Telling God’s Truth, Even When it’s not Easy
“And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.” (1 Samuel 3:18)
Samuel was the son of Hannah and her husband Elkanah. Hannah could not have children. One day she prayed for a son, promising to “…give him unto the LORD all the days of his life,” (1 Samuel 1:11) God gave her a son. She named him Samuel. True to her word, she brought him to Eli the priest as a small child. He served as Eli’s helper. God gave Hannah five more children after that: three boys and two girls.
Samuel may have been about eight when God called him one night. He thought Eli had called. Eli said he had not called and told Samuel to return to bed. This happened three times. After the third time, Eli realized God was calling Samuel. Eli told Samuel that if the voice called again, he should reply, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.” (1 Samuel 3:9) The voice called again. Samuel replied as instructed.
God told Samuel, “For I have told him [Eli] that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.” (1 Samuel 3:13) Eli’s sons were wicked. They stole offering meat and seduced women who came to the temple. Their wickedness poisoned people’s attitudes against God: “…for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.” (1 Samuel 2:17)
God did not give Samuel details of what the sons did. He kept it age-appropriate. Young children do not need information, especially sexual information, at too young an age. There’s a reason parents wait until about the pre-teen years to tell their kids about the birds and the bees. To exploit the innocence of young children to teach them about sex, especially aberrant sexuality, is wicked. Drag queen story hours, for example, are not about reading stories to children, but about introducing them to the transvestite lifestyle.
Back to the story: Samuel arose in the morning and went to work. “And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.” (1 Samuel 3:15). Yet, Eli said to him, “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 any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.” (1 Samuel 3:17) Eli may have been like a grandfather figure to Samuel, and he may not have wanted to hurt Eli’s feelings, but he had to tell the truth. It was a message from God.
We live in an age when information is abundant and easily available, yet knowing whom to trust is not always an easy task. Are we facing a climate disaster or not? Are our borders secure or are they not? Is our economy strong when we’re $34 trillion in debt? Should we go to all-electric energy to save the planet? What if a hostile nation or terrorist group destroys our grid?
One place people should expect to hear the truth is a church. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 says, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach THE WORD;” (capitals added) This passage is God’s order to preachers. Like young Samuel, preachers are obliged to tell the truth from God’s word.
People may not like hearing they are sinners who need Jesus as their personal Saviour or hearing their sins spoken against. Preaching like this is also not always easy. Yet a preacher who does so is being a friend. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend;” (Proverbs 27:6) When looking for a church, ask yourself first, “Does this church preach and teach the truth from God’s word?”
Most importantly, if you want to see how to have forgiveness of your sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 7/26/2024