In the book of First Samuel, it's always great to be in church when a new series has started.
So far you've made it to all of the series sermons, so it should be your goal to keep
that up throughout this book. This is a very great book. It's a very interesting book. It's one of
those books that's so easy to read. In your Bible plan, when you get to First and Second Samuel,
it's just action-packed. It's very easy to read. It's very interesting. And when it comes to this
book, the author is anonymous. Some people have different ideas of who this author is, but
basically the time frame that the events of this book happen is around 1100 BC to about 100 years
after that. It's about 100 years that the events are recorded in this book. And of course it gets
its name from the first prophet here, Samuel. And basically this book is divided into two sections,
the life of Samuel and the life of Saul. So that's really what First Samuel covers. So we can start
there in verse number one. It says in verse one of First Samuel 1, Now there was a certain man
of Ramathaim-Zophim of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jehoram, the son of Elihu,
the son of Tohu, the son of Zaph, and Ephrathite. Now when I see that name, the son of Elihu, I
immediately think of Job. But don't worry, he's not a descendant of one of that bozo in the book
of Job. It's a completely different Elihu, so that name shouldn't be totally tainted, right?
Verse two it says, And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other
was Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. So first we see here that
this man has two wives. Now what you have to understand is that the Bible records reality
perfectly. And everything that the Bible says actually did happen, but that does not necessarily
mean that everything that in the Bible happens is right, or that God endorses everything that
happens in the Bible. Go to Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter number 19.
So you know a tip for studying the Bible is that of course the stories are great, but you always
want to base your doctrine on clear statements of the Bible. And a great person especially to base
your doctrines off of is the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. So Matthew chapter 19,
look at verse number three it says, The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him,
and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them
male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to
his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. So notice Jesus says that they twain. That word twain
simply just means two. So Jesus Christ is saying that God always intended marriage to be between
two people, not just a plethora of women. Now of course there was you could read stories where God
did show mercy to men that did this, and of course God was long suffering and even blessed men that
committed this sin just like God blesses us and we're sinners and God's long suffering to us and
we're sinners. But you don't want to get off thinking that God's okay with polygamy. There
is even a movement of Christians where they want to talk about how polygamy is cool or a
good thing that we should bring back. You know a lot of Muslims definitely believe in this,
but even some really weird right-wing men think we should bring back polygamy and that's a really
really terrible idea. Verse 6 says, Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh, what therefore
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. So you know when two people get married God is
joining them together as one flesh and so even if you're married to another woman you're still
breaking in a sense that union even temporarily with that one flesh that God created and so it's
not something that God desires. It's not something you ever see as a positive thing in the Bible.
You don't see any happy family situations where polygamy is happening. It's a bad idea.
Go back to 1st Samuel chapter number one and while you're there I'll read for you.
In 2nd Timothy 3 16 says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So of course everything in the
Bible is inspired by God. It is true and it is profitable for something but you don't make the
mistake that oh I read in the Bible that this person did this thing therefore it's right,
therefore it's okay. No this guy did have two wives. That is true that that happened but
God does not condone of that even though this was a godly man. How do we know that? Look at verse
three it says, And this man went up of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord
of hosts and Shiloh and the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas the priests of the Lord were there.
So notice this is a godly guy. This is a guy that yearly is going to the house of the Lord. He's a
descendant of Levi and so it just goes to show that even godly people that are desiring to serve
the Lord still make mistakes, still have sins in their lives and you know no one ought to ever come
to the point of their life where they think they've arrived or they think that they're perfect. This
is a guy right here that's in the Bible. He's eternally recorded in the word of God yet he
still was a sinner. He still messed up. He still had two wives but he still was a godly man. Also
notice he has to go up yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts. You know,
I thank God that we're in the New Testament. I thank God that we don't have to make some yearly
journey to go to the house of God. We could just drive 15 minutes down the road, 30 minutes down
the road, however far you live and attend the house of God and you could hear preaching of
God's word from the New Testament, the better covenant. We have the whole Bible now. You know,
we have a better mediator now. We have a better covenant. We have better promises.
Go to Hebrews chapter number nine. Hebrews chapter number nine.
I'm thankful that we no longer have to do this.
Hebrews nine, look at verse number nine. Speaking of the Old Testament sacrifices, which is what he
was doing here, verse nine says this, which was a figure for the time then present. So you got
to realize even just the very first chapter of first Samuel when it's talking about the sacrifices,
those things were a figure of Jesus Christ. And you just have to realize that the Lord Jesus
Christ is on every page of the Bible. It doesn't matter really what book you're talking about. I
mean, we just started first Samuel and already he's talking about those sacrifices. And what
were those sacrifices? They were a figure of things to come. Look, it says in which we're
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as
pertaining to the conscience. So you know, this family wasn't going up to the house of the Lord
to sacrifice to get saved or to get their sins forgiven. They were doing it in obedience to God.
