Read verse two with me again.
This will be our title of our message and our text. Verse two
says, Elkanah, he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah,
the name of the other, Anina. Patina had children, but Hannah
had no children. The truth has always been in
the minority in this world. In relation to the vast population
of the world, very few people receive and believe the truth. Many are called, the scripture
says. Many hear the truth. Many hear
and see witnesses of God's power and his very existence. That's
what Romans 1 says, that his eternal power and Godhead are
clearly seen by the things that are made. creation, other things. Providence clearly shows us who
God is, or that God is. Many are called. Many hear the
gospel. But the scripture says, few are
chosen. Few are chosen. Few people are
chosen. Chosen to believe. Faith is the
gift of God. The gospel is what we believe. Christ is who we believe. And few people, relatively, according
to the population, few people know the true and living God
in Christ, know and believe the gospel. Few people. Few are chosen
by God, elected by God, to believe the gospel. And He must. He must choose us. He must elect
us. He must give us the gift of faith. He must reveal Christ to us. It's His work. Salvation is of
the Lord. That's Scripture. Many are called,
but few are chosen. If you look closely at Scripture,
You'll see from the very beginning, from the book of Genesis on,
you'll see that the church, or God's people, believers, God's
people, have always been in the minority. They've always been
in the minority. Noah and his family. Noah and
his family. Were there only eight people?
saved out of so many million people, even perhaps several
billion people, were there only eight people saved? Were all
those people that died wrong and just these few right? Yes. Abraham and his family were just
a few. Moses. Out of the children of
Israel, several million, the children of Israel Moses, well,
Moses didn't go in, but Moses was one of God's people. But
the scripture says over 20 of those people, over 20, only Joshua
and Caleb, two adults, went in the promised land out of several
million. Were all those people wrong and just a few right? Yeah. That's the way it's always
been. Gideon and his little band, David
and a few hundred in a cave, twelve apostles in another room, all the Reformers against a vast
worldwide religion. The truth has always been in
the minority. It always has. Because man is, by nature, sinful. Man by nature in Romans 8 verse
7 says hates God. Man doesn't hate the God that
is all love and the God he's made up you know. God is all
love and loves everybody and doesn't can't do anything and
doesn't want to do anybody any harm and just is just waiting
on man to do something that nobody hates that God. But the God of
the Bible they hate. And they say We will not have
this one reign over us. We will not have God to be God.
Everybody loves Jesus, this good man who did good deeds, who loved
everybody and healed everybody and fed everybody and wanted
to do so much. and couldn't and can't, and everybody
loves that Jesus. Well, that's another Jesus. That's
not the Jesus Christ of Scripture. Nobody loves this sovereign Lord
who is—well, there are a few, anyway—who love this sovereign
Lord who's reigning and ruling right now in whose hands we are. Romans 8, 7 says that. Man, the
carnal man by nature's enmity against God. We will not be ruled. And so man rejects God's reign
and rule. He rejects God's law. He makes
up his own rules. He becomes his own little God,
his own little master. And Romans 1, verse 22 says,
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. We live in a wise generation,
don't we? Intellectual society. That's
going to be the savior of our day. No, it's going to be the
ruin of it, because it educated God right out of it. It educated
people into believing there is no God, absolute sovereign ruler. And the Scripture says, Our Lord
himself said, God hides these things from the wise and the
prudent. He hides the gospel, he hides
the gospel, he hides the truth from the wise and the prudent,
or those that think they are. He hides these things from the
wise and the prudent and reveals it unto babies, receptive people,
common or ordinary, teachable, meek, humble, broken, needy people,
because they really appreciate The Son of God, the Son of the
Most High, the Holy One of God, walked this planet. Son of God. God in human flesh walked this
planet. You'd think everybody would just
be so glad. Everybody loves God. Everybody loves Jesus. Everybody
killed Jesus. God walked this planet, and all
those who said they loved God killed him. Well, he killed himself,
but he allowed them to do it. But it says the common people
heard him gladly. The weak, the sick, the sinful,
the sorrowful, the needy, the troubled, the tried heard him
and saw his glory and needed him. They needed him. They needed
him. While the wealthy, the influential,
the religious, they were all fixed up. They didn't need him.
