Broken: Samuel

turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 we're going to continue our series titled broken and what we're doing is we're looking at Hebrews chapter 11 and this is God's Hall of Fame these are all the great men and women of the Bible and in this chapter one of the things is very clear is every one of these people was in some way or another broken and and God healed their broken lives and also the encouraging thing from this pastor is that God can use broken people I don't know about you but that gives me hope that if God could use these people who had sin and problems and issues in their life then maybe God can use me and maybe God can use you as well and we're coming down to

the end of this chapter we've been looking at each one of these individual looking what was broken in their lives and how God healed them and how God used them and if you look at chapter 11 and look at verse number 32 it says and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barack and of Samson and of jeepa of David also and Samuel and of the prophets see the the writer comes down to the end of the chapter realizes I I can't I can't go into everyone I just don't have time there's too many people I could talk about and so at the end of the chapter he just kind of list out a group of names and and we've looked at these different names and the last one to the list

there is Samuel Samuel now I don't know what you know about Samuel or not but if you'll turn in the Old Testament the book of 1 Samuel okay and if you have any trouble finding 1 Samuel it's right before 2 Samuel and then it's also right before 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles so you find all the first and seconds you're going to find it real easily there so 1 Samuel chapter 4 now we looked a little bit at Samuel last week and talked about him as a child remember Hannah was Barren and she prayed to God to give her a child and she said if you'll give me a child I'll give him back to you and so after Samuel's born after he was weaned then she gave him to the to be to be a servant in the

temple of Eli and and that's where Samuel first heard from God and he heard the voice of God and didn't know who it was and and uh and we talked about Samuel and and and the title our message last week is I don't want to hear what you don't want to tell me and sometimes we don't want to hear the truth but we need to hear the truth and we need to hear from God and and now as we look at Samuel I want you to look at 1st Samuel chapter 4 look at verse number 19 and it says and his daughter-in-law phineas's wife was with child now this is not Samuel's daughter this is Eli's daughter-in-law was with child near to be delivered and when she heard the tidings of the Ark of God was taken that her

father-in-law and her husband were dead she bowed herself and travailed for her pains Came Upon her and about the time of her death the woman that stood by her said unto her fear not for thou Hast borne a son but she answered not neither did she regard it and she named the child kabad saying the glory is departed from Israel because the Ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband husband and she said the glory is departed from Israel for the Ark of God is taken now the word Kabab means no glory and what had happened is Eli was so wicked that God judged the nation of Israel Eli was the priest at that time and his sons were Wicked and vile and and God judged Israel

and the Philistines came in and attacked them and and and they thought that well what when what we can do is we can take the Ark of God into battle and and they were looking at an object as being the power of God was because this was the the focus this was the portable Temple so to speak the portable Altar and so they're going to take it when he first brought into battle the Philistines were scared because they knew that the the Jews God the Hebrew God was a powerful God but yet they defeated Israel and they were able to take the ark and then it's a it's an interesting story to read how God brought the ark back to Israel later on in this in this book as well and if you'd not read it I'd

encourage you to do it but at that point of time Israel is probably one of the low EST points that they'd ever been and in fact the Bible uses the word kabad the glory of God is gone the the we we've lost our relationship with the Lord and they were at a low spot but fortunately they had the the prophet Samuel Samuel was probably one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament and was a great man of God and you go through first and 2 Samuel you read about all that he did for the Lord It's amazing study but let me talk first of all about Samuel the person okay I want you to realize he lived in a time where kabad the glory all this started happening and he was the one that had to kind of

guide the people back to God okay so look at 1st Samuel chter 12 let's find out what we can about Samuel the person 1st Samuel chapter 12 and look at verse number two 1 Samuel 12:2 and now behold the king walth before you and I am old and greyh handed this is Samuel speaking grey-headed and behold my sons are with you and I have walked before you from a childhood onto this day so he's just basically you know me he's look at the people say you know me you you see me all these years and then verse number three behold here I am witness against me before the Lord and before his anointed whose ox have I taken or whose ass have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom I have oppressed of whose hand