And what it was doing was it was actually picturing the new covenant, picturing the Lord
Jesus Christ to come. But of course, the dispensationalists like to say that in the
Old Testament, you were saved by animal sacrifices and by works and that that'll happen again in the
future. No, that's wrong. That's not true. It's always been by faith in Christ. Verse 10 it says,
which stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them
until the time of reformation. What is that? Verse 11, but Christ being come and high priest of good
things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say
not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. You know, yearly these guys
would go to the tabernacle and they would make sacrifices. But what was that really? It was a
picture of the time when Jesus would go to the real holy place and really apply his real blood
to the altar. And that is the actual thing that saves us is Jesus Christ's sacrifice.
All this in the Old Testament was simply just a picture. Let's go back to 1 Samuel.
First Samuel chapter number one
says in verse four and when the time was that Elkanah offered he gave to Peninnah his wife and
to all her sons and her daughters portions but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion which really
just means a bunch more whatever double who knows how much more but he gave her a bunch more why
for he loved Hannah but the Lord had shut up her womb so you know it's kind of a sad situation here
where Hannah is barren Hannah is not able to have children but one thing I just noticed right away
in verse number five her husband gave her worthy portion what does it say for he loved Hannah and
you know even though Hannah had a lot of problems and Hannah was sad she was barren she still had
some good in her life here you know why because her husband loved her and there's a lot of women
today that would just love to have that that would just love to have their husband love her and
notice he's giving her the a worthy portion he's giving her double you know I'm sure that she gets
more gifts and more attention and more affection because it seems like he loves her more now again
this is why polygamy is a very bad idea because if you're married to two women you're probably
going to love one more than the other and that's not going to really make the other wife feel great
it's just a really bad idea don't ever do it please it's illegal so you definitely can't do it
but notice like we the way we apply this to ourselves is that we're always going to have a mix
of good and bad in our lives and it's so easy sometimes for us just in our fallen state to
really want to focus on the bad focus on the negative for her she wants to focus on the fact
that she has no kid but there's also a lot of good in our lives too you know just on the way
to church I was especially thinking of my children and the childhood that they're getting I had a
great childhood I had a very idyllic childhood but it was not a spiritual childhood I didn't
grow up in church and I would have traded my nice middle class idyllic American childhood for
growing up in church and I was just thinking like you know my kids they have no idea how blessed
they are the fact that they're going to be raised in a safe nice neighborhood in Oklahoma City
in a really conservative area with a great church to go to in the middle of the greatest country on
earth like there's a lot going for them and really when we think about that there's a lot going for
all of us I mean here we are in Oklahoma City which most people would say is not a very esteemed
place it's not a very well-known place but you know little is much when God is in it and when
there's a church like this I don't care where it is you live in a blessed place and so all of us
we have some good in our lives and we have some bad in our lives and you know what we would just
be wise to focus on the good and as hard as that is sometimes I think that's the attitude that God
wants us to have verse six it says and her adversary now the bible doesn't really say who
this person is but who I think it is is the other wife because if you're sharing your husband with
another woman that woman's probably going to be your adversary regardless says and her adversary
also provoked her sore for to make her fret because the Lord had shut up her womb so it sounds
like the other wife Penina is provoking her is is making her upset is maybe even taunting her or
making fun of her because of the fact that she's barren and you know that's a really wicked thing
to do to someone to try to make someone feel bad because of that situation that's just a really
bad attitude to have and you should obviously never do something like that but look again back
to polygamy it's very obvious that anyone that's in a polygamous relationship is going to have
some adversaries and so obviously the bible here is telling us that this is not a beautiful picture
that's being painted of marriage rather this woman is in suffering and is being provoked by the other
wife verse seven 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 so notice you know this is an extreme
source of pain for this woman this is a very heavy burden that she's carrying and for someone to be
provoking another person about that is just a stupid wicked thing to do you know you should
never provoke someone about this and let me just say this you know just practically speaking in
church or work or wherever you are it's it's rude to ask people questions about this area of life
you know oh when are you having your next kid you know it's like i i have four kids we had
five pregnancies in five years which is not necessarily the recommended model i'm just
telling you what happened we had five pregnancies in five years we had a little bit of gap between
Anna and Heidi and you know there's lots of people asking us oh you know it's it's been more than two
years when's the next baby happening you know what's going on it's like well we lost one from
a miscarriage you know it's not like we're just waiting for no reason and so look you don't know
what people are going through it's really none of your business whatsoever you don't even know
if they're not having kids because they have fertility issues or maybe they lost a child and