They had need of nothing. No one. They rejected him. Thumbs down. And our Lord said
the well don't need a physician, but the sick. Those who are all fixed up don't
need fixing up. He said, I'm not come to call the righteous,
that's just another word for the religious, the moral, the
upright, those who are just really good people. He didn't come to
say good people. He said, I came to call sinners
unto repentance. And right there is a problem
with our generation and every other generation before it. There
are not many sinners out there. There just aren't many sinners
out there who really need a Savior, who really need this gospel.
Not many, but a few chosen ones who God
reveals their sin to. Now, our story here is a picture
of all of this that I've been saying right now up to this point.
Our story is a picture of of religion, who has its many, and of true religion, the true
people of God, are just a few. And there are three people here
in our story, and they represent—three people here represent three other
people. Elkanah, this man, is going to
represent, in our story, Christ. He's going to represent Christ.
The woman Hannah represents the one Christ loves, his church,
his true bride. And Penina here represents the
false church, false religion. OK, now look at it again, verse
2. It says that Elkanah had two
wives, two wives. God doesn't, never did ordain polygamy, is that it? More than
one wife. He never did ordain that, nor
does he condone it. But the reason for this is because
of our story. It has a spiritual meaning behind
it. This man had two wives, and from
the beginning, like I said, Elkanah represents Christ and these other
two, the true church and one, the false church. From the beginning,
there have always been false prophets, false disciples. Our Lord picked twelve, and one
of them was a devil. One out of twelve. False brethren,
Scripture says, false brethren shall creep in the church. They look like brethren, they
talk like brethren, they act like brethren, but they're not
brethren. Those who appear to be what they
are not, those who claim to be what they are not, those who
claim to be God's people, called themselves Christians, other
people called themselves them Christians, they claim to be
a member of the Church. Our Lord said there will be goats
among the sheep. You remember me telling you the
illustration of the goats and the sheep in Africa? Some who
may not have heard it, Bill Clark, a missionary we support in Europe. He travels all over the world.
He says in Africa there are goats and there are sheep that look
just alike. Certain goats and certain sheep
look just alike. You can't tell them apart except
one way. He said, He said goats the goats
walk around with their tail sticking straight up. And sheep have their tail tucked
between their legs. And God's people there in the
church there are goats and their sheep and they may look alike
and they sound alike but goats walk around with their tails
well I mean their hands their noses, their pride lifted up,
themselves lifting themselves up, exalting themselves, proud
of themselves, proud of their religion, proud of what they've
done for Jesus and so forth. Sheep are broken, humble, contrite,
lowly, feel themselves to be sinners, to be nothing, nobody. Goats and sheep. Our Lord said
there's tares and wheat. And they grow up together. And
he says, let them. There were some preachers that
wanted to go in and take out the tares. He said, no. Leave
them grow up together. When the judgment comes, I'll
burn the tares. Gather the wheat. Leave it up
to the Lord of harvest. They're wolves in sheep's clothing,
the scripture said. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Our
Lord said there must be heresies among you that they which are
approved might be made manifest. There must be problems in the
church. There must be heresies. There must be schisms and divisions
and so forth. Why? That you might know the
truth. That you might know they which are approved, that which
is true, that which is most like God and Scripture and so forth. Here's the first point in this
story, as was the case with these two women. One was the bride in name only. The other one was loved by the
husband. Look at it in verses 4 and 5.
It says, When the time was come that Elkanah offered, he gave
to Penema his wife and all her sons and her daughters portions.
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, a double portion, for
he loved Hannah. It doesn't say he loved Penina,
does it? It doesn't say that. That's significant in it's saying.
It does not say he loved her. She was his bride, but he didn't
love her. He loved Hannah. Well, look what
he gave to her. He heaped things on her. Gifts
and stuff. That didn't mean he loves her.
