In 1 Samuel and chapter 2, Hannah,
having been barren, and having cried out unto the Lord, and
having been answered in her prayers with the birth of a child, Samuel,
rejoices and gives thanksgiving unto her God. And the child is
taken and ministers before the Lord, before Eli the priest,
But we read in chapter 2 of how Eli's sons were wicked and did
take of the meat of the offerings which were sacrificed unto the
Lord and took of them and despised, abhorred the offering of the
Lord. And how their wickedness was
known in the land and how it brought dishonor upon Eli and
his household. how their behaviour and their
evil brought shame upon their position as priests in contrast
with the behaviour of the lad Samuel who grew and was in favour
both with the Lord and also with men. In verse 27 we read then
as a consequence that there came a man of God unto Eli and said
unto him, Thus saith the Lord. Did I plainly appear unto the
house of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all
the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar,
to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto
the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the
children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice
and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and
honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the
chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people. Wherefore
the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house
and the house of thy father should walk before me forever, 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. Behold, the days come that I
will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, and
there shall not be an old man in thine house. 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. And the man of thine, whom I
shall not cut off from an 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. 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 I will raise me up a faithful
priest that shall do according to that which is in mine heart
and in my mind and I will build him a sure house and he shall
walk before mine anointed forever and it shall come to pass that
everyone that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to
him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread and shall say,
Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest's offices, that
I may eat a piece of bread. Verse 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. Them that honour me I will honour
and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. This is a solemn word and a solemn
passage given what came upon Eli's house and his two sons
who were struck down dead in a day. in contrast with that
faithful priest Samuel whom God caused to be born unto that barren
woman Hannah whom God set his grace upon and his mercy and
love upon from before he was born and blessed him and raised
him up and raised him up to that position as that prophet in the
kingdom. God set his love and his grace
upon Samuel and Samuel became one that honoured his God as
a consequence and God honoured him. In contrast with these sons
of the priest Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, who abhorred the offering
of the Lord, who made a mockery of the worship of God, who knew
not God, as we read earlier in the chapter. They were sons of
Belial. They knew not the Lord. They
were in the eyes of the people, priests, offering up sacrifices,
interceding for the people, going into the temple, standing before
the people as these religious men who would make sacrifice
unto the Lord on their behalf. These were men who, in the sight
of others, had the appearance of those who knew God. and who
served God. And yet we read that they were
sons of Belial and they knew not the Lord. All their outward
deeds, all their outward position, all their outward appearance
was of nothing worth. They knew not God, their hearts
were far from God. All that they did and they said
was abhorrent to a holy God. They were wicked sinners masquerading
as religious. They honoured not their Father
and they honoured not Almighty God. And God says, be it far
from me for them that honour me will I honour, and they that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed. And so lightly esteemed was Hophni
and Phinehas that God struck them down dead. Their sins brought
about a consequence. Their sins found them out. You
cannot dishonour Almighty God You cannot trample His Word,
His Truth, His Gospel, His Son underfoot. You cannot reject
it in your heart and live and act like there is no God and
foolishly say in your heart there is no God and think that you
can live and do and say and get away with whatever you do. Everything
we do, everything we think, everything we say, God knows and God sees. And there is a day in which we
shall give account for all our deeds, both good and evil, for
all that we have done, fought and said. There's a day coming
where every single one of us shall stand before Almighty God
and the books shall be opened and we will have to give an account. And either we will stand as Phineas
and Hophni, exposed for our iniquity, exposed for our unbelief, exposed
for all that we are, and a sentence of death will rain down upon
us. Or like Samuel, chosen by God, washed in the blood of Jesus
Christ, recipients of God's mercy and grace, we will come before
Almighty God and He will say, regarding all our sin and all
our unbelief, all our doubts and our fears, He will say of
us, not guilty. Before me, You are righteous
because my son, my son has stood in your place. He's taken away
your sin. He's washed you clean in his
blood. And I bless you. I have favoured you. I have set
my grace upon you. You have honoured me as you've
believed on him and followed him. And them that honour me,
I will honour. There's a huge contrast between
this son Samuel, whom God gave in love to Hannah, and these
two sons of Eli, sons of Belial, who despised the Word of God,
despised the truth of God, despised the worship of God. They neither
honoured God, nor did they honour their earthly father. Them that
honour me will I honour and they that despise me shall be lightly
esteemed. And these things are true, not
just true of Samuel, Phineas and Hophni but true regarding
every one of us. We will all stand before Almighty
God. We will all meet our Maker. There's no cheating Him. There's
no escaping Him. We can live our lives. We can
go away. We can shut our ears to this message. We can shut
our ears to the truth. We can go off and waste away
70, 80 years, if we're granted it, of our lifetime, building
our own empires, pursuing our own dreams, shutting out God
from our thinking. Or we can go off and we can build
an empire in religion. We can pretend to be priests.
