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1 Samuel 2 Bible Study - Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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For Samuel chapter 2, please meet me there.
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For Samuel chapter two. And let's pray.
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One more time together, okay? Just lean your heart into the
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Lord as we open up the scriptures and ask him to help
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us Lord, we thank you that you are making this church Beyond
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just the Gathering. But Lord, you are raising up an
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army of people that want to advance the kingdom of God.
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Lord, we pray that you would guide us Lord through this text
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and that we would receive Revelation that would penetrate
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our hearts and change us that Lord your word tonight would
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heal us. It would instruct us it would
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Empower us. It would open our eyes Lord to a
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greater degree to see the Eternal beyond the temple.
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Help us Lord. We pray that you would destroy
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the works of Satan and the lives of every person in this place.
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Those who are in a season of struggle, those who have
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experienced a dampness of the soul.
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Lord rescue us from a life that is wasted and show us the
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treasure that Christ is through this.
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Study in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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In order to make sense of first. Samuel chapter 2, we have to see
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how chapter one concluded because the last place that we
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closed off at was when Hannah received a son by the name.
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I'm of Samuel as an answer to her desperate cry.
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But something happens, something happens after that moment.
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And it's found in 1:21. Let's just read a few verses
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together. Before we jump into chapter 2,
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the man elkanah and all his house, went up to offer to the
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Lord, the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.
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But Hannah did not go up for. She said to her husband, as soon
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as the child is weaned. And at this time it would be
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around three years old perhaps I will bring him so that he may
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appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.
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L, Connor husband said to her do, what seems best to you.
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Wait until you have weaned him only may the Lord establish his
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word. So the woman remained a nursed,
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her son, until she weaned him and we she had weaned him, she
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took him up with her along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah
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of flour, and a skin of wine. And she brought him to the house
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of the Lord, at Shiloh. And the child was young, then
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they slaughtered the bowl and they brought the child to Eli.
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And she said, oh my Lord, as you live my Lord, I am the woman who
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was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord
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for this child, I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition
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that I made to him. Therefore, I have lent him to
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the Lord, as long as he lives, he has lent to the Lord and He
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worshipped the Lord there. Samuel was born to this woman.
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And now, Hannah is fulfilling her end of the vowel by giving
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him back, giving him back to the Lord.
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And so we see this woman coming and performing a very great Act
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of Faith and I'm sure. No one in here.
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Can can know what this must have felt like until you have a child
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and those in, you have children. Imagine how difficult this must
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have been. At the age of three, maybe four
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years old, bringing your child up to the house of God, only to
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make sure that they would never return with you to your home
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ever again. And that is an act of faith more
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than the reality that you're giving up your child and they're
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not going to be raised by you directly but the fact that she
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is leaving Samuel and a specific type of environment.
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Now, tell me what kind of environment is going to be left
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in Is it is it a place of great? Moral example, know you have a
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high priest who is deficient in his spiritual condition, and you
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have his sons who are ministers, who are outright rebellious, and
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this is who Hannah is leaving her child with.
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And you might be thinking, well, that's, this is not very wise of
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Hannah. But here's the reality about
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this woman, she knows that God directly answered her prayer and
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provided this boy, knowing that she would dedicate him in this
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way. And here's what Hannah's
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believing. If God provided Samuel, God will
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protect Samuel. God will protect this boy.
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I'm trusting in Him by giving him up to these people knowing
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that the Lord himself will raise up.
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This man to be the man of God that I pray that he would be.
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And here's what's so amazing about that.
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We should be encouraged to know that the spiritual formation.
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Of a child of our children is mainly shaped by the character
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of the home. Never forget that.
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I've talked to many parents over the years, and they think that
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the youth pastor supposed to raise their children, that's not
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true. I've said this before, I had,
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somebody come up me once and say make my child believe in God has
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said, Maybe I need to wear a name tag because my name isn't
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Holy Spirit. And if you're coming to me, if
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you're coming to me as the main evangelists for your child, you
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got it all wrong. Come to find out that this
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person didn't even believe in Christ and they want me to make
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this person. What she really wants is for a
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child to be morally. Good, that's what she wanted.
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Now here's the encouraging thing.
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As much as Eli was the high priest in the nation of Israel.
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Samuel would know a greater impact from to other people, and
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that was his parents. That was his parents because no
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matter how amazing Eli would have been as a spiritual leader.
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If the home was in Rex, Samuel would have a less likely chance
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of becoming the man of God that he was supposed to be.
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But But over those short little years, I'm sure Hannah prayed
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over that child, not just prayed for him, but prayed over him
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spoke truth into his ears. Trust that that lot young little
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soft mind would absorb these things.
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Reminding him that he is a miracle from God.
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And now she comes to this place and says, I am going to trust
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that God will go from here and every parent at one point in
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your life you have to make that choice, maybe not this young but
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at one point you're going to have to make that decision to
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let your child go and you have to trust if the trust the seeds
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that you planted and that God will walk with them and deal
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with them because ultimately they belong to the Lord, they
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belong to the Lord. Here's another truth.
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That is so important from these verses we learn here.
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Listen, very carefully. That much of the future of any
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nation is dependent upon the impact of the home.
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If you want to, if you want to boil it down, what will preserve
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America today? What will be the Hope For
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America? It's not going to be our laws.
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It's not going to be a school system.
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It's going to be your living room.
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It's going to be the disciplines that you and I established for
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our families. And Hannah here is going to make
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a choice and that choice is very simple.
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I'm going to dedicate this child to the Lord, not knowing the
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full impact. It's okay.
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Don't worry about it. Not knowing the full impact of
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this act of devotion, for the nation of Israel.
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And so we see that this is a great Act of Faith.
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And it's a great contribution to the faith of many others,
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because of a woman, who is serious about raising her child,
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in the fear of the Lord. And so she does this.
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And as she comes she gives up this child.
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We have no idea what's going on in our heart pertaining to that
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act. But one thing we do know is how
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she responded to all of it chapter 2.
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What does Hannah do? After she gives this child up to
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the Lord in a very dramatic and serious way.
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Verse 1 and Hannah prayed. And Hannah prayed and said, my
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heart exults in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord.
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My mouth derives my enemies because I rejoice in your
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salvation. Can you imagine that?
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That is her reflex. That is her response.
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Now, if we're honest with ourselves, can you imagine doing
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what Hannah did? And acting this way.
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We'll get to that in a moment. But what is Hannah ultimately
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doing? What is she doing?
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She's praying again, again, she's praying.
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This woman is a woman of prayer. And in chapter 1, we learned a
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great deal. We gained great Insight of what
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prayer really means, and the insights only continue in
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Chapter 2. And here's what we learned,
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prayer is beyond petition. Now, we have to understand this
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because many people have limited the sacred act to coming before.
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God only when they are in desperate, need and Hannah
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teaches. Otherwise prayer is not just a
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reality when you. And I need, it's a reality when
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you and I receive. And if we're honest with
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ourselves, much of our praying is done, before a matter is
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solved and it's not really existent when everything is
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going well. But we're learning here through
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this. That prayer goes beyond asking
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and pleading there is something called rejoicing Thanksgiving
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adoring. So let's ask all of us tonight.
