Okay, brethren, let's turn to
1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. My text is going to be taken
from the last part of verse 30. 1 Samuel 2 verse 30. The Lord is speaking here and
He says, Them that honor Me, I will honor. And they that despise Me shall
be lightly esteemed. Now that's the Lord God speaking. And He's speaking to each of
us here now. This applies to everybody here. Them that honor Me, I will honor.
And they that despise Me, shall be lightly esteemed. Now God
demands that we honor Him by honoring Christ. By honoring
Christ, by believing on Christ, both in the doctrine that we
believe, the doctrine that we proclaim, in our walk before
the Lord, and in our rebuke of those who would dishonor Christ.
and speak contrary to the glory of Christ. God promises them
that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed. Now throughout scriptures we
see this. God honors those who honor Him. Abel honored God. Abel came to
God, believed in God, and he manifested because he came with
a more excellent sacrifice. He came with the blood of a lamb.
That was more excellent than what Cain came with. Cain came
with the works of his own hands. And so God honored Abel. He honored
him. The scripture says he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.
And by it he being dead yet speaketh. Noah honored God. Noah... Noah, at the expense of his... or he rested his whole reputation
and his eternal soul on the Word of God. And he built an ark. And by that, God honored him. God saved Noah. And, temporally
speaking, he saved his children. And he gave them rest in Christ,
saved them eternally. Moses honored God. Moses, the
Scripture says, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God rather
than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He esteemed the
reproach of Christ. The reproach of Christ. He esteemed
that greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt. And God
honored Moses. And then likewise throughout
the Scriptures, we see God lightly esteemed those who failed to
honor him. Lot. Lot was a righteous man,
the scripture says. He was saved by God's grace.
But he failed to honor God. When Lot looked out and he saw
that fertile plain of Sodom, and he chose that rather than
submitting to God by submitting to Abraham and staying with Abraham.
And God lightly esteemed him. He had to suffer the rest of
his days in his house because of that choice he made. David
was a righteous man. Scripture says David was the
man after God's own heart. And yet, in the matter of Uriah,
David dishonored the Lord. And the Lord lightly esteemed
him. The Lord took the child that
was the product of him and Bathsheba, and then the sword never left
David's house the rest of his days because of that. Those who
honor God, God will honor. And those who lightly esteem
God, God will lightly esteem. That's what our text is telling
us. And then our text here, it gives us another example of this
with a man named Eli. Eli failed to honor God. He had been used of God. He had
been used of God. But then he failed to honor God
when he failed to sharply rebuke his sons because they were putting
a... a blemish upon God and His glory
in Christ Jesus. And God lightly esteemed Eli,
making him suffer greatly in his family. Now, our text is
dealing with the fact that Eli did not rebuke his children and
teach them the truth of the gospel in great plainness and no uncertain
terms. That's what our scripture is
dealing with tonight. But this applies to every duty
that God gives to a believer. Whatever it is, this applies.
This same principle applies. Now let's go back. First of all,
Eli failed to honor God by failing to rebuke his sons. By failing
to rebuke them sharply and turn them to the Lord. Now I want
you to note this. This is our responsibility even
if our children are lost. Look at 1 Samuel 2 and verse
12. Now the sons of Eli were sons
of Belial. They knew not the Lord. Now they
held the priest's office, but these boys were lost. They didn't
know God. They did not know the Lord. Surely
God didn't expect Eli to rebuke his sons and command them to
walk orderly in the house of God according to the Word of
God when these boys were lost. Yes, God did. He sure did. Don't
miss this now. In God's house, God is teaching
His people the one way of salvation in Christ. The one way of salvation
in Christ. That's who these offerings and
these sacrifices represent. here that we're going to see
that Eli's sons disgraced by what they did. Nothing is more
important than learning this truth that salvation is all of
the Lord. Salvation is one way, it's in
Christ only. We gather here, we come to this
place because We gather here to hear that you and I, in our
flesh, are dead, lost, undone sinners. We're helpless to make
ourselves be born of God. We're helpless to bring ourselves
to believe on God. We're helpless to justify ourselves
and make ourselves righteous. We're helpless to sanctify ourselves
and make ourselves holy. Salvation is entirely of the
Lord. A to Z, salvation is the Lord.
