I want to read a few verses to you from 1 Samuel. chapter three and it is about the calling by God from heaven into the years of young Samuel or Bebe. Samuel is a very young child at this time. The third chapter of the first book of Samuel And as we have already seen, the Lord had spoken to Samuel, but Samuel didn't know it was the Lord. And so the next time when Samuel was called, he knew what to say, and that is written here in the third chapter of the first book of Samuel. Verse six of the third chapter. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called thee not, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, and he arose and went to Eli. and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that it was the Lord that had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down again, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and laid down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel, Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth shall tingle. In that day, I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning this house. When I begin, I will also make an end. Solemn words directly from heaven and from God into the ears of young Samuel. The Lord came the first time. Samuel thought it was the call of Eli, the high priest. And so he told him, he said, I never called thee. And he sent the young child back to his bed. But he was hardly into bed until the voice came again. And this really annoyed Samuel and he rang back again to the bedroom of his master. And then Eli, the high priest, realized And so he told Samuel, he said, when he speaks again, you say, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. It's interesting to note what the Lord did call, that Samuel didn't say the actual words. He did not name the Lord. but he just said, speak for thy servant heareth. But after this, Samuel was on speaking terms with God. This was the time of his conversion to be the great priest of Israel. The boy Samuel, Getting out of bed. Running along the 10th Corridor. And saying. To the high priest you did call me. And he gets the message. No. What if it happens a third time? You just say speak Lord. And as I have said. Daniel or. Samuel didn't mention the word Lord because he didn't know him. But after this, the Lord was known to Samuel. And Samuel listened to what the Lord had to say. And it was a message really for Eli and his wicked son. But it was sent via the child to the head priest of the Jews at that present time in their history. And of course, God in Samuel that he was not to hide what the Lord had told him, but he was to be the sure deliverer of this staggering and awful message of the rejection of the high priest. In the morning, the boy tarried. The high priest had to send for him. And he had to exhort him. And he had to say to him, I want you to tell me, Samuel, everything that God sent to you. And of course. Samuel did that. It was a. A writ of darkness on the soul of thy priest. But he bowed his head and accepted the Lord's judgment. There was no argument. It was stillness for the Lord God Almighty had spoken. After this, Samuel became God's appointed man. And while still a child, he was given the place of a servant, and this started his priestly service for all his long life. And what a man he became, and what a high priest of God. He was, of course, God's prophet from the day he prayed and accepted the word of the Lord. What a tremendous burden on this young man. But when God can't get adults to obey his word, thank God a little child shall lead them. And here Samuel was but a little child. And we have here in this portion of scripture this tremendous dialogue between God at the beginning and with Samuel. And then we see Samuel telling the high priest the truth of God's message and what an experience that was. I am reminded of the words of the great hymn, my sins on Jesus laid, sweat to remember that his blood, my debt of suffering, paid. Sweet on his righteousness to stand, which saves from sin and gives a second birth. Sweet to experience that day by day, His Spirit's quickening breath. Sweet on His youthfulness to rest, whose love can never end. Sweet on His covenant of grace for all things to depend. Sweet in the confidence of faith. to tract the firmest of God's Word. Sweet to truly praise the Lord's hands and to know that all things are His. Sweet to rejoice in the lively hope that when my change shall come, Angels shall gather to welcome me home where I dwell with God forever. What an experience the young man was having. What an experience. But we must move on. And we must look now at the continuing of this wonderful episode in the history of the Jewish people. First of all, this was a word of comfort And here God was not forsaking his people, but raising up in a child the man that would be one of the greatest ministers of the Jewish nation ever. God's eyesight, he had followed what was happening. We cannot go outside the eye of God and we need to remember that. Here was a little boy and he became God's eyes in a situation of apostasy. I'm God's messenger to deliver God's message. I'm God's commander command what was happening. God never says goodbye to the children. He's a children's God. To them all he cries welcome to my arms, little boy, little girl. I love Christ was a lover of the children. The children don't have to say goodbye to God. He's beside them. He's with them. And he's not saying goodbye to them. God will. Enfold for the children. a place in his great kingdom. And he said, suffer the little children, the little children to come on to me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God. God says to the children, thou art mine. I am yours forever. and forever. Oh how wonderful to hear this seal from the voice of God himself. Who and he who has given this promise is wonderful and it's an everlasting promise. It's ordered in all things and I was struck the other day by reading the following line. The words. Of God. And the message of God. From the lips of this savior. To the year of the child. And what was the giant thinking? He was thinking, happy Savior, must I be as I lean to trust in thee? Trust thy wisdom, me the guide. Trust thy goodness to provide. Trust thy saving love and power. Trust the very day and hour. Trust thee as the only judge. Trust me in the darkling, home and hour. Trust me in sickness. Trust me in health. Trust me in poverty. Trust me in wealth. Trust me in joy and trust me in grief. Trust thy promise for my relief. Trust thy blood to cleanse my soul. Trust thy grace to make me whole. Thou all my journey through. Trust thee till my work is done. Plant it on the crystal sea. Trust me. Trust me ever. Blessed Lord God, trust me. till I wear the victor's pan. Trust thee till my soul shall be wholly swallowed up in thee. Like all dealings with God, the person who is on the right side of God's mercy can respond and Samuel was able to really