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Let's ask our hearts. Is there any existence of Praise
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in my prayer life? Is there any existence of
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adoration in my prayer life? Because what you're going to see
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in this prayer of Hannah, is that there is not one mention of
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a request. Not one.
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Not one, it's solely exaltation, it's solely declaring to God his
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manifold goodness and declaring over her own soul.
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How awesome and Majestic he is that kind of praying is very
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rare, maybe it's more real in our corporate prayer meetings.
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But I'm talking about our private prayer meetings.
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What's amazing here. What's so captivating is that
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Hannah is able to Lavish god with her adoration.
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After performing, one of the greatest acts of sacrifice that
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you can make as a parent, I mean, the pain I wonder.
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Is there any tears? There's any Brokenness?
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Is there any sadness? We don't know.
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Maybe there is that would be natural for a mother but she's
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overcome by the spirit in this moment and it's just worshiping
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the Lord. And here's the thing, when we
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come to a place of sacrifice to the Lord, do we equate it with
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blessing? She's doing something
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magnificent, something so deep and profound that, requires an
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amazing amount of faith, yet in Hanna's mind sacrifice the Lord.
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Whatever it looks like is not disconnected from an experience
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of genuine Joy. She gave the Lord.
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She knows she's contributing to the kingdom of God, and she
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walks away knowing that she made that contribution so she can
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Rejoice. She never saw it as a loss.
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She never saw like she missed out on something.
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She only saw it as a gain. So she continues here and now
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when she prays, we won't go over every verse.
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But let's look at some key verses and verse 2 There is
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none. Holy like the Lord she says for
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there is none besides you. There is no Rock like our God.
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The first thing that this woman does after she comes before the
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Lord as she declares and defines his attributes and his nature.
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Your holy There's none like you you're separated from every
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other category of anything in life and you are a rock.
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Now, what's amazing about this is that when you make it a
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practice of adorning, God with who he is from your own heart,
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from your own lips, it does much for your soul.
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In fact, I challenge you to make it a practice.
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I challenge the next time you come before the Lord with a need
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even And you just begin to tell him who he is.
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You Are Holy, you are powerful. You're the savior of my soul
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either save your Humanity or the coming King, begin to do that.
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You know what's going to happen. A lot of the things that you're
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worried about an anxious about will fall into place.
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Try it, you don't believe me, try it.
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Because What's Happening Here is that you are not only telling
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God as though. God needed to know who he was.
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Well, thank you. I didn't know that.
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That was me and people often criticize, this kind of worship.
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And this kind of praying, because they say, why are you
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telling God what he already knows?
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Well, here's the point. God tells us to do this, not for
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his sake, but for hours, We rehearse it over ourselves.
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That's the byproduct. Yes, we glorify him.
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Yes, we tell him who he is because we worship Him in spirit
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and truth but for your own soul you reminded of who he is.
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And watch you continue to do this by faith and you know that,
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if you do this, this has happened to you that you'll
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begin to come before the Lord, and just worship Him worship Him
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really worship him with your words and understanding of who
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he is, from his word and you will get so lost in that, that
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you'll forget why you came with your need in the first place.
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Not that you can't come with your need and that you shouldn't
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mix petition and praise. But oftentimes, you can get so
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lost and praise that. Just understanding who he is,
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will solve the fear and the worry that you came with in the
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first place. Try it.
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And that's why according to this fee ology is important.
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You have some people say I'm not a theologian but I'm a prayer
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Warrior really. I'm a worshipper but I don't
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know much of the bible really You can't really pray unless you
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really know who God is. You can't really worship unless
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you know who God is and I'll tell you this, the more you
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understand who God is and the place of study and discipline,
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the more it will dramatically impact your experience of God in
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the place of Prayer. That's what she begins with.
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And then she goes on to verse 3, talk no more.
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So very proudly, let not arrogance, come from your mouth
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for the Lord, as a god of knowledge, and by him, actions
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are weighed, you know, what's happening in Hannah's.
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Mine theology is not just important for her prayer.
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Life theology is important for her practical life.
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And remember, she's in the spirit here.
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So, she is, she is operating under the spirit of Prophecy.
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And now, in a sense, she's almost teaching.
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She's almost telling people something, and I believe, Hannah
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in this moment has indirectly in her mind.
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The actions of somebody. Who do you think she has in
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mind? We heard about her in chapter
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one. What's her name?
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But Ina Pnina who shot words at her and tried to bring her down
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and demolish, her faith and our trust, and our love for God. and
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here, we see that this woman is saying, God not only heard my
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prayers, God heard the threats of Pnina and she knew that.
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You know what's amazing? We learn something about Pnina
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here, pay very close attention. It says here, let not arrogance
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come from your mouth. For the Lord is a god of
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knowledge. Now just imagine that this was
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read by Hanna banana, and Hannah.
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Here is declaring something those who speak with pride, and
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arrogance, and scoff and gossip, and slander and all these other
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ugly things they do. So, based on the lack of
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revelation of who God is, do you see she's saying don't speak
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like this because God is a god of knowledge and he knows all
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things and he will weigh your actions.
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I learned that Pnina was either operating under one or two
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things. One she didn't know God or two.
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She knew God but she didn't believe God.
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She knew about him, she understood who he was in his
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nature and character, but she didn't think it applied to her
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life. She the sad thing about pnina's
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that she went to the feast year after year.
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After year, the attendance meant, nothing meant, absolutely
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nothing. That was proof of nothing.
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Your baptism proves something to a certain degree, but only if
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it's backed up with a true life for Christ, you're singing your
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attendance, you're giving nothing because banana was doing
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that. Ultimately Pnina.
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Proved herself by your actions and she proved that.
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She really didn't know No God and it's ultimately proven in
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our Behavior brothers and sisters.
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Please hear me out tonight. It's ultimately proven by our
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attitude, its ultimately proven by how we treat others?
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It's ultimately proven in the nitty-gritty of life in
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conversation and dealings in actions and decisions.
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Please believe that quote, it all you want, memorize, as much
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as you want, man. I'm telling you, I can't get
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over this over the years. People really don't grasp what
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true spirituality is. They really don't and they're
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fooling themselves and they think they're fooling others.
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And your Hannah is saying, God is a certain type of God that
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will affect you in the most profound ways.
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And if it doesn't affect you, then you either don't know who
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he is or you understand who he is and you don't think it
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applies to your life. Does that make sense tonight?
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I hope so. And so we come down here to
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verse 4 and what happens between verse 4 and verse 9 is that she
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rehearses a series of something called reversals.
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Reversals and I won't read them, but here's some of them.
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The bows of the mighty are broken verse for verse 5, those
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who are full have hired themselves out for bread, but
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those who are hungry have ceased to hunger.
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Verse 6, the Lord kills and brings to life.
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He brings down to sheol and raises up verse 7.
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The Lord makes poor and makes rich.
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He brings loan exalts. He raised up the poor from the
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dust. He lifts the needy from the
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ashy. But what are we seeing here
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God's acts? And very various aspects of life
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where he reverses the scene, he turns the tables.
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And for her experiencing that for herself, she was Barren.
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Now, she has children, she's declared how God is in control,
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and God is a master chess player in the universe that he can move
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pieces around, where he gets his way, and no one can stop him.
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And, actually declares one thing after the other, she comes to a
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climax here in verse 10, the atmosphere is of the Lord shall
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be broken to Pieces against them.