We gather to hear this message. It's a two-fold message. All
flesh is grass. But our God reigns, and He reigns
in the person of His Son. God the Father chose His Son. He chose Christ to bring glory
and honor to His name. He chose Christ to be the high
priest for His people. He chose Christ to be the offering
for His people. He chose Christ to be the altar
upon whom this sacrifice was made. He chose Christ to be the
temple of His people. Christ came and Christ fulfilled
everything that God purposed, everything that was written of
Him. Everything we're reading about here in type and in shadow
in this Old Testament Scripture, Christ is the fulfillment of
it. He redeemed His people from all iniquity. And God the Holy
Spirit applies this good news in our hearts when He quickens
His people and brings us to faith in Christ and keeps us there
by His irresistible grace and power. This is salvations of
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And
therefore in God's house, because this is the message we come to
hear, in God's house, God will have everyone, sons of God, sons
of Belial. Believers and unbelievers. God
will have everybody in His house, at least outwardly, to walk in
the order that God commands. Because we need to hear this
message. We need to hear the message of
salvation by the Lord. We need to hear it. God the Holy
Spirit said this through the Apostle Paul. He said, let all
things be done unto edifying. Let all things be done unto edifying. For God's not the author of confusion,
but the author of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Let all things be done decently and in order. And furthermore,
God will have us who are his children, who God has placed
in authority, a pastor, a husband, a father, a mother, He's put
us in a position of authority to teach those in our sphere
of influence. And He's given us that responsibility.
And God will have us to rebuke any and all who would turn themselves
away from Christ and speak evil of Christ or that would turn
others away from Christ and speak evil of Christ. He would have
us rebuke them and rebuke them sharply. Always remember this,
we can't make the Word of God effectual in the heart of a sinner. That's impossible for us to do,
but that's not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to have
those that are under our influence and our authority, to have them
under the sound of the Gospel and to teach them the Gospel.
That's our responsibility. And to rebuke any who would speak
evil of Christ or turn from Christ or desire to run from Christ,
we're to teach them. We're to teach them. Now that's
the first thing I wanted you to see here. These boys didn't
know the Lord at all. And yet God's going to rebuke
their father for not teaching these boys. Now look, here's
the second thing. We see why God's order is so
important by looking at Eli's sons. We see why this order is
so important in the house of God by seeing what Eli's sons
were doing. Look at verse 13. Here's what
they did. And the priest's custom with
the people was... Now this wasn't God's word. This
was Eli's sons' custom. They were the priests. This was
their custom. This is what they came up with.
When any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while
the flesh was in seething, while it was in the pot, seething in
the water, with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. And
he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot,
and all that the flesh hook brought up, the priest took for himself."
This is a sacrifice to be brought to God. He took this flesh hook
and he dipped it in there and he pulled it up, and whatever
came up with that flesh hook, they took for themselves. And
it says, "...so they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that
came thither. Also, before they burnt the fat..."
This was an offering to God. "...a sweet-smelling savor pictured
Christ. The priest's servant came before
they burnt the fat, and he said to the man that sacrificed, Give
flesh to roast for the priest." He don't want just this boiled
meat, He wants something He can put on the grill, so He can have
good roasted barbecue. For He will not have sodden flesh
of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto Him,
if these men came to worship God, if they said unto Him, let
them not fail to burn the fat presently. Let's burn the fat
first. Let's do what God said first.
And then take as much as thy soul desireth. Then He would
answer him. This priest-servant would say,
No, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will take
it by force. Wherefore, the sin of the young
men was very great before the Lord. For men abhorred the offering
of the Lord. Look now at verse 22, at the
end there, verse 22. This is what else they did. And
they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. Now this is Eli's sons. Why was
their sin very great before the Lord? These sacrifices typified
Christ. They typified the Lord Jesus
Christ who made peace between God and His people. Christ Jesus
came into this earth And here's God's people who are enemies
in their minds by wicked works. Enemies of God. Their hearts
enmity against God. And left to themselves, they're
going to die and they're going to perish in their sins. They
have to be reconciled to God. And they have to be reconciled
to God in a manner according to God's justice. And so Christ
comes and Christ, He intervenes. He comes between them and God
and says, Father, put their sin upon me. He says, Father, I'll
bear their iniquity. I'll bear the judgment that's
poured out on them. I'll bear their sin. And Christ
goes to the cross and God pours out judgment that they deserved
on Christ instead of on them. And so He wrought peace for His
people. He reconciled His people to God. And the effectual result that
He accomplished, that shall be accomplished because of that
is, He's going to wrought peace in their heart. He's going to
bring them to be a habitation of God through the Spirit, so
that they're made to be one in God. How do I know that? Because
that's what Christ prayed for. That's how I know it. In John
17, He said, I will that they be one, even as we are one. What did He mean by that? I in
them. I in them. Thou and me, that
they may be one in us." And by their actions, by what they were
doing, Eli's sons, they were just pouring contempt upon God,
upon Christ, and upon His people because of what they were doing.