have I received any bride to Blind mine eyes therewith and I will restore it unto you and they said thou Hast not defrauded us nor oppressed us neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand and he said unto them the Lord is witness against you and is Anointed his witness this day that you have not found ought in my hand and they answered he is a witness so he stood before the people said you know me you know my character and the people said we do he was a man of character we the Bible would term he's a man of integrity uh hold your place in 1 Samuel go over to Psalms chapter 26 Psalms chapter 26 and beginning with verse number one Psalms chapter 26 and verse number one now this is David

speaking he says Judge Me Oh Lord for I have walked in my Integrity I have trusted also the Lord therefore I shall not slide examine me oh Lord and prove me try my Reigns in my heart for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I've walked in thy truth I not sat with vain purses neither will I go in with disassemblers I've hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked I will wash my hands in innocency so will I Compass thine altar O Lord that I may publish with the voice of Thanksgiving to tell all of thy wondrous Works Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor dwelleth gather not my soul with Sinners nor my life with bloody men

whose hands is mischief and their right hand is full of bribes but as for me I will walk in my Integrity redeem me and be merciful unto me my foot standeth in an even place in the congregations will I bless the Lord I want to give you a challenge for this week if you don't do devotions and if you do I'd like to challenge you to take Psalms chapter 26 this week and go through it verse by verse and ask yourself this question am I a man or am I a woman of Integrity you see this is what this whole chapter is about what does it mean to be a man or a woman of Integrity Samuel was a man of integrity the Bible describes him that way as a man of integrity so what are the characteristics of Integrity

there's many different ones we just mentioned a couple of them here from this passage first of all someone who has Integrity walks in the truth look at verse number one J me oh lord for I have walked in my Integrity I have trusted also the Lord therefore I shall not slide and look verse three for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I've walked in thy truth so a man or a woman of Integrity walks in God's truth Galatians 5: 16- 17 said this I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lust against the spirit the spirit against the Flesh and these are the contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would verse 25

if we live in the spirit let's also walk in the spirit what does it mean to walk in the spirit it means you're as you move forward you're going in the right direction you're following the truth you're following God's way in your life you're walking in the spirit and and Samuel was a man who walked in truth he was a man that walked in the spirit and not in the flesh also look at verses four and five he says I have not sat with vain persones neither will I go in with disassemblers I have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked the the man of God the man of integrity the woman of Integrity will is separated from the world in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 17 he

says wherefore come out from among them be ye separate sayith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I'll receive you see he says I'm not going to sit down with those that are disassemblers I'm not going to sit down with those that are wicked you know in today's world where do we sit down with people like that on the internet on the TV in places like that but the man or woman of Integrity says that's not what I want to be a part of that's not the kind of people I want influenced in my life that's not the kind of people I want to sit down with and then another Factor look at vers 6-8 he says I will wash mine hands in innocency so will I Compass thine altar O Lord the word Compass there

is it basically means that the altar is the center of my life the altar is the center of my life verse number seven that I may publish with the voice of Thanksgiving tell all thy wondrous Works Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honor dwelleth see someone that's a woman or a man of integrity they love to be in church they love to be around God's people in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 25 it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as to see the day approaching if you're a man if you're a woman of Integrity you're going to make the the place of God the altar of God

the center of your life that put God at the center point of your life if you're man or woman of Integrity you you're going to love being in church and love being around God's people and take every opportunity you have to to be there in Proverbs 11 at verse number three it says the Integrity of the upright shall guide them but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them you know this idea of this word Compass again I mentioned this the other week in another message you know a a compass is not only where it has northsouth east and west on it but a compasses also if you remember from probably Junior High years or upper elementary you remember how you had to have a compass for that

