Okay, turn with me to 1 Samuel
3. My intention was to go through
the first 10 verses, and I got to verse 1. That was it. This verse led me to consider
tonight the silence of God. The silence of God. Look with
me to 1 Samuel 3 verse 1. And the child Samuel ministered,
served, that's what the word means, unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was
precious in those days. There was no open vision. Now let me comment briefly on
the first part of verse 1. It says Samuel was serving, he
was helping, he was ministering, he was attending. to the things
of God in the tabernacle before Eli. But, I'd have you notice,
it was unto the Lord. When men and women, true believers,
lovers of Christ, serve in a local assembly, it's no doubt a great
help to the pastor and to the church as a whole, but it's unto
the Lord. And it must be in order for the
serving to ever prosper. And I'm sure at Samuel's young
age, many of the commentators believed that he was around 12
years old at this time, that the task that Samuel performed
were somewhat menial. He did things that he was capable
of doing as a 12 year old. He gladly performed the things
that he could do to help Eli in the tabernacle. But everything
that we do in the service of the Lord should be done as if
the Lord Himself would be inspecting the work. I remember Brother
Montgomery saying this very often. I often thought about it when
he said it. If the Lord sent one angel from
heaven to declare the coming of Christ, and another angel
to sweep the streets, One would not take precedence over the
other. Why? Because the glory of God
would be at stake. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians
10, verse 31, whatsoever you do, whether you eat, whether
you drink, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. God's glory should be the chief
end and motivation of everything that we do. In our daily lives,
in our occupation, in our jobs, we should do it as unto the Lord,
as if the Lord Himself was going to inspect what we do. And it
should also be the reason and the motivation why we don't do
the things that we shouldn't. God knows everything. pull the wool over His eyes, as we
say. In creation, God gets all the
glory. In providence, God gets all the
glory. In grace, in election, in redemption,
God gets all the glory. In His effectual calling in bringing
many sons and daughters unto glory, all the glory goes to
God. And Christ is our example there. Christ's actions is our mediator. Give God all the glory. His doctrines,
His teachings, and all His miracles give God all the glory. His obedience,
His sufferings, His death in this world, Christ did it all
to the glory of God. And all that we do should be
to God's glory. Why? Because God deserves all
the glory. And the state of affairs in the
Jews' religion at the time of our text, when Samuel was young
and serving the Lord in the temple before Eli, was in a sad, pathetic
condition. As we saw in chapter 2, the priesthood
was in shambles. It was shameless. Eli's sons
who served this priest were thieves and adulterers. And though those
around Samuel cared not for the glory of God, this young man,
twelve years old, did. And he did as he was told. He
faithfully ministered before Eli. But it was unto the Lord. May we always do what we do unto
the Lord. He did what He did in a manner
that pleased the Lord and also found favor with men. That's
what chapter 2, verse 26 tells us. And it's the same today. Some care about God's glory and
some don't. But it's the concern of every
child of God. Okay, then we come to the second
part of verse 1, which is what the message is all about tonight.
And it reads, In the Word of the Lord, was precious in those
days. There was no open vision. Now the word precious here does
not mean that the word of the Lord was loved or that the love
of the Lord was applied or obeyed. It means that it was rare and
hard to find. It was precious. It was something
that was rare. When Samuel ministered unto the
Lord, there was no word from God to anyone. God was silent. No prophetic word. No warnings
from God. No reproof from God. No proclamation
from God. No declaration from God. Only
silence. That's a terrifying thought.
Have you ever experienced the silence of God? I have. When
the gospel is preached, it's not a blessing to you. When your
prayers find no notice of God, you pray and it's like they go
no higher than the ceiling and come right back to you. That's
deafening silence. We're told here that the Word
of the Lord was precious, and that's what it is in our day.
