Look at Daniel 9.
Daniel is right after Ezekiel; he is still coming, right? In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, Daniel says:
In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments; we have sinned.
And so on and so on.
Now Daniel was reading the writings of Jeremiah. He came across the fact that the Lord had said that, after seventy years, the people would be brought back into the land.
And do you think he said to himself, “Thank God, the time is nearly up. The thing is about to be fulfilled, because the Lord said so. I will just gather some friends together and we will celebrate, because the Lord said it is going to happen. Our clock is going to strike, and it is about to happen”? Is that what he did?
You do not get an answer before I go on. No, that is not what he did.
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
The thing had been decreed by God, and Daniel went right to prayer the minute he saw it.
He could have looked back in the prophecy of Isaiah and seen that, one hundred and fifty years or more before this, God had said that a certain ruler would be the one to send the people back into the land.
Now here is a big question. Sooner or later, we will all mention the answer. Did God see, when He made that prophecy, that He would have a Daniel who would go through this burden in prayer? Or did He just decree that it would happen? Would it have happened whether there had been a Daniel or not?
You know, you get all tangled up in foreordination and predestination. But the fact for us to see this morning is that there was a Daniel, and he did not just join in rejoicing and celebration. He went right to prayer the minute he saw it.
Now look at Daniel 10, I think.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar.
Anybody tell me what happened in the first year? Cyrus became king of Persia.
Now Cyrus is the one who was mentioned by name one hundred and fifty years before he was born—or one hundred and fifty years before it happened, anyway. He would be the one to set forth a decree that would release the people to go back into the land of Israel. They had all been carried off into captivity.
Anybody tell me what happened in the first year of Cyrus? A decree had gone forth. People had gone back into the land. Now we are in the third year.
And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
I think that means he did not wash.
Here is a man under a burden, committed to travailing for something to come to pass.
Well, the people had already been released to go back into the land. While this prayer and travail was taking place, what was happening? Anybody know?
The work had stopped, as a matter of fact, and it was getting ready to stop altogether. The people were discouraged. Then the next ruler, Artaxerxes, sent forth a decree that the work was to cease completely.
Was that the end of the matter? Well, Daniel prayed. He prevailed, and later on another ruler, Darius, looked into the records. He saw that a decree had gone forth that the work was to proceed, and he sent another decree that the work was to begin again.
There is a rule; there is a law that we want to get this morning. It is something that is left out of modern-day Christianity.
You know, we are so taken up with prophecy. We know that, at a certain time, certain things are about to happen because God has said so. So we have the attitude that, however we may live, however we may behave ourselves, whatever our life might be like in this world, what is to be will be. Even if it never comes to pass, we are deceived. This is not the teaching of the Word of God.
Now let us look at the life of the Lord Jesus Himself. In Luke 6, verse 12:
And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles.
Now the Lord Jesus was about to take a very important step. Could He not, in His infinite omniscience, in His foreknowledge, have simply picked out the twelve disciples because the Father wanted Him to do that? Could He? We think He could.
I would like to hear anyone tell me that He could not—unless He first went through the necessary travail and prayer and exercise. He was a Man.
Chapter 9 of Luke says:
And it came to pass, as He was alone praying, His disciples were with Him.
Well, that is what it says. He was alone praying. Is that what it says? His disciples were with Him.
Because He was alone praying, His disciples were with Him. Well, it kind of looks as though even when His disciples were with Him, He was doing what? Praying. There was a rapport between Him and the Father such that, in a sense, He was always alone with the Father.
I could read you other Scriptures which say that a great while before day, He went up into a mountain to pray. A great while before day.
Just one more Scripture concerning the Lord: Hebrews 5. Verse 5 gives you the context.
So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.
As He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now who is the primary subject of the context? It is Christ, the Son of God. Then look at verse 7:
Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.
Here is the Lord Jesus—not the One whom we are so often pictured as in fundamental theology, simply coasting through this life—but One who spent a lot of time in prayer: all night, in emergencies, a great while before day.
He was alone praying while His disciples were with Him. And now we read of strong crying and tears. It creates another picture, does it not, other than that serene, magnificent, cool human being who never lost His poise?
