This sermon delves into the story of Hannah and Samuel in 1 Samuel, highlighting various revelations and warnings for believers today. It discusses the importance of knowing the Lord personally, the consequences of failing to raise children in godly ways, and the possibility of serving God outwardly while not truly knowing Him. The sermon emphasizes the need for genuine repentance and surrender to God's calling, urging listeners to respond to God's voice and not delay in coming to know Him.

Can we bow in prayer, please? Father, we thank Thee for this new day, and we ask Thee for mercy and protection under the blood of Christ, as we gather to open Thy Word and to hear Thy voice. Come, therefore, Lord, and quieten our hearts and open our minds, and wash me in the blood of Christ, and fill me with the Holy Spirit that I might be a vessel made for the Master's use. Now come, and honor Thy Word above all things, as Thou has promised. In Jesus the Christ's name, Amen. There is a baby's room, and if you have a child that makes even the smallest noise, please, would you take that child there without being offensive to me? I would be very grateful. There are quite a few mothers there. Thank you for their kindness and respect of God's Word, just at this time. I would be very grateful for that. There are large speakers there, and I know God will honor you for being that kind. In 1 Samuel, chapter 1, verse 1, we read these words, Now there was a certain man of Ramoth, Ames, Zorphim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah. Elkanah. Verse 2, And he had two wives. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Hinninah. And Hinninah had children, but Hannah had no children. 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, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. When the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Phinehah, 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. The Lord had shut up her womb, and her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her. Therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah, her husband, unto her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? Am I not better to thee than ten sons? So Hannah rose up, after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O 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 rays come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli mocked 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 wilt 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 Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, Go, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition. The God of Israel grant thee thy petition, that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him, I have asked him of the Lord. And the man Elkanah, and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned. And then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Do what seemeth thee good. Carry, until I have weaned him. Only the Lord establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck, until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one heifer of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. And therefore also, I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord. He worshipped the Lord there. Chapter 2, verse 11. And Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. That is, they were worthless men. They were worthless men. They knew not the Lord. 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. Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen effort. Moreover his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him from year to year. And she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, The Lord give thee seed of this woman. The Lord give thee seed of this woman. For the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child, Samuel, grew before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was very old. And heard all that his sons did unto all Israel. And how they lay with the woman that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Eli said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my son, for it is no good report that I hear. Ye 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, if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father. Because the Lord would slay them. The child, Samuel, grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. And there came a man of God unto Eli. There came a man of God unto Eli. And said unto him, Thus sayeth the Lord. Verse 33. All the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas. In one day they shall die. Both of them. Chapter 3, verse 1. And the child, Samuel, ministered unto the Lord before Eli. Now the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. 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, the Lord called, the Lord called, Samuel. And he answered, Here am I. And he rang unto 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. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I. For thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called a child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. Therefore also I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever. And Samuel lay until the morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And Eli said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee. And more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he hath said to thee. And Samuel told him every wit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And Samuel grew. And the Lord was with him and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again. The Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord. For the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now beloved, in these passages, these sacred passages from God's sacred word, there are staggering revelations for all of us. For nothing is history in the Bible. It is God's heart. As much the word of God for you and me today as it was then. Even though it's recorded