He gave her a lot of things, but they didn't love her. That's
what she needed the most was his love. And isn't that the case with
wealthy religion today? I told you that this woman, Penina,
represents false religion and Hannah, the true. Wealthy religion
today has all this riches, and people in religion today take
prosperity as being a sign of God's blessing, don't they? God
must be—and the poor, ignorant people that come and see these
great, gigantic buildings with all their trappings of religion,
you know, gold and this and that and the other. Oh, God must be
here. Look at this place. That's probably
a sign that he's not. Well, look, God must be—look,
it's got stained glass windows. That doesn't have anything to do with
it, nothing to do with it. Riches are not a sign of God's
blessing, they may be a curse, may be a curse. Satan, do you
remember when Satan tempted our Lord on the Mount, when he tempted
our Lord, remember what he tempted Him with? He showed Him, and this was a
mystery really, But he showed him all the kingdoms of the world,
all their riches and this and that and the other, and he said,
all these things will I give you if you'll worship me. Riches,
fame, honor, glory, and from the kingdoms of this world, all
these things. The kingdom of God is not of
this world. The kingdom of Christ is not
of this world. Spiritual riches are treasures of truth. Christ is that treasure. It's
not in buildings. The riches, the blessings of
God Almighty are not in riches and great buildings and so forth. The blessings of God Almighty
are the gospel, are the truth, repentance and faith and so forth.
That's the blessings of God. And God loves, Christ loves his
people. He loves his church. He does
not love all men. John 3.16, our Lord said that
to Nicodemus. He was talking to a Jew who thought
that the Jews were the only people of God. There were no other people.
And Christ said, and you remember the Jews used to say, well, we're
God's people in the world out there. It was the Jews against
the world, Gentiles. And John and Christ was telling
Nicodemus, God loves a world of people, not just Jews. As a matter of fact, he is not
a Jew which is one outwardly. God doesn't love every Jew. God loves a Jew which is one
inwardly. Circumcision is that of the heart.
God has a world of people among the Gentiles, not just a Jew
among the Gentiles, out of every tribe, kindred, nation of people
which no man can number. God loves a people, not all people,
but a people out of this world. Like our story here, and God's
love, the love of God is in Jesus Christ, Romans 8, 39. The love
of God is in Jesus Christ. God doesn't love anybody outside
of Jesus Christ, because all those outside of
Christ will be damned someday. How could God damn somebody he
loved? He doesn't. He doesn't damn anybody
he loves. He says, having loved his own,
he loved them to the end. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I've drawn
you. I've called you. I've chosen you. I've saved you. I've given you to my son. He'll
save you. I've kept you by my power. I'll
have you. You'll be with me through eternity
because I've loved you. All he loves, he saves, he said.
He loves his church. He loves those that are in Christ.
Why? Because he loves Christ supremely. Christ is his beloved, his well-beloved,
only begotten Son, and we're adopted, we're accepted in the
beloved. Right? He loves his church. So
Hannah had Elkanah's love. That's all she really needed,
wasn't And it says that he did give
her a double portion. Well, that's what the scripture
says, doesn't it? In Isaiah 40, we've received at the Lord's
hand double for all our sins. But it may not be two Mercedes,
a he and she Mercedes, or this
house and a vacation home, too. That's not the double that we
get. We get justification and sanctification. We get that which is necessary for
life here, and that which is necessary for Godliness there,
to be with him. Eternal life. We get to live
here, we get to live with him there. Double. And on and on
it goes. Not only forgiveness, but complete
justification. Read on. Verse 2. It says that
he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah.
And Hannah had no children, but verse 4 says that Peninnah, he
gave unto Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters
portion. So Peninnah had many sons and
daughters, but Hannah had none. Peninnah had several children,
but Hannah had none. False religion in our day. has many converts. Many. It's just like our Lord said.
