2026.03.22 Sunday 1st Service
「Loneliness is the Time To Change Yourself」(1 Sa 3:1-19)
▣ Introduction: The Blessing of the Saved
※ God who protects you and His covenant do not change.
The God who protects you and His covenant do not change. Last Sunday, we were told to “Circle Jericho.” This is because Jericho was destined to fall. No matter what crisis you face, the unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated promise remains.
※ What should you do when difficulty is so great that the Word is not visible and prayer does not happen?
We entered the land of Canaan according to God’s promise. But what happened? For 14 generations, we suffered continuously at the hands of the Philistines. In the past, we crossed the Red Sea, the Jordan, and collapsed Jericho. We won the battle in the hill country of Anak. Yet, it seemed as if all of that was in vain. The strong and wicked Philistines entered and kept attacking. It was like when our country was weak and holding knives, Japan came with guns. Israel was holding sticks, but those people brought things like iron swords. They could not win.
What do you do when you face such a hard thing and you cannot do it? In our lives, there are many times when others cannot help and I have to do it myself, but it doesn’t work. You shouldn’t have to suffer that much—continuously for 14 generations. God promised they would conquer the land of Canaan and evangelize the world, but not a single part of that promise was working. When extreme difficulty comes to you like this, even the Word is not visible. When something too hard happens to me, at times, what is prayer? You enter a state where it just doesn’t happen. There have been many times like that, right? But what should we do about this?
1. The Holy Spirit knows our weakness and intercedes for us with groans. He makes all things work together for good (Rom 8:26, 28).
Before that, there is something you must know. If you look at Romans 8:26, it says God knows our weakness and the Holy Spirit helps us by interceding with groans. Even though we are saved children of God, there are times when we do not know how to pray and have no strength. There are many people like that. I had many experiences like that. I didn’t know how to pray. I clearly received grace, and I was going around having received grace from the Word, but when difficulty came, I didn’t know what to do. But first, there is something to know. Even if we don’t know how to pray, God is clearly with the saved person. Romans 8:26 fits me so perfectly. That’s right. God knows our weakness, and the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays for us. Even if it seems like you are suffering, all things work together to achieve good. This is the blessing of the saved.
1) Parents’ suffering – Discovering prayer topics: So I saw my parents suffering. I couldn’t do anything about it. However, I found the topic of what I should pray for. Those prayers have been answered until now. Difficulty is not a loss. Right?
2) Church difficulties – Discovering life’s direction: I saw churches facing many difficulties. Because of that, I found my life’s direction. I am so grateful; while attending church, there were so many difficulties in the church. But through that, I realized what evangelism is.
3) Difficulties in the world – Discovering mission: When I went out into the world, it was even harder. You never know when you’ll be scammed. It’s even harder. That’s how I came to know what mission is.
2. If you become able to pray, 300% will come out.
Then, from that point, it begins. If you become able to pray, 300% will unconditionally come out.
3. If you wait, you will see what belongs to God.
Now, if you wait, God’s things will be visible.
※ Witness (One who knows the Gospel) – One who has seen, one who knows, one who possesses.
An important Remnant got married yesterday, and I gave this message. Christ, who gave a greater influence than all kings and heroes combined, said this at the end. He didn’t say to be a teacher. He didn’t say to be an assertive person. He didn’t say to be a stubborn person. He said to be a witness. And only that. A church-goer is different from a person who knows the Gospel. Right? Church-goers don’t help anyone. You must be a person who knows the Gospel. A witness is someone who has seen. A witness knows. A witness possesses. How can you be a witness if you haven’t seen? That is a witness. “We do it with love…” that’s a basic story.
1) Heavenly Mandate (Cheon-myeong): Our life is a heavenly mandate. Your meeting is a heavenly mandate. Therefore, make your prayer 300% and your occupation 300%. Make your evangelism and missions 300%. That is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Right? And what else?
2) Calling (So-myeong): Calling. Your house itself is a Mission Home. It is an RUTC for raising children. It is a Mission Regional Church for saving dying people.
3) Mission (Sa-myeong): And there is a secret mission that no one knows. A strange age is coming. Right? All your jobs could change. The age of non-face-to-face work is coming. The age of non-face-to-face commerce is coming. The age of non-face-to-face bank economy is coming. But for these friends getting married, their jobs will become even better. I told them to do it.
▣ Main Body: Answers to Receive
As you hold onto the covenant, there is an answer you must receive today. How do you receive the answer? You must not miss it.