don't want to tell people about that it's totally up to them it's really no one's business whatsoever
and so just realize that in a church environment while of course we we preach that you should be
fruitful and multiply and we want to have lots of kids and we want you know to have our quiver full
and raise the next generation and we love kids we have a family integrated church while we preach
all those things you know that's preached but that's not for you to go around and interrogating
people about why they have the number of kids that they have when they're having the next one
how come you guys have never had a kid don't ask people those questions it's very inappropriate
do not ask people those questions now you know there's people that go through these type of
things and the verse that comes to my mind is one of my favorite verses in the whole bible i'll just
read it for you proverbs 3 5 trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own
understanding you know we don't know what we don't know we don't know what the future is going to
hold we don't know why god is allowing us to go through certain things we don't know why god it
seems like is withholding us from certain blessings that we desire but guess what you can never know
so all you can do is just trust in the lord with all thine heart i love that verse because
it just applies to every area of life you know you read something in the bible and your first
couple times reading through you might not fully understand it but trust in the lord with all thine
heart and just do what it says anyways even if you don't fully understand it you know and you
you could be doing everything right and you're thinking man why aren't i getting blessed with
a child it's like hey just trust in the lord with all thine heart because hannah was in this
situation and eventually god did bless her with the child and we'll see that later on
go to first samuel one i'll read for you psalm 68 19 says this blessed or sorry i might have
i might have skipped something here i did yes let's look at verse eight it says this
then said elkanah her husband to her hannah why weepest thou and why eatest thou not and why is
thy heart grieve am not i better to thee than 10 sons now at first i think a lot of people really
want to judge this husband and say like these are some harsh questions why are you acting this way
but when you actually just analyze what he says i actually think there's some wisdom into what this
man is saying saying am not i better to thee than 10 sons and it kind of goes back to what i said at
the beginning we should be focusing on the good in our lives let me read for you psalm 68 19 it
says this blessed be the lord who daily loadeth us with benefits even the god of south of our
salvation sila so you know the husband here elkanah he may seem a little harsh on the surface
but he really does have a point though and that is that god is daily loading us with benefits
and so we should praise him and be thankful for those benefits and while it's totally appropriate
for her to feel sad and that's not that's not wicked that's not sinful or anything like that
she's sad that she doesn't have a child she wants a child she's praying for the child that's great
that's fine but you can't get to the point where now you're so focused on this one thing that
you're no longer thankful for all the good that god has done to you already because let me just
tell you your life can get way way way worse than just not having a kid or whatever the problem is
in your life whatever the big issue is in your life it can always get worse i mean one of the
things that i think people take for granted so much is health it is such a blessing to wake up
in the morning and to just be able to get out of bed on your two legs that work and for your lungs
to function properly to not have pneumonia or covet or whatever issues going on to be able to
have good vision to be able to hear properly to be able to taste food like these are things that
we just take for granted day in day out usually when people stop taking this for granted is when
they get old and they start noticing that these things are gone or not working as like they used
to and so now now they're like oh man it was so great but it's like wouldn't it be great if right
now you just appreciated all the great things you have in your life anyways you know right now we
have great prosperity in our nation and you can go to nice clean grocery stores and buy good quality
food and make high quality meals that is a huge blessing that not everyone in this world has
and you know we just day in day out we get so used to the normal in our lives we're used to going to
our job and we complain about it but how would you feel about your job if you lost your job
tomorrow you probably want it back pretty fast so there's so many things in our lives that are so
good that are blessings from god but because we don't have that one thing that we don't want
we complain and we murmur in our hearts and you know that's not the attitude that we should have
because here's the thing the problem you have now at least you know what it is if you traded that in
it could be traded in for something way way worse like you know my wife and i thank god we've never
experienced fertility issues obviously we've got you know lots of kids very fast but you know like
who knows what other problems people are going through or if i have to think in my mind like
there could be a lot of things worse than that issue is all i'm trying to say
so let's go to first amule one verse nine first amule one verse nine
it says 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 so eli here he's a priest he is a man of
god but he's not in the temple he's kind of just sitting around it and he notices her verse ten
it says and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the lord and wept sore so she's in
a lot of pain right now she's crying to god she's praying and she vowed a vow and said oh lord of
hosts if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me and not forget
thine handmaid but will give unto thine handmaid a man child then i will give him unto the lord
the days of his life and there shall no razor come upon his head so you know as as we're going
through something difficult in our lives or as someone's waiting to have a child the appropriate