Just like he said it would be. False religion, world religion,
has many followers. Listen to this in 1 John 4. They
are of the world, therefore speak they of the world. See the use
of the word world? We're not of the They are of
the world," talking about preachers. It's 1 John 4. He's talking about,
he says, you need to try the spirits, try these preachers,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world. And
he goes on to say, they are of the world, these false preachers,
and religion, therefore, speak they of the world. They're talking
about worldly things and appealing to the world, and the world is
hearing them. The world is hearing them. They're being a path to
their door. We're of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. How do you know we're of God? Huh? Because we're speaking of God's
Son. You're given all the glory to God. We're here to exalt and
worship and magnify and honor God. Listen to what Christ said
in John 5. He said, if a man come in his
own name, him you will receive. And it's obvious that the likes
of Billy Graham and Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggart and all these
fellows are coming in their own name. They've got their names
plastered everywhere. On the TV, they'll show pictures
of them, you know, praying. How can a man have somebody take
his picture while he's praying? Sounds just like the Pharisees,
doesn't it? Who loved to pray on the street corners. Liked to be seen of men. Look
what a godly man. Look what a wolf. They come in
their own name. John the Baptist, the greatest
man ever lived, they came and said, Who are you? He didn't
even say, Well, I'm John. Don't you know who I am? I feel
the Spirit from my mother's womb. Ask the Lord. He says, I'm the
greatest preacher there is. He didn't say that, did he? What
did John the Baptist say? Who was the greatest preacher
ever? What did he say? He said, I'm nothing. Who are
you? I'm a nobody. Where'd you come
from? Nowhere. I'm a nobody from nowhere. He's somebody, and he's from
somewhere. He's the Lord of Glory. I must
decrease. He must increase. That's the
true prophet, and that's the true church. Christ said, Let
a man come in his own name, and people will receive him. They'll
flock to him. They'll give him money. They'll
make him rich. They'll make him famous. And our Lord said, How
can you believe? He said, How can you believe?
which receive honor one of another." Who's going to believe the gospel
that gives God all the glory? How can you believe who seek
honor one of another? Who's going to do that? Who seek
not the honor that cometh from God only? Who is going to believe? The world is not interested in
God's glory and God's honor, but God's people are. That's
all they're interested in. That's all. Thirdly, look at
verse six and seven. And it says her adversary, that
is Peninnah, Hannah's enemy. And religion is an enemy to the
church, to the true gospel. It really is. They're not friends.
We can't have an ecumenical movement. We can't join hands together
and worship. We worship different gods. They hate our God. They hate this gospel. They hate
this cry. They hate us for preaching it.
Just for trying to exalt God, they hate us. Christ said they
would. He said, if they don't, something's wrong with you and
your message. Didn't he? He said, woe is unto you if men
speak well of you. But he said, if I speak with
words of wisdom and so forth, the offense of the cross, if
there's no offense of the cross, no truth is being spoken. No
enemies, no truth, no truth. It says her adversary provoked
her sore and made her to fret because the Lord had shut up
her wounds. Hannah was persecuted because
she didn't have any children. Any children. Do you follow what's being said
here? And that's all people want to
know about your church. Where do you go? It never fails,
does it? Never fails. Where do you go
to church? Well, I go to this church. And they say, well,
and everybody, if I could ask you to just say it out loud right
now, what they say, we'd all say the same thing. How many? How much? And I'll just be honest with
you, just be frank with you. Sometimes I catch myself being
a little bit embarrassed or a little bit shy
to say how many. I get caught up in the same trap
they're in, thinking if I say 40, Boy, that sounded, I say fifty,
it's close, but I don't know, you know. On Sunday morning we
have visitors. That'll be. You haven't done
that, surely. How many? How many? Well, if they'd ask the Lord
that. What if they'd ask the Lord that? How many have you
got? Twelve. Well, the Lord must not be in
that. He was in it. Wouldn't have been
twelve if he hadn't been in it. How many? Fifty? Forty? Well, we had a thousand in some
school last week. We had a thousand. You know, I thought, Joe, I thought,
well, you know, the Washington Redskins bring in more than that. Big deal. Every Sunday the Washington
Redskins have 40,000. Meet that. So they bring in Joe
Gibson. They bring in Washington Redskins.
Coach or player or somebody that bring in people. Don't they?
Game is just another game like the Redskins. How many? How much revenue? Numbers don't mean God's there.
Well, you know what they say about
a low number of people, don't they? Don't you? If there's not
a high number of people, you know what they say? Cult. It's a cult. That's what they said about the
Lord and his followers, isn't it? Huh? Who are these unlearned
fellows? Where did these men have learning?
Well, we went to cemeteries. Seminary. Well, we studied this and that.