Let us look at what Paul calls travail. Chapter 4 of Galatians, verse 19:
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
That is, until Christ is fully formed within you.
Paul, as a man, could give quite a number of pictures of what great conflict he had for them—in Colossians, for instance.
Here, friends, we must learn something if we are going to be of any use to God. That is, that truly, in this ruined creation, every beginning—not merely a divine beginning—gets us involved in travail, in which some mothers learn what I am talking about.
The apostle said that he had travailed in birth for them once, and he was travailing again so that they would get out of the legalistic morass into which they had fallen and have Christ fully formed in them.
This is something more than initial salvation or spiritual childhood. That is the subject of the book of Galatians, you know: growing up into sonship by being delivered from legalism.
Here was a travail that was necessary—something more than just the original travail of birth.
This is our subject this morning. We have seen it in Daniel. We have seen it in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen it in the Apostle Paul.
We are talking about the ark. This is the third message in a series concerning the ark of God, the ark of the testimony. Somebody reminded me that more than once in Scripture it is called the ark of His presence. At least once it is called the ark of His strength.
We have followed the history of that ark from the time it was created out there in the wilderness. The material from which it was created, never forget, came from the freewill offerings of the people of God in the wilderness. The people brought a great deal more than was needed.
The ark was made according to divine mandate. We noticed a number of things about it: its combination of manhood and divinity, the wood and the gold, the fact that the cherubim on the mercy seat overshadowed it, and that from between the cherubim there was a speaking of God.
We went on to look at the ark in Numbers 14, its last appearance there in the wilderness. When the people went up to fight the enemy and the ark remained in the camp, they were defeated. They had already turned back and paid the price in the wilderness for thirty-eight years, and there was silence concerning the ark.
We hear about it again when they are about to enter the land. The generation is all dying in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb. They are about to enter the land, and it requires more than merely entrance into the land. The men of God take the ark of the testimony upon their shoulders and stand in the River Jordan at the time of flood.
We took the spiritual lesson: God needs functioning priests, men of God who know how to stand in death and go on standing in death while the people of God cross the Jordan on dry land into the land—the fullness of Christ.
We saw how the ark was brought to Shiloh for three hundred years. The word was shamed, and finally, after three hundred years, the Lord could stand it no more. He let it fall into the hands of the Philistines.
The people thought that by sending the ark off to battle, even though they were morally and spiritually unfit, it would bring them victory. It did not. The ark was taken. Eli perished, and the record says that the people were saying about Shiloh, “The glory has departed.”
There are two things, dear friends, that always mark the presence of the real testimony—the ark. One is speaking. Where God has His true testimony in expression, there will be a speaking: not just Bible speaking, not just the explaining of Scriptures, not a lot of moral lessons, not merely a call to a sanctified life, but the speaking of God Himself.
He spoke to the people from between the cherubim, and they knew that He had spoken. And so do we. God speaks through the true testimony.
The other thing is glory. Wherever the ark is, there is glory. I cannot describe glory to you. You touch the glory; you know what it is. And particularly, you know when it is not there.
Friends, there are not very many places you can go on this earth today and find the glory of God among His people. Nor are there very many places you can go and find the speaking of God.
That is what this ministry on the ark is all about: how can we align ourselves with God in His purpose? Because He had a purpose for His earthly people.
Eventually they were able to build the temple, Solomon’s temple, in which that ark could come to its rest.
Solomon built a new brazen altar, a new laver, a new table of showbread, and new candlesticks. But he did not build another ark. The ark remained the same.
In the subsequent history, after three hundred more years, the people were carried away into Babylon. Some of the treasures came back with the people to the land, but we do not hear about the ark again.
Now look in Revelation 11. There we see something that applies to our subject today. Revelation 11, verse 19:
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Now it is too bad there is a chapter division right there, because I venture to say very few of us have ever seen the connection between verse 19 and chapter 12.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.
Later in the chapter we read:
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Now let us turn to 1 Samuel 1, the first chapter.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:
And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
This man went up out of his city yearly to worship and sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.
When Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions. But unto Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved Hannah; but the Lord had shut up her womb.
Her adversary provoked her sore, 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.
Then said Elkanah her husband unto her, “Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons?”
