Address—J. Stewart
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Well, welcome to the meeting this evening.
I'll follow our brother Nick's lead and maybe we'll save the hymn for the end of the meeting.
Turn, please to Isaiah, chapter 50.
Isaiah chapter 50 for an opening.
Verse.
Isaiah 50 and verse 4.
The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned.
That I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary He wakeneth morning, by morning he wakeneth mine ear to hear, as they learned, the Lord God hath opened mine ear. And I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
In this introductory verse we find the Lord Jesus speaking prophetically in the book of Isaiah, and he says that every morning.
His father woke him.
And every morning, his ear was open to hear the message that his father had for him.
It was mentioned earlier in this conference that God never needs to learn anything, and that's true, but as a man.
The Lord Jesus woke up every morning to receive fresh instruction from His Father for what He should do that day. His ear was ready to hear whatever it was.
And the Lord Jesus had to do some very hard things.
And his heart was ready to do whatever God asked him to do.
I have it on my heart to speak about that heart and that ear, and I would like to look at Samuel and look at his call in First Samuel chapter 3.
But you know what, before I, before we turn there, there's just a comment that I would like to make.
You know when we.
Give practical exhortations, and when we give.
Instructions like this, especially when we talk about the heart.
You know, the heart is a tricky thing.
You can't make your heart do something it doesn't want to do. That is the thing with the heart. That's why it says in Proverbs to guard your heart above all that is guarded.
Because the heart is a tricky thing. And so when we talk about having a heart like Christ in Isaiah 50 or having a heart like Samuel and First Samuel chapter 3.
What's really important to remember?
Is that we are not under law as was brought out and what we're doing is we're actually presenting Christ to you. You actually already have a heart that wants to do what God tells you to do. It already wants that you have a nature that delights to obey and so it's.
It's almost unfair because I'm going to be presenting things to you that.
Your nature already wants to do and so that nature.
Will hear, I trust something of the of the life of Christ in Samuel and will say that's actually me that nature will identify with Christ in the life of Samuel and I trust will produce a response. And that's really what what we hope for this afternoon. So let's go to first Samuel.
First Samuel chapter. We'll start in chapter one. There's a lot of verses.
That I would love to read but we we don't have time. But we will read a few verses and you'll have to bear with me as I maybe jump around a little bit.
First Samuel chapter one, and we'll start with the end of verse 2.
Hannah had no children.
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And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, and the two sons of Eli, Hafna and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
And when the time was that Al Cana offered, he gave to Penina his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters portions. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, For he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.
Verse 9. So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat by a seat, 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 sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, Oh Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and Remember Me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man 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. Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Delisle, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, that thou hast asked of him.
Let's jump down to verse 20. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son, and called his name Samuel, which means heard of God, or God has heard saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. Verse 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him.
To the Lord, as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. We're going to pass over Hannah's beautiful prayer that arches so high.
In this woman's heart she rises up to the counsels of God. It's a beautiful prayer, but we're going to just pass over it to verse 11. And Elkanah went to Rhema, to his house, and the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial or worthlessness they.
Knew not the Lord. We're going to pass over what they did just to read verse 17.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. But Samuel ministered 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 yearly sacrifice. Verse 21.
At the end of the verse, and the child Samuel grew before the Lord.
Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all those people. Name my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. 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 hearken not unto the voice of their Father.
Because the Lord would slay them, and the child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Then a prophet comes to Eli and speaks to him. We're not going to read all of it, but just verse 29 will pick up. Wherefore, Kiki, at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation.
And honours thy sons above me to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings.
Of Israel, my people. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the House of thy Father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord hath said, Be it far from me. For them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 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 thine house.
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Verse 34 And this shall be assigned unto thee.
That shall come upon my two sons on Hofnai and Finnehas. In one day. They shall die, both of them, And I will raise me up a faithful priest. That shall do according to all that is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build them a sure house, and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. Chapter 3 and verse one. And 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.
Well.
This gives us the backdrop to the chapter that I have before me.
We've read a little bit about Eli, and in Eli we have the failure of the priesthood. The priesthood was what God gave to Israel in the wilderness, to be the link between the people and God. They could.
Appeal to God through the priesthood on the basis of grace, and God would act toward the people.
Through the priesthood on the basis of grace. But here Eli, who was the leader really of Israel as the priest at this time was corrupt and his sons were corrupt. You know, Eli was a descendant of Itamar, the four sons of Aaron, Nate, Abbottabay, you were slain and then there were two left, Eleazar and Itamar.
And Eliezer's son Finnehas.
Received an everlasting covenant of the priesthood.
