Mother's Day 2017! I never thought I'd see this day, but I'm glad to see it, glad to have you mothers with us, and I'm glad the Lord has allowed us to see another year, although I'd like to have been celebrating it this morning in Heaven itself, because that's where my mom is, and I miss my mom. And this time, ten years ago, we were in the hospital with her, did not know that she was getting ready to leave us and go on to glory. She was in the hospital on Mother's Day of all things, and then on the 17th of May she went home to be with the Lord. It just about killed me, but she's in a far better place, and I know that Mother's Days up there are not forgotten, Because the Lord Jesus Christ gave us a good example about loving your mama. He loved his mama clean to the end and made sure she was taken care of after he left. What a great gesture of love our Savior showed the Virgin Mary who now was his mama. So glad today that I still have such fond and wonderful memories of my mama who went through a lot over the years. No matter what she went through, she never ever turned her back on her children. She was always there for them to the very end. Well, here's my introduction this morning. I'm going to be in I Samuel chapter 1 verse 1-7, but I thought I'd give you a little pick-me-up before we got right into the message itself. And this is entitled, You Know You're a Mother When... and this is how it goes. You know you're a mother when you count the sprinkles on each child's cupcake to make sure they are equal. That's what mamas do, don't they? You know you're a mother when you hide in the bathroom to be alone for a little while. You know you're a mama when you consider Play-Doh to be a controlled substance. You know you're a mama when you hope ketchup is a vegetable because your child won't eat anything without it. And then you know you're a mama when you use your own saliva to wash your child's face. Now my mama taught me some good things, I'll just tell you right now. My mama taught me all about logic. And I'm so glad she did because I would be lost without these things. For example, my mother's definition of logic was this, if you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me. That was mama logic. Here was her principles of anatomy. I loved her principles of anatomy. She would say things like this, if you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way. And then for humor, her humor was kind of obtuse, if you would. She would say things like, when that lawnmower cuts off your feet, don't come running to me. And she really had a great definition of the idea of anticipation. And I didn't like her definition of anticipation, because she used it way too much. Here's her definition of anticipation. Just wait till your father gets home. I heard that so much, but I was never afraid of my daddy, but I sure was afraid of my mama. My mama could jump off our front porch in Kingsport, Tennessee and get over to a hedge and rip a branch off there and denude it and have it on the back of your legs before you could say, Tom Turkey. That's how good she was at it. Well, ladies, I want you to know one thing. The position of motherhood is an exalted place with God. And as I told you, God's darling son could have come as a full adult king riding in on a white horse into the midst of Jerusalem many, many times. I've told you that over and over, but instead, God chose an obscure teenage virgin in a little town called Bethlehem to bear His Son into the world. Throughout the Bible we have countless records of God's dealings with women, especially in regards to motherhood. From Sarah in the Old Testament to the elect lady and her children in 2 John, God has shown His sovereign power time and again and His immutable love overall on godly women. J. Vernon McGee says that when a woman takes her exalted place as a mother, God builds her a throne and she becomes a queen. I know that for a fact. I worship at that throne at my house. Still for me today, God has closed the womb though. There are some folks that can't have babies, and yet in this country, we're killing them like crazy in abortion mills that are nothing but just murdering slags. Some women are not able to have children for a variety of reasons known only to God. and they long to wrap their arms around a tiny little life of their own. And some of them would be happy just to be able to adopt one to hold on to. Some go out of the country and go to other countries to adopt a little one because sometimes the red tape here is just unfathomable, so difficult. I frankly have had the privilege to wrap my arms around three little babies in the past. It would have been five. My wife gave me three beautiful children and would have had two more had they not miscarried during the term. And I've also had the opportunity to be able to hold three little grandchildren. That was such a blessing from one of my kids' own body. That's how God is. He makes joy for us in these things, but oh, so many know nothing but sorrow because of not being able to have a child. That was the case of a godly woman by the name of Hannah that you'll find here in I Samuel chapter 1. She wanted to be a mother, but she couldn't for some time. But here in 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 1 begins an incredible story of how that woman, Hannah, would come to be known as one of the greatest mothers in the Bible. This is Mother's Day 2017, and this Mother's Day sermon for us today I hope will teach us some things whether you be a mom or not. Whether you're a dad or not, still it's a great thing for us to look at, and I've entitled this sermon simply this, The Model, M-O-D-E-L, The Model Mother. Now let's read down to verse 7, beginning of verse 1, Now there was a certain man of Ramathah-em-zophim of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah. the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuth, and an Ephratite," I'll get this right, boy these words sometimes get my teeth crossed, "...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. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of Host and Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 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, for he loved Hannah. But the Lord had shut up her womb. and her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat." May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of this Word this morning. Father, help us now as we try to preach this sermon. If you would, Father, somewhere out in the Ethernet and across the world. Lord, let someone hear these words and be comforted by them. May someone on these pews this morning be comforted by these words. Lord, help us to preach the truth Be sincere with it to the changing of hearts and lives and minds for Christ Jesus our Lord. We have no ability, Thou art everything, have Thine own way. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen and Amen. Now, I'm calling Hannah the model mother. But at first glance, it would appear that as for this woman Hannah, she would be the least likely to be a model mother. Her womb was shut up, and the Bible says it was shut up by the Lord. Verse 5, Hannah was a woman who then felt like a failure because of not being able to have children. She felt she was a failure as a woman. She felt like she was a failure as a wife. She even felt that she was a failure as a co-wife because that is what she was in those days. First of all, she felt like a failure as a woman simply because she could have no children. And listen, in her day, any woman who could not have children was of little value. That's the way the culture looked on women who were barren. She was looked down upon. She was made fun of in some circles, even by the co-wife, Peninnah. These cultures saw a man's wealth and the number of his children, so if he didn't have any children, he wasn't wealthy. It wasn't about his money. It wasn't about his cattle. It was about having a big number of children. and then she felt she was a failure as a wife also. And the reason why, polygamy was common among kings but rare among the common people, and she was of the common people. The usual reason for polygamy among the common people was because the first wife could have no children. Hannah was Elkanah's first wife and he reached a point where he gave up hoping to have children by her and married another woman. Even though Elkanah went overboard in treating Hannah well, when Elkanah married Peninnah, it crushed Hannah because what he was saying was, I've got to have children and Hannah couldn't bear any. She even felt like a failure as a co-wife then because Paninna made sure Hannah knew she was a failure. That co-wife rubbed it in her face. She was a rival who provoked Hannah for the sole purpose of just simply making her miserable. Paninna probably saw how Elkanah loved Hannah. and as a result, just continued, became a barb, a dagger in Hannah's flesh. Special family occasions became special times for Peninnah to provoke Hannah, verse 7, as they would go up year after year, which is a special time for Elkanah to make sacrifice, and the family went to Shiloh every year to offer a peace offering. Part of the ceremony was to give each person in the family some meat to eat. Panenna used this occasion to remind Hannah that she had no children to get a portion of meat from the sacrifice. Panenna was going to get a bunch. And this made Hannah so miserable she wouldn't even participate. If you notice in verse 7 at the end, "...therefore she wept and did not eat." Her adversary, Peninnah, provoked her sore, upset her, made her angry because the Lord had shoved her wound. Notice in verse 7, "...also her adversary is a he." and he did so year after year. And we know what that is, that's the devil getting in Peninnah and provoking poor Hannah, making fun of her and belittling her. And then notice the remainder of the verse, it turns to a she proving out that Peninnah was being infected by the devil to do this thing. That's what the devil does. You know that, don't you? The devil ain't going to leave you alone no matter what. He'll even get your family members to turn against you. Do whatever they can to blast you and put you down. Isn't it sad on the way to the house of the Lord here, and even after you get to the house of the Lord, the devil is there to provoke you somewhere, somehow. Some of the best rows me and Debbie have ever had has been on the way to the church. I don't want to admit that. I don't want to admit that, but there's always some, did you turn the stove off? Especially when the kids were growing up, those kids could do stuff on the way to church. You know what I'm talking about. Elkanah had let his house succumb to Shiloh to worship at the house of the Lord with his sacrifice. And as the custom had it, the whole family came along. Elkanah gave the whole family a portion in verses 4 and 5. But to Hannah, he gives a worthy, or double portion if you will. Why did he do that? Because he loved her so much. That's why. She was truly flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones because she hurt, He hurt. He really understood her pain and He sees her hurt and in His love for her, tries to comfort her by giving her a double portion. But like most men, we don't always understand that you can't always soothe hurt feelings with a little gift or even a big gift sometimes. Sometimes baubles, bangles, and beads will not soothe their hurt, and it wasn't going to soothe hers. You can't always soothe an aching heart with a box of candy or some roses. Elkanah's generous token wasn't going to soothe Hannah either. She ached for a child, and on top of that, the devil was on her back day in and day out. This is going to take some drastic measures, and when drastic circumstances require drastic measures, you do the only thing you can do, and this is what Hannah did. She went to God. She did not go to the witch doctor, she did not go to the soothsayer, she did not even go to the high priest. She goes directly to God. That is what you do. Take it to God. Why? He knows what is going on. He's the one that shut up her womb. And notice in verse 8 that Elkanah is still trying to get her to stop crying by saying to her, "'Ain't I better than ten sons?' He's still trying. He wants the best for her. But He wasn't the best thing to her right now. She wanted a child. She was weeping bitter tears and she wouldn't eat. She's praying and fasting because she has to have an answer. She has to have a solution, a reason of SOME sorts to the barrenness of her womb. Now listen to me, this is very telling here and as such you need to pay attention to what Brother Darrell is saying to you. We are told in Matthew chapter 7 by Jesus that you can tell if someone is truly a believer. You know how? By their fruits. If they're truly a believer, they'll act like a believer. They'll talk as a believer. And every way their life will show that they are a believer. And we know that this is a godly woman, that Hannah is a godly woman, for she understands how to get to God. She begins to fast and pray. Are you saying we have to fast and pray every time? No, I'm not. But I want you to know that when you're dealing with the devil, you better fast and pray. You're not dealing with just a run-of-the-mill flesh and blood out here, you're dealing with principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in this world who want to hurt you some way, and many times are successful. Do you know the disciples were trying to cast out some demons and they couldn't? And they asked Jesus, how come we couldn't cast them out? And Jesus says, this comes only by fasting and praying, and fasting and praying is what believers do. Now there's a lot of folks out there who may fast, But ONLY BELIEVERS KNOW THE GREAT THING AND BENEFIT OF FASTING AND PRAYING DOES, AND THE TRUE ART OF PRAYER, AND THE TRUE UTILITY OF PRAYER, AND THE TRUE UNION OF PRAYER IS ONLY THAT THAT REWARDS BY GOING DIRECTLY TO GOD AND SHOWING SINCERITY IN THE FACT. But even believers do not pray and fast like this woman is doing anymore. Folks don't want to give up their dinner. They certainly don't want to pray as often as they should. They don't weep bitter tears like they used to over lost children anymore. Oh, it's just a phase they're going through. They don't agonize over circumstances in such a manner that would throw them on the altar of God. It should break your heart to know that you have a lost loved one that could go to hell. Or in a case where you have a loved one who, like Hannah, can't have children and are just dying inside, well, you ought to be willing to fast and pray with them. People don't want to get on their faces anymore. They won't give up their hamburgers and Cokes or their TV to beg God to change their circumstances. Well, I'm getting off on my high horse. Forgive me. Getting back to Hannah. Hannah wanted a man-child. She wanted a baby. And she was willing to do whatever God wanted to get one. She knew God could do great things. She had heard the stories all her life. She had seen Him work all through her life. So she was going to God with the matter. That's what Daniel did. That's what David did. And in the New Testament, that's what Paul and Peter and every person in the Bible who named the name of God as their Father and God and Lord and King of Jesus Christ does. Now in verse 9, she's heading for the temple. and she's walking and she is pleading with God. She's not paying any attention to anything around her or anyone else around her. She is in the midst of fervent prayer. And there at the post of the temple, verse 9, sits Eli the priest. Hannah doesn't see him. Because of the tears in her eyes and the bitterness of her soul, she aches, she hurts, and she's praying to God and crying her eyes out, verse 10, so she doesn't see Him. By the way, that's what Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what Moses did for Israel. They prayed for Him. They prayed for Him. These men were willing to give their own lives if that's what it took to move the hand of God. In verse 11, Hannah vows a vow. She's making a solemn promise and says in verse 11, O LORD, O HOST, 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, and look at this here everybody, I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." LORD, IF YOU WILL GIVE ME A CHILD, I WILL GIVE HIM BACK TO YOU TO SERVE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE, AND THERE SHALL NO RAZOR TOUCH HIS HEAD, SHE SAID. The mention of the razor not touching his head is part of the Nazirite vow from Numbers 6, if you want to know what that's about. For a limited period of time, the Nazirite would give up grapes or anything made from grapes, and wouldn't cut their hair or touch anything dead. The significance of Hannah's vow here to the Lord is that if the Lord would give her a child, she would make sure that her man-child would keep this vow all the days of his life. Now that may not seem important to you, but we're talking about taking her child to the temple and giving him over to the priest, and that's exactly what this woman said she's going to do. Have you ever heard such? But she's so desperate to have a child to hold, she makes that vow. Now as she's praying this, Eli's attention is drawn to her in verse 12, look there. He sees her mouth. Her lips are moving, tears are running down her face, but he doesn't hear a sound. She's not talking to him, she's talking