We can pretend to be serving God like these two did. We can
have the adulation of men and the honour of men who think that
we're so zealous and so religious, yet in our hearts we despise
God. We don't know Him. We don't know
Him. These two sons, they knew not
the Lord. Oh, they knew of Him? They knew
of him, they were sons of Eli. They knew the record, they knew
what the sacrifices were about. They knew the history. They knew
that Israel had been delivered out of Egypt. They knew about
God. They'd read the scriptures as
it were, they'd heard the message, but they didn't know him. And
their religion was of nothing worth. Whatever empire you build,
whatever riches you have, whatever kingdoms you create, whether
they are religious or irreligious, if you don't know God and his
mercy and grace, then he will say of you, you've despised me. You've despised my word, you've
despised my truth, you've despised my gospel, you've despised my
worship. And those that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. Those that despise me, like Phineas
and Hophni, shall die in their sins. Who honours God today? They that honour me I will honour.
Who honours God today? If you look around, look around
where you live, look around in your own town, look around in
this country, look around in the world and consider the words,
the deeds, the actions of men, great and small. Who honours
God? Who honours Him in their conduct? in their language, in their worship,
who honours him with all that they are and all that they do? When you listen to your fellow
man, or if you listen to yourself, is your life, and is their life,
shaped by a desire to know God, to worship Him, to walk before
Him, to honour Him? Or is it shaped by a desire to
honour yourself, honour your own dreams, your own desires,
your own lusts and ambitions, to take your fill of this world
and all that you can get from it? Who are you seeking to honour,
God or yourself? Do you seek the honour of men
towards yourself? Or would you give up yourself
for the honour of God? We live in a wicked and an evil
day. A day when men say little of
God. A day when those in positions
of power, in government, never refer to God never refer to the
walk of the people, the nation before Almighty God never refer
to seeking God's will or praying before God or having the mercy
and blessing of God upon the nation God isn't part of their
thinking and in their silence they despise
Him but he watches and he listens and he observes and an account
is kept. Nothing is done in secret. How we personally and how we
as a country and as a world should heed such a verse, such a word
as we read here in Samuel. Them that honour me I will honour
and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Do we despise the word of God? Or do we honour it? Do we take
a Bible and read it? Do we seek to know God and to
learn of Him and to understand the meaning of the Bible? To
seek God through reading it and hearing His Word? Or does it
remain sat on a shelf, never touched? Would we rather read
anything and everything but? Do we even own one? Have we ever
opened one? Do we honour the worship of God?
Do we seek to worship Him? Do we come week by week to worship
Him? Do we desire to? Or do we come
just because we have to? Or do we never worship Him? Them
that honour me will I honour and they that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. They that honour me Who honors
God? Who honors God? We read of these sons of Eli
and of Eli himself who allowed their conduct to continue. And as such, he was guilty with
them. We read of the sons of Eli and
it's very evident that they did not honour God. And the people of Israel at a
time who could allow such wickedness amongst the priesthood, in their churches as it were, did not honour God. We live in days where there are
churches up and down this land which preach a lie, which in
their manner of so-called worship bring false fire, strained fire
before Almighty God. Churches which take the name
of Jesus and they don't know Jesus. They don't know God. They don't know anything of the
truth of the Gospel. They reject the true Gospel and
proclaim a lie in its place. That is a fact and a fact which
is not unnoticed by Almighty God. There are churches remaining
but His presence is not in them. God does not walk amongst them.
