may it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate on his word let
us turn to the first book of Samuel and chapter 2 and we'll
read verse 30 the first book of Samuel and chapter 2 and reading
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 nightly esteem. It is exceedingly dangerous to
trifle with the Word of God. It is exceedingly dangerous to
think that what the Lord God says in the Bible, for some reason
is irrelevant to us today and for some reason we can interpret
it as we want to we can use it to suit our situation but we
find sometimes we are unwilling to hear the word as it's spoken
and directed to our hearts and that of course is a very solemn
thing to consider and to be concerned about because the Lord God does
not say things in the Word of God which are irrelevant. Every Word of God is true and
every Word of God is for our good and our eternal good and
for our benefit. And there are many, many examples
throughout the Word of God to command, to encourage us and
to direct us to follow the commands that God gave to his ancient
people. And how, in some cases, the people
followed those words and were blessed. In other cases, they
ignored the words and were not blessed. or sometimes destroyed. And so we come today, many, many
years after these things occurred, but the relevance to us is that
they were true and are true, and may they speak to us even
tonight in a very direct way, because surely the great concern
should be that we are right. with God we don't want to be
wrong with God do we? we don't want to be one of those
who pretend to be alright pretend to be doing that which is right
and yet in reality just keep on putting things off and keep
on turning away and keep on thinking well I don't think that really
applies to me and I don't think I should be doing that and I
really want to do this and do that We have many accounts in
the Word of God to contradict such views and to recognise the
importance of graciously obeying the Word of God. The Lord God
doesn't set down hard commands. He sets down commands which are
for two reasons. For His honour and glory, vitally
so. and also for the eternal good
of our souls. Let us not ever think that something
that is written in the Word doesn't apply to us, if in fact it does. Well, this verse that we've read
here this evening refers to Eli and to Eli's sons. It really is very solemn consideration
because they were all favoured greatly to be in the priesthood.
The priesthood very strangely changed from Aaron just for a
very short period. We're not told about it really,
but it was so. But in this case, in the time
of Eli and his two sons, his two sons walked very contrary
to the commands of God. They disobeyed what God had said
they should do. And what did they do? They brought
dishonour upon the name of God. And as you may know that in due
time the Lord destroyed them. They were slaughtered in battle
on that very solemn occasion when the Ark was taken. They very foolishly gone and
got the Ark brought it to the battlefield, thinking that that
would be a blessing and therefore Israel would win the battle.
Well, the Lord didn't honour that venture. He didn't honour
what they'd done. The result was the ark was taken,
captured we might say, and Eli's sons were slain because they
had not followed the commands of God. and of course then when
the news was brought back to Eli he was sat on a bench leaning
against a post he was an old man, 98 I think he was and when
he heard what had happened the ark had been taken he fell off
a bench and broke his neck so it was a very sad ending to this
situation of disobedience to Almighty God and let's not think
Well, God's a bit more lenient today. God doesn't deal like
that. Well, God does deal like that.
And do you know why? He tells us in Malachi, I am
the Lord, I change not. God doesn't change his views.
God doesn't change his commands. He doesn't think, oh, well, I
let those people off, they're all right. No, you and I stand
before Almighty God. What a solemn and yet what a
blessed position is ours. especially the Lord has spoken
it through his word and we read those words and may we therefore
take them to heart and may we understand them now the real
thrust of this verse is in the last few words for them that
honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly
esteemed now each one of us of course has to stand before God
and I can't answer for you and you can't answer for me but we
have to answer God and we have to look into our hearts and to
see whether we are amongst those who have desired and have honoured
Almighty God we tend to lose sight of the facts that our lives,
the lives of the people of God are for the honour and glory
of God. We don't live on this earth to
satisfy ourselves. We don't live on this earth to
please ourselves. We do, if we're not the children
of God and if we're carrying on, you see, in our own way,
doing that which we want to do, turning our back upon the blessed
commands of God, what are we doing? We are lightly esteeming
the truth of God. And that's a very solemn position. And let's not forget what happened
to Eli's sons who lightly esteemed the truth of God. Well, it's
our blessing today to hear the truth of God. And what a mercy
it is. But may you and I be concerned
that in our lives, our lives today, our lives which are ahead,
we don't know what's before us. We live in a very difficult age.
Things aren't getting any better. In actual fact, they're getting
worse. And we find to live the Christian life is more difficult
day by day. And we're not to go about pretending,
well, I don't really go along with all those rules in the Bible.