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He will Thunder in heaven. The Lord.
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Lord will judge the ends of the Earth.
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He will give strength to his King and exalt the Horn of his
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anointed. Tell me why that is significant.
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Did you pay attention to that? Tell me why.
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That's significant. Tell me Martha.
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Thank you. Israel had no king at the time.
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Why? She mentioning a king?
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Why is she talking as though? There's somebody sitting on the
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throne yesterday? It is talking about the Lord,
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but here's the point. She is seeing something she's
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going from just prayer to prophecy and she seeing
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something in this moment that is not yet.
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Existing, see a few chapters from here.
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We will see even the suggestion of a king.
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But there is nobody occupying. There's no monarchy how she
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talking about a king. Is she seeing someone Beyond
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David Beyond, Solomon Beyond Saul, she sing the anointed one,
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the Messiah, the Christ, and listen, we know that because
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what she is uttering here by the holy spirit is later confirmed
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by the same. Holy Spirit through another man.
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Would you like to see it? Go to Luke chapter 1 and see
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this with me. Luke 1 verse 67.
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And what's amazing is that Hannah's Prayer much of it, much
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of it resembles Merry Song and Luke chapter 1 is wrong.
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I encourage you to study the similarities of that but this is
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the words of Zechariah verse 67 and his father Zechariah was
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filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, blessed.
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Be the Lord God of Israel for. He has visited and redeemed, his
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people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house
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of his servant, David as so she says earlier, He will give
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strength to his King and exalt the horn.
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The horn is a picture of strength in the Old Testament
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and the new. So what we see here is that the
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Horn of his anointed, the strength of the anointed one is
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now introduced in Luke chapter one, concerning the birth of
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Jesus Christ, The Horn of the anointed one has arrived and
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Jesus brought the ultimate reversal that this world has
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ever known. What was that?
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He conquered death by Death? That's what it was.
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And guess what he does. On top of that.
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He invites you to live a life of reversal as well.
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So you know what he says. Hey, do you want to live?
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Yes, then die. Die.
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Ya die to yourself, actually die every day and you'll know life.
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Do you want to Crown Crown sounds good?
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Then carry this cross. I'm trying to understand what
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this means. Do you want to gain the whole
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world? Oh, that would be nice.
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Well, let me tell you, it's foolish because you'll forfeit
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your soul. Why don't you gain eternal life
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and my kingdom by forfeiting the world?
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You want to be great? Yes.
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Be a servant of all. We live a paradoxical life.
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We live in this great reversal, and at the first coming, he
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brought the greatest reversal concerning death in our
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salvation, but at his second coming, he will literally flip
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the Universe on its head. He will flip every Kingdom.
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Every government, Every Nation everything will turn by his
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power and the world will be hold for a thousand years.
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What he is able to do And so we see here Christ mentioned in the
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prayer of Hannah. And it's a beautiful prayer to
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say, the least. What happens here verse 11.
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Then elcano went home to Rama and the boy was ministering to
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the Lord and the presence of Eli.
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The priest. Now, up to this point, you and I
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have been observing the life of a beautiful family who had rough
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patches but ends on a note where they are clearly devoted to the
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Lord to Extreme Measures to measures that are unmatched
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today, great sacrifice great devotion persistence and
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consistency concerning worship to the Lord.
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But now the scene shifts and we come to a different family and
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we're not dealing with elkanah. Now, we're dealing with a man
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named Eli and his sons and here is the summary of Eli's.
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Sons in verse 12. Now, the sons of Eli were
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worthless men. They did not know the Lord.
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Some description, huh. They were worthless men.
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They did not know the Lord. Now, you heard this last week, I
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let me remind you, they were pastors.
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They were teachers. They were God's Representatives
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on the Earth. And they were the means by which
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men could be represented before God.
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And what's scary about this is that hophni and phinehas the
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sons of Eli were next in line. One of them would be the next
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high priest and this is how we understand them, they're
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worthless, and they did not know the Lord.
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And so here they are. They're sacrificing for people,
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they're apparently helping people.
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They're standing as representative of God, and they
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did not know God. now, if that doesn't make us tremble, I don't
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know what will If that doesn't make us think to ourselves that
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we need a great discernment in Christendom today.
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I don't know what will. Nonetheless.
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We're about to find out. Why?
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Or how they did not know. The Lord, you know how we're
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going to find out. It's not by their confession.
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They're not like, we don't really believe in this whole
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sacrificial system. We don't think it actually does
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anything, but we're just here for the paycheck.
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They're not saying any of that. We're about to find out how they
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did not know the Lord, by one thing that Jesus said you would
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find them out by their fruit. You will know them by their
25:07
fruits. And here's how we know that they
25:10
did not know the Lord hears. Some characteristics.
25:12
Here are some things that stand out about their behavior, verse
25:14
13, the custom of the priesthood.
25:17
The people was that when any man offered sacrifice the priests
25:21
servant would come while the meat was boiling with a
25:24
three-pronged fork in his hand and he would thrust it into the
25:28
pan or Kettle or caldron of pod, all that the fork brought up the
25:32
priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh
25:36
to all the Israelites who came there.
25:39
Now, is that wrong? Let me, let me ask a question
25:44
differently. Is it wrong for the priest to
25:46
take a portion of the sacrifice for themself?
25:50
Who knows the answer. If you've been with us
25:54
throughout the pentateuch, you should know.
25:59
Who says it was right, let's do this again.
26:02
One person, two three who says it was wrong.
26:06
Nobody says it was wrong. So you're you're in the middle.
26:10
As always I should stop asking these questions.
26:12
They never work. They never work.
26:16
Well, the Bible tells us, in Deuteronomy 18, three, that's
26:20
where you get your answer. I'm not going to read it to, you
26:22
got to turn there so you can see it for yourself.
26:23
So you'll never forget and Deuteronomy 18, verse 3.
26:27
What do we learn about the priests and the sacrificial
26:29
system? And this shall be the priests do
26:38
from the people. From those offering a sacrifice,
26:43
whether an ox or his sheep, they shall give to the priest, the
26:46
shoulder, and the two cheeks and the stomach.
26:49
So the answer is, yes they did receive as a part of a tide that
26:55
they would be blessed and they would be sustained and nourished
26:58
from their service, they would be contributed.
27:02
And so what we see here though, I believe Is something further
27:07
than what is being prescribed. I believe what's being described
27:12
here and we're about to find out further from this verse is that
27:15
they went beyond what God had allowed them to have.
27:20
They were asking for more, it was precise, what was theirs?
27:23
And it seems like they longed for something deeper and greater
27:28
for themselves. And there's a word that
27:30
summarizes that and it's an ugly word called greed, greed.
27:36
It gets so intense. By the way that they ask for the
27:39
fat. Now why is that important The
27:44
fat belonged to the Lord. And in fact we are told in
27:48
Leviticus that it was a pleasing Aroma to the Lord.
27:53
And we're about to find out that they even went to that extent
27:55
where they took, what belongs solely to God, what was supposed
27:58
to sizzle in his presence. Untouched by man was actually
28:01
robbed by these men for their sake of their own desire.
28:05
Listen, their greed was so intense.