It's rare. It's hard to find. You know it
so, and so do I. Hearing the Word of God is not
a cooperative effort. You and I are totally, totally
dependent on hearing from God. Hearing from God is not something
we deserve. One who is dead cannot cooperate
with anyone, much less God. Why? Because they're dead. We're
totally dependent on hearing from God. God has to make Himself
known to us. You know, a lot of folks talk
about what they did. They got saved. They gave Jesus
their heart. No. They were dead in trespasses
and sin. And God had to divinely intervene. God must speak life to us. God
must enable us to see. One who is dead cannot hear or
see. They certainly can't believe. Why do men and women think that
they can hear, see, and believe? Because they don't really believe
that they're dead. That's just the fact of the matter. Now there's two things that desperately
are needed for one who is dead to see. First, they need light. And then secondly, they need
seeing eyes. God's got to provide both. God's
got to provide the light, and God's got to provide us with
eyes to see. Now, if there's all kinds of
light to see, and we are blind, we still can't see it. So God
has to give us eyes to see the light. And God must speak to
me if I'm ever to know Him. You know that's so. God must
reveal Himself in light to you and I. He must give our dead,
blind eyes sight to see. We cannot know God apart from
divine revelation. And no sinner will ever hear
the gospel unless God is pleased to speak to their hearts. We
are totally, totally dependent on the revelation of God. If
He's silent, we will not know Him. And if we don't know Him,
we're going to perish. In John 17, verse 3, we ought
to know it's been on the front of our bulletin for 40-some years. This is life eternal. What's
life eternal? That they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. That's life
eternal, to know God. And we can't know God until He
reveals Himself to us. How many times did our Lord say,
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear? Did you know not everyone
has ears to hear? Only those that God gives ears
to hear. Aren't you glad God gave you
ears to hear? Turn with me to Matthew chapter
13. Look at verse 9. This was after the Lord told
the parable of the stony ground ears in Matthew chapter 13 verse
9. Here the Lord in verse 9 says
just that. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. And the disciples came and said
unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables, and the Lord
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it's not given. Why do you know the mysteries
of heaven? How is it that you have come
to know these things? It's given to you. To many it's
not given, but to them it's not given. You know, in Matthew chapter
11, Verse 25, the Lord said, I thank thee, O Lord, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent and delivered them or revealed them
unto babes. You know, a babe is one that
cannot help themselves. And may we never forget that.
We desperately need Christ to do everything for us, just as
a young lady needs his parents to do everything for them. Verse
12, for whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall
have more abundance, but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken
away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they've seen not In hearing, they hear not,
neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand. And seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive. You see, there's a difference
between physical sight and physical hearing, and spiritual sight
and spiritual hearing. And in verse 15, he says, for
the people's heart is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes, they have closed lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand
with their heart and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see, and your ears, for they hear. My, my, what blessed
people we are that God has revealed these things to us. Aren't you
thankful the Lord does speak? It says in Hebrews 1, 1, God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto
our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son. by the Lord Jesus through this
Word. That's how God speaks to us. God does speak. God speaks by creation, as I
said. When we consider God's creation,
God speaks to us. Psalm 91, the heavens declare
the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. That's
God speaking to us. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge." There's no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard. Speaking of the
creation of the earth, we say this often. We look at the stars
in the sky at night. We look at the sun and the clouds
in the day. And God speaks to us and said,
I created these things. We know they didn't just happen.
Romans 1.20, for the invisible things of him, of God, from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead. So that they, those who don't
believe, are without excuse. There's no excuse for a man not
to believe. God speaks by creation. And we
know that God speaks by providence. Everything that happens in time,
God purposed in eternity, and that's God speaking. We read in the Scriptures about
what God did before the foundation of the world, and we see those
things come to fruition. That's God speaking to us. That's
God telling us these things. Everything that comes to pass
tells us that we should seek the Lord. And God speaks by His
Word. The Bible is the divine revelation
of God. It's through the preaching of
the gospel, the means of preaching that God saves those that believe.
Paul told Timothy, he said, all scripture, how much? All of it
is given by inspiration of God. That means God breathed, God
breathed. The Scriptures. And is what?
It's profitable. It's profitable for doctrine.
It's profitable for reproof. It's profitable for correction.
