priest sat upon a
seat by a post of the temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness
of soul, and prayed unto the Lord and wept sober. Oh, what
a blessing. But Almighty God brings us to
a point to where we must cry to Him. She was in bitterness.
Oh, what a blessing when we come to that point where we've got
to call, got to cry. And she vowed a vow, and she
said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction
of thine handmaid and remember me, Then not forget thine handmaid,
but will give unto thine handmaid a man's child. Then I will give
him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall
no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued
praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah,
she spake in her heart, only her lips moved. But her voice
was not heard, and therefore Eli thought that she had been
drunken. And Eli said to her, How long
wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee."
You know, the distress in the soul, in the heart of a believer
is usually not understood by others. Why are you feeling this
way? Why don't you just change your
attitude? The Lord took that to me. And the scripture said, I mean,
you just, you read those words and you just think to yourself. She spake in her heart. Cried
out to the Lord. And Hannah, verse 15, answered
and says, No, my Lord. I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor
strong drink, but poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for
a daughter of the lie, for out of the abundance of my complaint
and grief have I spoken hereto." Oh, that grace that gives a man
or woman a heart just to be honest with God. I'm hurting. Lord, I'm hurting. You're the
only help I've got. Help me. Help me. Who do I have but Thee? Then
he lied, verse 17, answered and said, Go in peace. And the God
of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
Oh, a soft answer. Turneth away wrath. Elijah was
going to reprimand her. He said, you're in here drinking. And she said, I'm not drinking.
My heart's tore up. And I poured out my soul unto
the Lord. And he said, go in peace. Verse 18, she said, let thine
handmaid find grace. And I sighed. So the woman went
away and did eat. And her countenance was no more
sad. Oh, the effect of earnest prayer. That her countenance, the scripture
says, was no more sad. I poured out my heart to the
Lord. I've done all that I know to do. And the scripture sets
forth that he's going to hear. When you enter into your closet,
into that place of seclusion, pour out your heart before God,
and the God who hears in secret shall reward thee openly. I've spoken to him about it.
I've been honest with him about it. Now, what do I do? Verse 19, they rose up in the
morning early. But look at this. the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Before the day starts, before
conversation begins with everybody else, seek Him. Ask Him. Approach Him. Spending time with God Almighty
before anybody else. They rose up early in the morning,
they worshipped before the Lord, returned, came to their house,
to Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered
her. Wasn't that precious? God remembered
her. He who put the desire in her
heart, and don't you know that Almighty God was pleased Bless
her before the foundation of the world. Don't you know that
God was going to give her a son? Don't you know that God was going
to raise up a prophet? And what did he do? He made her
married. She was harassed by the other
woman. God can't be blessing you. And
she poured her heart out before God. And she gave Almighty God the
glory. Scripture says the Lord remembered
her. All these things I'm going to
do for you, yet for all these, I'll be in question. God Almighty
put the prayer in the heart of His people to ask her. When you
cry unto the Lord and ask Him to have mercy, the Lord's the
one that put that desire there. I heard you before you ever uttered
the words, he knew." The scripture says, verse 21, in the man Elkanah, I'm sorry, verse 20, Wherefore
it came to pass, when the time was come, from a by that the
Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son of God's timing, and
she called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the
Lord. And the man Elkanah in all his house went up to offer
unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow, and Anna went not
up. For she said unto her husband,
I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring
him that he may appear before the Lord thereby forever. And
Elkanah, her husband, said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good, Only the Lord established his
word, so the woman abode and gave her son succor until she
weaned him. And when she weaned him, she
took him up with three bullocks, a flower, a bottle of wine, and
brought him into the house of the Lord in Shiloh when the child
was young. And they slew a bullock and brought
the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, As thy
soul liveth, my Lord, I am the one that stood by thee here,
praying unto the Lord. This child I prayed, and the
Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore
also I lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall
be lent to the Lord. Now listen to this song. Here
was a woman that chapter 1 had poured her heart out to God and
asked Him, Lord have mercy, you'll give me a man child. And listen to the praise of this
woman. And I prayed. She said, my heart
rejoiced in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord,
my mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in
Thy salvation." That's the praise of every believer. I rejoice
in Him. I rejoice in His salvation. His
salvation is all of grace. His time, His purpose, His sacrifice,
His satisfaction. Salvation is all of grace in
Him. I don't have anything to do with
it. I'm the recipient of God's mercy. I rejoice in the Lord. Verse 2, there's none holy as
the Lord. There's none beside Thee. Neither
is there any rock like our rock, like our God. You know devils know that. They
know that. But a believer rejoices in it. Blesses God for it. Praises Him
for it. Loves Him for it. Let not arrogance come out of
your mouth. Don't tell me what you've done
to God. Don't be arrogant before Him. Don't plead your own righteousness,
your own works. For the Lord is a God of knowledge. By Him, actions are weighed. Everything is weighed in light
of His Word. His will, His words. The bows of the mighty men are
broken. They that stumble are girded
with strength. You see, the mighty think that
they've done something. Broken. Those that have stumbled
in themselves, in their own ability by the grace of God, been shown
that they don't have the ability to walk rightly before God, they're
girded with strength, girded with Christ. They that were full
hired themselves out to bread. They that were hungry ceased. Those that were hungry, thirsty,
After Christ, they've been taught there's no other satisfaction
but Him. They've ceased looking. So that the barren have borne
seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The
Lord killeth. The Lord maketh alive. He bringeth
down to the grave. He bringeth up God Almighty,
His Sovereign. That's what Hannah's saying right
here. God is God. He does that which is right.