These men are fishermen. Where did you, they ask me that,
and that's what they ask me every time about my ministry, you know. Where'd you go to the seminary? I didn't. Oh. You know what I tell them? I
went to the same school the apostles did. Same school. Cult. Then they say concerning
small groups of believers, well, nobody believes like you. Nobody
believes like you. The world rejects what you're
saying. That's right. That's what the Lord said. They
do, and that's what the Lord said you'd say. Our Lord said in John 17, he
said to his father, he said, I have given them thy word. What do you got? What's your
credentials? This is it. This is all. What
type of material do you use in Sunday school? This is it. This
is all. Where do you get your information?
Right here. This is it. This is all I've got. Where did
you learn what you were preaching? Right here. This is all. This
is the only place I've been. Lord, I have given them thy word,
and the world hath hated them. Just preach the word, and they'll hate you. I'm not
standing up here telling you what John Calvin said, am I? I rarely mention the man's
name. Why? Why does the world hate
them? Because, verse 14 says, they're not of the world, even
as I'm not of the world, and I love the world. I've given them thy word. You know, ours is a bloody religion. Our religion is a bloody religion,
and it's become absolutely out of fashion. out of fashion, Easter
Sunday, I'm supposed to be talking about the resurrection. I'm supposed to be talking about,
you know, whatever they're talking about. But ours is a bloody religion. We don't, I don't want to ascend
this pulpit. I don't want to come in this
place. We're not going to be able to worship God unless we
say something about the blood. Unless we talk about the blood. Did you notice that there in
our story there? That when Elkanah, or when Hannah went to worship,
she took three, a lot of blood. Three bullocks. Oh boy. A lot of blood was shed there.
And in the true Church, you'll hear a lot about blood, a lot
about blood, bloody religion, the blood of Christ, without
which we cannot be saved, without which we cannot worship God,
bloody religion. Ours is a God-honoring, man-abasing
religion. Read on. It says in verse 8,
it says that Elkanah comforted Hannah because she was childless.
Verse 8, Elpidas, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why are
you weeping? Why eatest thou not? Why is thy
heart grieved? He said, Hannah, am not I better
to thee than ten sons? And I, once again, I'll just
bear my thoughts to you. There are times when I get disappointed
that there aren't more people in here to hear this gospel.
Not me, not to hear me. I wonder and I'm amazed that
two people come here to hear this banged apple. But I wish that more people could
hear this gospel. I wish more people were here
right now. I wish, I know for a fact that God who is sovereign
and orders all things, that he has foreordained before the foundation
of the world every person to be here that is here now. That
there's no possibility that one more would be here or one less.
I know that. And I stay out of comfort myself
in that. But just to be honest with you, I wish there were more
people here to hear this gospel. I wish more people believed this
gospel. But it's not a great following
that we seek. I'm speaking, we're seeking to
follow Christ. That's what I'm not trying to
win converts. I want you, I want me to win
Christ and be found in him. I'm not interested in winning
friends or winning Christ. I'm not concerned. I'm really
not concerned. When it gets down to it, I'm
really not that concerned that such and such a person is not
here and that more people be here. There's one person I really
am concerned about that he be here though. Jesus Christ. Where two or three
are gathered. Two or three. What if two or
three Or just here this morning, just two or three. Well, you
know God's not in that. No, he might be. It might be
the only place he is. And now listen to me. We want people to come and hear
and believe and rejoice in Christ in this gospel. But if they don't,
really, if people don't believe this, we're still going to rejoice
in this gospel. Whether anybody believes it or
not. Whether any preacher preaches it or not. We must. Is this the only gospel? There
is. And it's Christ we worship and honor and long for. Whether
anybody believes or not. He's worthy to be worshipped.
Did you notice it said down in verse, look at verses 13. Look at verse 13. Here's a mark
of true religion too. Verse 13, Hannah, she spake in
her heart. Her lips moved, but her voice
wasn't heard. You notice that, Henry? You did. You were shaking your
head. She worshipped with the heart. God's people, true worshippers,
worshipped God in spirit, worshipped from the heart. How can you be
of God? Where's your big choir? Where's your big gospel singing?