Year's math remember how that was the little v-shaped with the pointy end on one end the pencil on the other the the little thing that you guys use to poke your neighbors and your your friends and and harass them with it you know and what do you do with that Compass you put the point down and then you can draw a circle right around that point you put the compass at the center of the circle and and God wants to be at the center of your life that he is the the center guide of your life that you can pass the altar so a man of integrity a woman of Integrity they walk in the truth of God's word they they're separated from the world and the wickedness of the world they they love to go to church

these are some of the characteristics now again I would challenge you take this passage and go through it this week verse by verse and think about every word and every thought and ask yourself am I a man am I a woman of integrity and meditate upon that throughout that day as well because there's much more we can gain from this passage if we had time but here's something that challenges me and encourages me if you look again this is David speaking and he says in verse number verse number two he says examine me oh Lord and prove me try my Reigns in my heart in verse one he says I have walked in my Integrity he says God examine my life he he said God look at me I'm a man of integrity but wait a

minute do you know who David is David was the the shepherd the killer of Goliath David was the king of Israel but he was also a murderer and adulterer in First Kings chapter 9 and verse number four it's one thing for David to say I'm a man of integrity I I've had a lot of people tell me that they're really a you know they're a good person and I look at it say no you're not some people can fool themselves can't they now David at this point I I think he was being honest this was early on and life and I believe at this point in his life that really he was trying to live for the Lord and it was before his sin of murder and adultery and and I I really believe at that point he saw himself as a man

of integrity but then later on that wasn't so true I think he kind of lost his Integrity by the things that he did but here's what encouraged me in 2 Kings chapter 9:4 this is after first Kings I'm sorry First Kings 9:4 this is after David is dead and God is speaking to one of his great great grandchildren he says this and if thou will walk before me as David thy father walked in Integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I have commanded thee and will keep my statutes and my judgments wow God called David a man of integrity even after what he did now does that mean he was okay with God no David paid a very big price for what he did he suffered the consequences of his

sin but he repented he got it right with God read Psalms chapter 51 he repented of his sin he said God I I did this it was me he took full responsibility repented he got right with God now what's interesting is this is after Psalms 26 David never again talks about about himself as being a man of integrity because he knew his heart the Bible says our heart is deceitfully wicked Above All Things desperately wicked who could know it he he knew his heart and he knew man I I'd messed up I I'm not as good as I thought I was you know folks the older I get the more I realize how bad I really am we we think we got life all figured out when we're younger now we realize that I'm not quite as good as I

thought I was and I've got a long way to go and God began to work in David's heart and David got right with God and got right with others but he never called himself a man of integrity again but God did that's the grace of God that's why I love Hebrews chapter 11 is every one of these men and every one of these women they messed up but God said there're still great men and great women God still used them when they repented and got right with him and so Samuel he was a a man of integrity but also Samuel was also known as a man of prayer go to 1st Samuel chapter 7 and look at verse number nine 1st Samuel chapter 7 and verse number nine 1 Samuel 7:9 and Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it

for a burnt offering holy unto the Lord and Samuel Cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him so Samuel prayed and God heard him now do you always feel like God hears your prayers I don't know about you there's a lot of times I pray I feel like I'm praying to the ceiling sometimes I said I think it says saying dear God I said dear ceiling you ever feel like that you ever feel like does God really hear my prayers but Samuel was a man that was you go through and read about his life God heard his prayers in fact Samuel considered a sin not to pray look at 1st Samuel chapter 19 1 Samuel chapter 19 you know what's interesting I'm sorry 1st Samuel 12 verse 19 1st Samuel 12:1 19 what's

interesting is that Samuel's name means heard of God that's what his name means in 1 Samuel chapter 12 in verse number 19 it says and all the people said unto Samuel pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not for we added unto all our sins this evil to ask us a king are there certain people you want praying for you there there are just certain people I I I'm thankful for everybody that prays for me but if I'm sick or something's going on in my life there's about a dozen people I will call on the phone say can you please pray for me because those are people that know how to pray those are people that have a challenge and a heart for prayer those are people that know how to