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but wilt give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Count not Thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.
And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight.
So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.
They rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord, and returned to Ramah. Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
Elkanah went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.”
Elkanah her husband said unto her, “Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou hast weaned him; only the Lord establish His word.”
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. The child was young.
And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him:
Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord.
And he worshipped the Lord there.
Then Hannah prayed:
My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord.
And so on.
Hannah’s prayer has been used by David in the Psalms. Who else? Mary. You will find a great similarity—more than coincidental—between the Magnificat of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the song of Hannah.
Now what in the world is this all about? The Lord knows what is coming. He knows that Shiloh is not sufficient for Him. Worship is going on in the land, but it is three hundred years of history in which every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes.
Dear friends, if you are satisfied with the state of things as it exists among the people of God—the denominations and the groups that you know of—you have no right to listen to me here this morning. You had better get up and leave, because I am not satisfied.
You can go where God’s people are, and you will find that there is something like the altar there. People are being saved. The laver is there, and there is a certain amount of cleansing.
The table of showbread is there. There is some food. Wherever people open the Word, if your heart is right, you can get some food.
The candlestick is there. There is some light. God, in His mercy, is giving His light wherever He can.
But is the ark there? Is there speaking, and the glory? There is something else that ought to be there, and I am surprised nobody has challenged me before because I have mentioned it: the golden altar of incense.
What do I mean by that? I invite you to go to your local neighborhood church on prayer-meeting night. You know what I mean. Have you been lately?
Thursday night we went to a little tent up there in West Covina, and we had a prayer meeting. Well, the prayer meeting was fairly well attended; not too many of us, perhaps. But I am saying that the ark was there, the golden altar of incense was there, and we had more prayer on Thursday evening than you will find in the average meeting of Christians for a month—perhaps six months.
What do you think of the United States? I am not saying that we are a travailing people. We are not, in the fullest sense, a travailing kind of people.
If the Lord is going to bring the ark into its resting place in the great temple He is building, it is going to have to start with some people learning the meaning of travailing and prevailing prayer.
What do we mean by travailing? Well, I am not much of a linguist. I know the French word travailler, which means “work.” There is probably something like that in Latin.
Yes, I know it is full of grace. Yes, I know there is nothing we can do. I know all the things that people say about that.
And I know fundamentalism in general looks at people who say, “This is not the testimony. We need something vastly more among the congregation of His people.”
Friend, if you have a pure heart like mine and are unsatisfied with the general state of things, you will say with me, “Lord, give us that travail. Make us a travailing instrument.”
That is where it all begins: whether it is Daniel, the Lord Himself, or the apostle.
A brother called me last night. He was back in England, and he was telling me about a Sunday morning meeting. Dear friends, our Sunday morning is Saturday night.
There may be a tremendous Bible study, the Lord’s table, and ministry on Sunday morning. Some of us are going to have to learn to turn off that television on Saturday night. Yes, you know. Get to the Lord.
Friends, if you want the life, the glory, the speaking, and the joy, we are going to have to learn to give the Lord something. You know, Saturday night may cost you something.
It is going to take a lot of prayer. It is going to take an element in that prayer of soul-crying and tears. It does not just happen. It does not happen merely by seeing the people.
Now what is the Lord’s rule, that we learn to pray? Look at Hannah. See how she began in prevailing prayer and travail.
Elkanah was a good man. He had two wives, and Peninnah had plenty of children. Why did Hannah not have any children? What does the Scripture say?
The Lord had shut up her womb. This is an act of God. Do you not see the situation? Unless we understand that, our analysis of things will not be worth much.
Does that say something to us? Does that explain something, perhaps, about your own experience?
Why did Hannah not have more children? Oh, this I could not understand. That is what we are talking about.
There are a couple of times, one way or another, when we may wonder what the Lord is doing. Matter of fact, it was predicted ten years ago that after five years, two of us would be left together. Well, the five years have gone by, and another five years, and here we are. We are still here, but the Lord is getting something.
Apparently, if I can find anywhere else the thing that I find here—that the Lord is doing among us—I will go there. I do not know how to say anything else.
God has a specific reason for our being here. He has a specific reason for our being together, listening, sharing, and seeking Him.