Well, worship is from the heart. You can sing unto God without
making a sound. As a matter of fact, it's better
that you don't make a sound if you're not going to sing unto
God. Because Ecclesiastes 5 says, Be not hasty to utter anything
without mouth. God is in the heaven. It says
that she, her voice was not heard. God is in the heaven and you
are upon the earth. Let your words be few." Hannah wanted a child. She wanted
a child, and she bowed. Look at verses 9 through 11.
It says that she wanted a child. Verse 10, she was in bitterness
of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept. Verse 11, she bowed
about and said, Lord, if you will look on the affliction of
mine thine handmaid, and remember me. Oh, he has. He had. Lord remember me. It
sounded like that thief on the cross. That's all the church
is interested in. Not that anybody else per se
remembers them, but that he remembers them. That he knows them. That he loves them. Not the world,
but that he does. And don't forget your handmaid.
But if you'll give unto your handmaid a man-child, then I
will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life." All the
days of his life. And we do want people to be saved. We want people to hear and believe,
and nothing causes us more joy when we see our sisters or brothers
or family or somebody, children or whatever, come and the Lord reveals the
gospel to them, obviously reveals it to them, and they rejoice
in it. We rejoice with joy unspeakable moment, full of glory. But if they don't, we rejoice anyway. We're going
to keep on rejoicing. But here's the point I wanted
to make. The true church, like Hannah here, will point She says,
Lord, if you'll give me a son, I'll give him to you. If you'll give me a son, I'll
give him to you. I'll devote him to you. Now, do you see what she's saying
there? And this is what I want to do in preaching. Not count
how many baptisms I have. I don't have the foggiest idea
how many church members we have here. We don't have a role. We're not members of this church,
per se. Christ's church. He's got the
role. If I had your name on a roll,
it doesn't mean you're in the church. Does it? That's not a role that's going
to be called up yonder. Not the role of the Central Baptist
Church. Half the numbers on that role
might not be there. Right? That's the reason they're
always purging the roles, aren't they? Every six months, purges.
Purge the role. Add to it or take away from it,
you know. There's no additions to the Lord's book. It was written
before the world began. There are no subtractions from
it. It was sealed. No names escaped. But the Church, you see, is not
interested in... If somebody comes in, they're not
going to count their head or brag on them, per se. We want
them to know the same Christ. This is what this is all about.
We want to point them to Christ. We want to point them to Him.
Commit them to Christ and Him alone, to the gospel, from that
day forward. We're going to commit them to
cry. We're going to appoint them to cry. The true preacher of
the gospel. Listen to me. He's not out to make people his
good buddy. He doesn't necessarily want people
to love him. It's just natural to want people
to love you, don't you? But that's not what the true
preacher of the gospel is interested in. Because if you fall in love with
a man, and a man only, when you get mad at that man, you leave
that man. But if you fall in love with
Jesus Christ now, and you get mad at that man, no matter, and
he's still preaching the one you love, you ain't gonna leave
that man. You fall in love with Jesus Christ,
you keep your eyes on Jesus Christ, and that man keeps him between
you and him. You fall in love with and be
taken up with Jesus Christ, the gospel of Christ, you won't need
anything else, you won't want anything else. And there ain't
nothing that nobody will keep you from it, or take you away
from it. Nobody will seduce you. Nobody will bewitch you, nothing
to no one. You'll see Christ, you'll hear
Christ. That's what we read there in
Philippians this morning. Same thing. Same thing. Same one. They love Christ. It's the only
thing, the gospel of Christ is the only thing that keeps people.
I can't do it. I cannot do it. I can't do it. And that's the reason religion
has all these things going on for the children and for people
and so forth. Right? That's the reason they
have all these things going on. Why? Got to keep people entertained. If not, they'll get bored and
leave. And they've asked us many things.
What are you doing for your children down there? You got a basketball
team? A basketball team. What's that got to do with knowing
God or knowing Christ? Huh? By playing softball, is
my daughter going to know Christ, win Christ, and be found in Him?
Huh? No, but the fellowship and all that, that won't have anything
to do with it. That won't have any bearing on
her soul at all. What are you doing for your children?