action to take is to pray to god is to ask god lord don't forget me don't forget your servant
lord please give me a child and notice what she does she makes a vow that she will lend this
child to the lord that this child will be his will be used for god's service now i'm not saying
you should make a vow don't make a vowel there's no need to do that but all of us should just
purpose in our heart anyways that our children are gifts of god and that they are to be used
for the kingdom of god you know i've never vowed to vow a vow to vow to god that my kids will be
dedicated to the work of god you know what i'm training my children to grow up to be soul winners
you know when they become of age i'm going to train them to get saved and they're going to
call upon the name of lord and they're going to go to church three times a week while they're
under my roof and they're going to read their bible every day they're going to pray to god
and i am dedicating them to the lord i'm not making a vow about it but look that's that's
the attitude that all of us should have realize that children were not given to us just for our
own pleasure or as our own servants or something like that but actually if you read the bible the
bible says that god is seeking a godly seed in malachi and that's one of the reasons he even
institutionalized marriage in the first place one of the biggest reasons why marriage even exists
is so that we would raise the next generation of christians you know one thing i love about
leftists is that they don't have kids and they they don't have kids purposely they're intentionally
not having kids and and i love that about them because they're not reproducing and so like we
as christians like we want to reproduce why so they can be used as servants of god i'm thankful
that fags will never reproduce i'm thankful that these leftist feminists that hate men so much
hate them so much that they won't get pregnant and won't reproduce it says here in verse 12
and it came to pass as she continued praying before the lord that eli marked her mouth now
i've heard this really silly idea that when it says that eli marked her mouth that he hit her
that's not what this is saying okay that's completely silly what it's saying is that he
noticed her he saw her that she was crying that she was praying and he marked in his mind okay
this woman is doing that now i think there's a spiritual picture here for spiritual leadership
and fathers if your dad you're a spiritual leader husbands you're a spiritual leader
you're a preacher in here you're a spiritual leader i think it's important for spiritual
leadership to notice people i think that's one of the interesting pictures here that eli he
didn't just see her and just like oh i don't even care no no like in his mind he marked her he
noticed her and i think it's really important for ministers and for christians for soul winners
to be looking out into this lost and dying world and noticing people not just not caring about
them but actually noticing them go to hebrews chapter number 13 hebrews chapter number 13
hebrews 13 it says in verse 7 obey them obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves
for notice they watch for your souls so notice what is a godly pastor supposed to be doing
supposed to be watching for people noticing them as they that must give account that they may do
it with joy and not with grief that is unprofitable for you so notice it should be a joy it should be
a pleasure for ministers to watch out for people and to care for people if you don't care about
people being a pastor is the dumbest decision ever because really what you should be doing is
caring about people loving people serving other people and you know that doesn't just apply to the
pastor like i said if you're a soul winner you should have the same attitude you should watch
out for people's souls that you should be concerned is this person that i know lost and
going to spend eternity in hell you know that sermon on the lake of fire on sunday i hope that
motivates you to to mark people to see them and to want to preach to them you know another thing
go to hebrews 4 put back to hebrews 4 another thing i think that this pictures is the lord
jesus christ as our high priest is watching out for us too look at hebrews 4 15 it says for we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in
all points tempted like as we are yet without sin you know the great thing about having the lord
jesus christ as our high priest is that it's not like he doesn't understand your pain because he
was actually tempted in all points like as we are so meaning jesus christ being fully god and fully
man understood what the human life was like he understood what the human experience was like
and so while eli he can try his best to sympathize with hannah with the pain that she's going through
and ministers can we could try our best to see a situation in someone's life in someone's life
and to pray for them and to care for them to love them and try to help them through it you know it
can't be said of every situation that i know exactly what it feels like to be you you know i
could pray for you i could do my best to help you but you know there's certain situations that only
you have experienced that i have not there are certain situations that just i myself have
experienced and you have not but the great thing about jesus our great high priest is that he truly
understands every single thing that you feel and so you know we shouldn't trust too much in man or
look for man as our primary comfort our primary comfort should actually come from jesus because
he knows exactly how you feel and he actually cares deeply about all of his children go back
to first samuel one now here's the thing jesus will never make a mistake in judgment when he
sees what you're going through he knows exactly what you're going through and he knows exactly why
he knows the motivations of your heart he knows the motivations of other people but man is not
necessarily like this even a priest like eli because look right here it says in verse 13
now hannah she spake in her heart only her lips moved but her voice was not heard therefore eli
thought she had been drunken so realize that ministers spiritual leadership they can make