The Lord maketh poor, maketh rich. He bringeth low, He lifteth
up. Isn't it wonderful to know that
Almighty God makes a man poor to see himself? What have I done? What can't
I do? The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, rich in faith, rich
in Christ, rich not of himself, but what God has been pleased
to do for him. He bringeth low. Aren't you glad that God will
bring you down in estimations beyond the self? Isn't it amazing
how proud men are? It's just proud. It's so wonderful to just listen
to a believer talk. Just listen to him. He just don't
have anything to say about himself. Bring it low and lift it up.
And those that he lifts up, he lifts up a blessed Savior. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Verse 8, He raiseth up the poor out of the dust. Lifteth
up the beggar from the dumb hill, set them among princes, to make
them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them." The believer
reads that and just wants to shout and just say, you know
what, this is so good, and I'm so glad the Spirit of God gave
this woman a heart to pray by. pray that which was exalting
to him. And a believer reads it, and
they say, I don't know what this is in. This is right. He will
keep the feet of his saints. The wicked shall be silent in
darkness. For by strength, man's strength,
shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces out of heaven shall He thunder upon them. The
Lord shall judge the ends of the earth. He shall give strength
unto His King and exalt the horn of His anointed. The Lord Jesus
Christ, God Almighty, is going to do what God Almighty has eternally
purposed to do. And no man is going to stay His
hand. Elkanah went to Ramah to his
house. And the child did minister unto
the Lord before Eli the priest. And I left little Samuel in that
place. Young boy, we're going to read
him in just a few minutes, and he didn't know the Lord. He went
about in the service of the temple, places where he got up, he'd
open the doors, he would do things, but his mama brought him and
put him in a place. where God had been pleased to
manifest Himself. That's where He was. Verse 12, Now the sons of Eli
were sons of Belial. They were worthless. They were
wicked. They were the priests. They were
Eli's boys. And they knew not the become so habitual that they
had begun to take this as habit, Neal, this is what they did.
The priests, I want you to notice how I've stated, the priest's
custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice,
the priest's servant came. Guess what's happening is the
people were going to bring their sacrifice, ordained, ordered
by God, And these two boys of Eli, they would send their servant
out before the people got there with the offering, the sacrifice. The priest's servant came while
the flesh was in seething, while it was still in the boiling state,
with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand, and he struck it
into the pan or kettle or cauldron And all that the flesh took,
brought up, the priest took for himself. The priest had a portion. It was the breast and the shoulder.
That was theirs. That was theirs. This was a peace
offering. It didn't belong to the priest.
It wasn't theirs. It wasn't theirs. It wasn't theirs. And they would go out there while
the people were bringing their offerings, and they had a flesh
hook. And the scripture says they took that flesh hook, and
they took that flesh hook, struck it into the pan, they
called it in verse 14, the flesh hook brought up the priest, he
took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all
the Israelites that came thither. And also before they burnt the
fat. The fat was the Lord's. The fat was God's. That was the best of it. I know
nowadays we talk about fat and nobody wants to use that word
anymore. But that fat represented the fullness of it. The fat of
the land. The best of it. The best of it.