It's profitable for instruction. That's how we learn. Through
the Word of God. God revealing the Word to us. For instruction and how to live? No. In righteousness. That being
the righteousness that's given to us in Christ. That's being
His perfect righteousness. When I stand before God, I'm
going to stand as perfect as Christ, because He was, as we
saw Sunday, He was made sin for His people, that His people might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. And it's a perfect
righteousness. We need not fear, when we stand
before God, of being rejected. Because Christ has done for us
what we could not do for ourselves. Not our self-righteous works
in doing, but Christ's righteous works in doing. Not by works
of righteousness, which we have done. The Scripture is so clear. How then? But according to His
mercy, He saved us. And the Scripture is full of
that encouragement. But sometimes, God don't speak. And that's what is referred to
here in verse 1 of 1 Samuel chapter 3. Now we've talked about that
verse of Scripture in Amos chapter 8 verse 11 many times. I won't turn you there, but I
will read it to you. The prophet Amos cried, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord God, this is God speaking, that
I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall
wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east, and
they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and
shall not find it." Why? Because the Lord becomes silent. It's not a famine of bread. It's
not a famine of thirst of water, a famine of hearing the words
of God. We're in that kind of famine
right now today. You know it's so, and so do I.
This kind of famine can happen in a community. It can happen
in a church. It can happen in an individual.
If God determines to remain silent, it's a famine. It's a famine.
Throughout the history of the world, God at times has done
just that. He's remained silent. He did
it in Samuel's time. He did it in the days of Malachi
until Christ came. And he's doing it today. He's
doing it today. Now, maybe this famine comes
by a false gospel being preached. Maybe this famine, God just shuts
one's ears to the gospel truth. In either case, God's not speaking. All over this world today, God
is not speaking. Now there are handfuls of believers
here and there that God speaks to, but there are few and far
between. And God's people don't think
that they're special. How many times have you heard
people or people say to you, well, you think you're the only
ones. Oh, we wish to God that wasn't
the case. All that everyone we know might
know this glorious gospel. But it's not a famine of bread.
It's not physical bread. It's spiritual bread. It's not
a thirst of drinking water. There's plenty of it. You can
get it anywhere. But it's a thirst of Christ,
the living water. So the question I want to ask,
is God speaking to you? If He's not, I'll tell you this,
God's not to blame. In every case where the church
falls and fails in disobedience and idolatry, the source of the
fall can always be traced back to one thing, the rarity of preaching
and hearing the Word of God. That's right. God said, my people
perish for lack of knowledge. Jesus Christ is made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Our knowledge
is revealed to us through preaching. In Samuel's day and in our day,
in the absence of gospel preaching, it's not due to a lack of religious
activity. People are more religious today
than ever before. There's more than enough of religious
activity going on. There's no lack of people being
religious. There's no lack of people doing
for God. Oh, let me tell you what we're
doing for God. That's not the issue. You can't
do anything for God. God doesn't need us to do anything
for Him. But very few are telling sinners
what Christ has done for them. There's a great lack of men telling
the truth. The precious doctrines of justification. How a man can be just before
God. How a woman can be justified.
and God still be just has been neglected. The precious doctrine
of substitution that we talked about in detail Sunday, His propitiation,
His giving us His imputed and perfect righteousness is being
ignored. People don't have an interest
in it. People not, they'd rather do other things, talk about other
things. Christ is only preached as a fire escaped from hell.
The true word of God, the gospel of Christ, is rare. There is
no open vision. There was 400 years of silence
between Malachi and Matthew. 400 years God didn't speak. That silence was broken only
when God raised up the prophet John the Baptist to declare THE
prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He said that day on Jordan's
river, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. God's judgment can send a famine. It's God who sends the famine.
A famine where there's no word from God. Look at Isaiah chapter
59 with me. Isaiah 59. I want you to see how important
this is. If God doesn't speak to us, we're
in trouble. If God doesn't reveal Himself
to us, we're lost. And we can't be saved unless
God speaks to us. Isaiah 59, look at verse 1. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy that it
cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from
you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with
blood, and your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken
lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for
justice, nor any pleadeth for truth, They trust in vanity and
speak lies. They conceive mischief and bring
forth iniquity. If one is experiencing such a
famine of not hearing the words of the Lord, it's not God's fault. It's their fault. It's their
iniquities that separates them. It's their sins that cause God
to hide His faith. Their hands are defiled with
blood. Their fingers with iniquity. Everything they do and touch
is iniquity, sin. Their lips have spoken lies.
Their tongues have uttered perverseness. None calls for justice. None
pleads for truth. None trusts in the Lord. They trust in their own vanity.
Men speak lies. They conceive mischief. They
bring forth glory. And what does God do? He sends
a famine. And it's not a famine of thirst
nor bread, but a famine of the Word of the Lord. And men and
women wonder why God don't speak to them. The question is, why
should He? Why should He? Sinners need to
find out how and why God would speak to them. Tell you quickly how God can
speak and will speak to one who is so sinful and unholy. That's what we are by nature.