get a hold of God and that's the kind of person Sam the people said Samuel we need you to pray for us look down at verse number 23 moreover is for me God for forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you for I will teach you the good and the right way now if you know the story here what happened is the people were rejecting Samuel and they said we want a king and Samuel said well you don't need a king it's you know he tried to talk him out of but they said no we want a king and then when they got the king they realized we made a mistake here now Samuel could have been mad and said I'm not praying for you guys you're a bunch of losers you you rejected me you you can go

off on your own and deal with however you want to but he didn't do that he says it's a sin if I don't pray for you do you consider a sin if you don't pray for others do you pray every day for others are you heard of God see God calls him a man of prayer and Psalms chapter 99 verse number six it says Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among them that call upon his name they called upon the Lord he answered them God named three people he said' when they called I answered you know I I uh sometimes I have a LoveHate relationship with a cell phone don't you but one of the things I love about a cell phone is I know who's calling the other day I you know I get calls and my cell phone says

it's probably a scam call that one's going away I'm not even going to bother answering that one and then oh that's my wife yeah I better answer that or that's so and so oh I don't want to talk to him now I'll call him back later you know you know sometimes I don't always answer the phone I'll be honest with you okay now next time you call me if I don't answer don't think I'm not answering you I'm busy okay but anyway I I don't always answer the phone when somebody calls well I I'm not going to talk to them right now but God said you these guys when they call I'm listening they they were man and one of was a man of prayer was Samuel was a man of Prayer in Jeremiah 15:1 listen again then said

the Lord unto me though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my mind could not be towards his people cast them out of my my sight let them go forth he said I won't even listen to Samuel that's how bad it is so in the Bible God says there's two people if anybody if I'm going to listen to anybody pray it's two people and that is it's Moses and Samuel and even in this case I'm not going to listen to them so that's a great testimony are are you known as a man or a woman of prayer can you honestly look people in the eye every Sunday and say listen I prayed for you this week can you can you honestly say that I pray every day are you a man or a woman of prayer third thing about Samuel I see is that

he was a servant look at first Samuel chapter 3 and verse one the very first time we meet Samuel he's he's serving in the temple 1st Samuel 3:1 the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord is precious in those days there was no open Vision he he ministered he served he was a servant in Philippians 2: 5-7 it says let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant who was made in the likess a man do you serve others see a lot of people come to church like they're going to a restaurant when I go in the restaurant I

don't go in the kitchen and cook the food I I don't go to the take the order at the table I don't go in the back and wash the dishes I sit down expect somebody else to serve me but Samuel he was a servant do you come to serve God and to serve others see Samuel was a great man of God because he was a man of integrity are you a man or a woman of Integrity could you say look at my life and see how I live Samuel was a man of prayer are you a man or a woman of prayer and Samuel was a man that was a servant to others but Samuel wasn't perfect go to 1 Samuel chapter 8 the worst thing we know about Sam's life is this he was a great prophet but he wasn't a great dad and first Samuel chapter 8

beginning with verse number one it says and it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel now the name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second abii and they were judges in berseba and his sons walked not in his ways but turned aside after lucer and took bribes and perverted judgment then all the Elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel on deama and said unto him behold thou are old and thy Sons walk not in the ways in th ways now make us a king to judge us like all the nations but the thing displeased Samuel when they said it give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed unto the Lord one of the reasons that Israel wanted a

king is because you're looking at Samuel's son we say we don't want them Samuel as great a man of God as he was as great a prophet that he was he was a lousy father Proverbs 20 verse number 7 says the just man walketh in his Integrity his children are blessed after him you ever known some great Christians that had terrible kids there's a reason maybe they weren't quite as great as they thought now I realize there's a lot of reasons why kids turn away from the Lord a lot of reasons children get away from God but I believe in this case Samuel was responsible and what I want to challenge you is this you can be great in your career career and lose your children you can be a great Christian and

still be a lousy father or a lousy mother Revelation 3 and verse one says I Know Thy works that thou Hast a name that thou livest and art dead do you know what Samuel's children's name meant Joel means Jehovah is God abii means worshipper of God Samuel started right he wanted his kids to be wor worshippers of God and the hope of the Lord he wanted them to look to God as their God but he never taught it to them now Samuel should have known better because remember back in 1st Samuel chapter 3 when we first read about Samuel what did God reveal to him in that Vision he revealed to him Eli is going to be judged of me because his children turned out so bad so you think Samuel would have said man