28:08
That they were willing to come before, innocent worshippers,
28:11
who had a genuine desire to give, what is God's do, and
28:16
manipulated them and interrogated them and
28:19
intimidated them. So that they would have will
28:23
belong to God. and listen, it was so intense that they were
28:27
willing to step into the arena of Faith so that they can
28:31
satisfy their selfish desires and Paul calls this those who
28:35
have their God, as their belly butter belly, is their God And
28:41
so these men were operating an intense greed.
28:43
There was no concern of how their actions affected the
28:46
worship of others, they didn't care, they didn't care that.
28:49
These people would walk away, not knowing it, that sacrifice
28:51
would have covered their sins, they didn't care that.
28:54
Also, part of, that animal sacrifice would go to them, so
28:58
that they can eat, they didn't care if they participated in
29:00
that. They were means by which they
29:04
could benefit and be prosperous and be full.
29:08
And this is a mark of a person who does not know the Lord, a
29:12
person who can come up in a place of ministry.
29:15
And take advantage of others, under the pretense of faith and
29:19
Under the Umbrella of the house of God.
29:21
You think that's bad. Look at verse 22 now.
29:24
Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were
29:28
doing to all Israel and how they lay with the woman who were
29:31
serving at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
29:34
In Exodus, 38 verse 8 we are told that there were some in the
29:37
courtyard who were woman that would serve at the Tabernacle it
29:40
was voluntary and we don't know what they did exactly, they
29:44
could have help with the children while the parents went
29:46
into sacrifice. They could have done some
29:47
cleaning work. We're not sure what they did.
29:50
But one thing is for certain there was young.
29:52
Ladies at the church who volunteered you know what these
29:58
men did instead of encouraging their sisters to grow in the
30:01
faith instead of setting, an example of what a Godly Man
30:05
looks like They seduce them. You ready for a shocking
30:10
statement? They slept with them in the
30:13
sanctuary. They lured them in.
30:19
They use their position of authority and power to convince
30:22
them to perform acts that were so.
30:24
Grotesque never mind, just in the house of God outside of the
30:27
house of God as well and led these women into sexual
30:31
immorality. I'm going to bring you a
30:33
shocking statement tonight, but it's okay because it's Bible.
30:38
One of the greatest signs that someone does not know.
30:40
The Lord is a persistent illegitimate pursuit of sexual
30:45
activity. Let me say that one more time,
30:48
one of the strongest signs, that someone does not know the Lord,
30:52
these men did not know. The Lord, that's the description
30:54
is the continual pursuit of illegitimate sexual activity.
31:01
And that will sting in this pornified age, but I could care
31:05
less what this world thinks of the truth of God's word.
31:10
You don't believe me right? Well let's go to first
31:12
Thessalonians chapter 4 and see the language that Paul brings
31:19
1st Thessalonians 4 verse 3. This is to Christians to
31:22
Believers to those who've been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
31:26
First Thessalonians 4:3 for this is the will of God your
31:31
sanctification. If you're ever confused about
31:34
what God's will for your life, is know that in part.
31:36
It is you being holy That you abstain from sexual immorality.
31:41
Now, look at this verse for that.
31:43
Each of you know how to control his own body and Holiness and
31:47
honor. So that's God's will God's will
31:51
brothers and sisters and this place God's will, for each of us
31:53
is to no self-control in the area of sexuality.
32:00
Now, look what he says next in verse 5.
32:03
Not in the passion of lust. Like the Gentiles who, what do
32:09
not know God? Now he could have stopped that
32:14
saying not like the Gentiles, right?
32:17
No, he goes beyond that. Not like the Gentiles.
32:20
They don't know. God, what is he implying here?
32:26
I believe he's saying indirectly.
32:29
That proof that these pagans don't know, God is that they
32:34
lack self-control in their sexual impulses.
32:40
Proof that these people do not have a sense of personal
32:44
relationship with God, is that they have no restrain, they have
32:48
no concern, they have no conviction.
32:50
They have no desire to fight. This area of sexual purity.
32:57
They're loose, they're careless the predatorial they are cereal.
33:05
Sexual active people. And so, we can flip that by
33:09
saying one of the evidences that a person does know God is that
33:14
they put a premium on self-control.
33:18
Is that they partner with God to be pure and holy.
33:22
And I can guarantee you this, the more, you know, God the more
33:25
you will have a stance against sexual sin.
33:30
Now you might be discouraged because you might be battling
33:32
this and you feel like you're defeated.
33:34
I want to encourage you to know that the fight that you feel is
33:38
a pulse that the spirit dwells in you It does.
33:44
And here's the Hope from first Thessalonians chapter 4.
33:47
Look at verse 7 and verse 8. For God has not called us for
33:51
impurity but in Holiness, therefore whoever disregards its
33:55
you know I saying, whoever doesn't care about this kind of
33:57
teaching whoever hears what is being said and thinks that this
34:00
is foolish is unrealistic. It's old-school.
34:06
It has no relevance to my life. It doesn't seem to be true.
34:09
He says disregards not man. This is not my idea.
34:12
This is not what I came up with. I didn't think to myself, you
34:15
know. I think I think I want to make a
34:17
rule about sexual Purity says. Now this is God.
34:20
This is God's design. I look at this.
34:21
Who gives you his Holy Spirit? What is he saying?
34:25
Don't disregard this. Don't push this away.
34:28
Don't reject this. Don't try to argue it off.
34:30
No, no. Because God supplies a power to
34:33
make it a reality. He supplies his holy spirit, he
34:37
gives you strength, he gives you a Grace, he elevates you, and he
34:42
brings it to a place of victory that you would not know apart
34:45
from him. So don't disregard this because
34:48
listen, what is he saying here in order for you to know,
34:51
consistent Purity in your sexual life demands?
34:56
The first step of faith. Faith faith.
35:01
Because if you disregard it, you cut the channel of the power
35:06
that Faith connects you to. If I don't believe that I can be
35:09
pure, but I don't believe that in my private life I can remain
35:12
wholly. Then I cut off the possibility
35:16
of the Holy Spirit pouring into my heart to make it real.
35:20
Because everything stems from faith, everything, your
35:22
salvation, and your sanctification.
35:27
And so we have to understand here, brothers and sisters.
35:29
The more we know God. We will not be like this culture
35:33
has a different definition and the different attitude towards
35:37
this gift of sex. So may the Lord draws closer to
35:41
him. You know what's amazing here?
35:45
We come back to First Samuel chapter two.
35:48
Eli Sons, what were their names? What were their names?
35:52
What was the name of the one? Half knee and the other one was
35:55
who Phineas now? Here's what's amazing.
35:59
There was another Phineas before this one.
36:03
Who knows about that Phineas? What was he known for?
36:15
So we heard it Phineas was a man known in Numbers chapter 25 for
36:20
arising during a plague as an act of judgment when the people
36:23
were messing around sexually with a different group of people
36:27
and in the midst of the Weeping and repentance an Israelite man,
36:31
goes into a tent with a midianite woman and Phineas gets
36:36
up, takes a spirit, goes into the tent, and perhaps, even in
36:39
the ACT, penetrates the spear through the stomachs and kills
36:43
them both. And I wondered to myself have
36:46
Eli. Named his son Phineas.
36:51
With the hopes that he would live up to that name.
36:56
Make him like Phineas of old Lord, who knows?
