this morning we are turning to first samuel chapter three first samuel chapter three when i'd come back from vacation i asked pastor donovan i said well what are you preaching sunday night and he said well i'm going to preach second timothy two and i said well that's what i'm preaching i'd never had that one happen yet so i graciously conceded and i decided that i would preach 1st Samuel chapter 3 which we're both having emphasis here on the installation both sermons today installation of office bearers and today I thought this morning we would look at the bigger picture the real issue that's at stake and I looking at that passage tonight I'm sure he'll deal a little bit more with some of the nitty-gritty of the office so 1st Samuel chapter 3 now the boy samuel was ministering to the lord in the presence of eli and the word of the lord was rare in those days there was no frequent vision at that time eli whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see was lying down in his own place the lamp of god had not yet gone out and samuel was lying down in the temple of the lord where the ark of god was then the lord called samuel and he said here i am and ran to eli and said here i am for you called me but he said i did not call lie down again so he went and lay down and the lord called again samuel and samuel rose and went to eli and said here i am for you called me but he said i did not call my son lie down again now samuel did not yet know the lord and the word of the lord had not yet been revealed to him and the lord called samuel again the third time and he arose and went to eli and said here i am for you called me then eli perceived that the lord was calling the boy therefore eli said to samuel go lie down and if he calls you you shall say speak lord for your servant hears so samuel went and lay down in his place and the lord came and stood calling as at other times samuel samuel and samuel said speak for your servant hears then the lord said to samuel behold i am about to do a thing in israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle on that day i will fulfill against eli all that i've spoken concerning his house from beginning to end and i declare to him that i am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew because his sons were blaspheming God and he did not restrain them therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever Samuel lay until morning then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli but Eli called Samuel and said Samuel my son and he said here i am and eli said what is it that he told you do not hide it from me may god do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you so samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him and he said it is the lord let him do what seems good to him and samuel grew and the lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground and all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord and the Lord appeared again at Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord may the Lord bless the hearing of that word if I asked you to highlight what the greatest blessing of the Lord in your lives would be, what would it be? What is the greatest blessing that God has given to you? I'm pretty sure there would be a long list of blessings that we would go through, but there really is one blessing beyond anything else so great, so wonderful, so powerful, so utterly common. I'm pretty sure you may be. did you even think about this what would be the greatest blessing what would it be if you didn't have this nothing else would make sense in life if you didn't have this you would go through life aimlessly you would go through life with no meaning you would go through life with no hope you would have no strength no perspective and then at the end no salvation pretty big question isn't it you would be completely in the darkness you know what the single great blessing that god has given you it's his word it's his word you think we take that for granted today you think we take god's word for granted if god decided one day that his word was not to be heard anymore and he shut it down and he pulled the plug on it and said that's it i'm taking it away i'm done doing this how would you handle it what would you do how would you know would you know what would it indicate uh if in a place where god's people reside what would it indicate if the Christians in that place didn't know that word anymore, didn't understand that word anymore, didn't care about that word anymore, and it was a burden to them. What would that be saying about God and what would that be saying about them? Imagine your life without the Bible just for a moment or without preachers who actually delivered it in the demonstration of the Spirit and a power like they're supposed to. If that thought brings a little bit amount of distress, I hope it does, you understand 1 Samuel chapter 3. You're going to be deeply touched and I hope disturbed by what happened in the nation of Israel with regard to the word of the Lord. This morning we're installing new leaders, new elders and deacons. And I wanted to consider from this passage this morning what really is at stake, what really this is all about. why what we're doing here is of immense importance in the life of this congregation. The Lord has a lot to say about this in His Word. The Lord has a big perspective on this in His Word. And I believe 1 Samuel 3 this morning spells out something very beautifully for us, why these offices exist and why these offices in the Escondido United Reformed Church need to be upheld and valued and treasured and focused upon as these new men give themselves on the sacrifice and service of your faith. 1 Samuel 3 is going to show us and teach us something about this today. The whole chapter begins with something that is shocking, moving. You'll notice there in verse 1, Requires a lot of reflection. Now, the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no frequent vision. Now, that is an interesting statement, isn't it? That's a big pause. Probably the better way to translate that. Probably not the clearest way to say it. The word vision can mean revelatory word, which is really the context here. spoken from a prophet and what first samuel just uh three just told us right at the beginning was in those particular days of israel in their history it was a rare thing to find a prophet speaking god's word how do you feel about that it was an extremely rare thing to find a prophet speaking god's word in other words god wasn't speaking the people were in complete darkness with regard to the word of the lord and the real shocking thing about it is if you were to go through the early chapters of samuel and study the first two chapters they were coming up for worship they were doing the things as israelites that the israelites do and worship but god had chosen to remain silent they didn't have the bible like we do you have to remember at this time boys and girls they were completely dependent upon the lord raising up a prophet and the prophet coming and the lord would send that prophet you have a whole history of this touching lips and and ordaining prophets to come and to speak the word of the lord to the people everyone understood this was the way it happened. But 1 Samuel 3 says it was rare. It wasn't happening. The office of prophet for a time seemed to have been shut down. They didn't hear God's word. Now the consequences of this would devastate. You would have statements made in the scriptures all over that talked about the consequences of this something like proverbs 29 13 where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint when god's not speaking they do whatever they want to do one of the most influential for me was was amos uh the book of amos which i think i've quoted a few times here but i find it