mistakes they can make judgment call mistakes and you shouldn't get this you know deification of the
preacher or the pastor that the preacher's infallible the pastor's infallible you know
that's what cults teach that's what cult leaders claim you know real preachers never claim that
about themselves they never act that way because here eli is totally wrong his judgment is totally
bad and she's actually praying to the lord she is doing a godly thing by asking god to give her
a child and what does he see her and assume of her that she's drunk that's hard you know what
sometimes in life you're going to be misjudged sometimes in life people are going to assume
your intentions incorrectly sometimes you know a lot of times at work your boss may not see
everything and he might call you out for something that you didn't necessarily do
just realize hey that's just part of the human experience that just happens you might as well
just get used to that but the good news is that if you go to jesus he's never going to misread
the situation and here's the thing if you're wrong his word will tell you that it's not like
he's just going to instantly say oh yeah everything you do is right no if you have bad intentions he
will tell you that if you are drunk oh he knows he knows that you're drunk but if you're not if
you're just praying to him he's not going to assume that you're drunken and notice also it
says hannah spake in her heart you know it's possible to speak without audibly having words
come out of your mouth because there's this debate about whether or not you have to call upon the
name of the lord to be saved by the way you do have to call upon the name of the lord to be saved
that's what this church believes but people be like well what about someone that's mute
what about someone that can't speak i always go here here you go now hannah she spake in her heart
if someone can't speak and they call out to god in their heart lord i'm a sinner i believe you
died for me i'm putting all my trust in you please save me now that person's saved and her mouth you
know you have an internal mouth too it's called your heart and you could speak with it verse 14
it says and eli said unto her how long wilt thou be drunken put away thy wine from thee how annoying
right verse 15 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 hannah is such
a great example here because even though eli was wrong and even though she is being accused of a
serious sin she is still respectful towards him notice what she says and hannah answered and said
no my lord she's saying you're the boss you're in charge she's giving him a term of respect and just
realize that in life if your authority corrects you and maybe they don't know a hundred percent
of the facts you know you shouldn't just blow up or mouth off you know it's okay to provide more
details uh respectfully and to help them maybe understand your side of the story but if it comes
to a point where they're not hearing it you should just still be respectful and take the
correction you know your boss at work will like you way more if he thinks this person really messed
this up and he's wrong you didn't actually do that but you take the correction well rather than you
sitting here trying to prove over and over that you didn't do what they're accusing you of doing
and you are start to get disrespectful to your boss that's a really bad idea you know ladies at
home if your husband corrects you if your husband is upset with something that you did or something
is not up to the liking that your husband asked of you it is going to be so much easier for you
and have so much more peace in the home if you just humbly meekly take it and just fix it rather
than sitting there and screaming and nagging at your husband to try to prove how right you are
you will never get anywhere with your authority by nagging them or trying to usurp them or trying to
prove to them how great you are it's never going to work so follow hannah's advice here you know
she gets accused of being a drunk i'm pretty sure ladies your husband hasn't done that to you
he comes home why are you drunk how would you feel in your heart you'd be like whoa what are
you talking about like it's a serious accusation he's like oh why are you drunk and she says no my
lord i'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit i have drunk neither wine nor strong drink but have
poured out my soul before the lord and i love what she says here she says count not thine handmade
for a daughter of belial for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have i spoken hitherto
notice in hannah's mind this is a godly woman here in hannah's mind she equates someone that
drinks alcohol with someone who is a reprobate someone who is a child of the devil now here's
the thing i'm not saying that if someone drinks alcohol they're a reprobate i'm not saying if
someone drinks alcohol alcohol they're sodomite or something like that but if you drink alcohol
you are acting like a reprobate you are acting like a sodomite i'll prove that to you go to
deuteronomy 32 deuteronomy 32 she's saying whoa please don't thank me that i'm a daughter of satan
here that i'm a child of belial i'm just praying to the lord look at deuteronomy 32 verse 33
deuteronomy 32 verse 33 their wine is a is the poison of dragons and the cruel venom of asps
you know there's our wine which we believe is fruit juice and then there's the world's wine
which is what the poison of dragons you know that's why i say that alcohol is the devil's
drink why because it's the poison of dragons and the cruel venom of asps so you know just realize
you may not think it's such a big deal because we grew up in america and the culture of alcohol and
drinking is pretty strong in the united states lots of people drink if you work you go out in
the workplace and work you probably work around a bunch of people that drink alcohol but don't get
desensitized by the culture into thinking it's not a big deal because hannah was not desensitized
when she was accused of drinking alcohol she's saying whoa it's almost like you're calling me
a child of the devil a reprobate something that a sodomite would do and if you decide to disregard
the preaching and you decide to disregard what the bible says just realize that you're not acting like