Because he put away sin from Israel before God, but.
We find here that not the descendant of Finna has, but a descendant of Itamar was the priest.
And what we're going to find is things in these chapters reach an all time low in this phase of Israel's history, but God begins to work.
And one of the things he's going to set right is the priesthood, and he's going to.
Overtime, it culminates when Solomon sits on the throne. He's going to put things back to the way they should, and a priest of the line of Eliezer will be priests in Israel. But you know he's going to do more than that.
He was going to give something else that he had not given, a new dispensation, if you will. He was going to give a king.
And that king would.
Do something that Eli was.
Doing at this point, which was really to represent the people and the King would do that.
And that was really God's grace.
And you know Hannah, in her prayer she rises up to that. She references the King and the Lord's anointed. She was in the the mind and thoughts of God.
But Eli, under Eli the priesthood, descended into ruin. We find in chapter one that he was a man without discernment. He thought Hannah was drunk.
We find in chapter 2 That that Eli did not restrain his sons.
And he allowed them to go on in wickedness. He allowed them to go on in a way that dishonored the Lord and that made other people despise, that made the children of Israel despise the offerings of the Lord.
And you know, Eli spoke to his sons and he said what you're doing is not right.
But you know those words, because they weren't backed up by action, meant nothing.
Words alone mean nothing if it's not followed up by action.
And you might say, you know, Eli was a weak man. He was old at this time, but God had given him responsibility and he had authority and he could have acted. He could have taken his sons and pushed them out of the priesthood and taken that away, but he didn't do it.
The Lord says to Eli, You honor your sons more than you honor me.
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You know, we contrast Samuel with Eli, but.
Contrast in your mind for a minute, Hannah and Eli.
Two completely different parents.
Hannah wanted a son, but she wanted a son to give him to the Lord. Isn't that beautiful? It's an encouragement to us as parents to not just raise our children for ourselves, that we might have a nice family, that we might have those warm feelings of having our family around us.
That's not the highest purpose. It's really.
For the Lord Hannah had that desire.
Eli is an interesting character.
Did Eli love the Lord?
I believe Eli did love the Lord. In a certain sense. He at least loved. We find at the end in chapter 4 when the ark is taken and the messengers bring back news, that Eli's two sons have been slain.
It was when he heard not that his sons were killed, but that the ark was taken.
That is heartbroken, he fell backwards and his neck broke, but the Lord.
Said to Eli, through that profit he said, Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
By promoting his sons above the Lord, Eli was saying the Lord Eli was actually despising the Lord.
It's a pretty solemn thing.
You know in chapter 3 it says air the lamp of God went out in the temple the the lamp.
Was still there. The menorah the the Candlestick was still there, but it was going out.
And the Lord was about to forsake, it says in Psalm 78, it says He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh. He was about to forsake it.
The light was getting dimmer and dimmer in Israel.
It hadn't gone out, but it was getting dimmer.
In the verse that we began with, the first verse of chapter 3, it says there was number open vision. The word of the Lord was precious in those days. It doesn't say that the that God wasn't speaking, it just says that it was very rare.
Nobody was publicly known to receive visions from the Lord. You know, Talks and Amos about a famine and a day to come. Not a famine of bread and water, but a famine for hearing the word of the Lord.
You know, that's what we need is to hear the voice of the Lord, hear what He has to say to us. It's not a matter of intellectual gaining of knowledge, but of hearing the voice of the Lord and what He is saying to us. That is what we need.
And where does God turn at a time like this when the the candle is going out?
It seems hopeless, but there's a woman.
And the woman is barren. She can't even have children. And this?
It's where God turns.
To a woman who.
Had tremendous faith.
It's really a picture of the day we're living in.
And her faith is a tremendous example.
She names her son Samuel, which means God has heard.
God heard her prayer.
And what we're going to find in chapter 3 is that Samuel fulfills his name in reverse. She names him Samuel. God has heard my prayer, but Samuel will come to hear God speaking to him in the third chapter. It's amazing to see how that the meaning of that name is turned around. You see it again with Moses.
He was named Moses, drawn out of the river, but through his life he fulfills his name in another way, drawing Israel out of Egypt.
What I want to impress on us as we, in a few moments just look a little bit at this chapter, is the character.
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Of the one that God would turn to in grace.
To preserve his people at an all time low, you know, God was going to give another dispensation and that was profits. He was going to give profits. You know it says in Acts, we won't read the verse, but it's in Acts 3. It says Samuel and all the prophets that follow Samuel was the the head of a whole new.
New order of things where God was going to give prophets, where he was going to speak directly through a prophet to his people.