I don't want that to have my kid kids and I think maybe there was a little bit of he thought well I'm better than Eli and he was but he still failed in his job to be the right kind of father in fact Saul the king that was chosen turned out to be a kind of a bad King remember but his son turned out better than Samuel's Sons Samuel was the good one of the two but Saul's son turned out and Samuel's didn't if you got this idea just because you go to church or just because you're kids go to Christian School that they're going to turn out right get rid of that idea real quick Ephesians chapter 6 and verse4 says and you fathers provoke not your children wrath but bring them up in the nurture and

the admission of the Lord parents it's not automatic you can be a great Christian you can serve the Lord and still lose your kids it's good to to be a man or woman Integrity it's good to be a man or woman of prayer it's good to have a heart of a servant but don't neglect your family now Samuel could have looked at and said well they're not as bad as Eli's kids were Eli's kids they not only were corrupt but they were laying with the woman the church they were not restrained folks we're not out to raise good kids we want to raise Godly kids kids that love the Lord Titus 2:12 teaching us to denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world

see Samuel knew the word of God he was the prophet but he did not teach it to his children Proverbs chapter 22 verse number six says train up a child in the way he should go and when he's old and not depart from it you need to teach your children the word of God it's not automatically going to happen it's not just because they come to Sunday school because they come to church church because they go to Christian School you have to teach it to them when they rise up when they lay down when they're walking by the way it's the little teaching the word train up here is kind of the picture have you ever seen a bonsai tree you're see how they take those and they shape them in a certain shape now

there's two things they do first of all there there they have to the person doing that has to realize there's a Bend to that tree you can't make that tree go against this Bend in other words if it's growing this way you can't force it to grow that way you can shape it but you can't force it and one of the things you have to do with every one of your children's realize that they have a Bend they have a personality they have a certain direction that they were born with and you have to find out what that is now they're all born with a sin nature and that's one of the things we struggle with but what is their Bend what is it and how can I take that child as an individual and and guide them and

shape them the way that God wants them to grow the other thing with Bai and this is where I feel I I we have a wall behind her house and on top of that wall is a lot of weeds and so I thought well I'll plant some banville cuz bville looks so beautiful but the thing I failed to realize is if you don't trim banville regularly it gets out of control you have to do a lot of small Cuts because when you wait for the big cuts you're going to get in there and it's going to cut you I've got scars all over me from that banville when we had a little bit of a hassle together it's the little Cuts every day that teach your children and guide them and Samuel didn't do that he knew the word of God but he

didn't teach it to his children in second Timothy chapter 3 it talks about Timothy that from a child that was known the scriptures folks let's not just raise kids that know the Bible stories let's raise kids that know the Bible that know what they believe and why that they see it in your life and they're hearing it from your voice but more importantly they need to see you live it when Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1 he says let me let me remind you about your mother and your grandmother how Godly they were see he could tell Timmy look at your Godly mom look at your Godly mother that's the example you want to live by and I wonder can your children look at your life and say that's

the kind of person that I want to be are you setting an example for them too often we as parents do as I say not as I do you know one of the best young men in the Bible was Timothy amazing young man do you know he was raised by basically a single mom see let's get rid of our excuses and live a Godly life that our children can follow the scriptures are to make the wi lies onto salvation John 5:39 says search the scripture for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify me your kids aren't saved because they were born into your family they're not saved because they go to church they're not saved because they do are doing good things Ephesians 28:9 for by grace are