a child of god you're acting like a child of the devil verse 17 then eli answered her and said go
in peace and the god of israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him so notice
you know she responded respectfully she did give him more information respect respectfully what
does he do he blesses her go in peace he wasn't offended he blessed her 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 so notice that even though eli wrongly judged her wrongly thought something of
her she was long suffering towards this man and this is a good example of someone that is actually
charitable go to first grinthians 13 you know when it comes to charity kind of like faithfulness the
bible says a faithful man who can find you know everyone in their mind virtually thinks oh i'm a
faithful person but if you actually believe the bible then the majority of people are not faithful
it's actually very rare to find someone that is faithful and i think it's the same thing with
being charitable probably if you asked christians in a secret poll and they didn't know if people
were going to read on their name i bet you almost everyone would check that mark yep i'm charitable
yep i am a charitable person but what i believe is that no you're not most time most of the time
people are actually not charitable look at verse number four and you know why is because most
people when we see situations similar to this they don't react like hannah does they don't and
so what does that prove it proves that they're actually not long suffering look at verse number
four it says charity suffereth long suffering meaning something wrong is being done to you
and you're putting up with it you're allowing it for how long long a very long time most people do
not do this you may think you're charitable but let's keep reading charity suffers long and is
kind charity envieth not charity vonteth not itself is not puffed up boy are most people
prideful today aren't they verse five it doth not behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own
is not easily provoked thinketh no evil you know when i think about our society that we're living
in i think about how we're living in a society that is easily provoked triggered right there's
trigger warnings on everything today people get offended so easily i don't care if you're
democrat i don't care if you're republican everyone is offended in fact there's a funny
song that's like a parody about this it's some silly country song i think it's called like let's
all get offended together or something like that it's just talking about like both sides
everyone today just wants to be offended why because people are not filled with charity today
people are not being filled with the word of god and praying to god and walking in the spirit and
so they're not suffering long they are easily provoked so look if your husband ladies correct
to you and it's not 100 dead on with the facts are you just easily provoked just angry at him
he's ready to snap at him ready to nag at him well you're not charitable then you know men at
work your boss say hey why did you do that thing over there and it wasn't even you and you just
back top back talk him and become disrespectful to him you're easily provoked and so you're not
being charitable verse six rejoice if not in iniquity but rejoice it in the truth beareth
all things meaning you're just like allowing all things to happen believeth all things hoping the
best in people hope with all things endureth all things charity never faileth but whether whether
there be prophecies they shall fail whether they there be tongues they shall cease whether there
be knowledge it shall vanish away you know let me just say this wherever there's bosses those
bosses will fail wherever there's husbands those husbands will fail wherever there's pastors those
pastors will fail you know what doesn't fail charity and if you want people to deal charitably
with you then you should be charitable to other people if you want people to be long suffering
with you and to bear all things with you to hope all things with you to believe all things with you
then you need to show that same charity to other people go back to first samuel first samuel
chapter one so you know i like this girl hannah she's a very godly woman she's a charitable woman
first samuel one
and they rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the lord and returned and
came to their house to raima and elkanah knew hannah his wife and the lord remembered her so
notice right after this happens she has an experience where someone's falsely thinking
something of her and what does she do she rose up they raise up early in the morning and worship
the lord notice that hannah is not a recovering fundamentalist what i mean by that oh i'm i'm
church hurt oh you know the church did something mean to me the pastor preached against my sins
oh the pastor preached a sermon that was mean and so now i'm a recovering fundamentalist
i'm church hurt it's like couldn't have hannah just thrown a fit and be like yeah the pastor
the priest eli here oh yeah the pastor sat there and said that i was getting drunk when i was
praying to god can you believe that can you just imagine the tik tok comments the instagram comment
wow this is a cult what a piece of crap what a terrible person let's sue him let's arrest him
you know you know how people to react today but what does she do she just keeps serving god she
just keeps worshiping the lord she doesn't get so offended that she stops serving god and look if
you get so offended that you stop serving god you're just hurting yourself it's like hey we
can all still serve god here if you decide to shoot your spiritual life in the foot and quit
church that's not going to stop me from serving him it's not going to stop me from reading my
bible it's not going to stop me from going soul winning the only person you're hurting is yourself
so don't get so triggered don't get so easily offended have charity like her and and she had
charity and let's see what happened to her god blesses her verse 20 wherefore it came to pass
that the time was come about after hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name
samuel saying because i've asked him of the lord hey you reap what you sow and here hannah was