36:58
We don't know. But he named it Phineas.
37:01
And unfortunately, you have to phineas's with two different
37:05
approaches to the same sin. yet one, Phineas that killed the
37:09
compromise, not only in his own life, but made us stand in front
37:14
of others in front of his culture, in front of his own
37:16
people, in front of his own compromising church, and the yet
37:20
another Phineas That not only refused to kill the compromise
37:25
but invited it and lesson, it ended up killing him.
37:29
It ended up killing him. And so we come back to here and
37:33
we look in verse 15, And we see moreover first Samuel to before
37:41
the fat was burned, the pre the, the priests servant would come
37:44
and say to the man who sacrifices give meat for the
37:47
priest to roast for. He will not accept, boiled meat
37:50
from you but only Raw And if the man said to him, let them burn
37:55
the fat first. We just learned Leviticus says
37:57
that the fat belong to the Lord, you know what he's saying?
37:59
Look you can take whatever you want.
38:00
But please let us just offer this to the Lord.
38:05
And take as much as you wish he would say, no, you must give it
38:08
now. And if not, I will take it by
38:11
force. I will take it by force.
38:17
This is spiritual abuse. This is violence.
38:20
This is threatening. This is this is an abuse of
38:22
power. And that is a that is a sign of
38:25
a sick. Soul that is a sign of someone
38:27
who is very much out of touch with God to come to a place
38:31
where you are now causing others to stumble.
38:34
That in your pursuit of what you want to fulfill for yourself and
38:38
your flesh. You were willing to actually
38:39
bring others to a place of contempt.
38:42
And so we see, it's so obvious that these men did not know the
38:45
Lord, and if you think this is shocking, you're about to be
38:48
very shocked to know what they did with the fat of the Lord.
38:52
You're going to be very shocked and that's why I'm verse 17.
38:55
We were told thus, the sin of the young men was very great in
38:59
the sight of the Lord, for the men, treated, the offering of
39:02
the Lord with contempt with tent.
39:06
This is, this is so discouraging.
39:08
This is so sickening. Even it, almost it's repulsive.
39:13
But look what happens here in this contrast of Verse 18.
39:16
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothes with a
39:20
linen ephod. It's like after just being told
39:24
about all this mess and all this corruption in this vileness and
39:27
this Darkness, you get this little flicker of light.
39:30
And here's this little boy Samuel and we were told he was
39:33
ministering to the Lord. How?
39:39
Good question, right? I mean at this point he could be
39:42
who knows 5 6, 7 8. We don't know because years have
39:46
passed by before judgment comes. I believe.
39:49
So at this point you're thinking how how did Samuel minister to
39:52
the Lord? He wasn't a priest because there
39:55
are priests here, he was an offering sacrifices.
39:57
That's for sure. So, how I wonder if he had
40:01
little tasks that Eli gave him to do.
40:04
I wonder if he put like an instrument in his hand.
40:06
He says go bring it to the other side.
40:08
I wonder if he made him just pick up a few things from the
40:11
floor, I don't know, but I think there's a hint.
40:13
It's in 3:15. And I like to think that this
40:17
was something that he did. Consistently first, Samuel 315,
40:21
Samuel lay until morning. Then he opened the doors of the
40:25
house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell
40:28
the vision to Eli. What an adorable picture?
40:34
I wonder if Samuel, not just this time, but frequently had
40:36
the task of waking up early and opening the doors to the church.
40:42
He just opened it and made sure that people knew that it was
40:44
open and they can come in sacrifice.
40:47
And we think that's so insignificant so silly may be
40:50
cute and adorable at bass. But you know what, God Says, by
40:52
the spirit he was ministering to the Lord.
40:56
He was ministering to God by what by coming early and opening
41:01
the doors to make sure that people don't come to a locked
41:03
front. Because that's all he could do
41:07
at this point in his life. That's that was his limit.
41:09
That was his ceiling and yet, God still honored it and deemed
41:13
it as Ministry. Be encouraged.
41:16
Now that when you give to the Lord, what you can give him, he
41:21
will recognize it just as much as when Samuel became a prophet
41:24
and served as a mighty voice in his generation.
41:28
Him opening the door to the Tabernacle was under the same
41:32
category of service as him being a prophetic voice to his people.
41:38
That can't be well, you have to take it up with God because God
41:43
says this little boy, was ministering to me.
41:46
So, why are you discouraged? Why are you discouraged because
41:51
you've been given a menial task or that you feel like you're not
41:54
contributing much. Over and over the Lord said he
41:58
ministered he ministered, he grew, he grew.
42:04
You have to take that by faith as well.
42:07
And we see here in verse 19, And his mother used to make for him
42:11
a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with
42:15
her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice, that is the extent of
42:20
the connection that he had with his mother.
42:22
Every time there was a feast where they had to go up to the
42:25
house of God, Hannah would make sure that she created a little
42:29
role for her son. Knowing that from the year
42:32
prior, he must have grown, and she would come up with her
42:34
husband and with her family, and she would come before the Lord
42:37
to worship. And she saw a little Samuel,
42:41
walking into the courtyard, stumbling into the place, and
42:44
would Embrace his mother, and his mother would do what Samuel
42:47
I have something for you. And she would put a robe around
42:51
his shoulders. What Was she doing what do you
42:54
think she was doing? I believe she was encouraging
42:58
him. Why would the Holy Spirit?
43:02
Put this right after an ugly scene that we just read
43:06
concerning Eli's Sons. Like it just seems like such a
43:11
random detail. And the most people would take
43:14
out of this was well there must have been an eyewitness for
43:16
somebody to recognize such a small thing.
43:18
No, it's more than that, here's the principle that in an age of
43:23
so much compromised. It is absolutely necessary to
43:25
encourage people in consecration.
43:28
That you and I must be people to know how to stir up one another
43:33
in the path of pursuing total separation from the world.
43:38
And in Hannah's mind, the best way that she can do that for her
43:40
son, was create a little outfit that resembled the Priestly
43:44
outfit, right? Because he wore a linen, ephod
43:46
that was that was what the priest wore but it was in
43:48
miniature form, must have been adorable.
43:52
But the mother would come and she would what she would
43:54
encourage him in that role. She would she would, she would
43:58
get him excited about being a servant of the Lord. and listen,
44:03
I know this is a mother-son relationship but between us It
44:08
will go a long way to see somebody who is serving the lord
44:11
not just in full-time Ministry, but just with their life, to
44:14
send them a message and encourage them.
44:18
To collaborate with them and to fuel each other's faith.
44:22
We've often limited our fuel of encouragement, to those who are
44:26
struggling to those, who are always vacillating and are
44:29
compromising and they're in and out and we focus all our
44:32
attention on them. And we fail to realize that
44:35
there are others who need encouragement those who are
44:36
standing faithful. And they don't want to be like
44:40
Eli sons and they don't even want to come near Eli's Sons.
44:45
What about them? The ones that are disciplining
44:49
themselves, the ones that want to glorify God.
44:51
And and you know who they are those that as long as you've
44:56
known them had been on this steady path.
45:00
Like Samuel. Even Samuels need encouragement.
45:08
And don't think that for a moment, a little word would not
45:11
go a long way. Verse 20.
45:15
Then Eli would bless elkanah and his wife and say, may the Lord
45:18
give you children by this one for the petition.