We're preaching the gospel to them. Well, look, Hannah did conceive
in time, verse 20. She did. She had a son. Hannah
conceived, she bore a son, and called his name Samuel. Asked
of God. Asked of God. And I do pray all
the time, Lord, call out your sheep. I don't
say, Lord, give us members. I don't want church members.
I don't, I really don't. I don't want any church member. They're nothing but trouble. Sheep aren't. Sheep aren't. I want believers,
not church members. It's easy to join this and join
that. You know, I don't want joinees, signees. I want to save these, those that
are saved, believers. And in time, God's good time,
His sheep hear His voice, one or two here and there, they hear
the gospel, and they come and they lie down in green pasture.
And boy, they eat it, and they love it, and that's all they
want from that day forward. And they become a member of the
flock, and they become like the rest of the flock. And it says in chapter 2, look
at chapter 2, I'll quit with this. Chapter 2, verse 5, look at it,
I'll quit with it. It says that Hannah was praying
here, and I wish we ought to make time, but Hannah prayed
this glorious prayer unto the Lord after he gave her this son. And it says in verse 5, she says
this. They that were full have hired
out themselves for bread. They that were hungry cease to
be hungry. So that the baron hath borne
seven." Now, she didn't have seven children.
She's talking about herself here. She had one. After a while she
had more, but right here she just had one. What the point
is, is this one child was worth more to her than seven. Seven
others. Seven others. We have one child.
One child. I don't need six more. I really
don't. I was just delighted with the
one I've got. I wasn't expecting that. She
was a gift. That's what her name means. Gift of God. Hannah. And this story is so remarkable
and so similar to our own story, if it had been a boy, I was going
to name him Samuel. But I don't need six more. I'm
just happy with the one I've got. And I'm really just delighted
in Roberta Sword there. I really am. I don't need six
ladies from out in the community. You'll do. If I can let six more like you,
sitting there with a smile on your face, loving this gospel,
worshiping this Christ, needing nothing else, I don't have to
tap dance for you. I'll take them. One true believer,
in this sense too, one true child of God, one truly regenerated
disciple of Christ, born of God's Spirit, like Samuel here, born
again by the Word of God. Not by my gimmicks and methods
and, you know, I believe, Stan, I believe I could be, I believe
I could get somebody down here. I really do. I believe I could
get one of our children to make a confession this morning. If
I tried, I could get them baptized. I think so. I think I could.
I think I could do that just as good as the rest of them.
I think we'd get more people in, Rick. You know how? Put ten
dollar bills under those seats. and announce it and they'll come.
They do that! They do that! Why would I want people or extra
money in here? But one true believer, one sheep,
is worth more than 10,000 church members. produced by false gospel and
fleshly efforts. One. John Newton said, one believer
is worth ten thousand years of labor. One true one. Because that one person will
be meek and lowly and humble and receptive and Christlike,
and he'll be true, he'll be without guile, there'll be no desires
for their own personal glory, and they'll be satisfied with
Christ, satisfied with the gospel. They'll love you because of Christ,
and the gospel won't expect too much out of you, won't try to
get things out of you, but they'll be true, true disciples,
true disciples. Well, the gospel in all this,
you mentioned the blood. Verse 24 and 25, it says that
when she had weaned old Samuel, here's what she kept She kept
Samuel on the milk as long as she could. The word of God is what we desire
to feed the people of God. Desire, and we pray you might
desire the sincere milk of the way we're going to meet. Took
Billux. And that's the sacrifice of Christ.
That's everything. That's Christ crucified. Flour and a bottle of wine. That's
bread and wine. Lord's table. brought him into
the house of the Lord, we bring our, we always have the people
of God in here to hear of Christ's crucifixion, the message of redemption,
to worship him. Our young, the child was young,
and slew a bullock. They slew a bullock and brought
the child to Eli. You bring in your children to
this preacher who's slaying a bullock, who's talking about slaying,
the lamb slaying. And we pray and thank God for
everything. My Lord, my Lord, my Lord, you've
given me what I ask for. You've given me what I ask for.
Therefore, you get all the glory. As long as I live, we'll worship
you forever." All right. Joe, did you pick out another
hymn?