sowing godliness was sowing charity was sowing prayer was sowing respect to the man of god and
as a result god looked down from heaven and said here's a woman that i want to bless right here
and so we all want the blessing of god in our life but you know how are we living our lives how are
we taking the things of god seriously are we praying to the lord are we being charitable are
we being long-suffering are we the type of person where god looks down from heaven and says you know
what i'd like to bless this person even more or does he look down from heaven and say i need to
chastise this person this person isn't doing anything that i asked of them and so i actually
need to give them a spiritual spanking i actually need to take away blessings because they're not
doing what they're supposed to be doing this woman was steadfast she was doing what she was supposed
to be doing and by the way you know i i just thought of this right now this mig tao movement
that hates women and that acts like women can't be spiritual you know these guys that believe this
garbage probably wouldn't hold a candle to hannah spiritually they probably would not hold a candle
i mean this is a very charitable woman a very godly woman and all these idiots that think oh
women could never be spiritual you're wrong this is a great woman of god in the bible and don't
ever believe this this stupid idea that women can't serve god women aren't supposed to be
spiritual that's ridiculous no god cares about women too god wants them to be spiritual too
and i hope that that attitude never creeps into this church
now let's see look at verse 21 and says in the man elkanah and all his house went up to offer
unto the lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow so notice elkanah here let's talk a little bit about
the husband here elkanah one thing i like about this guy is that he's consistent says that they
go up yearly to do this and boy do we need in america some dads that are consistent we need
some fathers today that are consistently going to go to work and consistently provide for their
family i mean that's like the bare minimum you think everyone would do that and even the unsaved
world does that but today there's many men that are not working there's many men who are around
my age or maybe a little younger that just spent their whole youth playing video games they live
in their parents house they didn't go to college they didn't get a job they're doing nothing i
know people like this in my life and look we need to be men and be consistent consistently go to
work and consistently serve god going to the lord for the yearly sacrifice and his vow you know we
need some fathers today that are consistently bringing their family to church that are going
to consistently read their family the bible that are going to consistently pray with their family
we need some leadership like this today in america we had a mass army of fathers like this in america
man our country really would be great again because the only thing that made our country
great to begin with was the word of god and saved men carrying that word of god to this nation
so we need to get back to that verse 22 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 forever that's an interesting phrase he's going to appear before
the lord and he's going to abide there forever what is this talking about well i think this is
a picture of the lord jesus christ why because hannah here has her only begotten son what does
she do with her only begotten son she vows it to the lord saying lord i'm giving this only begotten
son to you i'm vowing it to your service then it says that i'm going to bring him that he may appear
before the lord and there abide forever and that's exactly what god the father did for us was he gave
us his only begotten son he vowed jesus christ to be used for the service of god and where is
jesus right now he's in heaven and how long will he be there he'll be there for forever verse 23
and elkanah her husband said unto her do what seemeth thee good tarry until thou have weaned
him only the lord established his word so the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned
him by the way ladies if you want your husband to say to you do what seemeth thee good then you
would want to have the charitable meek attitude that this lady has and if you have that attitude
your husband will probably just be whatever you want to do do whatever you want to do do what
seem with you good that's what every woman wants to hear right from their husband verse 24 and when
she had weaned him she took him up with her with three bullocks and one ephah of flour and a bottle
of wine and brought him unto the house of the lord in shiloh and the child was young you know that's
a great example right there when you have a child bring that child to the house of god get that
child in church as young as possible and keep them in church their whole life that's going to give
them the best chance in this life you know i thank god that i got saved when i was about 16 i think i
was but i would have rather have gotten saved when i was six i would have rather have gotten saved at
that age and have gone to church my whole life rather than me just kind of as a first generation
christian trying to figure it all out myself you know it's a great blessing if you're a child in
this room today to be in this church and to have parents that serve god go to proverbs 29
i want to read for you second timothy 1 5 it says when i call to remembrance the unfeigned faith
that is in thee which dwelt first in my grandmother lois and my mother eunice and i am persuaded that
in thee also notice timothy had some godly women in his life and i'm sure that they brought him to
church or whatever when he was young probably reading the bible to him when he was young
proverbs 29 look at verse 15 the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth
his mother to shame he doesn't say his father says his mother why because women are the ones
spending the most time with the children and so hannah here is setting a good example for
wives for mothers by taking the child at a young age to church and you know what she is not ashamed
of who her child was samuel grew up to be a great man of god almost done here go to verse 25 verse