This was the best. So also they burnt the fat. That
was to be the Lord's. And the priest, sir, came and
said, go to the man that sacrificed, give flesh to roast for the priest,
for he will not have salt and flesh of thee, but raw. What
they did was, before that was offered, that fat was offered,
they said, I want that piece of meat right there. And the people that were coming
knew, that fat belongs to God. That's God's. That's God's. That belongs to the Lord. And
if any man said unto him, let not them fail, don't fail to
burn the fat presently. The people were saying to these
sons of Belial, these evil, worthless priests, The people were saying,
basically, wait, this is the Lord's. That fat belongs to God. Let him not fail to burn the
fat presently. Then take as much as your soul
desires. And that servant of those evil
boys would answer, no, nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and
if not, I'll take it by force. I want what I want. I'll have
what I'll have. You don't give this to me, I'll
take this from you. This is mine. They took that
which was to be dedicated to God Almighty. And they disrespectfully
treated God's sacrifice and picture of Christ. They disrespected
God's people. They disrespected the priesthood. Look at this next verse, verse
17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before
the Lord for men, came to a point to where people
did not even want to worship God. They were so outdone with
what they saw, what they witnessed. I cannot possibly understand
how that you would come to a point to where the sins of these young
boys that called these people, they got to where they didn't
even want to bring God's They abhorred the offering of the
Lord. Samuel ministered verse 18 before
the Lord, being a child girded with a linen ephod. Moreover,
his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him from
year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the
year to sacrifice. And Eli blessed and his wife,
and said to the Lord, Give thee seed to this woman for the loan
which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own
house. And the Lord visited Hannah,
so that she conceived and had three sons and two daughters,
and the child Samuel grew before the Lord." Can you just imagine,
I'll read verse 22 and on, but can you imagine the stress trouble
coming up. Here was this man bringing his
wife. Here's this mother. She's got
that boy. She's lending to the Lord. He's
there. And all of this mess is going
on. And Eli was very old and heard
all that his sons did unto Israel, unto all Israel. How they lay
with the women that were assembled at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. Oh, what a disrespect before
God's worship. Disrespect, dishonor. How disrespectful by nature we
are. And he said unto them, Why do
ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings
by all the people. Nay, my son, it is no good report
that I hear. For you make the Lord's people
to transgress. If one man sin against another,
the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the
Lord, Who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they
hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord
was slain. Obviously these boys had been
given over to a reprobate mind, it just didn't matter anyway. And the child Samuel grew on,
was in favor both with the Lord also with men. And there came
a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord." Well, I think, knowing what we've
read already, and I've read this numerous times, and I know what
it's getting ready to say, and I tell you, it's just, your heart
just, Thus saith the Lord. Did I plainly appear unto the
house of thy father, when they were in Egypt? Listen, Aaron's
youngest son had a son named Eli. Eli was in direct descent
from Aaron. Did I plainly appear to the house
of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest
or author and to my altar to burn incense to wear an epaulet
for me? And did I give unto the house
of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children
of Israel? Did not I give instruction on
how I was going to be approached and worshipped? Didn't I tell
you that? I command it in my habitation,
and honor it thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat Wherefore the Lord God of Israel
saith, I said indeed that thy house and thy house and the house
of thy father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord
saith, Be it far from me, for them that honor me I will honor. And they that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed." Oh, the responsibility of seeking, establishing
God's honor first. I tell you what, we have a grave
responsibility. I tell you, being a dad, being
a parent, raising children. I had received a little call
the other day from one of my kids. It was concerning raising
children. Disciplined children. She said,
He said, I think we've had to discipline him probably a dozen
times today. I said, good, good. I said, don't you deviate from
what God Almighty says concerning him. I said, the bloodiness of
his wound, I said to Scripture, He's not going to die. He's not
going to die. I said, you honor God first.
And I said, God will take care of you. Be consistent. Be it hard for me, verse 30,
for them that honor me I will honor. And they that despise
me take lightly my word, disrespectful to my word, disrespectful to
my gospel, put other things first. Let other stuff and mess and
things that does not matter. And put that ahead of the worship
of God Almighty, they're going to be lightly stained. Behold,
the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of
thy father's house, and there shall not be an old man in thy
house, and thy shall see an enemy in my habitation. And all the
wealth that God shall give Israel, There shall not be an old man
in thine house for ever, and the man of thine which I shall
not cut off from mine altar shall be to consume thine eyes and
to grieve thy heart, and all the increase of thine house shall
die in the flower of his age." Oh, to see where there is not
faithfulness anymore. and behold it." What a grieving,
grieving. Verse 34, this shall be a sign
of the day. The Lord said, I'm going to show
you what I'm going to do. That shall come upon thy two
sons on Hoth-Nine-Penniath in one day. They shall die, both
of them, and I will raise thee up, faithful priest. That shall
do according the fact which is in my heart and in my mind. And
you know spiritually, Lord willing, in the next service we're going
to deal with this. We're going to deal with that
faithful priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, one greater than Samuel.
I'll tell you that. And I will build him a sure house. He shall walk before my anointed
forever. It shall come to pass that everyone
that is left in that house shall come to him for a piece of silver
and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into
one of the priest's office, that I may eat a piece of bread.' And the child sang it, and ministered
unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was
precious, it was rare in those days, and there was no open There
was no open proclamation, no preaching. It came to pass, I'm
trying hard just to read this, not get into the next message,
but 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, Oh, before God would allow the
light of the glorious gospel to go out, there 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 he said, I call 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, but 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 rose, Went to Eli and said, Here am
I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord
had called John. 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 his place. And the Lord came and stood and
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then said Samuel, then
Samuel answered, Speak, will I serve at Herod? And the Lord
said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which
both the ears of everyone that hear it should tingle. And that
day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken
concerning his house. 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. Therefore I have sworn unto the
house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged
with sacrifice or offering forever." What the Lord said right there
was this. No sacrifice is going to be effectual for them. 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's the thing that the Lord has said unto thee?
I pray thee, hide it not from me, for God do so to thee, and
more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that
he said unto David. 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. 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 shallow, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in shallow
by the word of the Lord." May God bless these words to
our hearts and prepare our hearts for the hearing of God's message,
I pray for Christ's sake.