And we try and carry on our life as though we're just one in the
world. Well, that won't land us in heaven. Without any doubt, that position
will land us in hell. And that's a most terrible, terrible
thought and truth. So may we be very much concerned
about following the gracious words set before us in the word
of God before us in this verse for them that honour me I will
honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed
I wonder tonight if you ever pondered these words perhaps
you have perhaps you thought hmm not yet
hmm not yet why? there is no reason to follow
our own evil way because what we are doing we are following
the inclinations we are following the desires of that evil one
satan who never wants us to honour God don't forget that he never
wants you to honour the Lord he never wants you to follow
the Lord he never wants you to do the will of God he wants you
to do his will just like Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden
clearly knew what the truth was and listened to that terrible,
terrible devil and there's no greater word for it how terrible
he is a great deceiver. Remember, He deceived Adam and
Eve. He has deceived all those who
are lost, all those who are in hell now. He has deceived. May we be not amongst those who
are also deceived. You see, we must remember, we
have a heart and that heart is described. It's a heart which
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We deceive
ourselves. By nature we follow the way of
the devil. By nature we think we are taking
the easy way out. By nature we are unwilling to
take up our cross and follow a despised and crucified man. And yet you see What a wonderful
blessing it is to be united to Christ because that is a union
which will never break down. Once in Him, in Him forever. There are so many encouraging
things to go along with if we are blessed with that wonderful
union with the Saviour. And indeed in the Gospel of Matthew
we can read and encouraging words from the lips of the Lord Jesus
Christ when he was on this earth and he tells us in the 11th chapter
and the end of that chapter it's a very gracious invitation come
unto me come unto me he tells us who they are come unto me
or labour and are heavy laden. We may be labouring under temptation. We may be labouring under the
words of the devil. We may be labouring under a heart
which is deceitful. Where are the Lord gracious,
he says, come unto me then. If we're labouring under that,
that's the invitation for us tonight, not to go to the devil,
not to go into his camp. The Lord says, and what a wonderful
word it is, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy,
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That's rest to our
soul. Yeah, the stormy winds, the rough
seas, then calm down, and we're blessed with union and communion
with Christ. The Lord tells us the blessing
of it and the ease of it. You might think I can't do that.
The Lord says come take my yoke upon you and learn of me for
I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. Remember the word of God is always
true. The devil will say it's hard and it's difficult. No it's
not. It's a place of Blessing, a place of comfort. Take my yoke
upon you. Yes, that means to be joined
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I expect you know what a yoke
is. We don't see much of it in our
country today. A yoke was used to bring two oxen, usually when
they were ploughing or being used together. So they walked
together in union. and it kept them together kept
them in the right space and that's the blessing of this yoke the
yoke of Christ keeps us together what a mercy that is for I am
meek and lowly in heart the Lord comes down to our level He is
in some high and lofty place but He comes right down to our
level and He hears our cry and He instructs us, and He teaches
us, and He goes with us, and He comforts us, and He encourages
us, and He directs us. It's all through His love, it's
all through His grace, it's all through His mercy. And ye shall
find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy. Again, the Word
of God, don't forget it. For my yoke is easy. and my burden
is light well you couldn't have really more encouraging words
than that could we? and yet so many people turn away
from them and think oh well they don't apply to me they do if
we are those who are seeking unto our God we read together
that twelfth chapter in John which is a very wonderful chapter. And commencing from verse 24,
we read, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. So we have to die to ourselves. We have to rest in what Christ
has done and to believe that through Him We bring forth much
fruit. And he goes on. This is the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, remember. He that loveth his life. Well, do you love your life?