He speaks to those who know that they didn't do anything to deserve
to hear his word. That's where he brings us all
to that point where we know we deserve condemnation and wrath. We don't deserve any of his mercy,
the least of his mercy. They see and agree as to why
God won't speak to them. I don't blame God for not speaking
to me, they say, but they sure want Him to. How can He speak
to us? Only through His Son, as we just
read in Hebrews 1-1. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the question is, do you desire
to hear from God? On the cross, Christ dealt with
the silence of God. Have you ever thought about that?
Our Lord walked on this earth for thirty-three and a half years,
and He was in constant communion with His Father. When the Scriptures
say that our Lord prayed all night, He really did pray all
night. The Father's ear was always open
to Him. He was the Father's beloved in
whom He was well pleased. And He said, Hear ye Him? It's
My beloved Son. You better listen to Him. You
better hear what He says. But when the Lord Jesus was nailed
to the cross, He felt nothing but the silence of God. No communication at all. He cried,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He really was forsaken
of His Father. He really was. He really did
feel the unbending justice of God's wrath upon Him. He really
was punished for all the sin of all the elect throughout all
time. Christ really was made sin. It wasn't just pasted on. I remember
Brother Scott Richardson said one time, our sin wasn't just
like one of those post-it notes stuck on Christ saying, I am
sin. He really was made sin. And we
were really made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the only
reason we have life. That's the only reason we can
stand before God in the day of judgment, innocent and perfect
before Him. made Him to be sin for us. Christ
really did bear His people's sin in His own body on the tree,
that you and I, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes, Christ's stripes, we were healed. And this, dear friends, is the
gospel. Does it mean anything to you? Oh, to the child of God,
it means everything. Being dead to sin, we're dead
to the holy law and justice of God. It doesn't have any claim
on us. You can't punish one who's dead.
A man commits a crime and he dies, the law of God can't punish
him, he's dead. The sting of death, which is
sin, has been taken away. The strength of sin, which is
the law, has been perfectly kept and fulfilled in the chosen sinner's
room instead by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. That's
the good news. In Christ we're perfectly righteous
and holy. I never grow tired of hearing
that. I never grow tired of preaching that. Therefore, by the substitution
of Christ, we live unto righteousness. His righteousness, not ours.
All we have is self-righteousness. God is just. The guilty was condemned
and the innocent was made free. Now you think about that. It's
an abomination. The Scripture says it's an abomination
to punish one who's innocent and not punish one who's guilty. And yet the guilty was condemned
and the innocent was made free. And the fact that Christ was
condemned and you and I as believers go free is the proof that Christ
fulfilled the law and satisfied God's holy justice. Christ really
did feel the guilt of our sin. It wasn't just pasted on. He really did sweat, as it were,
in the garden, great drops of blood, as He took the sin of
His elect upon Him. Christ by Himself purged us from
our sins, Hebrews 1-3. And Christ bore the awful silence
of God. He did so that we might not have
to. And in doing so, He put our sin
away and God pursued Christ instead of us. God punished him and not
us. And God provided satisfaction
for his people's sin in the Lord Jesus. You know, if someone murdered
one of our children or any of our loved ones, you know, there
wouldn't be any amount of money or compensation that would satisfy
us. Somebody said, oh, I'm sorry
that your son or daughter was murdered and we're going to give
you several million dollars. That wouldn't satisfy you. You
know, there's only one thing that would satisfy you and that
would be in bringing them back to life. That's the only thing
that's satisfying. It was the purpose of God and
the salvation of His people to put their sin on His perfect
Son, and He who kept the law perfectly, having never sinned,
satisfied God, and He raised Him from the dead. And God is
satisfied. God's satisfied. It's the only
way He could be. If God had punished you and I
forever, it would have never justly paid the wages of sin. Not one sin of ours would have
been paid for. But with Christ as our substitute,
God is satisfied and He's satisfied forever. That's how and why God
can now speak to me. I hear from God because of what
Christ did for me. The reason for his silence has
been removed. Are you experiencing the silence
of God? Well, there's a way that God
can speak to you. In closing, I want to give you
a couple instances of how you and I can deal with the silence
of God if you're experiencing it. Turn to Matthew chapter 15
with me. Two places I don't want to turn
you to quickly. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21. I bet you already know the two
instances. In verse 21, Matthew chapter
15, speaking of the Syrophoenician woman, it says, Then Jesus went
thence and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a woman of Canaan, a Gentile, considered dogs by the Jews,
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil." Now notice here, she comes to the Lord in
reverence and respect. She knew who he was. She called
him Lord. She called him the Son of David.