respond and to say, speak Lord for thy servant here. What a comfort this must be to the seeking soul or the seeking child. But we must move a bit farther. And as we move on, our attention is called to this young boy. He was young. He was in a cold situation when God's people were in rebellion. against the Lord God of Israel. And yet God took one baby child, young boy, and made him his special voice to the 12 tribes of Israel. For God never forsakes his people and never will. And then you will notice that this young man had an early training for the ministry. And it reminds me of another young man living in England and among the hard people of the city in which he was born. And that young man, living in sin, heard a call one day. As a call comes ringing, o'er the restless, we send the light. And that young man heard God speaking. and the burden of his heart rolled away. And a receiving day came for that young man. And what did happen in that? It was a wonderful happening. That young man brought up in sin in one of the cities of our own country over 200 years ago. He had a vision of God. And God called that young man to be his child. And he became the Lord's child. He left doing the manual work that he was doing. And he decided to enter the ministry, which he did. And so he stepped out from his family, from his friends, from the people that he usually ran with to hell. And he started to walk. God was with him. And oh, what a tremendous time that young man had. His name was Carey, a name well known in missionary work in India. And what a work he did there in India. for the Lord, called from the back streets of the northern counties, called from the sinning mobs that filled those tribes and filled those living places. Here was a man that God set his eyes upon. and he became the distinguished and celebrated William Carey. In there holds the introduction of the gospel to the lips of that man. What a wonderful thing that God took A young, drunkard and foolish boy changed him by his grace and made him one of the greatest missionaries that ever left the shores of this country, William Carey, to preach the glorious gospel. But there is something more. And we need to think about it because it is another person who also had a wonderful moving spirit upon his soul and upon his mind. And he was called of God as well. He was called a boot blacker. What was that? He polished the shoes of the people that came to his mother and father's inn to stay for the night. And he had the job to go down with polish and with brushes. and do the set of every one of the boots and the shoes that were left in from people staying in there. You say to me, is that who that man was? Yes, that was his job. Who would have thought that the man that put on the black boots greatest gospel preacher in the English language that has ever appeared there. Who was this man? It was, of course, the mighty man, Whitfield, George Whitfield. He was so poor that he used to clean the boots of all the students of the university. And he was the only way that he could get a living was to polish their shoes. He was a Christian boy. And that was the means he had of getting a living. He was very obliging. He was very pleasant in his manners. He was warm hearted. He was generous to everyone. The young man, whose boots he blackened, learned to love him. After a while, when they found out that George wanted to become a student for the Christian ministry, they agreed that they would have an offering for him and help him along. They found him very quick to be taught and very persevering in his studies. He never lost a moment of time, but he learned his lessons with the utmost intelligence and diligence. He soon got to be one of the best students in the university. In this way, he went on perseveringly. till he got through. Then he studied theology. He became a minister. Some of those who have helped him on when he began his studies made fun of him when they perceived that he had become a very earnest Christian. What a man. He was as firm as a rock. on the gospel, nothing could change him. He went on steadily till he had finished his studies. He was a George Whitfield, the greatest pulpiteer that the British churches had ever given their pulpits. He preached out of doors. He preached in the open health fields. His attendance wasn't a few people or a hundred people. No, his smallest services had congregations of 20,000. He became the greatest preacher the church has known. George Whitfield, the moral preacher. How God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his men anywhere and everywhere and surprises what he does. Let me adjust bring you a little attention to this persevering young boy. He was a poor boy in England and he lived by polishing shoes. Before he finished his preparation, he became a Christian. After his conversion, he decided he would finish with that all and he would become a preacher. And he became a preacher. And what a preacher. On what an imprint he made into the whole society. in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and in the countries or counties of the great has become Republic of the United States of America. What a man, but he was only a young man. for a man he became. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. It was wonderful to see the work Wonderful to read the sermons that he preached, but wonderful to see his love as he prayed to the souls of men. I finish as I look back upon the great Whitefield and look back on other great men You are called of God to present the gospel. And I say to you, you are sitting in your room, sitting in a meeting place with your friends, and you hear you have heard some of the things that I have said to you today. to God. You know your heart, it's dark with sin. You know your soul, it's damaged with iniquity. But there's one who can heal you and cleanse you and save you and make you a child of his own. And that one is Jesus. You say to me, what will I do? Just where you're sitting, close your eyes and just say, O Lamb of God, I come. Come as you are. Christ will save you. Hallelujah. He will save you now. When I was preparing these messages, I was struck with some things that I read, and one of the things I was struck with was the simplicity by which you can pass from death unto life and from the power of sin and Satan unto God. Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thy bits may come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Let us pray. Lord, bless thy word. Send it to the hearts of those that are lost, and bring them to the cross, and give them a new heart, a new way of living and a new eternity to look forward. And oh God we say today reverently and tenderly and with a broken heart as we look out upon our countries and they are busy with their sinning and their backsliding and their abominations. O God, send us a revival of true religion for Christ's sake. Amen and Amen. StSq2 2.60