45:20
She asked of the Lord. So then they would return to
45:23
their home. Indeed.
45:25
I love that indeed. It's like you better believe it.
45:29
Indeed, the Lord visited Hannah and she conceived and bore three
45:33
sons and two daughters. And the boy, Samuel grew in the
45:37
presence of the Lord. She gave up one God gave her
45:41
five more You never lose when you sacrifice.
45:46
You never lose, you might think you lose in this age, but in the
45:49
age to come, I'm telling you, I think, and I'm scared for this
45:52
for my own life that I would stand before the Lord only to
45:56
realize all that he is reserved and me thinking to myself, I
45:59
wish I gave more. I wish I sacrificed more Lord.
46:04
I wish I was more sold out for you.
46:05
I wish I was more radical for you.
46:07
Now that I'm in your presence and I see all that you have
46:09
kept. I don't want to bite my hand on
46:12
that day. I don't I don't.
46:17
The boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord, he was in
46:19
just growing in stature only. He wasn't just growing in his
46:22
physical world, requiring, a robe every single year now he
46:26
was growing in the spirit and so you see Eli's Sons degrading
46:30
themselves and plunging deeper into darkness and here's the
46:33
contrast this little boy growing and he's getting muscle aches,
46:37
and pains and growing pains and he's getting a little facial
46:40
hair and all these things. And what's happening in the
46:42
spirit he's growing It's becoming more and more of a man
46:46
of God. Many people complain about their
46:50
environment and how it doesn't encourage them to grow in the
46:53
faith and that is partly true. But I see a boy here.
46:56
That was so laser-focused. And all he had was one person in
47:01
his life to bless him year after year.
47:03
And that was enough for him to say, Lord, I'm Yours Lord, I'm
47:06
Yours Lord, I'm yours. You know, Eli's Sons, they
47:10
forfeited that they could have been his mentor.
47:12
They could have encouraged them. Imagine that what a dynamic
47:15
relationship that would have been and said there.
47:18
Fooling around with the world and they can't even control
47:20
their own flesh, but this boy, he's growing.
47:24
He's growing, he's growing and now something happens.
47:26
We go from Eli's Sons. And their alarming Behavior to
47:32
Eli himself. And you're going to be just a
47:36
shot with him verse 22 now. Eli was very old, and he kept
47:42
hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they
47:45
lay with the woman who were serving at the entrance of the
47:48
tent of meeting. You know what that's saying,
47:50
continually there is, there was a long period of time where
47:53
people came up to this man, they said, do you know what your sons
47:56
are doing? My family came up here last
48:00
week, we came to sacrifice and they took and they begin to
48:03
explain and people are talking. The whole nation is now
48:07
realizing what is taking place and they are informing the high
48:11
priest and we're waiting. What is Eli going to do?
48:17
What is this spiritual man? Of God, this representative this
48:20
face that is supposed to reflect the Holiness of God.
48:26
What will he choose to do? He said to them verse 23, why do
48:31
you do such things for? I hear of your evil dealings
48:35
from all these people know, my son's.
48:37
It is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading
48:40
abroad. If someone sins against a man,
48:43
God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord,
48:46
who can intercede for him, You know what?
48:48
He should have done, you're fired.
48:52
You're my boys. But I serve God first.
48:56
And you do not fear the lord. Clearly you have no right to
48:59
remain in this position. Leave.
49:02
You should have done that. What does he do instead?
49:06
No my boys, my boys, my son's know people are coming up to me.
49:11
This isn't the good and he includes one thing to try to
49:14
strike the fear of the Lord. Then he goes, listen if you sin
49:16
against another God will intercede for you, he will come
49:18
and step in on your behalf, but if you send directly against the
49:21
Lord, who's going to step in for you, Now for us our hearts go,
49:26
that is powerful. But what does that do to a
49:28
couple of people who don't have the fear of the Lord very little
49:32
Very little, you could threaten them with hell.
49:34
You can threaten them with judgement.
49:36
You can threaten them with disease.
49:37
If they don't fear God, they will continue in their ways.
49:41
And sometimes the Lord can mercifully.
49:42
Use those fearful, holy fearful things to bring people to an
49:46
Awakening. But in this case, there were far
49:48
gone, they could not care any less than this.
49:53
And so this man here is not doing what he's supposed to do.
49:59
And then it says here, but they would not listen to the voice of
50:02
their father. For it was the will of the Lord
50:04
to put them to death. Does that make you feel
50:09
uncomfortable? What is his equal tell us about
50:13
God and his heart towards the wicked?
50:16
Does he find pleasure in the death of the wicked?
50:19
No. Is he delight?
50:21
And showing Mercy? Yes.
50:24
So God is Not predestined. These guys to be slain by his
50:27
judgment. They have crossed the line, they
50:31
have crossed the line, a line that is invisible to us, but is
50:35
very visible to him. We're after so many warnings and
50:38
after, so many things to get your attention.
50:41
God says enough is Enough. I now have to step in and do
50:44
something about it. But I want you to think for a
50:47
moment that this is God's perspective, this is the the
50:50
Eternal perspective. This is the Heavenly
50:52
perspective, but there's a Earthly vantage point.
50:57
There is a reason why they did not listen to their father.
51:01
You only find out what an unnamed man of God comes on the
51:04
scene to rebuke thee lie and he says, here in verse 29, why?
51:09
Then do you scorn My Sacrifice? He's speaking to Eli and my
51:13
offerings that I commanded for my dwelling and honor, your
51:16
son's above me, and I'll let you stop there.
51:19
That is the real reason that he did not get rid of them.
51:22
He honored his sons. More than God, he cared about
51:26
their future. He cared about their present
51:28
feelings. He cared about their reputation
51:31
more than God and hear me very carefully.
51:34
If you honor anybody or anything more than God at one point, you
51:40
will tolerate sin. You will, you will tolerate sin
51:45
in your own life, you will tolerate sin and somebody else's
51:48
life. When you do not Elevate, God to
51:51
be Supreme above all other things, when he is not the core
51:54
motive for what you do, what you say, what you think and what you
51:57
plan, please brothers and sisters.
51:58
I'm not trying to last you tonight.
52:00
I really am not but this is a heavy text and I just want to
52:02
speak straight to you. If you honor men, if you honor
52:06
persons, if you honor anything more than God, at one point, you
52:10
will tolerate sin. And that may look like you
52:14
refusing to correct a brother who is clearly an unrepentant
52:17
sin, because you don't want to ruin that friendship and that
52:20
relationship, or that may look like on an extreme level
52:23
leadership allowing people to be in Ministry and not removing
52:26
them when they should like an eel ice case.
52:32
So he went straight to the heart of the matter.
52:34
You honor your son's more than God, you can't serve God like
52:39
that, you cannot serve God. God cannot take you further in
52:43
your ministry as long as this is a limit in your heart.
52:48
It will cut you off short, but there is no limit to a person
52:52
who says, I honor God above men, I stand before God like Elijah
52:57
and when you can stand before, God, you can stand before
53:00
anybody But there's a second reason here.
53:04
You honor, your son's above me. Now, look at this.
53:06
We have to read our Bibles Slowly by fattening what
53:10
somebody read it out loud by fattening.
53:12
What you ourselves is that plural or singular?