And Samuel was the 1St of this order.
It was really God's grace. And so God is going to work because that's who He is. He is going to show grace because that's who He is. But He wants to use us. And what is the character of those that He will use in this way? We're going to find in this chapter. It's an ear that is inclined to hear.
What God has to say, no matter what he says, even if it's hard to hear.
An ear that will that wants to hear, and a heart that is willing to obey.
I want to impress that on you.
Verse two. 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 to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou callest me. And he said, I called not.
Lie down again. And he went and lay down.
We know the story well. The Lord called Samuel and he did not recognize that it was the Lord. He was just a boy. You know, we talked about the children in this room. The Lord is going to begin to speak to you, and you may not recognize it at first.
But overtime, if you listen, you will begin to recognize the Lord Himself speaking to you. He wants to have a personal relationship with you.
Samuel was ignorant of that. And that's how we all start.
Eli didn't recognize it either. Perhaps he should have the first time, but God speaks once again twice a man perceiveth it not. It wasn't until the third time that Samuel that Eli recognized it was the Lord speaking to Samuel.
But if he did anything right, Eli gives to Samuel that third time.
A perfect instruction.
And he says to Samuel, Go and lie down in verse nine. And it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.
And Samuel went and lay down in this place, And the Lord came and stood and called us. At other times Samuel, Samuel and Samuel answered, Speak for thy servant heareth.
So Eli told Samuel this is what you need to do.
You need to say this when the when the Lord calls you again. Speak Lord, thy servant heareth. It is a simple sentence, but it means so much. It means Lord.
Say what you have to say to me.
I'm willing to hear, and I believe it also implies I'm willing to obey.
Then the Lord told Samuel what he had for him, and it was a brutal message to hear. It would have been very difficult as a young child to hear what Samuel heard.
And he was afraid to say it to Eli.
But Eli wanted to hear what it was.
And it was going to be.
Along the lines of what the Lord had told Eli that he was going to be cut off and his house would be cut off. So the Lord was bypassing Eli and going to this young child who lay in the in the by the Tabernacle outside there with the presence of the Lord was.
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And he spoke to him, and Samuel was ready to hear what God had to say.
Are we ready to hear what the Lord has to say? Do we? Can we say in sincerity like Samuel? Speak, Lord, by servant heareth.
It's almost time to close.
You know, this is just a small sliver of the life of Samuel, which is rich for our instruction.
Eli had grown cold to the voice of the Lord because he would not act.
He knew the right thing to do.
Perhaps he said I'm too weak. Perhaps he said I'm too old, or I can't offend my sons. A slap on the wrist, a word of rebuke was not what the Lord would have him to do.
Samuel, the little boy girded with a linen. He thought it speaks of purity and service.
Had a heart that was willing to receive what God said and to obey.
Let's just read the last couple of verses of this chapter. And Samuel grew, verse 19. And the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
I think that's an image from archery. None of the arrows missed the mark. When he spoke, it came to pass. He had the word of the Lord. God said, you know, I can use this channel. He's willing to listen and he's willing to act. And God says I'm going to use this channel and he would use it time and time again. 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. May we have that character. It's a beautiful character. I just want to read a couple of verses in the New Testament that have been on my heart recently in connection with hearing.
And understanding the voice of the Lord, John 7 and verse 17. You don't have to turn there, but I'm just going to read a couple of verses.
Verse 17 of John 7 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.
Or whether I speak of myself, sometimes we say, well, I don't understand. The Lord says here, if your heart is willing to obey.
Then you will understand and know whether it is of me.
Or whether I've received it of God.
A heart that is willing to do. John chapter 8 and verse 34.
You know Nick's brought out mentioned a phrase, was it fake it till you make it? Never heard that one used before in in connection with the spiritual things.
And I I probably would won't use won't use that again. But here's a verse for fake it till you make it.
John 8 verse 43. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word? The Jews did not understand the words, the phraseology that the Lord was using, because they didn't know the truth of it. We must obey and do what God has called us to do, and in that we will understand the truth of it and then we will understand the words.
Obey even if we don't understand. Now Christianity is not characterized by doing without understanding why.
It's characterized by knowing and the intelligence of these things. But we must obey, and then the Lord will reveal the meaning of it to us.
There are other scriptures that was going to turn to we're out of time, but that.
Spirit, that character.
Of being willing to hear whatever God has to say to us and to do it. Can we sing that Sunday school song?
They'll give me Samuels ear.
Oh, give me Samuel.
Sear the open ear, oh Lord.
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Oh dear, beside your son.
Of holy heart and grace.
For every time.