And what they were doing here in this is here's these sacrifices
that are supposed to be pointing the Lord's people to Christ.
We read in Hebrews chapter 10 that these things were a figure,
they were a picture, they were a shadow of good things to come.
And those that God was teaching in their heart even in this day,
they beheld what God was doing in this. They beheld this was
a picture of that one that God had promised to come. But here
they are, they come to the house of God to worship God, like you
come in here to hear a word about Christ your Redeemer. Here they
come to worship God. And instead of worshiping God,
these men that were supposed to be God's ministers for their
good, they're turning their eyes completely away from Christ,
completely away from Him, completely butchering these sacrifices,
disgracing these sacrifices. and taking it all for themselves.
That's the offense. That's what they were doing.
And his sons did this. When they did this, they not
only were leading the women away from the house of God to their
house to commit literal fornication and adultery, they were leading
all Israel away from God to commit spiritual fornication and spiritual
adultery. And what they did, the result
of this, what it ended in was, it made all the people abhor
bringing the sacrifice. It made them hate coming to God's
house to worship God. You know why they did all this?
To fulfill the lust of their flesh. Now that is the essence
of sin. All these things I just said,
that's the essence of sin, brethren. Sin is putting the flesh above
the will of God and the honor of Christ. Now, wouldn't you
say that these sons should be rebuked sharply? Wouldn't you
say they should be rebuked sharply for what they were doing? It
was great evil before the Lord. And likewise, brethren, it's
great evil before the Lord when religious leaders Men or women,
now it's both in the church, which it's not supposed to be,
but they lead folks away. They create their own customs,
like Eli's sons did, to try to make proselytes unto the Lord.
And in the process of doing it, they're leading men directly
away from Christ, they're making them commit spiritual fornication,
and in the end, you know what happens? They make men speak
evil of the truth of God, the gospel of Christ Jesus. The Lord
said they would. Paul said, many shall follow
their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall
be evil spoken of. Why do so many people speak evil
of the gospel in our day? Why do so many people say, I
want nothing to do with church? I want nothing to do with anything
like that? Because Because of this, because
men have mocked God and mocked His sacrifice and mocked the
gospel with their own invented customs like these men were doing. So should they be rebuked sharply?
Yes, they should be rebuked sharply. I'm so thankful that God's given
you a heart to come here to diligently seek God, to worship God and
to do so in an orderly fashion. And here's why I'm glad God's
given us that heart. Because brethren, it's just as
evil. It's just as evil. And I want
all our young people to hear this. It's just as evil to enter
into a place where God's Gospel is preached in truth and to be
yourself distracted away by your own fleshly desires or to be
a distraction for others and distracting them away from the
Gospel. It's just as great an evil. just as great an evil. Well, let's see here now. Thirdly,
we see Eli's offense. Eli is their father. Now here's
Eli's offense. Eli, he essentially joined in
this with them. He didn't physically, literally
join in with them, but how did he join in with them? He joined
in with them by not rebuking them, by not stopping them. Now
look here in verse 22. Now Eli was very old, and he
heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how they lay
with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And he said unto them, this is
what he said to his sons, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings
by all these people. Everybody is talking about this.
No, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. You make
the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another,
the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the
Lord, who shall entreat for him? Who's going to make supplication
for him? Notwithstanding, they hearken not unto the voice of
their father, because the Lord would slay them. The things Eli
said to his sons were true. Everything he said was true.