The Lord had shut up Hannah’s womb. He wanted a travail. Hannah’s husband came along and said, “What are you still concerned about? I love you.” When they went up to sacrifice, he gave her an extra portion—the choice portion.
You know what he was saying: “Am I not better to thee than ten sons?” Some people will say, “I still do not know what you folks are worrying about. You have Christ, and we have Christ, and we all have Christ. Is He not enough?”
It does not do for me to know that the Lord is up there at the right hand of the Father, and that one day He is going to come down here and rescue His people from spiritual extinction. That is not enough.
I have got to see the vitality of the testimony: the burning incense, the ark, and a company of people right here on this earth.
For Christ is so much bigger than merely a Person at the right hand of the Father. He has something so much greater: a real expression of Himself among His people today.
Because of non-dispensational teaching, a lot of people say, “All you are going to do is wait for the prophetic hour, and the Lord will do it. I do not care how you live, because it is all of grace, you know.”
No one appreciates the great symptom of modern life. A lot of people are just coasting, simply because they are not listening.
What do you need? What is needed in a testimony? Is it a conference or a church? People are walking around on this earth, living their own lives, doing their own thing, with no burden for the testimony.
No, Hannah said, “I am not satisfied.” She was in bitterness of soul before the Lord. It was a great personal burden to her, and she would not have a thing that would make her life merely successful.
Now she did not just want a child. She was very specific.
O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but wilt give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
Do you see the size of that? The travail and burden of the Spirit in the church is not really for more people. People are getting converted every day, all over the world. Thank God; He has not stopped working. He is at work.
But you see, God needs something more. He needs an accomplishment of His purpose. I am not merely saying that those who are converted are not spiritual. I could think of many sincere and spiritual people. But the thing is not moving.
What is needed? Who is going to place himself in a position where he is not satisfied, and then dare to do something about it? You go try. I invite you.
Have you ever seen a comedy where a man goes sailing around the door of someone’s house? Oh, that is easy.
Now we have a good program going on here. Folks are being saved. A lot of things are happening. It is just no bother at all with all that nonsense.
Then the next generation comes along, and you lose the life in the very end. It will be in danger. Degeneration just makes sure that the work of degeneration continues.
You will find that. A brother came back from the mission field and went to work in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church. He said, “This is one question: more members only, please. More people giving, more sacrifice.”
He came to many things that he did not believe, because in every home he visited he found alcoholism, drug addiction, divorces, and reversions. He said, “What has been going on in this Christian life in the twenty years I have been out on the mission field?”
Universally broken.
Dear friends, God’s people need to grow up. They do not even ask the question. It is not such an optional thing as a unique activity. We must grow up normally into something of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Well, Eli came along and thought Hannah was drunk. She said she was not. Verse 16:
Count not Thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Eli says, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.”
And her countenance was no more sad. Well, I wonder what transpired in her spirit. Somehow she knew that her prayer had been answered.
Dear friends, you want to wait in peace when the answer comes around, do you understand?
When Samuel was weaned, she would not even go up with the family until the time was right. Then she took him up and brought him to the house of the Lord.
Now we are going to spend at least enough time to learn this: Samuel’s relationship to God was the necessary fruit of this travail.
If we really come together in this way, and if we see God’s purpose and God’s making and healing, we occupy peculiar conditions. We become an instrument for bringing in something of God.
We have followed the history of the ark. It was captured by the Philistines. Then, more than forty years later, it came down to the city of Jerusalem, and David put it there.
When Solomon was at Gibeon, he offered a thousand sacrifices on the altar. That night he was asked by God what he would like, and he asked for a spirit of wisdom and understanding that he might know how to rule God’s people.
God said, in effect, “Because you asked for wisdom and understanding, I will give you such wealth and honor that there has been no king like you before, and there will be no king like you afterward.”
The minute Solomon received that spirit of understanding, he saw something. He left Gibeon and came right down to Jerusalem, where the ark was in a tent, and there he made his sacrifices.
Right now, dear friends, the Lord needs this. The ark means the very heart of God. The ark has to have a resting place.
The ark comes to rest finally in the temple. This requires a man-child.