you saved through faith then not of yourselves it's the gift of God not of Works L amen should boast and we need to make sure that our children understand that salvation is by grace through faith and that they come to that point that they make it a personal decision too many children grow up and and and they reject their parents' Faith because they've never made it their faith being raised in the Christian Home doesn't make you a Christian Romans 10:9 and10 it says that if Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and Shall Believe in thine heart that God has raised the dead thou sh be saved with the heart man believeth in the righteousness with the mouth confession is made onto

salvation Romans 10:13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved I had my startpoint class this morning I was telling the people in the class that when I grew up we where we moved a lot and every time we moved my M my mom would find the closest church and that's where we'd go to church I was baptized as an infant in the Catholic church I was catechized in Lutheran and Presbyterian churches I I went to everything you can imagine and one day my mom the closest church was a Baptist Church and my mom went and she got saved and she went forward and she she got baptized she get baptized and when she went forward I went with her I wasn't going to be left by myself I was 7

years old when I got up there they said Why'd You Come and I said the same reason my mom came figured she was doing it that was good enough for me and so they baptized me but I wasn't saved because I'd never called upon the Lord in my own heart and it wasn't until I was 14 years old that I realized I need to ask Jesus to be my savior and what about you have you called Upon Jesus Jesus Christ as your personal savior you're not a Christian because you're good you're a Christian because you have Christ I wonder if Samuel disciplined his children look at 1st Samuel chapter 15 and verse number 35 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse number 35 and Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death um

1 Samuel 15 35 so samel came no more to see Saul until the David's death nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul and the Lord repented that he made Saul king of Israel that's um not the verse I want I apologize for that but the point is that Samuel I don't think disciplined his children in love the way he should have and as a pastor I've seen this in my own children and I've seen this in other people's children you know I see two extremes either we don't discipline him at all or we discipline him harshly and in anger rather than love we need to discipline Eli did not discipline his children he did not rebuke them when they're wrong and we we got to discipline our children but we need to do it

in love in Hebrews chapter 12 the Bible T turn over there Hebrews chapter 12 look at verses 5 through1 Hebrews chapter 12 and begin with verse number five you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as un children my sin despise not thou the chasing of the Lord the spanking so to speak nor faint when thou are rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chastening God dealth with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not but it be without chastisement where where of all are partakers then are you bastards and not Sons boy that's strong language when I was a kid if I said that word Bast I got my

mouth washed out with soap but he's trying to make a point here if you don't have Christ as your savior then God's not your father but if God is your father and you have Christ as your savior he chastised Those whom he loves and parents you need to discipline your children but to do it love oh they're going to get a spanking and there's a time where your child needs a spanking but they need to know that you love them and you do it not out of anger but out of love are you a parent that just lets your children get away with everything and never never rebukes him and never or like Eli Eli would say don't do that don't do that but he'd never did anything about it that's wrong but are you also

maybe the parent that when you discipline your children it's it's out of anger and it's not out of love and it's not out of example to them find that balance find the balance of loving your children enough to discipline them but more importantly loving them enough to teach them to disciple them as well in 1st Samuel chapter 13 and verse number eight 1st Samuel chapter 13 and verse number eight if there's one thing I think the biggest mistake that Samuel made was he was too busy for his kids first Samuel 138 and he carried 7even days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed but Samuel came not to gilgal and the people were scattered from him you read about Samuel's life he was

always busy he was busy serving the lord but maybe too busy for his kids maybe you've gotten too busy at work or you've gotten too busy with your hobbies or you've gotten too busy with even serving the lord I look back in my life and I regret some of the time that I spent at church when I should have been with my children and I can't go back and do that again I can't doovers you know the first mention of Samuel's kids is not till chapter 12 we didn't even know he had kids and I wonder if he just didn't have time for them make time for your kids make time for your children so 20 years from now when you gather as a family they're going to look back and say Hey you remember when we went camping