The things he said to his son. But Eli, he didn't speak plainly. He didn't speak boldly. He didn't
speak plainly. He didn't rebuke them sharply
in the things that he said to them. He suggested to his sons
this. This is what he suggested to
them. That turning from Christ made it so there was nobody else
who could supplicate God for them. That's what he suggested
to them by what he said here. But did you see how unclear it
was in what he said? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only mediator between God and men. He's the only mediator between
God and men. You're going to do business with
God. We're going to do business with God one day. And the only
way we can come into God's presence and be accepted of God is in
Christ Jesus the mediator between God and man. Christ is the only
one who is the propitiation for sins. He's the mercy seat. He's
the one place God will be merciful to his people. The one place.
Christ Jesus the Lord is the only advocate with the Father.
He's the advocate with the Father for His people by His very presence
with the Father. He ever lives to make intercession
for us, the Scripture says. For those that God gave to Him,
for those that God calls by His grace to faith in Him, He lived
to make intercession for us. He entered into God to be there
in presence, in His presence with God for us. And that's the
intercession of God for His people. But look at Hebrews chapter 10.
If you turn from Christ, and you walk away from Christ, and
you leave Christ, there is nobody else to supplicate God for you. Nobody else. Hebrews 10.26. He tells us there in Hebrews
10. He tells us here that, look at
verse 26. If we sin willfully, he's talking
here, if you reject Christ, if you turn from Christ, if you
walk away and say, I don't want to have anything to do with Christ,
if you reject Christ after that we've received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. but
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation
which shall devour the adversaries." Now look, he that despised Moses'
law, under Moses' law, he that despised Moses' law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses. Now brethren, we're not coming
to God in the law. Christ has come and He's fulfilled
the law for His people totally. He's established the law for
His people. And the only way you and I establish
the law is through faith in Christ who established it for His people.
If they that despised Moses' law died under two or three witnesses,
look what he says, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye,
shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son
of God. Pay attention to this word, trodden
underfoot, trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite the Spirit of grace. Now see, the only way
you come to God is in Christ. This is it. Now, this is what
the sacrifice is pictured, brethren. But Eli didn't speak this plainly
to his sons. He didn't declare this plainly
to his sons. If he had of, this would have
been the rebuke his sons needed. This would have been the sharp
rebuke his sons needed. But he didn't declare it. And
that's why God was displeased with Eli. Now there was nothing
to excuse Eli for not honoring God. The Scripture says he was
very old. Maybe in his old age he became
more gentle. But you know what? God didn't
excuse him for that. God does not excuse him for that.
Somebody said this, when the honor of God is at stake, gentleness
is treason. You think about that. Perhaps
old age taught Edi that people prefer a preacher who doesn't
offend anybody. But God didn't excuse him for
that. God blames the preacher that don't offend folks. And
I don't mean by being offensive. I mean by preaching the gospel. The gospel is the offense. The
gospel of Christ. If I yet pleased men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. Here's the thing that made Eli's
offense even worse. He knew how important it is not
to hold back the word of God. He knew how important. Look down
at chapter 3 and verse 17. The Lord used Eli to rebuke him.
And look at what Eli, I mean he used Samuel to rebuke Eli. And when Samuel came back from
receiving the word from the Lord, look at what Eli said. Verse
17. He said, What is the thing that
the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from
me. God do so to thee, and more also if thou hide anything from
me of all the things that he said unto thee. You see, he knew
the importance of not holding back the word of God. Brethren,
to honor God is to declare is to declare the Word of God faithfully. Faithfully. Plainly. Clearly. Boldly. In no uncertain terms.
And by this, God will rebuke His people. He'll rebuke them
sharply. This is the Word whereby His people are rebuked. And we
do this even when it's our dearest loved ones. Our Lord said this,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me." What does it mean to deny
ourselves? Well, one thing it means is this.
He said in another place, if any man come to me and hate not,
it means if he prefers, he's got to prefer me rather than
his father and mother, his wife and children, his brethren and
his sisters, yea, and his own life also or he can't be my disciple. It would have been more loving
for Eli towards his sons to go to them and speak this truth
of God clearly to them than what he did to them. Now, holding
back the truth of God, it might spare you and me from some trouble. And it might spare those that
we love or those we're speaking to, it might spare them from
suffering at that present time. But it never will convert anybody
from the error, from unbelief, from... It won't. God, it won't. And the end won't be for their
good either. Look at the... Two things are
going to happen if we hold back the Word of God. Two things.