We read about the man-child in Revelation, and I hesitate to go very far with that. Some of us still need to look very carefully at the book of Revelation, because I know that the teaching of the man-child is associated with the coming of the Lord.
I do not want you to think that this man-child, these overcomers, are a company of super-Christians—people trained in a lot of ways, who dress differently, talk differently, and act differently, thereby distinguishing themselves as members of a special group called overcomers or the bride of Christ.
They are simply people who have a normal kind of Christian experience of growing up in this world. They do not become a company through tradition. They read the Word and keep on in the life of the Word.
They have a life in prayer. They have a life of real concern for God’s people and His purpose. They have a testimony and a witness. They have an impact that comes from them—just something more.
But they are responsible, sane, happy, committed members of the body of Christ, and you will find them always.
Dear friends, I know that people are in a state where they have never been able to stay with any group of Christians for six months at a time. And today they say they are still going on, and they say they are overcomers because they hold to certain teaching.
But you have missed it, that is all. I want to clarify this. Be very careful.
The overcomers overcome “because of the blood of the Lamb.” They have a tremendous, everyday appreciation of righteousness. If you are not trying to be a spiritual person, you can forget it.
Friends, if you want that life, they are living in such a place that the blood will be one of the most precious things. I do not care who you are: as a human being on this earth, you will find that a normal person does not sense something about sin as he should. But the witness is there.
The enemy’s accusation is answered by the blood. The crisis of moral failure is met and maintained by the blood. They overcome by the name of their testimony.
They have a testimony: Jesus is Lord. He is in the world. He is greater than all the power of the earth.
There is a kingdom—not for a coming age only, but right now. And here, friend, you cannot merely wait for some future day.
The kingdom will be manifested in that day gloriously over the whole earth. But Christ is King right now, do you understand? He is King for a community now. He is King now, and He has a people who acknowledge that He is King.
That brings me to something practical: “They loved not their lives unto death.” Laying down your life.
You say, “Well, I do not know how to lay down my life.” Find yourself a company of the Lord’s people where the speaking and the glory are to be found in any measure at all. Join yourself to them and give yourself to them. Your life will be an enormous sport.
You talk to me—I have stood in such a fellowship. It is enormously blessed and enormously difficult. But you will find out that there is only one way through, and that is the way of the cross.
Everything that you might possess must be subordinate to and committed to your fellowship in the Lord: your hobbies, the way you spend your money, every other time, the time you are going through, relationships—not only coming and going.
Friend, I wish I could say these things without taking too many moments on this. It is common. It is just the obvious freedom and joy of ministry.
Sooner or later, dear friends, you will be introduced to the greatness of God.
The more one sees what God is doing through His Son right here and now, the more one will go into travail toward that end. Yes, for the unsaved, too. Yes, you will be concerned about that person you work with and live beside.
I have had lots of conversations in which I say, “I am just holding the door open, maybe. I do not have to go up to him and clear my throat.”
There is a picture I want to give you. I have a stamp and a string, and all these things are tiny, they use. It is not that very long. Simply be real.
I do not know—victory? Why are you saying that? That is the life that comes out much more than how many Scriptures you have to be able to quote.
The friend is bringing in testimony for God, and the burden is the same: “Lord, once You get what You are after, let us not be content with a company where there is singing and glory and testimony and going on with the Lord, and growing up into Christ.”
It just does not have anything for me. I know nothing else that is worth living for.
Friends, I have seen the place of ministry as a Christian in that sense. My heart was broken because I could not think of anything else that was worth being around.
So Hannah’s travail was tremendously necessary. You cannot make it up. It came from God.
And then the Lord Jesus is in it. Paul is in it. Friends, you and me, if we sincerely own it, and there will be a lot of other people, God is going to answer.
I just want to see people growing up into maturity. You can cast a wide vision of what He is really doing on the earth. You can cause the Christian life to become something in the proportions it ought to be in the minds of people when you talk to them.
Especially today, we have a nice little holiday, you know. People appreciate it. It occupies a little corner of their lives, taking up a little time and a little money. But it is not all-consuming.
God’s purpose covers every area, and that brings us into travail in the Word of God.
By the way, I looked through here for ample illustrations for this ministry this morning. I could not find one of the books. If you can find one, I hope you will call.