history, it's the sacred word of God. For you and me to know God's heart and God's warnings, don't ever doubt that. Don't tell me two-thirds of the Bible are recorded history. It is God's word for now. In the light of all scriptures though, there are staggering revelations. Many. Firstly, I see the Old Testament. God tolerated men having more than one wife. For that does not condone polygamy. There is no such a thing as us looking at the Old Testament and quoting it without looking at the New Testament. Because God had to close his eyes, Christ said. Literally close his eyes because of the fall of man was so tragic beyond all our comprehension. God had to have tremendous patience as he gave more and more and more light and revelation to Christ who gave the full revelation of God again. And Jesus said it was not so from the beginning. It was meant for one man and one woman. And anything more than that as adultery will be judged by God eternally. I have a sermon that I memorized about 240 verses of the scriptures, every single verse in the entire Bible concerning marriage and every facet of marriage. And it's called Marriage, the Scriptures Only. You'll find it on the internet. Whenever I preached it, it was like an atomic bomb hit the house. You won't believe it. I want to preach one day of that alone. But anyway, it's the word of God. It's quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing. And if it doesn't, get out of the pulpit, sir. You'll send souls to hell if it doesn't. Oh no. But God tolerated and honored men who did this as their hearts and the light they were given as a result of the four broken down light. There was much that we have to be understanding. God literally had to shut his eyes too, but beyond that, look at the heart in the walk of men, till he even said they were men after God's own heart. He did these things in the Old Testament. And secondly, a staggering revelation, a staggering confrontation by God in these passages it is possible to be allowed to serve God in the ordained religion of God and not know God and live a wicked life. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, literally preached, expounded the Holy Writ in the light of eternity. Have we not prophesied in thy name, preached in thy name, cast out devils, in thy name, done many wonderful works, miracles. You know, Jesus didn't say, no, that didn't happen. That's staggering. So that's possible. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Depart from me, ye that work, and you that never repented from sin. And live wickedly. Depart from me for eternity. And we won't go into all the judgments of God that he proclaims in the sacred book of what that means on the unrepentant soul. Tragic. I wonder what percentage of people who stand in the pulpits under the banner of Christianity worldwide today, preaching now, that Jesus will say those words to. I wonder. Every one of us would fall flat on our face and sob in fear and grief if God told us what percentage right now in the pulpits under the banner of Christianity preaching God's word. It's possible to be the priests of the Lord through circumstances and accepted, but do nothing but damage and turn people against God and turn people to sin. Harden their heart against God because of your evil life. Another revelation, a staggering revelation in this book, is that, do you know, you could tell that man is actually a place to sit with a loudspeaker. Forgive me, God. It's possible to be godly and to fail God in the raising of your children. Now is that something viable? Acceptably, yes. Don't doubt this. Eli was a man of God. He was an incredibly godly man. God-fearing, honest with integrity. It was staggering. But he failed in the raising of his children. God said so. We don't have to surmise it. God said so. God blamed Eli to a great degree of what happened to his sons. Now it's possible, parents, mothers, fathers, to be godly and to raise your children wrongly, to fail God in what God really expects. Now I want to look a bit deeper than that staggering statement. I want to look why, what reason. There must have been reason that a godly man failed. I believe, personally, it's possible for a parent to give up hope, to lose hope. And then he had this son given to him. Samuel, my son. Everything he wanted, everything he longed for as a man of God was embodied in that child that was given to him to raise by God and man. He didn't fail there. It's possible, parents, and perhaps some of you sit here today, that have given up hope and you're failing God. Let me tell you something. While you have one breath in your body, you're responsible to still challenge that child, to still be the example, but to confront and to pray from your soul for that child. As you're dying, pray. As you're dying, say what God wants you to say. Even if their will, the free will of man, chose wickedness. But don't let's blame Eli totally, okay? The son shall be answerable not for the sins of the father, and the fathers will not be answerable for the sins of the sons. Every man shall be answerable for his own sins. God says that clearly in two passages in the Old Testament, which we're dealing with here. Oh no, those boys won't have Eli to blame game. Not one second will God consider that when they stand before him. It's a fearful thing to know that you can come from such a godly home, from such a godly man and woman, though his wife's not mentioned, and choose wickedness. Notwithstanding, they hearken not unto the voice of their father. When he finally confronted them, as he should have, and had to, they hearken not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. You see, this is a terrible revelation here. Be careful here, there's a point of no return. No matter what anybody says to you, no matter how your father weeps and begs you, there's a point God seals the choice of a wicked man who hardens himself against God. This is through and throughout the Scriptures, Old and New Testament, again and again. You see, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God, but let me tell you something, before God hardened Pharaoh's heart, finally God saw for five times Pharaoh had hardened his heart. God sealed his choice. Romans 1, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient. Being filled all in right, oh yes, there's a point for this cause. Romans 1 verse 8, God gave them over unto vile affections. For this cause is always a cause. Don't ever blame God for what you are. But be careful, so be careful, there's a point God seals a man's choice. I was with a man just a few days ago, and he said something startling. Sorry, not a few days ago, a few weeks ago. He said something startling. He shared when I asked his testimony that he had been raised in a godly home, but he always played the fool. The gospel he knew, as he sat, would always stir him, but he went back on with sin and playing the fool with sin. One day he sat, heard the gospel, and was dead. He was so dead that he literally trembled and went away from everyone, and he feared, has God given up on me? And he said he was so scared that he wept his way through the night until he found God, became a preacher. He so found God. But the fear that God had given him, you see, there's the possibility that God will seal your choice, sir, young man. They knew not the Lord. Well, Samuel knew not the Lord. This is staggering. You know, it's possible to have a godly parent, a mother, a father, that before your birth, before your birth, they cry unto God to give your life, everything of your life, to be serving God. From their souls, godly people. I remember weeping when Jenny and I were married in this little back room of the home we were allowed to stay in for a few days, a few months, and I wept aloud. You know what I was weeping about? I was weeping because I was praying this. I was weeping in fear that I was saying this. God, don't let us have children. Please, God, I beg thee, don't let us have children. If they're going to serve the devil, then go to hell. Oh, the tears fell down off my face onto my open Bible. I didn't expect it, but I worked the tear and read, All thy children shall be, all thy children shall be blessed with the Lord. Healed. Don't doubt it. God doesn't mock a man with an open Bible weeping from his soul. But it is possible to have godly parents who commit you to God from their souls before you're born. And when you're born, and to be raised in a godly home, a godly parents giving you, and yet to not know the Lord. He wasn't wicked, little Samuel, like the sons of Eli, who chose on the free will to reject everything that was decent, and they influenced each other, which siblings do tragically. But Samuel was influenced by this godly woman, this God-fearing man, Eli, who was raising him. And he was clean. He wasn't wicked, but he knew not the Lord. Now, that's staggering. He wasn't saved. You can be raised up by parents who gave you to God before your birth, pray for your soul. You're not wicked, but you don't know God. That's tragic. So it wasn't only the wicked, evil sons that didn't know the Lord. It was good boys and girls from God-fearing homes that don't know the Lord. He did not yet know the Lord. Until what happened, he heard the voice of God. Did you today? Have you today, through a weak man, yes, it comes through the weakest of men, through God's Word, crying out your name in your heart, and you know you have to do with God, and you don't know what to say. You might be God, and His voice through this weakness has brought in the weakness of a man, such as me. You might be wicked, and God's still trying, crying out through what happened to Eli's sons, to your heart, warning you. But it might be you're good from Godly home, but you still yet know not the Lord. And God's calling out today in such a way that's staggered your heart that you've never known before. I mean this, because I know God. I know the power of this book in the hands of the weakest man who has integrity. But today, God's speaking to you. Why don't you come? What's that old hymn, Shoftly and Tenderly? Jesus is calling. Why do you tarry? Loved ones are praying. Why do you linger? Why do you don't know? Come! Go beyond Samuel. I've known boys when I was a child. I had to go back to them because I didn't grasp until I was saved what they came from. It came from Godly homes. They were not wicked, like little Samuel. But there was influence that suddenly came because they weren't saved. That they were influenced to wickedness. And they broke down their Godly home and brought disgrace on it. Such disgrace I'm scared to think, let alone share. Don't play the fool with God, child. You don't know what you're doing. You don't come when God speaks. Excuse me. You know, there's a lot I could go on and on and on. Scriptures, comparing Scripture with Scripture that just astonished me because I, through these last months, memorized these passages. As God impressed on me, I can't now, I don't want to. Has God spoken to you, though wicked, worthless men, literally, sons of Bilal, they knew nothing. Has God spoken to you? Has God spoken to your parents? Godly but failing. Giving up hope. Giving up responsibility that God expected and will require of you. You, who still yet know not the Lord, you're going to play the fool, leave it, and God calls out to your heart. If there's anyone in this building that God has spoken to, to give their lives to Christ now they're going to come to know the Lord today. Right now, stand up and say, Here am I. Speak, a servant here. I dare you. Take that courage, you'll do many courageous things for God towards the end of life. Stand and give yourself to Christ. No! Too much to ask of you, that is, God asks of you, it is too much to ask in your life. Can we stand, please? Lord, what we do with this message, what we do with this message might be the undoing of everything in life that God expected of us. Help us to not do that to thee, or our parents, or our souls, or our children. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen.