Men That We Need

By Erroll Hulse


'But now we are all little men; there is scarce a man alive now upon this earth.' --C. H. Spurgeon


From earliest times, God has blessed His people and sustained His church by giving them leaders. While the children of Israel were groaning in bondage in Egypt, Jehovah was preparing Moses to be a savior. When the hordes of Midian filled the land of Israel, driving God's people into dens and caves in the mountains, Gideon was commissioned, and by three hundred men a great victory was wrought. When Europe was enslaved in the chains of popery and superstition, Luther emerged as God's sent servant. When England relapsed into darkness, the voice of Whitefield came like a trumpet blast to waken the dead.

All God's men have been equipped by Him for their peculiar tasks--Peter for Pentecost, Paul for the Gentiles. The scene is always changing, but the Lord has always had His men.

In our day, rank confusion prevails on every hand. We are all acquainted to some degree with the weaknesses that depress the church of God as a whole. The question is, Are we aware of the need for outstanding leadership? And if so, are we praying that God will send us men for the times--men who are equipped, called, and thrust forth? It is not for us to dictate to our heavenly Father the kind of men He must send, but we can envision some of the gifts that we might find in such leaders. Let us intercede earnestly for:

1. Men who have burning hearts of love for God and men, who fear God and nothing else but sin, who have an inexhaustible zeal for God's glory, and who are ready to die, if need be, for Christ.

2. Men who possess a thorough knowledge of Scripture and who are able to expound any text in a systematic and convincing manner.

3. Men who are gifted in doctrinal comprehension and who love the tried and tested doctrines of the faith.

4. Men who love and study church history, who specialize in the history of evangelical reformations and revivals, who know what the martyrs believed and died for, and who can competently apply an extensive knowledge of church history to the present day.

5. Men who are humble enough to apply themselves to small spheres of labor but who, at the same time, have a world vision, following missionary movements everywhere, doing everything in their power to help fulfill the Great Commission.

6. Men who know how to meet the evils of the age, who have a plan from God for our day, who are competent and aggressive in evangelism, and who are sons of thunder rather than showmen.

7. Men who do not follow infidels but concentrate like the apostles on power in preaching the gospel.

8. Men who will not compromise the truth for the sake of expediency, who have the courage to discard that which is merely traditional, oppose that which is unscriptural, and yet be respectful of those who do not measure up to the spiritual dimensions here described.


May God send us such men.

The Song of Hannah

With New Testament Eyes: 27 - The Song of Hannah

By Henry Mahan


1 Samuel 2:1-10

A godly man named Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah and the other was named Peninnah. Hannah was much loved by her husband, but the Lord had shut up her womb and she had no children. Peninnah had several children and, being jealous of Hannah, continually provoked and harassed her because she was barren. Peninnah was especially unkind to Hannah when their husband was away, so that Hannah wept and would not eat. The next time Elkanah went to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice unto the Lord, he took Hannah with him.

Hannah was in much distress of soul, and she wept and prayed before the Lord that he would give her a son (1 Sam. 1-:9-11).

She promised to give this son unto the Lord all the days of his life. Eli, the priest, saw Hannah praying and weeping; but because no words came from her mouth, he thought she might be drunk, so he reprimanded her (1 Sam. 1:12-14). Hannah explained her sorrow and her desire to the man of God, who prophesied that God would grant her request (1 Sam. 1: 15-18).

Hannah and Elkanah returned home and a son, Samuel, was born to them (1 Sam. 1:19-20). The men of a household were required to appear before the Lord at the three festivals; the women were not. Therefore, when Elkanah and his household went up to offer unto the Lord, Hannah would not go; for she said, 'I gave him to the Lord to serve before the Lord, so I will not Lake him until he is old enough to abide there and not return home with me' (1 Sam. 1:21-23). According to reports, there was a three-fold weaning of a child in old times. (1) When he was weaned from the mother's milk at two or three, (2) when he was weaned from a nurse at seven, and (3) when he was twelve and weaned from childish manners. So Samuel was about 12 years old when Hannah took him up to Eli (1 Sam. 1:24-28).

Hannah had prayed for a son, and God heard her prayer.

Then, as she fulfilled her vow and brought him before the Lord, she gave thanks and magnified the Lord. 'O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men' (Psalm 107:8).

v. 1. My Heart rejoices in the Lord;' not in my husband, my son, nor even in my happiness and fulfillment, but in the Lord. The Lord Jesus is the fountain of grace and the giver of all (,James 1:17-18; Phil. 3:3).

'my horn (strength) is exalted in the Lord.' The change in her state and her strength to conceive was by his power and grace (Col. 2:13). Spiritual life is in and by Christ (John 1:12-13; John 5:21). 'I rejoice in thy salvation.' Hannah probably referred to those who mocked her in her barrenness. But, judging from Verse 10, she also had a wider meaning; for Christ is God's King and his anointed: and it is through Christ that we have the victory over our enemies, Satan, sin, death, hell, and the grave (1 Cor. 15:25-26).

v. 2. 'there is none holy as the Lord.' Here is a well-taught believer who understands that God's chief attribute is his holiness. God is essentially, originally, perfectly, and unchangeably holy, as others are not! 'There is none beside thee,' holy, righteous, and just. All that God does is in accordance with and in keeping with his holiness. Christ came, lived, died, and arose that God may be holy, just, and the justifier of sinners (Rom. 3:25-26). 'neither is there any rock like our God.' Our Lord Jesus is often called the Rock. He is our Rock and our salvation to hide, shelter, and support all who come to him (Psalm 62:6-7; Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 10:4).

v. 3. 'talk no more exceeding proudly.' We have no room to complain if we are barren and no room to boast if we are blessed (1 Cor. 4:7; John 3:27). Arrogant words and thoughts will be judged, for God knows every heart (Dan. 5:20; James 4:6). Actions are weighed before God by the motive and principle from which they proceed.

vv. 4-5. Hannah, praising God's grace to the humble and weak, illustrates how he exalts the humble and resists the proud. (1) Mighty men, trusting in their strength and arms, are broken to pieces, while God gives strength to those who stumble in weakness. (2) Those who have proudly lived in plenty are forced to toil for bread, while the hungry have been filled by his grace. (3) Barren Hannah, by his mercy, has born several children, while proud Peninnah (according to tradition) can bear no more and loses those she has (Jer. 9: 23-24). God's grace is a gift to the needy and humble, not a reward for the rich (Matt. 5:3-7).

vv. 6-7. It is true that the Lord sovereignly, according to his purpose, controls all things; and men live and die, succeed or fail, are rich or poor, and rule or serve by the will of God. But it is also true that before God saves a sinner and reveals Christ to his heart, he will strip that sinner of all self righteousness, all self-hope, and all personal merit. God will bring us low before he exalts us, strip us before he clothes us and show us our poverty before he reveals our inheritance in Christ (Matt. 9:10-13: Phil. 3:4-10).

v. 8. Here is a description of our state in sin--poor beggars in the dust and on the dunghill (Eph. 2:12-13). But, because of our Lord's righteous obedience and shed blood, we are seated with him among princes on the throne of glory (Eph. 2:4-10),.

vv. 9-10. His word and his covenant shall not fail. He will keep his saints, his sheep, and not one shall perish (John 6:37-39: John 10:27-30). He shall judge the wicked, and none can stay his hand. The Lord will give power, strength, and victory to his king, the messiah! (John 17:23; Psalm 24). Christ came to set the captive free, and he shall not be discouraged (Isa. 61:1-3).

"Accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6

J.C. PHILPOT

DAILY PORTIONS
(Selected from the writing of Joseph Philpot by his daughters)

"A word spoken in due season, how good is it!"
  –Proverbs 15:23.

"Accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6

We are ever looking for something in SELF to make ourselves acceptable to God, and are often sadly cast down and discouraged when we cannot find that holiness, that obedience, that calm submission to the will of God, that serenity of soul, that spirituality and heavenly-mindedness which we believe to be acceptable in his sight. 

Our crooked tempers, fretful peevish minds, rebellious thoughts, coldness, barrenness and death, our alienation from good, and headlong proneness to evil, with the daily feeling that we get no better but rather worse, make us think that God views us just as we view ourselves. And this brings on great darkness of mind and bondage of spirit, until we seem to lose sight of our acceptance in Christ, and get into the miserable dregs of SELF, almost ready to quarrel with God because we are so vile, and only get worse as we get older.

Now the more we get into these dregs of SELF, and the more we keep looking at the dreadful scenes of wreck and ruin which our heart presents to daily view, the farther do we get from the grace of the gospel, and the more do we lose sight of the only ground of our acceptance with God. 

It is "in the Beloved" alone, that we are accepted, and not for any good words, or good works, good thoughts, good hearts, or good intentions of our own.

And a saving knowledge of our acceptance "in the Beloved," independent of everything in us either good or bad, is a firm foundation for our faith and hope, and will keep us from sinking altogether into despair.