Shall lose it. Lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world, that's his natural life, shall keep it unto life
eternal. we are talking about eternal
things, eternal realities our soul is eternal, let us never
lose sight of that it's not something which has
a life never has a life our soul is eternal it never dies never
dies and it will live either in hell or in heaven He that
loveth his life shall lose it. He that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me. This is very significant. If
any man serve me. Well, are we serving the Lord? You may say, well, I do this,
and I do that, and well, I think I do serve the Lord. If any man
serve me, let him follow me. Where I am, there should also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my Father honour. Isn't that wonderful to think
that God would honour us, unworthy sinners of the earth. We don't
deserve any honouring, do we? We can think of it naturally
in the world in which we live. People sometimes are anointed
and honour that chapter walked round his house, I don't know,
a thousand times or something and he was honoured naturally,
wasn't he? And eventually got a knighthood
for what he'd done, just walking round a block. Nonetheless, here
we have a much greater honour. It doesn't come from man, it
comes from God. But it comes to those who not
only serve the Lord, but also follow the Lord. follow his gracious
example these things are gloriously linked together and how often
people try and separate them some people seem to try and serve
the Lord all their life but never follow him and sometimes or somehow
seem to try and make a division but there's no division if any
man serve me let him follow me and where I am I am there also
shall my servant be, if any man serve me, him will my father
honour and then he goes on to tell us of the wonderful glorying
of the Saviour's name now is my soul troubled and what shall
I say? Father save me from this hour but for this cause came
I unto this hour and perhaps sometimes you and I want to be
saved from something perhaps in the Lord's providence We're
on this earth for such an hour as this. You can remember in
the life of Esther, she was told by Mordecai that her life perhaps
was for such a time as this. And so it was. She'd been elevated
to that position of Queen. So in that time of great need
to save the Jewish race, She was able to venture into the
presence of the King. It was with trepidation. She
did say, if I perish, I perish. But the Lord, or the King rather,
received her. Yes, what a mercy then to think
of that in our day, that the Lord receives us. What a mercy that is. the Lord whose soul was troubled
and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour
but for this cause came I unto this hour and it's good just
sometimes to ponder that in our lives for such a time as this
in our little lives it's really very humbling to
think the Lord has called us for something to do in this world
in accordance with His will may be very challenging And unless
it's God before us, who can be against us? Father, glorify thy
name. That was the desire of the Lord
Jesus. Now today, may it be our desire
to glorify the name of our God. To do that which is God honouring.
Not to do that which is God dishonouring. But that which is God honouring.
glorify thy name." And then there came a voice from heaven saying,
I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Oh, what a scene that must have
been. People, therefore, that stood
by and heard it said it thundered. Others said an angel spoke to
him. Jesus said, this voice came not because of me, but for your
sakes. The Word of God, my friends,
is for our sakes. God has left His Word on record
for our sakes. We may graciously hear the Lord
speaking to us through His Word. This voice came for your sakes.
Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me." Well, we can ask ourselves
in passing the question, have we been drawn to the Lord Jesus
Christ? It's not something that we can
do naturally. It's not something that we can
do and think, well, today I'm going to be drawn to the Saviour.
It's the blessed work of the Holy Spirit which takes us and
makes Christ attractive as our all-sufficient Saviour that draws
us to Him. in great joy and thankfulness
that the Lord has been mindful of us and he's not cast us off
as a cumbra of the ground, as something of no value, but he's
remembered us for good and mercy. This, he said, signifying what
death he should die. And then Jesus went on to say,
yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have
the light. What is the light? Well, Jesus
Christ said, I am the light of the world. And if you and I,
my friends, by the grace of God, have seen something of that light,
if we have, by the grace of God, we are born again. Because that
light has shone into our hearts. And we're a new creature. We're
under the blessed influence of the Spirit of God. Walk while
ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh
in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light,
believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself
from them. Then John goes on to say, though
he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on him. Perhaps in our lives we prayed
to God about things in our natural life and God has answered those
prayers and yet we haven't believed on him. For the saying about Zaius the
prophet might be fulfilled which he spake, and of course those
well-known words in Isaiah 53, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? What a blessing if we have believed
a good report in the word of God our Saviour and if the Lord
has revealed His powerful arm to our souls in redeeming us,
delivering us from the curse and paying the price that was
due to us. Therefore they could not believe,
because He has blinded their eyes, hardened their that they
should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart
and be converted and I should heal them well the solemn truth
that does occur but what a blessing tonight if you and I are amongst
those who are wonderfully favoured and wonderfully blessed to receive
the clear encouragement that the Lord is our God and the Lord
has saved us and the Lord has redeemed us and therefore may
we be amongst those that honour Him and not despise Him. It's tragic isn't it? Many, many
people today despise the gracious, blessed Saviour and it's good
when you and I sometimes perhaps sit down and just meditate, it's
good to meditate sometimes upon the value of our salvation it's