1. My Suffering
Of course, you must know the things in the introduction, but the first thing you shouldn’t miss is this. Since we must look at today’s text, Hannah faced great suffering. She tried to solve this, but it wasn’t being solved. She groaned and shed tears, which made it even harder. In Israel, if you don’t have a child, they think you are truly ruined. Peninnah, who made things hard for her, had children, but she had none and groaned. Later, this woman tormented her. It’s easy to say, but in that situation, the suffering was too severe and she had no desire to live. The more she acted that way, the answer didn’t come.
1) Israel suffered during the 14 generations of Judges: What did Hannah realize? She realized, “My suffering is not just my suffering, but the problem of this age.” Right? Passing through 14 generations of Judges, Israel suffered continuously, but there wasn’t a single man to block it. She was only praying for “a son.” Then, she understood the covenant properly. “Give me a Nazarite.” Immediately, God began to work from this point. Right? Your suffering is not just suffering, but the agony of this age. You must realize that. When people ask, “Why are kids like this these days?”, it is the problem of this age. When some problem arises, you must read into it. “Just me?”—in such cases, the answer doesn’t come.
Example: There was a church in Beomcheon-dong. The daughter was a middle schooler, and she went on a trip or picnic and drank alcohol with the other kids. She’s a middle schooler. She’s a female middle schooler. Since a kid who doesn’t drink drank it, it must have been hard. Some rumors started. The father is a pastor. Because this pastor was so legalistic and lacked the Gospel, he nearly beat the daughter to death. He used his own excuse, saying things like, “I am a pastor, and you…” or “A pastor’s daughter, I mean…” If it were me, I wouldn’t have done that. “You’ve had an important experience. You must make the judgment. You must pray.” Right? This is the difference between the Gospel and Legalism. Eventually, the kid ran away from home and died. It was a disaster. If that father’s eyes had truly been opened, he would have seen the problem of the age. Right?
2) Hannah sent Samuel, the son God gave, to the temple as promised: Hannah saw this. From then on, things were already starting to open. God gave her a son, and she truly sent this son to the temple as promised. It is a great pain. But she sent him there.
3) Eli lay in his place, and young Samuel lay near the Ark of the Covenant: You read it today. “Eli lay in his place, and young Samuel lay near the Ark of the Covenant.” This is a huge matter. In this one perspective.
She thought it was “my problem.” We only know ourselves. She thought it was her problem. She thought it was her suffering. One day, Hannah’s eyes flew open. “This isn’t my problem.” What is the point of having a son who can’t even protect the country? She was praying for a child again. “God, give me a Nazarite. Give me a leader with truly powerful faith.” That’s what she meant. Therefore, the person who was born was Samuel.
2. My Loneliness
The second point. Even though it was a covenant, Samuel was a young child. He couldn’t see his mom, and he couldn’t stay at home; he came here. The problem young Samuel faced was actually a reality problem. It wasn’t Samuel’s problem.
1) The problem of the church and our home today: When Hannah realized it wasn’t her problem—even though it technically was—that’s when God’s 300% plan became visible. She realized the loneliness and hard problems young Samuel faced were not his problems. This is the problem of the church and our home today. No one is lying near the Ark of the Covenant.
2) The result: In verse 2, it says the Word had all been cut off. This is a big problem. Visions were not seen. Eli’s eyes had grown dim. So he lay in his own place.
3) Loneliness: It says young Samuel did not let the lamp go out and lay near the Ark. It was at that time. God’s voice began to be heard by Samuel. Now we hear with our hearts through faith, but then, it was heard with the ears. Three times.
※ When the Word of God that will be fulfilled comes upon you, no one can block it. Only the Bible is the correct book. Why our problems started is only in the Bible. “Do not worship idols”—it’s only in the Bible. All other religions teach it. Overcome by not serving demons and Satan. It’s only in the Bible. That’s why difficulty is inevitable.
4) Samuel who became a Spiritual Summit: As he heard God’s voice, Samuel began to change from then on. The Spiritual Summit began. From that day on, not one of Samuel’s words fell to the ground. All his prayers and words were answered. It had to be that way.
You must not think of your loneliness as loneliness. It is a time to hear God’s voice. Right? Your suffering is a time to see God’s plan. Because we only know ourselves, Satan utilizes that.
3. Important Incident
The third point. An important incident broke out. This incident turned into an amazing 300% work of realizing a secret no one else knew. Of course, the Word was fulfilled, but what incident occurred?
1) Philistine Invasion: Again, the Philistines invaded. When war broke out, Eli’s two sons went to battle and died. Upon hearing that report, Eli was so shocked he fell over, broke his neck, and died. That’s fine. But they actually took away the Ark of the Covenant.
2) Samuel’s prayer: He lay by the Ark and not one word fell to the ground: Two things are important: Samuel who lay by the Ark, and Samuel whose words never fell to the ground. They stole the Ark that Samuel protected. Do you think Samuel didn’t pray? Right? There’s no need to even say it.