53:17
Does that include Eli or is that exclude, Eli, it includes Eli.
53:23
By fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering
53:28
of My People Israel. Do you understand what's
53:32
happening? I remember, when I first read
53:34
this, not to, this is long ago, actually, I read this and I
53:36
thought to myself, I can't believe it.
53:39
And I circled the world yourselves because, you know
53:42
what happened? We learned that they would take
53:44
the fat that belong to the Lord. And we aren't told what they
53:47
didn't necessarily with it. But now we know in part and they
53:51
would bring the fat of the Lord, and come before their dad, and
53:54
they would Feast on it together. They would eat it together, not
54:01
just the sons, but they invited the father also, and he could
54:04
not help himself because he could smell the fat on that
54:08
barbecue grill. And he thought I want some for
54:10
myself and when they brought it, he said well, we This is the
54:14
Lord's but God's not going to do anything dad.
54:17
Come on. I mean it just gonna Sizzle
54:19
there anywhere in disappear. It's not like he's coming down
54:21
to eat it. Let's just eat it.
54:23
Come on, it's amazing. It tastes good.
54:24
We had some of the other day eat with us and Eli was salivating
54:27
himself. He's saying, let's do it.
54:29
And he began to make it a practice.
54:32
And the prophet comes in, he says, you fattened yourself with
54:36
your son's? No wonder there was no weight to
54:38
his rebuke when he rebuked them. So he comes to Sensei Sons.
54:43
No, it's we're not supposed to be doing this and and their
54:46
minds are thinking, you just finish eating what belong to the
54:50
Lord for lunch today with us. You're going to tell us how to
54:54
live. Whatever.
54:59
Authority comes from authenticity.
55:02
Authority, whether in preaching or in your life comes from a
55:06
life that lives what they preach.
55:08
The moment that is not true, there is a loss of authority, in
55:12
our words, and our example, and our message.
55:15
And that certainly happened with this man.
55:18
And this person. He did not just put his sons at
55:23
risk because of his hypocrisy. Because his hypocrisy only
55:27
embolden them to continue the way they were, but Eli himself
55:31
would pay for his own compromise.
55:34
Go to 1st Samuel, for to see it for yourself.
55:38
Verse 18. As soon as he mentioned the Ark
55:43
of God, somebody came and told Eli that the Philistines took
55:46
the Ark of God. Eli fell over backward from his
55:51
seat by the side of the gate and his neck was broken and he died.
55:55
Now, look at this for the man was old and what heavy Like, why
56:01
I mentioned that? He was obese.
56:07
The man was old and heavy he judged Israel forty years.
56:10
You know why? Because he fattened himself with
56:13
the Lord's portions. And God ordained that when he
56:17
would die, his weight would break his own neck.
56:22
You know what contributed to his weight is compromised.
56:29
Profound whatever you saw that you will reap and sow this man
56:35
coming back this profit. This unnamed unidentified
56:40
spokesperson for the Lord. I love this, man.
56:43
I don't know who he is. We don't know who he is, but one
56:47
day, he comes up to the Tabernacle and he calls over
56:49
Eli. And he says, What are you doing?
56:54
There's a time for a message like that, especially in a day
56:58
like this. And we read this and we think to
57:01
herself. This is so this is so
57:03
discouraging. This is so disheartening, but I
57:05
want to tell you guys listen, corrupt.
57:08
Spiritual leadership is nothing new.
57:12
We're seeing it here, thousands of years.
57:14
Before our day, it's always been around.
57:18
And when we read a chapter like this, it's not, it's not very
57:20
refreshing. And we know that gut-wrenching
57:23
feeling when we see modern Ministry scandals, but it's
57:28
nothing new. And the common question often is
57:32
when we experience it or when we see it on, when we read about
57:35
it, is, how does this happen? How does this happen?
57:39
And I'll tell you one way, we heard it.
57:42
They don't know the Lord to begin with.
57:44
It's just as simple as that, you're saying, but I don't know.
57:46
No, you don't get it. Like, I actually was blessed by
57:50
their sermons and that could be true.
57:51
They could be truly saved, but they messed up, but there's
57:54
another possibility, they don't know the Lord.
57:58
They don't I'm not the one to judge and I would never dare to
58:02
declare whether somebody is saved or damned, that's not my
58:05
responsibility. So there are some like, hophni
58:08
and Phineas who just, they just don't know that.
58:10
Well, they've been in Ministry for x amount of years and
58:13
doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
58:17
Or like Eli presumably who knew the Lord.
58:21
There was a failure somewhere else before this ultimate
58:23
failure and this man highlights it, look at verse 27 and there
58:27
came a man of God to Eli and said to them.
58:30
Thus says the Lord did I indeed reveal myself to the house of
58:35
your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of
58:38
pharaoh, then I choose him out of all, the tribes of Israel, to
58:41
be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense to wear
58:44
an ephod. Before me I gave to the Of your
58:47
father, all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.
58:51
And then he says, why He says, why did you do this?
58:55
So This Prophet he's pointing back.
58:58
He's pointing back at history of Eli's history his lineage and
59:03
he's reminding him. Do you not remember that God
59:07
delivered your father from pharaoh?
59:11
Do you not remember that God elected that your tribe would be
59:15
the priest? That would represent him before
59:17
the nation? Do you not remember that he made
59:21
you and your descendants ministers?
59:24
That would have the awesome opportunity of doing what you're
59:27
doing now and here's the point. When you lose grip on the mercy,
59:35
Grace. And compassion of God in your
59:38
life. It's a slippery, slope the
59:41
compromise. The reason why he's bringing up
59:45
the past is because they did not have that ever before them.
59:48
And they failed to see the privilege of serving God by his
59:52
mercy and Grace. They didn't know where they came
59:55
from anymore. They didn't recognize God's
59:57
salvation through Egypt and then it realize God's call in their
1:00:01
service and they lost the sense of awe, that came from that
1:00:05
like, Samson sin became a sport, they took it for granted and the
1:00:09
moment you begin to fail to feel how awesome Is to serve God at
1:00:14
any capacity, is the moment you open yourself up for other
1:00:17
Thrills in life. And that's what happened here.
1:00:21
They lost the grip of that, that was, that was not before their
1:00:24
face and so they begin to entertain other things.
1:00:28
And the very thing that was supposed to Surge life in them
1:00:31
and anchor them, and keep them on the path is the truth of
1:00:35
where they came from. Eli forgot it.
1:00:40
His sons didn't even have a clue but who God was, never mind what
1:00:43
he's done and he says because of this look where you are today,
1:00:48
look where you are today. And Eli here is about to get the
1:00:52
shock of his life. But we're going to get two more
1:00:56
insights and closing. This man is about to present to
1:01:00
us. What does happen when God
1:01:02
finally steps on the scene with leadership that is in spiritual
1:01:07
compromise. The first thing is in verse 30,
1:01:10
therefore meaning, as a result of this, the Lord, the god of
1:01:14
Israel. Declares, I promise that your
1:01:16
house and the house of your father should go in out before
1:01:19
me forever. But now the Lord declares far be
1:01:22
it for me, for those who honor me.
1:01:24
I will honor and those who despise me shall be lightly
1:01:26
esteemed. Number one, if you want to know
1:01:28
something, But what God will do with those especially in places
1:01:31
of authority and power, who are continually, remember this?