not something which exists for a very short time or exists for
a very long time it exists eternally and therefore really you and
I can't put a value on it, can we? beyond our ability to put
a value on the eternal bliss of our soul. And may we therefore
truly be amongst those that desire to honour the Lord and to be
found following Him. In the earlier chapter in the
Gospel of John, in the 5th chapter, we read again something about
honouring We are told that all men should honour the Son even
as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son
honoureth not the Father which he hath sent. Well, let us be
found honouring the Son and honouring the Father by hearing the words
in the Word of God to direct us and to encourage us and not
be left therefore with a wrong view, but amongst those who are
the true Church of God, who are the true believers. The Lord said, not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many people will just very easily
say, Lord, Lord, hear people today praying in a very offhand
way, not realising that in prayer we approach unto the Majesty
on high and we should be reverent in our prayers. I know we can
pray anywhere and that's a wonderful blessing in any way, but nonetheless
we should always come to our God in a reverent way and not
be amongst those that just come and say, Lord, Lord. and thinking
that because of that we should enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord goes on to say, who do enter in, and these are the
people that enter in, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. So we see the things are joined
together. If we do come and say, Lord,
Lord, if we're honest and truthful then we should be amongst those
who do the will of our Father in Heaven all of us have to stand
before God and analyse our own motives our motives can be often
very deceptive and perhaps our motives in saying Lord, Lord
are to bring about something that you and I want in a natural
way And perhaps even to be thought well of by people. But the great
confirmation of the reality of our prayers and how vital that
is, that our prayers are real. They're not false prayers. They're
not hypocritical prayers. But they're prayers from our
heart. You see, there's two ways in praying. one from our head
and the other from our heart. Yes, there was that one in scripture
who prayed from his head and he thought he'd be baptised,
he was happy to do that because other people were doing so and
he just followed the inclination of his mind and was baptised
with his head and then you see they were blessed with the gift
of the Spirit of the Holy Ghost And he thought he could buy that
gift. So he offered the apostles money to buy it. And the apostles,
Peter said, my money perish with thee. Yes, there was no true
life. It was just false. We don't want
a false religion, do we? We want a real religion, one
that truly believes. in the truth of God. And so let
us come in a right way. Come to the Lord, be amongst
those who honour him. Then honour me I will honour.
And that means to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. We're told, James tells us, to
be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. what a blessing
it is when we are able to follow that pattern when the Lord spoke
the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, 8 and 9 it's a wonderful sermon
to read and to ponder and meditate upon and when he comes to the
end of that sermon you may remember he speaks about two men one that
built his house upon a rock and one that built his house upon
the sand. And this is what Jesus says. He says, Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I would liken
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. It's only to those who hear his
word and do it are amongst those who are built upon a rock. There
are many who say many things but don't do them and they build
themselves their house upon the sand and of course the difference
was building upon the rock wasn't easy, building had to dig deep
to get down to the rock We read in Luke's account of that same
sermon that they had to dig deep. And we do sometimes have to dig
deep to get down to the truth. Dig deep to find the Blessed
Saviour. It's not something which is easy. No, bless God when he gives us
that ability to dig deep and to get down to the rock. That's
a solid foundation. because it's the Lord Jesus Christ
and we won't be moved from it. And we should in that position
be honouring our God. And yet on the other hand, there
are many who just think, well, they'll find a nice easy way.
All this is nice and easy, dig, it's not difficult, and dig through
the sand. But what happens when the storm
of life comes? It's only that one who has honoured
God, only that one who has honoured God by hearing His words and
doing them, that is founded on that good foundation and is not
moved when that time comes of the storms of life. I often like
that statement that David makes in the 40th Psalm when he tells
us I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me,
and brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the M�ori
clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and
put a new song in my heart, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and rejoice,
you see. The effect of this blessing, honouring the Lord, is in our
heart we have the answer of a good conscience. And what does it
do? It brings praise and thanksgiving
to our God. And we come and say, Lord, Thou
art worthy of all honour. And what a privilege it is for
little me, sinful me, to be amongst those who desire to honour Thee
and do honour Thee in what I say And what do I do? And not to
despise the Lord. Well, tonight, you know, there
are those two positions, aren't there? Either honouring God or
despising Him. One who are honoured then by
God, or one who is lightly esteemed. And all of us here tonight fall
into one of those two categories. and how important it is that
we are blessed to honour our God, realising what He's done
for us. My friends, never forget the
cost of our salvation. He gave His life. He endured
the cross. He endured the hiding of His
Father's face. He endured all that shame on
our behalf. What a Saviour we have, what
a privilege, what a blessing to be amongst those who really
desire to do His will and to honour Him because of the great
debt that we owe, which we'll never be able to repay. Then that honour me, I will honour
the way that despised me, shall be nightly esteemed. Amen.