"Building a Church Through Outreach"
Wrong Accusations
ELCOG 4/29/07
Text: 1 Sam. 1:12:18
This morning I want to preach on a couple of cases of wrong accusations. We are going to look at a couple of people who were mistaken to be drunk, but were far from being that state. In our first story we find a woman by the name Hannah who was a woman unable to have children her heart had become very heavy because of her barren condition. She desired a baby but her body would not produce. She had a desire but no response.
How many of you have come here this morning with a desire, but no baby. How many of you have a wish, but no sign of an answer. Your heart beats with the idea of new life, but there is nothing. You have tried for years, but still no sign of breakthrough. You have battled for years, but there is no sign of victory. That is the position Hannah was in. She was loved by her husband, but she wanted more. She wanted a baby.
Now, the story leads us to an altar where Hannah begins to cry out of a heart that is broken and a spirit that is destroyed. She is mourning of the loss of her motherhood. With a voice of weariness she cries and lies before the Lord. Maybe she is a little perplexed that God has not answered her prayers in the past. But today she is at the end of her rope. She is tired of being tired. She is sick of being sick. She is at the place of no return. Her heart is broken and bitter. She needs God NOW! Tomorrow will not work. She is at a breaking point and she needs god today!
Is that you this morning? Are you feeling Hannah’s spirit? Are you at a place that is got to be today? No more time for waiting- God has got to come through NOW.
What does Hannah do? (verse 12-15) She prayed so much that her voice no longer made a sound. She had cried so much that tears would no longer flow. She had prayed so much that her voice could not be heard. She could only move her lips. She wanted an answer from God. She had prayed so much that the priest thought she was drunk. Why? Maybe it’s because she was not acting like the same as the old Hannah. Maybe the old Hanna would have behaved a little more lady like. Maybe the old Hannah would have been more proper and religious, but there is something different about Hannah today. She is tried of trying to carry all her problems and acting like everything ids okay. She is tired of acting like a champion while feeling like a loser on the inside. She is tired of playing charades and today she is not worried about her make-up or her hair style, because today she needs a miracle.
Some of aren’t at the place of really needing a miracle because you are still too concerned with what people are going to think about you. You are too concerned with what people will say. Yes, you have a desire for a baby, but you are not at the place to really cry out, "God today is the day. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t care what they say or what they do. I just need you to hear me and answer me today!"
People who really want God to move stop worrying about the time. People really want a miracle stop making excuses for God and they run to him with all their might. They grip and claw with all their might. They are like Jacob and refuse to let go until their blessing comes.
Gen. 32:24
24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen. 32:25
25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen. 32:26
26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen. 32:27
27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen. 32:28
28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Some of you need to keep fighting because your name is about to be changed. Some of you are giving up to early. Don’t you stop now, keep fighting. Be like Hannah and Jacob and tarry until you receive God’s blessing. Let the people call you a drunk. Let the call you crazy. It doesn’t matter. You are fighting for a miracle. You are wresting for a blessing!
Look at your neighbor and tell them that they can talk about you if they want to, but you need a blessing. Tell them that they can call you names and slander your name, but you have got to get your miracle.
Look back at the text: (verse 17-18) the priest answers her prayer and blesses her. But notice the thing that changed instantly: she was sad no more. As soon as she got a real word from God…..her sadness left.
Psa. 30:5
5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
The baby didn’t come instantly, but peace did. The word was enough to take away all sadness. She needed a promise to carry her through. Hannah needed assurance that her body could be blessed. She must have felt something inside of her that day as a barren womb became fertile. Her spirit must have noticed as the word touched her problem. Faith reached out and grabbed hold of her promise and she made a stop on the way home at
Wal-mart to look at baby furniture, because she had o doubt that she was going to have a baby!
Let’s look at one more case today before I close. This next case is a very familiar case it’s found in Acts 2:13.
Acts 2:13
13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
Acts 2:14
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Acts 2:15
15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Acts 2:16
16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Acts 2:17
17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Let me remind you that this story is about a group of people that had been tarrying in an upper room seeking God until the power was given to them to preach the gospel and now the story starts when the people have just been baptized with the Holy Spirit and they are staggering outside speaking in other tongues. As they walk out of the place of prayer the people on the streets begin to mock them and point at them and accuse them of being drunk. But they were not drunk. They were full of a new wine. They were full of a new spirit. They didn’t care what the world had to say because they had tasted a portion of heaven and they didn’t want to keep this in the upper room. They wanted to take it to the streets. Oh, I pray that God will fill us with so much power that it flows out into the streets. I pray that we will not be ashamed of God’s word and that it will flow from us into the neighborhoods and work places. Let us be so filled with God’s power that the world wonders what has happened to us. Let us also drink form the cup that the disciples drank of. Can I be so bold to tell you what they tasted that day… A promise. Think about this for a second, Jesus gave them a promise and their faith tasted it and instantly life was different. They got drunk because their faith touched a promise.
Eph. 5:18
18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Eph. 5:19
19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Eph. 5:20
20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Hannah had the same result. She allowed her faith to touch her promise and she left happy and fertile. Today some of you need to allow your faith to touch a promise so that you too can be changed. Some of you need to leave her with a new power and a new attitude. Some of you need to leave her fertile instead of barren. Jacob allowed his faith to fight until he was blessed. You need to leave blessed today; blessed because you allowed faith to touch a promise.
In closing, are you afraid to tarry because of what people might say? Let them shout wrong accusations, and you walk out of this place blessed. Don’t stop now, keep fighting, keep crying, keep praying and God will turn your barren womb into a place of blessing. He will turn you sorrow into joy. Keep fighting and watch faith bring you a blessing. Keep tarrying and watch the fire of Pentecost fall again. Let your faith touch your promise so that God can bless you.