And these, though they claim to follow a Jesus, stand before
God guilty, as Eli and his sons did. And the nation which permits,
the churches which permit such lies in the midst, stand before
God guilty. Collectively they despise the
Lord. For who are they that honour
him? In this chapter, we see in contrast to Eli and his sons,
the lad Samuel, given as a gift to Hannah, chosen by the grace
of God, raised up before Eli. Raised up in this same household
where Eli's own sons despised God. Here is one who did honour
the Lord. But not by nature. Not of himself. Samuel was born of Adam just
as the sons of Eli were born of Adam. He was a sinner just
like they were. His own heart, like any man's
heart, would have gone another way. His own heart, like your
heart and my heart, sought other things. The difference between him and
Eli's sons lay in the saving grace of God. God chose him. God put his grace in his heart. God put faith in the heart of
Samuel and Samuel, believing the promises of God, trusting
his God, followed his God and honoured his God. And honouring
his God, God says, I will honour you. You're my chosen. You're one of mine. Them that honour me, I will honour. But as I say, naturally speaking,
none of us seek God, none of us follow Him, none of us honour
Him. Romans makes that plain, as it is written. There is none
righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of asps is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we know that whatsoever the
law sayeth, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. There's none that seeketh after
God and the law doesn't help us seek after God. The law just
exposes our sins. Eli and his sons had the law,
they had the priesthood, they had the sacrifices. And all the
Lord did was condemn them. But Samuel honoured the Lord. And Samuel honoured the Lord
because of God's grace upon him. because Samuel had been brought
to see and believe the Gospel. Samuel had been brought to see
his righteousness somewhere other than from himself. He knew that
in himself he was not righteous, but God would give him a righteousness. He knew that in himself he was
a sinner, but God would give him redemption from his sin,
God would wash him clean of his sin, God would forgive his sin.
Samuel believed in a Saviour to come. Samuel believed that
of which Paul goes on to speak in Romans 3, in the righteousness
of God. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Samuel, a prophet, witnessed
the righteousness of God. He saw it by faith, he spake
of it, he preached of it, and he honored God by preaching and
believing this gospel. even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God all have sinned Phineas, Hophni and
Samuel but those that believe by faith in Jesus Christ have
the righteousness of God. And with the righteousness of
God, and their sins washed away by the blood of Christ, they
stand before God perfect. That's how Samuel honoured his
God. It wasn't Samuel's strength himself. It wasn't Samuel's zeal. It wasn't
Samuel's righteousness. It wasn't Samuel's obedience
in himself. It was because he believed the
gospel. He knew God. God met with him. God opened his eyes. God opened
his understanding. God spake unto him. He believed
God. we read in these books we read
in the next chapter of how the word of the Lord is revealed
to Samuel of how when he goes to bed goes to sleep he hears
a word a voice calling and he thinks it's Eli But it's the
Lord. The Lord called Samuel again
the third time, and he arose and went unto Eli and said, Here
am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord
had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel,
Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt
say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay
down in his place and the Lord came and stood and called us
at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak,
for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said unto Samuel,
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears
of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will
perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house. When I begin, I will also make
an end. For I have told him that I will
judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth because
his sons have made themselves vile and he restrained them not. And therefore have I sworn under
the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged
with sacrifice nor offering forever. And Samuel lay until the morning
and opened the doors of the house of the Lord and Samuel feared
to show Eli the vision. But Samuel had to go and tell
Eli what the Lord had told him. And when he told him everything
and hid nothing from him, Eli said, It is the Lord. Let him
do what seemeth him good. And Samuel grew, and the Lord
was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan even
to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet
of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in
Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by
the word of the Lord. Samuel heard God. He heard God speak unto him in
the gospel and he believed that gospel and he followed the Lord
and honoured him. It's God's grace and mercy in
coming to Samuel, choosing him, choosing to save him, choosing
to use him as a prophet, speaking unto him and revealing himself
unto him. that caused Samuel to differ
from Eli's sons. But Samuel is a picture in the
contrast between this chosen prophet and these wicked sons. He's a picture of Christ to come. Samuel himself looked for another. Samuel, this prophet, honoured
the Lord. but he honoured him because of
that great prophet whom he looked through time towards, that one