together or remember when we used to go on that pizza night every Friday night or remember when we and give them memories of time with you as a family and give them memories of time serving the lord together as a family Ephesians 5:116 says Redeeming the time because the days are evil you know I realize how hard it is sometimes to spend time with your kids some of you in the military you're deployed you're working Duty days and all the rest of it folks you got to make time you got to redeem the time so often we're we're say I don't have time but we come home what do we do we sit and watch TV or we play video games we're doing everything else but spending time with our children and Samuel was

a great man of God but he lost his kids finally I want to talk about Samuel the prophet as we close Acts chapter 13:20 says and after that he gave them on gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet and and tells us in 1 Samuel chapter 3 that the vision was precious in those days and Proverbs 29:18 says where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy is he we need people in our lives that are prophets not to tell us the future but to say thus sayith the Lord that's why it's so important to be here in church every week because you need people that are going to stand up and tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not

they're going to stand up and tell you what God has to say and open the word of God with you Samuel's message was a message of repentance in 1st Samuel chapter 7 and verse number three says and Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel saying if you do not return unto the Lord with all your hearts then put away the strange gods and droth from among you and prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines so listen if you want God's blessings and you got to repent what does the word repent means it means I'm going the wrong way and I'm going to turn around and go the right way now some of you are thinking well I'm not that bad

listen if I'm trying to go this way and instead I'm going that way the further I go the more off track I get the further I get from the right way you don't have to be going 180 degrees out to go the wrong way you can go 90 degrees you can go 45 degrees you can go one degree and still not be right you got to repent and get back on the path then the second message in in 1st Samuel chapter 15 Saul had disobeyed God and Samuel says this in verse number 22 he says and Samuel said hath the Lord as great Delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than the sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of the Rams for Rebellion is a sin of Witchcraft

and stubbornness is Iniquity and idolatry because th has rejected the word of the Lord Heath also rejected thee from being King and Saul said unto Samuel I've sinned for I transgressed the Commandment of the Lord and thy words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice now therefore I pray thee pardon my sin and turn again with me that I may worship the the Lord Saul had done something wrong Samuel said Saul had tried to justify say well I I I did it for the Lord I I did it for the people and God said what you did was wrong now it sounds like Saul repented but he didn't he excused himself well the the people's fault they made me do it I did this for the Lord he really never repented

of his sin and and Saul said listen to obey is better than sacrifice maybe today there's someone in this room that you need to obey God you need to get right with God you need to do the right thing we're going to close with 1st Samuel chapter 8 1st Samuel chapter 8 and verses 6-8 1 Samuel chapter 8:6 but the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed unto the Lord and the Lord said unto Samuel hearken un the voice of the people in all that they say un to thee for they have not rejected me they rejected me that I should not Reign Over them according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this

day wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods and so do do they also unto thee when they rejected Samuel now remember Samuel had part responsibility here his kids weren't ready to take over he hadn't trained them he hadn't prepared them and maybe if his kids were better kids they would have never wanted a king I don't know but they rejected not Samuel they rejected God and I want to challenge you today don't reject what God is trying to say to you ask yourself this question can I honestly say I'm a man or a woman of Integrity now I'll tell you the truth the older you get the harder is to say that because you realize how much you've messed up in your life but I'm thankful that I

have a God That Forgives and I can say God I'm sorry please forgive me and get right with God and so can you are you a man or woman of prayer are you somebody that I would want to call on the phone say would you pray for me because you are here to heard of God are you a servant and those of you that are parents here today do not let your kids grow up and have your heartbreak because they did not live for the Lord now you can try to blame the Christian school and you can BL try to blame the church but ultimately it comes down to you you've got to spend time with them you've got to make memories with them you've got to teach them the truth of God's word you've got to set the example for their lives tonight maybe there's somebody's room needs to repent maybe there's somebody's needs to obey