And she asked for the right thing. She begged for mercy. That's
how you get the Lord's attention. Verse 23, but he answered her
not a word. He was silent. He was silent. Silence. He didn't say a thing.
Have you ever asked God for mercy and heard nothing but silence?
Well, let me tell you what you need to do. You need to keep
crying for it. You need to keep asking for mercy. Well, I hadn't
heard from the Lord. Keep asking for it. Keep asking
for mercy. Keep asking for compassion. And
his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, she
crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The children's bread is not for
you. You're a Gentile dog and you
don't get the children's bread. I'm only sent to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel." But she continued to cry. If you
don't hear from God, continue to cry. Verse 25, then came she
and what? Worshipped Him. He called her
a dog. What'd she do? Did she get mad? Did she go, well, I'm not perfect,
but I'm certainly not a dog. No. She worshipped Him. Saying,
Lord, help me. If you don't help me, Lord, I
won't be helped. If you don't hear from God, worship
Him and continue to worship Him. Verse 26, But he answered and
said, It's not made, it's not right to take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs. And she said, Well, I never. No, she said, Truth, Lord. Yet
the dogs Eat of the crumbs which fall from the Master's table.
Oh, if you don't hear from God, tell him, I'm a dog. Lord, I
am a dog. That's the truth. You never spoke
truer words than that. I am a dog. But I need your help. I need your grace. I need those
crumbs of mercy that fall from your table. I need help. I need help. Verse 28, then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto
thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Christ had mercy on her, and
he'll have mercy on you. Is God's silence to you? Keep crying for mercy. Keep crying
for help. Keep crying You'll get them. She received
the crumbs of God's grace. Now look over in Matthew chapter
10, verse 46. Blind Bartimaeus. I've pictured
blind Bartimaeus so many times sat by the highway side begging. What was he begging for? He couldn't
see. He couldn't work. He needed help. He couldn't provide for himself. That's a picture of us. That's
a picture of us. Verse 46, Mark chapter 10, And
they came to Jericho, that being the Lord and His disciples. And
as He, Christ, went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great
number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging. That's what beggars do, they
beg. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began
to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. You see, he knew who the Lord
was too. Jesus, thou son of David. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. But he cried the more, a great
deal. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal. Thou son of David. And Jesus
stood still. Christ always hears those that
ask for mercy. You have not because you ask
not. When you ask, you ask to consume it upon your own lust. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise. He calleth thee. He's not silent any more. Pardon me, he calls for you. God's not silent. Not any more. And he casteth away his garment. Some say that's a beggar's cloth. Identified him as a beggar. Why
did he cast it away? He knew he wasn't going to need
it anymore. Don't need that anymore. Casting away his garment, he
rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and did what? Said unto him, What wilt thou
that I should do unto thee? Is that not what the Lord asked
you when you cried for mercy now? What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee, and the blind man said unto him, Lord, Lord, I
know who you are, I know you can do it, that I might receive
my sight. That's what every blind beggar
says, Lord, that I might see, that I might see. And Jesus said
unto him, verse 52, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately, instantaneously,
He received His sight. And what did He do? He followed
Jesus in the way. He didn't need anybody to lead
Him by the hand anymore. He could see. He followed Jesus
in the way. If you're dealing with the silence
of God, follow the example of this Syrophoenician woman and
this blind beggar Bartimaeus. Why? Because those who beg for
mercy Christ will no longer be silent to them. If right now you're not hearing
from God, maybe you've got a situation, a trial, you're going through
trouble, you've got something that's breaking your heart, and
you cry, and you cry unto the Lord, and He's yet to answer
you, keep crying. Keep begging. Keep asking. In due time, He'll grant you
your desire of mercy. Those who beg for mercy, Christ
will no longer be silent. Those who seek His mercy will
find it. I can assure you, He never remains
silent to one who seeks His mercy and His grace. If you seek, you
shall find.