1:01:34
Now let's just stop here. I believe this was an extensive
1:01:37
period of time before. God came to this point, I
1:01:40
believe much time has passed because God is extremely
1:01:44
gracious. Extremely gracious for him to
1:01:49
see this Behavior continually contempt towards the offering
1:01:53
sleeping with women in the house of God.
1:01:56
I mean, look, all that takes in my books as one time, who knows
1:02:01
how many times. And now he comes to this.
1:02:04
Here's what you and I have to learn from this insight.
1:02:08
God is in charge of his house. And God is the one ultimately
1:02:15
who raises up and brings down even when a man, like, the high
1:02:19
priests will not take responsibility and not hold them
1:02:23
accountable. Ultimately God will do it
1:02:25
himself and when God does it, it's terrifying.
1:02:29
Really is. It's amazing how he's able to
1:02:32
unveil and reveal things. But what's more amazing is how
1:02:35
he's willing to warn and get the attention of that individual
1:02:39
before it comes to that point. But when you fail to hear and
1:02:43
fail to receive warnings and people are coming up and you
1:02:45
ignore it, the Lord himself that encourages me, you know why?
1:02:50
Because you and I feel the frustration when we see things
1:02:52
happening in the Name of Christ, we go Lord.
1:02:55
How much longer can this person? Say these things?
1:02:58
How much longer can this person treat the people of God and
1:03:00
manipulate naive people like this.
1:03:03
There's nothing to fear. You know why?
1:03:04
Because in God's perfect timing, he will step in.
1:03:08
And he'll deal with it. I praise God.
1:03:12
That he does that. I praise God that we can trust
1:03:15
him with his church. But secondly not only will he
1:03:20
remove people himself but look at verse 35.
1:03:25
And I will raise up for myself, a faithful priest, who shall do.
1:03:28
According to what is in my heart, and in my mind, and I
1:03:32
will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my
1:03:35
anointed forever. You want to know the second
1:03:38
thing? When there is much spiritual
1:03:40
compromise, especially in spiritual leadership.
1:03:42
One God knows how to bring up and bring that.
1:03:46
And to God, always has someone else in mind.
1:03:52
Thank God. His kingdom does not lay on the
1:03:55
shoulders of men because we wouldn't be this far if that was
1:03:59
true. Then we wouldn't be here today,
1:04:02
studying what happened? Thousands of years ago, but the
1:04:04
lesson that you and I learn as this while there is so much.
1:04:09
Chaos lack of prophetic voices. Holy men of God, holy woman of
1:04:15
God, the Lord has someone else that he's going to raise up,
1:04:18
eventually. In fact actually it's more
1:04:21
profound than that in this case. God was raising up somebody
1:04:24
during all of it. Look at verse 26.
1:04:26
Now the boys Samuel continue to grow both in stature and in
1:04:29
favor with the Lord and also with man So while all of this is
1:04:34
happening, you know, what's in the human point of view were
1:04:37
thinking this is disastrous. We're not going to recover all
1:04:41
the while there's a little boy, getting taller and taller, and
1:04:44
God is preparing him to be a mighty prophet.
1:04:48
So I go on social media, I don't have anymore, but people send me
1:04:51
links, I go on this, I go in that they send me links blogs.
1:04:54
I find this out of go on the news.
1:04:55
Next person falls, this person falls this Ministries.
1:04:58
Embezzling this Ministries scandals.
1:05:01
What do I do with this? Well God you're cleaning house
1:05:06
and to you have someone in mind. You're going to raise up other
1:05:10
voices, you have a different generation that will do things
1:05:13
differently. And that's exactly the hope that
1:05:16
we have here is that Samuel is prepared to take the place of
1:05:20
the spiritual voice for his people, and God is doing that.
1:05:25
God is doing that, and it all comes back to this brothers and
1:05:28
sisters. One woman that dedicated him to
1:05:31
the Lord And we see here in verse 35, that this was
1:05:36
ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, right?
1:05:40
He's not only King, he has priest, king priest and Prophet,
1:05:44
but this will be fulfilled in the book of First Kings.
1:05:49
Under the reign of Solomon. And here's the point for us
1:05:52
today. Leaving this place, many
1:05:56
lessons, I'm sure but I pray that your heart would be stirred
1:06:00
to say, Lord if I'm going to be any Phineas, make me the one
1:06:04
that made us dance. Make me the one that will
1:06:08
advance the kingdom and not hinder.
1:06:09
It make me the one that will be a voice and not an example in
1:06:16
the wrong way. Let's pray and ask God for that.
1:06:46
Tonight, you might pray because you have a need, or you might
1:06:48
pray because you want to Simply praise.
1:06:51
Let's do both together as a church.
1:06:53
Lord Jesus. Your word is so sharp.
1:06:57
It's so powerful. Lord, thank you that it provides
1:07:00
answers. It provides wisdom for so many
1:07:03
facets of life. And Lord.
1:07:06
In this point of this book, we deal with a very grave subject,
1:07:10
but we also see the Hope in it. Lord, you are in charge of your
1:07:13
church. This is your ministry.
1:07:17
This is your house. This is your gospel.
1:07:22
This is your word and Lord. We long.
1:07:25
We along with everything within us to be like Phineas of old who
1:07:30
is willing to stand up. Against the corruption around
1:07:34
him. And Lord though, we are not
1:07:36
called to take Spears in our hands at the slaughter people.
1:07:40
We are called to kill sin in our own lives first.
1:07:43
And with this gospel, preach truth that saves men from sin.
1:07:48
And from corruption, Lord, make us of people.
1:07:52
Make us of people who have authority in our message because
1:07:55
we live it. Lord, we pray for those in this
1:08:00
place who might not know you. They've heard of you.
1:08:04
They might even be involved in spiritual religious activity,
1:08:07
but they don't know the Lord, we pray, God, that you would reveal
1:08:11
yourself to them and that you would show them the truth of who
1:08:14
you are. That you change us when you
1:08:17
enter into our hearts Lord. We pray for those Who want a
1:08:22
deeper relationship with you Lord, may we look to Hannah as
1:08:26
your example in the word that she knew how to pray in need.
1:08:29
And also when she received as she was in constant communion
1:08:32
with her, God, lord, we want to be a people who know how to walk
1:08:35
with you and I'll seasons of Life who want to be a people who
1:08:38
know to come to you when we're broken but also come to you when
1:08:41
we're whole soul or we pray tonight, that you would Minister
1:08:45
unto us the way we need to be ministered to.
1:08:48
We pray, Lord, that you would pull out the things that need to
1:08:50
go and That you would replace it with the things that need to
1:08:53
remain. And so God in this place
1:08:56
tonight, we sit under your word and we hear what you said.
1:09:05
And Lord, we trust that you will change us.
1:09:08
Lord protect us from being like the sons of Eli, who heard, even
1:09:11
a strong word, and it didn't move them an inch and then I
1:09:15
move them a bit. Lord, keep us tender, keep a
1:09:18
soft. Keep a sensitive to the holy
1:09:21
spirit so that we can walk in the light.
1:09:25
But we honor you tonight in Jesus name.
1:09:27
Receive Lord our heart being poured out to you.
1:09:30
Amen and amen. Amen.