ESTABLISHED AS A PROPHET
1 Samuel 3:19 ¶ And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. 21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Before there was the birth of an Ichabod, (1 Samuel 4:21), proclaiming that the glory of God had departed from Israel as the Philistines had captured the ark of God, there was the miraculous birth of the Prophet Samuel. His mother, Hannah, was a barren woman, whose womb had been closed by the Lord. 1 Samuel 1:5 But unto Hannah he (her husband) gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.
This is the pattern of God’s marvelous works, which are “past finding out” (Rom. 11:33), by the carnal mind. For it was also said of the child from the most miraculous of all births in Luke 2:52, And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. And his mother’s womb was also controlled by the Holy Spirit, but without a human husband. Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
So the pattern is that before there is a need, the provision of God is already available. For we read in Revelation 13:8 “of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” So before sin entered in among the human race, God had the provision awaiting its need. Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Matthew 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Therefore before we come to see the birth of an Ichabod in chapter four of this book, we have read of the marvelous birth of the one whose name is the title of the book in the first three chapters. And we also clearly see that the appearance of this prophet on the pages of God’s word is preceded by the failure of the priesthood! 1 Samuel 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever. 33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
And so it is with the priesthood of the individual believer! For why is it that the Lord has to send God-called preachers and prophets among his people, but that individuals grow lax in their individual communion with God! For every truly born again believer is his own priest! Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
And every true believer’s body is the sacred temple of God! 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
And the Lord Jesus clearly states that even he will not be needed to mediate between true Spirit-born believers, but they may go directly to the Father themselves! John 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
The curtain has been torn, dear Reader! Entrance into the holiest is no longer prevented. We are now to have boldness to come before God, exercising our priestly gift. Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
And carefully consider that which the beloved Apostle John states concerning our spiritual natures. 1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction (“anointing”) from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 27 But the anointing (“unction”) which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Truth always comes from within by the Holy Spirit! Confirmation of truth comes from without by sound preaching of the gospel!
Every individual believer today, without exception, has the same Holy Spirit that indwelt the apostles! And John goes on to state that he did not write his epistles because we DID NOT know the truth, but because we DID know it! 1 John 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. And why then does he say that he wrote his epistle? 1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Remember that our Lord himself warns us of simply coming to the scriptures for only a legal belief, as he spoke to the Pharisees! We must come to Him, the Living Word! John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Our Lord warns us of getting into the notion that true, spiritual worship is solely anchored to one location, or at one set time. For true, acceptable worship is not had by time and location. That is, simply by going to a building on a Sunday morning! But true God-accepted worship is solely had by the condition of the heart! John 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
True worship must be a personal and private matter, or there is no true public worship. Romans 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God… Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
We call our religious gatherings, ‘Worship Services.’ But in reality they are merely just the practice of religious tradition. Our Lord tells us to not believe those who say that His presence is to be found in a specific location. For as already stated, worship is to be had in “spirit and truth,” not just in a set time and place! If you have no heart worship in the car on the way to ‘church,’ you have a slim chance of doing so when you arrive.
Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
So just where is the true church which carries out true worship? Matthew 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. What does that mean? It means that the true, spiritual organism of the Body of Christ so hungers and thirsts after righteousness that they are identified by that hunger. For they are cast upon Christ by faith, with such soul hunger, and so much need, as to be described as to eat his flesh and drink his blood. John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
God’s eagle-believers require fresh, hot blood and therefore can only be nourished and sustained by the appropriation of the everliving Christ to them by means of the Holy Spirit. For, of Him, the Lord stated, “He shall take of mine and show it unto you!” (John 16:15) He also stated, “Because I live, ye shall live also!” (John 14:19)
Immediately as the child is birthed from the mother’s body, they are cast back upon that body for the milk of life in order to be sustained. And no newborn has to ‘go to school’ to learn to nurse! An infant will suck on you finger of even your ear lobe, if it gets too close to you! And the Hebrew word for “soul” in Genesis 2:7, which states, “and man became a living soul” is the word, “appetite” in Proverbs 23:2! So man became a living appetite! That brings a stronger meaning to Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
It also shines far more light as to his spiritual invitation as recorded in John chapter seven. John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Dear Reader, this is a personal and an individual matter to you. For we read of the Lord Jesus standing outside the door of organized religion calling for any individual church member to personally come outside to receive Him by faith! Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Peter was personally rebuked in this matter by the Lord. And this gives us an understanding of our own need to personally and individually come to Christ by our own personal faith. John 21:20 ¶ Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
Again – Romans 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. And again – Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
O my soul! With the Prophet Jeremiah, I cry as in Jeremiah 13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive. May God have mercy on unsaved church members!
Pastor Gene Breed
March 17, 2023