to God. Eli thinks she's drunk. Ain't that just like a man? Eli thinks she's drunk and gives her a rebuke, a stern rebuke. He says, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. One thing you didn't do around the temple was show up drunk, and it was even worse for a woman to be so BRAZEN to be drunk at the temple as well. But Hannah tells him in verse 15, No, I'm not drunk. I'm broken hearted. I want a child. I am barren and can't have any. I have come to pour my soul out before the Lord. She says in verse 16, I am not a daughter of the devil. I'm just speaking to the Lord out of the abundance of my heart. This woman is deeply passionate about her situation! It was BREAKING her heart! She WANTED and NEEDED HELP! She wanted GOD'S FAVOR on her LIFE! Now I believe, and this is the only way you can look at it, I believe that God answers her by opening Eli's heart to the matter. Because he says in verse 17, look here, "...Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him." Well that's the only way the man could make that assumption and say that thing is God to have intervened. Do you think God intervened? Let me see your hand. Do you think God intervened? You must have read the rest of the chapter without me." She hadn't told Eli a thing. He's not heard her vow. He's not even heard her prayer. She was praying silently. Verse 13 says she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. But God informed Eli with the right words, and Hannah took them as the gospel. And this was an answer. Man, can you imagine how that gal brightened up when Eli said those things? And I'm going to show you how godly she is. She doesn't doubt a word. She knows God is able to deliver. Now God does things in His own time, doesn't He? Certainly He does, but I want you to know that He's always on time and in time. You can guarantee it. Eli, be there was not chance or coincidence or luck. God had sitting there to sit right there at that moment and to say, The God of Israel grant thee, grant then thy petition thou hast asked Him. That's the only way Eli could have known about a petition, because Hannah didn't tell him about a petition. Eli didn't know a thing, but God knew everything before the world ever was. Hannah was just keeping the appointment calendar of God. Isn't that something? This is settled in Hannah's mind then, because in verse 18, she goes her way and eats, and her countenance was no longer sad. That's what happens when you go directly to God. She must have felt in her soul that God had heard from heaven and had indeed answered her prayer, and so she's ready to go on and do exactly what she knows God would want her to do, and that is trust and obey. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Eli had no power to give her what she wanted, nor was Eli able to answer her prayer, but God used Eli to show Hannah that He was going to bless her fervent prayer. She is so sure that God was going to give her a child, that she gets up the next morning and goes to the church to worship the Lord, and then heads to the house. By the way, that is what you need to do right away. If you believe in your heart that God is going to answer your prayer, go worship. Go worship. She wanted to get started. She genuinely believes that God has heard her prayer. And look at the last line of verse 19. Stay with me, I'm almost finished. And Elkanah knew his wife, and the Lord remembered her. How did He remember her? Well, He opened her womb and provided her an egg, and in verse 20, she bears a son. Now there's your good praise report, huh? What a praise report in action! She bears a son! The Lord had heard her petition. The Lord granted her favor. Later on in this chapter, she will wean little Samuel, is what she will name him, and does as she is promised. She takes him to the house of God to give him back to God, just as she promised, after she had weaned the child. But this story is about a godly woman who trusts in the Lord to relieve her barrenness and give her a child. A Christian mother, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God will hear your prayers as well. You may have some wavered children out there somewhere, a wavered husband, a wavered niece or nephew, hey, even a wavered mama or daddy. Jesus says to all believers everywhere in John 15-16 that He is giving us the ability to bring forth fruit, and the fruit will remain, and we can ask whatsoever He will in His name, and the Father in Heaven will HEAR us. Now, what kind of fruit should we bear? Well, in Hannah's case, she bore the fruit of trust, she bore the fruit of obedience, and she bore the fruit, listen to this, a prayer, and the Holy Spirit took those things to the Father, and that fruit produced a child. Now, Jesus declared that this fruit was taken before the Father in His name, and God answers. Maybe you can't go and witness to everyone you meet, but you can pray There is someone in your life that needs Christ Jesus, you can bear up in trusting and obeying and praying and even fasting to the Lord and see God's hand work. You can't be a missionary, maybe you can't be a teacher or a preacher, but you can pray. Now why would you say that at this juncture in this sermon? Because the fact of it is that the only weapon that Hannah had in the warfare against the devil and against all these things was PRAYER. And it is the greatest weapon that we have. The effectual fervent prayer of a husband for a lost wife and vice versa. The effectual fervent prayer of a mother or father for their lost child. The effectual fervent prayer of a church for its community will avail much. This is the weapon that we have. and God has given it to us. And by the way, I'm going to show you what kind of weapon prayer is. Turn real quick, 2 Corinthians with me, 2 Corinthians, and look with me if you would to chapter 10, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Here is the weapon of prayer. You can see it for yourself. Now you won't see prayer mentioned in here, but you will see weapons. Verse 3, For though we walk in the flesh. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3. I'll wait for you. You need to underline this passage in your Bible and use it to your benefit. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that means they're not like the world, they're not goofy weapons, they're not silly weapons, they're not evil weapons, they're not weapons that kill, maim, and destroy, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds that the devil may get in your life, that he may get in your family, that he may get in your finances, it could go down a list. You know, the devil's after everything about you, you know that, don't you? He wants you, lock, stock, and barrel. But our weapons are mighty through God. Prayer is mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Prayer can work to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God. That's what the devil does. He exalts himself and thinks he is God, but he's not. He's Antichrist in every way. He's evil. But this brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And having in readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled, that's what we do. We revenge disobedience with obedience. and the obedience of prayer worketh much. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman, says the Word of God, availeth much." By the way, just to remind you real quick, flip forward to Ephesians Chapter 6. This is what you're warring against out there that you need this kind of weapon for. Ephesians Chapter 6 tells us very succinctly what we're fighting against. Verse 12, Verse 12, Ephesians 6, we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, we're wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places that we can't even see, folks! We only know they're there by the people they get in and make them react or make them act against you, that cause you to be disobedient, that cause you to do things you shouldn't even do! The devil wants to destroy you! And so we need weapons that will work, and the weapons of God are not carnal. They will work! Prayer, fasting, obedience. Hey, your church attendance is a slap in the devil's face! Did you know that? He doesn't want you to come! He's afraid you'll learn about Him! Most of all, he's afraid you'll learn about Jesus! The slap in his face! Hey, every time you drop a dime or dollar or whatever in a collection plate, it drives him insane! Every time you do something for the Lord in this church, for example, it drives him nuts! When you help somebody, he can't stand it. When you stop and talk to someone about the Lord at Wal-Mart, wherever, oh, he goes crazy when you do that. The demons in hell start pulling at their horns, screaming and yelling and carrying on, because they can't stand the name of Jesus. They can't, they can't. At the name of Jesus, they've got to run, they've got to flee, they can't stand it. What weapons we have. Have your Mother's Day, ladies! But Brother Darrell, that ain't much of a Mother's Day sermon! Oh, yes it is. Check out Hannah, a model mother. Why was she the model mother? She was godly. She loved the Lord. She followed the Lord. Hannah wasn't a model mother because she had a child now. No. Hannah was a model mother, and the Lord never gave her a child, because she trusted in the Lord. How'd you trust this morning? Fellas, how's your trust this morning? Did you trust Him? When's the last time you got down and had a really good conversation with the Lord and prayed? When's the last time you pushed plate back. I said, Lord God help us. I'm begging with you and staying with it. I'll close this little story here for you. Many years ago, there were three fellows that I was concerned about in the church I was pastoring. I was broken over these guys, lost as they could be. And I started fasting and praying and asking God to save them. I fasted for 40 days. I did. There's my witness. None of those guys, maybe one I don't know, were saved. I didn't know at the time, but actually what I was doing, provoked by the Holy Spirit, was fasting and praying for myself. I needed help. I didn't know it. And Enoch's cross showed up on my pews. Unbelievable. At the time I couldn't see that, but later on it dawned on me. The Lord had seen the fervency of my praying. my obedience to do the right thing. And though He did not answer the prayer the way I wanted Him to, still He blessed me for my being obedient to His Word. He called off the devils and sent in an angel. And that old man was an angel for God! It was a prophet who taught me so much in the little while that I had him. Me and old Ted were his last missionary effort, and the Lord took him home. Ted and I went down for the wake, and I went down the next day for the funeral. I sat out there next to that gravesite way out in the country down in Alabama. Oh man, I was aching! My mentor was going home, had gone home, but oh what a lesson I learned. Obedience brings blessing and it won't fail you. Well, the model mother and it's also the same servant for the model father. A true believer is obedient to the Lord. Now, if you are lost today without Jesus, this won't help you except in one way, and that is for you to beg the Lord to save you. And if it takes fasting and praying for you to get in touch with God, do it! You never know what the Lord is going to do. Plead with Him. That is what Hannah did. There is a chance He will save you I believe you will, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And I didn't write that, that's in the Word of God. Romans 10 and 13, check it out. Through that we say then, have thine own way Lord. Let us all stand.