Look here, first part of verse 25. Notwithstanding, they hearken
not to the voice of their father. Eli held back the Word of God.
God will certainly not honor His Word, making it effectual
in the heart, if we don't speak His Word, if we don't speak the
truth. Holding back the Word never causes
a sinner to hearken to God. And then look at this, here's
the second thing. Verse 25 says, because the Lord would slay them.
This is why they hearken not. Eli had failed to teach these
boys and he had failed to rebuke them. And he let this go unchecked. He let this go on and on. And
he never set forth the glory of God in the face of Christ
before these boys. And so they went on sinning.
They went on rejecting Christ by rejecting these offerings
and doing with them what they would. And they sinned to the
point that God said, I'm not going to rebuke them. I'm going
to kill him. It was God's will to kill him.
That's right. Look down at chapter 3 verse
13. God tells us that. He said, I
have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity
which he knoweth because his sons made themselves vile and
he restrained them not. He restrained them not. Now,
you fathers and mothers, don't let this discourage you. It's
not meant to discourage you. What it is meant to do, what
God's given us this word to do is, is to teach us to redeem
the time and to teach our children while we can teach them. To teach
them the truth. Declare the truth to them while
we can. Now, let's look at this fourth thing. Let's learn how
to rebuke those under our authority by how God rebuked Eli. Let's
learn how to rebuke those under our authority by how God rebuked
Eli. Look at verse 27. God our Father
is faithful and He shows us what a loving Father does. He always
rebukes His sons and daughters when they need it. Look at verse
27. And there came a man of God unto Eli and said unto him, Thus
saith the Lord. And you notice this man was sin
of God. He was a man of God. He was sin
of God. And so this man came forth declaring,
thus saith the Lord. He didn't hold anything back,
nothing back. And you notice this too, he was
sent unto Eli. This man was sent unto Eli. Now
you hear me tell you often, you hear me tell you often, wait
on the Lord, wait on the Lord. And I say this because we want
men's faith to stand not in our power, not in our might, but
in the power of God. But don't misunderstand this.
God speaks, and God rebukes, and God works His power using
the voice of men. He uses the voice of powerless
earthen vessels that have no power in us whatsoever. So if
you're a son or a daughter, you're sitting here now and you're a
son or a daughter, and a faithful father, a faithful mother rebukes
you, and you find that displeasing, and you don't like it, and you
don't like what they're saying to you, consider this, they might
be sin of God. It might be God speaking to you.
Have you ever thought of that? I'm talking about in those things
where you think this isn't God speaking, it might be God speaking
to you. And so if we're rebuked by the voice of a man, remember
the word of the Lord. The Lord says, My son, despise
not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chastened. And he scourges
every son whom he received. If you endure chastening, God's
dealing with you as with sons. God rebuked Eli for not teaching
the gospel clearly to his sons. For not preaching the gospel
plainly to those to them. Now let me show you this. Look
at verse 27. Verse 27. This is what this man came and
he said, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly... That's an important
word. Did I plainly appear unto the
house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
Why was Eli a priest of God? Why was Eli called of God? Why
was that? It was because God plainly appeared
to Aaron, his grandfather. He clearly appeared to him. He
clearly, plainly revealed himself in him. He plainly revealed the
truth in Aaron. And Aaron went forth and was
used of God to plainly declare the truth to those that were
in bondage. And God delivered them out of bondage through his
works. Using these nobodies that he
called. God did that. Did you see the
work? He said, I plainly did it. I
plainly did this. That's strong rebuke for Eli
because he didn't speak the truth plainly to his sons. He didn't. Brethren, the best way to rebuke
is to speak the truth of God plainly. Plainly. You don't have
to come up with words. You don't have to come up with
a speech. You don't have to come up with something to say. It's
right here. It's all right here. Take this
book and read something to them. That's the... God plainly appeared
to our fathers and He taught the Gospel to them. And God used
them to bring the Gospel to us and God taught us plainly the
Word of God through them. And He called us and brought
us out of the bondage of our sin and rebellion. And He did
it plainly, plainly. And then look here, God rebukes
Eli but reminded him why Eli is a priest of God. Look here
at verse 28. He said, "...And did I choose
him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, and to
offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before
me? God chose Elias father Aaron,
and he set him apart to be his high priest." God did that. And
through Aaron his grandfather and Ithamar his father, Eli was
born into the family of Levi, into the family of Aaron. And he was made a priest unto
God. What has God done for us? What has God done for us? God
chose our everlasting Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be
His high priest. To be His high priest. To offer
upon God's altar. Christ is that high priest. He's
that offering. He's that altar. And because
He did the offering, He perfected His people forever. He chose
Christ to burn incense before Him. Christ, our High Priest,
is our intercessor at the right hand of the Father, making intercession
for His people. He chose Him to wear an ephod
before God. The ephod is where the Urim and
the Thummim was. Christ is the light and the glory
of God. And there He is before the Father
with all the names of all the elect of God on His breastplate.