25 and they slew a bullock and brought the child to eli and she said oh my lord is thy soul liveth
my lord i am the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the lord you know even though eli
messed up it's got to be satisfying for him to see that he blessed this woman and god answered that
prayer and ended up blessing her you know i know for me the most satisfying um just the greatest
things that i've ever heard is when someone comes up to me and says like hey i did what you preached
and this great blessing happened you know probably the coolest thing someone ever said to me was
they got pregnant and the lady was fairly you know close to the end of child-bearing years
and like her next youngest child was like 21 she got pregnant it's like a 21 year gap between their
kids she's like hey i heard your sermon about being fruitful multiply and i had another child
and i was like praise god for that you know that is what makes ministry so worth it is when you
see people being blessed in their lives and so it's cool how she kind of comes up to him and
says like hey i'm the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the lord that's got to be cool
for him if you think about it that way look at verse 27 then notice this for this child i prayed
and the lord has given me my petition which i asked of him therefore also i have lent him to
the lord as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the lord and he worshiped the lord there hey
you know praise god that we have a god that answers prayers and that we have a god that
wants to bless us and just give us great things in our lives like children like a spouse like a
good family like a good church you know praise god for those things and if you pray if you pray
for something and if the lord blesses you you know continue to serve god after that a lot of
people they want to serve god up until the point they get that blessing and then they forsake god
you know i've seen people pray that their new business succeeds and god blesses them and i've
seen friends where their new business just explodes they do great things they're making
tons of money and then you'll see that same person just completely stop going to church
or they'll show up once a month and they used to go soul winning all the time and now they just
don't go soul winning at all and in the long run you see what happens that person's marriage
you see what happens that person's children and eventually who knows what's going to happen with
finances but oftentimes you know forsaking god is not the best financial plan for your life
you know you may be doing okay in the in the short term because of how merciful god is
but let's see how you look in 20 years whereas you know a guy may be working a very menial job
he's a blue-collar worker but he's putting the lord first in his life and god will make that
money stretch for him until he goes to the grave because the blessing of god is more valuable than
silver and gold it's more valuable than anything so you know praise god that god answered her
prayer praise god when he answers our prayers but let's not just get complacent and stop serving
god after that go to hebrews chapter number four hebrews chapter number four
and you know so an application for us can be you know we need to be a people
that prays to the lord you know don't just get down in the dumps and feeling sorry for yourself
and just whining complaining do something about it pray to the god of heaven look at hebrews 4 16
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need you know that's a great blessing that we have access to god in this way
that you can just boldly come before him in prayer and you know we should take advantage of that as
christians let's go to lastly here let's go to first john five first john five
first john chapter number five
first john 5 14 says this and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask
anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him you know just know that when you're praying
to the lord in his will he hears you and so if you're waiting if you haven't heard an answer
what do you do you go back to proverbs 3 5 and you just trust in the lord with all thine heart
but just realize you don't know the future you don't necessarily know what the god what the
perfect will of god is in every single situation but here's what you do know do you know that you
can go to the father and give him your petitions do you know that you can go to the father you're
jesus the son and ask him for anything and he hears you and while you're doing that trust him
and while you're doing that trust him trust in god know that god loves you and so he's not just
withholding a blessing from you to spite you you know he does things for our benefit even
punishment is for our benefit even chastisement is for our benefit he's always going to do what
benefits us i'll read for you romans 12 1 it says i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies
of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is
your reasonable service you know the last thought just to close this sermon is hannah is blessed by
god and she gets this child and what she do she dedicates it to the lord she lends it to the lord
and we should be people that are willing to sacrifice anything for the service of god
whether that's using our children for the things of god or whether that's like romans 12 says
literally our own flesh our own bodies for the service of god whether that's our money whether
that's our time whether that's our talent realize that anything we have is because god gave it to us
anyways and he gave it to us so that we could further his kingdom so that we can further
the kingdom of god getting people saved building the new testament church that's why he blessed us
and so if he's blessed you today use what he's blessed you with to serve god let's pray lord
thank you for this day thank you for first samuel pray that we would be like hannah that we would be
long-suffering and charitable and just pray that we would dedicate our lives and everything you've
given us to your service and just thank you that you always work for our benefits to hear our
prayers just pray that we would take advantage of that that we'd be a people that prays for
ourselves and also for each other we love you and you simply pray amen