that would come, the Son of God, the only man that has ever lived
who is without sin. the only one who walked before
God without sin, the only one who ever did and ever could honour
the Lord in all that he fought, did and said. Samuel trusted
and looked for that prophet to come. Later in Samuel 2 we read
God's word that he says I will raise me up a faithful priest
that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in
my mind and I will build him a sure house and he shall walk
before mine anointed forever Now God speaks of Samuel, a faithful
priest, but through him he's speaking of his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who would be God's priest, God's great high priest
for his people, God's anointed, God's great prophet. the one
who would come and not only speak of the gospel, but would bring
to pass the gospel. Christ is the sacrifice. He is the priest who took the
sacrifice. He had a sacrifice that was able
to take away the sins of all his people throughout all time. He took that sacrifice, his own
flesh, his own body, his own blood, and he shed it. He laid
down his own life, he stood in the sinner's place. He didn't
merely, as the priests of old, go into the temple and take a
sacrifice and shed blood and represent them in a figure, but
he did it in reality. He shed his own blood and he
took away the sins of his people. And it's him that Samuel rested
in. It's him that Samuel trusted
in. It's him that Samuel believed
in. And it's through Christ and Christ
alone that Samuel honoured God. They that honour me, how can
any man, how can any sinner honour a holy God? How could Samuel
honour God? How could you and I possibly
honour God when we're so wretched, so rebellious, so full of sin
by nature, so full of doubts and fears? How can we possibly
honour God? By faith in Jesus Christ. by faith in the only man who
truly did and truly does honour God. Christ honours God. Them that honour me will I honour. He honoured his father and the
father honoured his son and all that believe and trust in the
son through him honour the father and the father honours them. Samuel was chosen. Samuel had God's grace set upon
him. Samuel fulfilled what Hannah
said in her prayer of thanksgiving. God kills and God makes alive. God condemns and God saves. God judged Phineas and Hophni. but God blessed and saved Samuel
with his mighty hand of grace. In verse 1 we read, And Hannah
prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted
in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I
rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord,
for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like
our God. Talk no more, so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions
are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired themselves for bread and they that were
hungry ceased so that the barren have born seven and she that
have many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth, and maketh
alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh
rich. He bringeth low, and lifteth
up. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to
set them among princes. and to make them inherit the
throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. He will
keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent
in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he
thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt
the horn of his anointed. What a prayer Hannah prayed and
what a statement of the gospel there is therein. It's in the
Lord's hands. whether you're exalted or brought
low, whether you live or whether you die, whether you're left
as a beggar on a dunghill or raised up as a prince to inherit
the throne of glory, whether you as an adversary, an enemy
of the Lord are broken to pieces, whether you are judged until
the end of the earth. It's in God's hands. He is almighty
God. He reigns over all. He's sovereign. What fools we are on earth that
run around saying what we think about this, that and the other.
Boasting of our own knowledge and our own wisdom and thinking
we can live our lives like there is no God and do what we will
as though we can get away with it. Eli's house was destroyed. Phineas and Hophni was slain
and all the wicked throughout all time every age and every
generation every country of the world will be judged and destroyed
unless they are amongst those who know the mercy and the grace
of God as Hannah and Samuel did. if you despise God and His Word
and His Gospel, if you despise those who come and preach His
Gospel, if you despise His people and despise His Son, you, as
an adversary of the Lord, shall be broken to pieces. Have no doubt about it. This
isn't a statement in Hannah's age for people of that generation. This isn't a statement which
died in the Middle Ages or in some former age which you look
back upon and sneer at as though it's no longer relevant. This
is a statement which speaks to you and me in our day and age
today. God maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. You stand before Almighty God
and whether you honour him or despise him there will be a consequence. Hannah knew Her life stood in
God's hands and by His grace. She honoured the Lord because
she knew the Lord, because He made Himself known under her,
and she loved Him and blessed Him and worshipped Him. God blesses
those who honour Him, those whom He loves, those whom He knows,
those whom He has chosen in grace. But they that despise him shall
be lightly esteemed. They that despise him shall be
lightly esteemed. In John 5 verse 23 we read that
all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father.