There He is in the presence of God. And it's by Christ our High
Priest, by our Everlasting Father that we're born again into the
family of God and we're made priests unto God. The best way
to rebuke our children, the best way to rebuke anybody that's
slighting Christ and speaking evil of Christ is to tell them
what Christ has done for you. Tell them how that God chose
Him. Tell them how that God chose
a people in Him. Tell them how that Christ represented
them, how that Christ put away their sin, Christ justified them,
how that Christ gave Himself into your heart and He's made
you a keen priest unto God. And then look at this. God rebukes
Eli, reminded him why Eli had access to God. Look at verse
28. And he said, And did I give unto
the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the
children of Israel? God gave Aaron these offerings. And Aaron in turn gave these
offerings to the children, to the children of Israel. And on
down the line, these offerings were given to Eli. And it was
only in these offerings that he could come to God. That was
the only way God would receive him, was through these offerings.
And these offerings picture Christ, brethren. Every one of them.
God gave the work of redemption to Christ, our High Priest. Just
like God gave those offerings to Aaron. He gave the work of
redemption to Christ, our High Priest. And He's the offering
of God. He said, He's my offering. He's God's offering. And brethren,
He's our righteousness because He's God's offering. And Christ
in turn, He gave Himself into that new heart that He made.
And now we have access to God in Christ through faith in Him. And we are received of God. The
best method to rebuke our children, the best method to rebuke anybody
from every false way is to declare the truth that it is by Christ's
finished work in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ through
faith in Him and Him only that God gives us access to the throne
of God. And will receive us and rejoice
in us. I don't have time to read it,
but you can read that in Hebrews 10, 19 through 23. We have access
to God. He's the new and living way.
And then here's the greatest part of this rebuke. Look at
this. 1 Samuel 2, verse 29. Wherefore kick ye at. You know
what that means? Tread underfoot. We just saw
that in Hebrews 10. Why are you treading underfoot?
My sacrifice and at mine offering. my sacrifice and my offering,
which I have commanded in my habitation." This is God speaking. He says, why are you treading
underfoot my sacrifice and my offering, which I have commanded
in my habitation? Christ is God's sacrifice. He's
God's offering. And God dwells in Christ and
He dwells in His people. That's His habitation. And so
Eli's sons, by treading God underfoot, they tread His people underfoot.
when they tread Christ underfoot. Because that's who was represented
in those offerings. And Eli's failure, by his failure
to rebuke them, Eli did too. Eli did too. By him not teaching
them, Eli did too. That's how important it is to
teach folks the Word of God. That's how important it is to
teach our children the Word of God. You sitting here now, you
kick at my Redeemer. You tread him underfoot. How?
You don't believe him. We don't believe him. Think what
I'm saying is foolishness. You think it's utter nonsense.
Otherwise, you'd believe him. There's no middle ground between
that. Otherwise, you'd cast all your care into his hand. But
do you see what great evil it is? Do you see what great evil
it is? To tread underfoot the Son of
God? The only sacrifice, the only offering God will receive
is the Lord Jesus Christ. God's habitation is in Christ,
that one offering. And because Christ dwells in
His people, God dwells in His people. And so when a person
rejects Christ, they reject God. And when they reject His people
who preach the truth, they reject Christ. And when they reject
Christ, they reject God. You see, that's a serious offense.