3) Disasters began to strike wherever the Ark went: They stole the Ark, and where did the Philistines put it? They put it in a region called Ashdod. That was their castle, a large shrine… they put it there. A disaster broke out. That Dagon shrine fell over, and disasters began to strike the whole town. They got scared. Because they were scared, what did these people do? “This won’t do. Send this Ark to the Gath region.” Do you remember anything about Gath? Gath is the hometown of Goliath. There must be many strong people in that town. Regardless, a disaster broke out. The whole town was in a frenzy as disasters struck. Because they were scared, they gathered and held a meeting. “What should we do? No, no. Send it to Ekron.” So they moved it again to Ekron. Things were even crazier there. Everyone was about to die. So they were terrified and repented. They sent the Ark back.
I believe the protagonist there was Samuel. Right? Not one of Samuel’s words fell to the ground. He was always near the Ark. They stole it. By stealing it, the Philistines almost died. They brought the Ark back again.
▣ Conclusion: The Answer Samuel Received
Today you will pray and receive answers using this Samuel. In the second service, they gathered at Mizpah. That is our temple. Right? But what is it today? It is the answer Samuel received.
1. Suffering faced by the 7 Remnants and people of faith.
Your loneliness is a time schedule to change truly important things. Look closely at the Bible. What was all the suffering faced by the 7 Remnants?
1) Joseph: When Joseph was being dragged away, even when Joseph dreamed, he knew this was not his dream. It was a dream for the age that Jehovah desired. He was different from his brothers.
2) Moses: While suffering, he thought, “This is the suffering of Israel from now on.” When Moses’ eyes were opened, he went with courage.
3) David: No one could appear before Goliath. Why? Because it seemed like they would die. But David did not see it that way. The humiliation faced before Goliath now is the future of this nation and our people. And it is related to the glory of Jehovah God. Young David went and said that. “I come in the name of the Lord whom you defy.” That is no ordinary statement. That’s how he won.
※ Disabled people: Receiving answers to prayer is, in a way, great and not difficult. Are there people with major disabilities? Grasp the message for the age. For mothers who have kids in the Love Department (special needs), in a way, it is great suffering. However, this is uniquely the time schedule to experience 24, 25, and Eternity.
4) Spafford: As mentioned last Sunday, someone like Spafford lost his whole family and found something immense. It’s not that you “must” lose your family, but even though he lost his family, he found God’s great grace and changed the world.
5) Rev. Joo Ki-cheol: When Rev. Joo Ki-cheol was being dragged away, he didn’t see it as “my problem.” Right? He didn’t see it as a personal problem. This is related to the church. It is related to the truth. It is related to the future fall of Japan and the fall of Korea. That’s why he boldly held onto the covenant.
2. The loneliness you face.
The solitude and loneliness you face are a very important time schedule from God.
1) A time to find the “me” made by God.
2) A time to focus on and immerse yourself before God: It is a very important time.
3) A time of filling: Solitude is not empty time. It is a time of filling. When children of God are in difficulty and loneliness—Remnants especially—no. It is an important time to fill you.
4) A time to realize evangelism and missions: Finally, he realized what evangelism is. If you don’t know evangelism, you can never escape spiritual and physical poverty. He realized missions. If you don’t know missions, you cannot block disasters.
3. Your regular time of prayer and worship is an immense time.
Usually. So what conclusion do we reach? The fact that you pray and worship is an immense time. If you miss this, you cannot block darkness, chaos, and emptiness. Even though this is a short first service today, you must pray all day and hold onto the covenant. Just watch. Just by holding it, things change. This is a special prayer.
1) Hannah realized it wasn’t her problem or suffering: Hannah just held onto it. Until now, I have prayed wrong. I thought it was my problem. I thought it was my suffering. She realized it wasn’t.
2) Samuel’s loneliness: People thought Samuel was just trapped alone. No. He heard God’s voice.
3) Incidents: And the incident that broke out truly opened eyes to see the future. “As long as Samuel lived, there was no war.” That’s right. “Those who saw Samuel believed in God.” Today, it might seem like a very small thing, but though it’s simple, you must find the important thing.
“Why is it so hard for me?” I used to think that a lot in the past. I was thinking wrong. That was such an important time.
Moses had an accident and was in Midian for 40 years. Many people say it’s a time of avoiding things, but he wasn’t avoiding. It was a time for God to fill Moses with everything. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ that this will be a time of blessing to change things spiritually and anew. Today’s covenant will be fulfilled. Let us pray.
Prayer. God, we thank You. May this be a time when our misunderstandings and delusions crumble before God and a time when God’s plan becomes visible. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.