He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which
hath sent him. To honour God is to honour His
Son, Jesus Christ. And to honour His Son, Jesus
Christ, is to honour God the Father. To despise the Son is
to despise the Father. Samuel believed in the sacrifice
of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He rested in Christ alone for
salvation. In the scriptures, in the law,
we're called to honour our father and our mother. That is described
as the first commandment with promise. Because if we honour
our father and mother, we are promised the blessing, the prosperity
of our lives in this world. Whereas if we despise our mother
and our father, then the judgment and the wrath of God is upon
us. It's the first commandment, we're promised, we're called
to honour our father and our mother in an earthly realm. Because
it's a picture of honouring our creator, our heavenly father,
the heavenly father almighty God. Now Christ, the son of God,
honoured the father. And as he says, all that honour
the father will honour the son and all that honour the son honour
the father and all that reject the son reject the father and
all that reject the father will reject the son. If you dishonour
your mother and your father you show the same attitude of heart
towards Almighty God. They that despise God despise
all. Eli's sons in their wicked deeds
despised God and they despised Eli their father and brought
condemnation upon him as much as themselves. Oh how they rejected
what their father taught them and what, how grave were the
consequences. For in so doing they rejected
one greater than their father, they rejected God himself. And
to despise God is to place ourselves in a very dangerous place. They that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed. What a way to express it, lightly
esteemed. The light estimation that God
had of Phineas and Hophni led to their death. It's no small
thing to be lightly esteemed by Almighty God. To be lightly
esteemed by God is catastrophic. The consequences of Phineas and
Hophni's deeds and actions, their attitude, their words, their
wickedness, in despising their father and despising their God
were catastrophic. They brought down God's wrath
upon them and their whole household. They were cut off forever. God
came unto the child Samuel and spake unto him that prophecy
concerning Eli's house, which Samuel had to say unto Eli. And Eli owned and honoured and
said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. O may God have mercy upon us,
to bring unto us the word of God and the gospel of God, to
speak that gospel to us in particular as he spake unto Samuel in the
night. in the night, in the darkness,
when all around in the world was dark, in the midst of a dark
and an evil world, when he was surrounded by darkness, Samuel
dwelling in the house of Eli, this wicked household, this household
where Phinehas and Hophni were brought forth, this household
of religion, but wicked, dark and evil religion, There was
Samuel alone, a child in the darkness, without any strength
or ability. He wasn't a mighty man, he was
a child. And yet God came unto him in
the darkness, and light rushed into Samuel's heart. God spake,
and the child answered, Speak, Lord, thy servant hereof. God spake. He found him. He came unto him. And he revealed
his gospel. He revealed himself. He revealed
Christ unto Samuel. And Samuel believed. And in believing
Samuel's heart, his heart of faith, trusted and rested in
God and he honored God and God honored and blessed him when
all around were destroyed by fire as it were. Where are you? Are you an Eli? Are you a Phineas? Are you a Hophni? Do you despise
God? Do you despise His Word? Do you despise His Gospel? Do you despise the worship of
God? Would you rather be anywhere
else, doing anything else, hearing anything else, than hearing His
Word? Or like Samuel, in the darkness,
do you cry out, Speak Lord, thy servant heareth. Do you honour
Him with a heart of faith? Do you want to know His grace,
His mercy, His salvation? Do you want to know His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you want to be washed in His
blood? Do you cry out, here am I, speak
Lord, my servant hereof. Amen.