Why? Because God has made us one in His Son. You can't reject
one without rejecting them all. That's right. God and His people
and His Christ. That's a serious offense. That's
a serious offense. So, this is what I'm trying to
show you, brethren. When we don't speak of Christ
as we ought, when we don't take the time to teach our children,
when we don't take the time to teach sinners who inquire, who
want to know, who need to know, we join in with those who contemn
our God in Christ and His people in Christ. That's what he said
to Eli. You see how God rebuked him though?
He told Eli. He rebuked Eli by telling Eli
the truth that Eli should have told his sons. You see that? All of this wouldn't have applied
to Eli's sons because they were lost. But what he told Eli was
the gospel. That's right. Alright, and there
were two more things Eli did in all of this. Look down at
verse 29. First of all, God said, and you honored your sons above
me. You honored your sons above me. And secondly, to make yourselves
fat with the chiefest of all the offerings that is from my
people. Eli was obviously taken to those offerings too because
over in 1 Samuel 4.18 it says Eli was fat. It says Eli was
heavy. He was heavy. He was eating some
of them offerings too with his son. But now look, I tell you
again, that's the essence of sin, isn't it? Listen, all disobedience,
all neglect of duty implies a preference to our will, our interests, our
pleasures above the will of God and above the honor of God. So
Eli suffered greatly. Look at 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 forever. God had said
that back before, back in his father's day. But now the Lord
saith, be it far from me. For them that honor me, I will
honor. And they that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. Eli's sons were cut off by God.
They died. Eli's house was diminished to
nothing. The priesthood was taken from his house. But look down
at verse 35. God said, I'll raise me up a
faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in
my heart and in my mind and I'll build him a sure house and he
shall walk before mine anointed forever. That was fulfilled historically
in Zadok, but it's fulfilled spiritually in Christ. Christ
came forth and He was a faithful high priest. He was a faithful
priest. Where Eli failed, where you and I failed, Christ was
faithful. Christ was faithful. And so, if Eli was in Christ,
that high priest, if he was in that high priest, it was with
Eli as it was with David. The sword never left David's
house. It never left his house. And it never left Eli's house.
He sorrowed greatly. The Lord said, those that I'm
going to leave in your house are going to be there to crave
your eyes. He told Eli that. But in the end, if he's in Christ,
this is what he could say. He could say what David said.
You see, we're in our head. And because we're in our head,
did you see Sunday, I was trying to show you there, did you see
that when Eve sinned in the garden, nothing happened? Did she transgress? Yes. But
why didn't the judgment of God come upon her? Because she was
represented in her head, Adam. And it was only when Adam transgressed
that judgment came upon her. Well, brethren, we're in Christ
our head. And though we transgress and
we don't walk as we ought and we don't speak as boldly as we
ought, God may chasten us, but we're in Christ our head. And
at God's right hand, we're the righteousness of God. At God's
right hand, we fulfill all the law of God and we cannot sin
against God. No charge can be laid against
us. So, honor God. How? By believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's number one. You can't
honor God without believing on His Son. Honor God by confessing
your sin and glorifying His justice. When you confess that I deserve
justice, you glorify God's justice. When you confess that the only
way you could be redeemed is in Christ, you glorify God's
justice. Confess Him by submitting to
the rule of Christ as your Lord. As your Lord. By trusting His
unerring providence. Whatever God does is right. Eli,
when Samuel came and told him this, Eli said, it's the Lord.
Let Him do what seemeth Him good. Honor God by extolling His greatness. by bragging on God in the gospel
that you hear and support, in the gospel you speak, in your
prayers to God? Do you find that your prayers
to God are just bragging on God? Extol His greatness. And extol
His greatness in our walk and extol His greatness in everything
we tell folks. And honor God by rejoicing in
the Lord. Rejoice always. We got nothing
to be sad about. Rejoice in the Lord. And honor
Him by consecrating yourself to Him alone. That means obey
His Word. That means seek His will. Honor
Him with your substance and love one another. And honor God by
promoting His honor in the world to everyone to whom you speak.
Honor God. Honor God. He says, Him that
honoreth me, I will honor. I will honor. Amen.