just a remarkable passage when the Lord said a famine is coming I declare a famine is coming not a famine of bread or of water but a famine of the hearing of the words of the Lord men are going to run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord and they're not going to find it there's going to be a day when God shuts it down and they aren't hearing they would be like those desperately searching starving people malnourished people for food and they can't find the food now the first question to ask as we look at this text this morning is why in the world is the lord not speaking why did god effectively shut down the office for a period of time the opening line is telling us uh that when this happens this was a direct response of god's divine displeasure for something that had happened in israel and if you were to go through the opening chapters again of samuel you would find that israel was in one of the darkest moments spiritually of its entire existence the people hated to come to worship and they hated to offer sacrifices and the leadership was doing things that were just horrendous i mean it's so glaring and sharp it's hard even to speak from the pulpit the leaders hophni and phinehas eli's son were lying with the women at the door of the tabernacle the door of god's house they were stealing the offerings the leadership in israel had to be completely corrupt and there was absolutely no accountability anymore in israel and the consequence of this well one of the judgments that we see often the lord in the old testament when he was throwing down the curses of the mosaic covenant he would cut off things like food and drink but what rarely gets talked about is one of the greatest judgments that happened was that God stopped speaking. God stopped speaking. When the people did not want His Word, He stopped. The thing I think about this morning as I look at this passage is, first, it was an incredible privilege to have the Word of the Lord, wasn't it? To have the words of life spoken in Israel. And Israel no longer viewed it that way. And an even worse thing began to happen. It's a dark history, I understand. It's not the easiest history to study or the easiest history to communicate because it really is dark. When this went on, guess what began to happen after God shut it down for a time? Well, it wasn't that the people and the priests and certain prophets stopped speaking. It was that what began to happen in Israel was the messages became their messages and not God's. Few prophets speaking the word of the Lord and the true prophets that were left were wailing out about this. They were crying out about this. They were saying, listen to what's going on. The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule by their own power and my people love this stuff. They love to have it so. The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I've not even sent them, says the Lord. I've not commanded them, nor spoken to them. They prophesied to you a false vision, a divination, a worthless thing, and a deceit of their own heart. This is your Old Testament. It's all over the place. When you read these major prophets, this is the state of Israel. And you remember the New Testament tells us, study that, look at that. Teaching you something. Before us, in 1 Samuel 3, the Lord was very offended with the leadership. The Lord was deeply troubled with the leadership. And the word became rare. The darkness over Israel had become great. And you see that connection in verse 2. Did you notice the little strange statement there in verse 2? The play on words. And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark was, you say, what? Did you catch it? There's a remarkable contrast being made there. The play between the spirit and the physical, but Eli is blind. And the lamp in the temple is going out. And the thing that we should all pause and say, the lamp in the temple shouldn't be going out. It was to burn continually. That thing was to be trimmed. Evening and morning, it was to burn. And the Lord is highlighting something for us. The Spirit is telling something to us that Eli's blindness, the leader's blindness, was a direct reflection of Israel's darkness. And that contrast is all over the Scripture. Jesus made a whole lot on blindness and darkness and light, didn't he? We've studied that in the past weeks. But remember in John 12, a little while longer, the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he's going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. And why was Jesus hidden? The very next thing he quotes is Isaiah, he has blinded their eyes lest they should see. So this was a big moment, and that comes off a lot of history with Israel with light and darkness and blindness. The darkness of Israel was great. And the darkness was greatly found among the leaders. Eli's house should have been the light. Now, that's the dark moment. Why is he raising all of this up front? Well, this has immense application for what we're doing today in the installation of elders and deacons, and I hope you see that. And for the ministry of the Word of God, because you'll notice the Word of God is the central focus of this entire passage. Verse 1, verse 7, and the very last verse mentions the Word of God. Let me ask this question. do you think that what is described here in 1 Samuel 3 could happen today? Is that a fair question? Do you think we take for granted God's word? Let me ask this. Is it possible that there is no widespread speaking of God today? Could that happen? Could it? You say, well, that's a little radical. Come on, we have the Bible. I'll never forget, I think I've mentioned I was giving a chapel at a Christian school years ago and I spoke on Amos 8 and a teacher walked up to me after and he said, can you have a famine with the bread in your hands? I always thought that was such a powerful way to say it. It struck me, what kind of a strange famine would you have with the bread in your hand? You know, there have been 200 English translations of the Bible since 1900. 200. I researched 182 study editions. You've got the Remnant Study Bible, the Revival Study Bible, the Extreme Teen Study Bible. I mean, you just go right on down the line. Some of them I just won't mention. Whatever kind of leather you want, pink, purple, blue, you can even get an army edition. Reformation wanted to give it back to us, didn't they? It said the Word of God needs to be in your hands. Why is everyone writing today that we are living in one of the most biblically illiterate times ever? Believe that? We don't know it. consequence a book came out not too long ago with a series of interviews of american teenagers and i know we're all concerned about our teenagers and this author writes the majority of teens interviewed reflected the belief that god is primarily concerned with making people happy bailing them out when they get in trouble providing them with the necessary goods to enjoy life in other words god is a basically a nice permissive dad with a big wallet that is a famine that is a famine so here we are with the bible in our hands and do we know it could it be that the flood of messages that people are receiving today are no different than israel's day when they were speaking messages and dreams of their own vision in their own making and verse 1 the word of the lord was rare in those days could it be that that's exactly what we're living right now that the word of god is rare in these days there's no widespread revelation meaning the word of god is not being spoken what would lead to this well if we're applying it to what we're doing today most of us remember the whole movement of the ordination of women. I don't like to discuss it any more than anyone else. But what was rarely discussed was one of the reasons given why they began to ordain women was we don't have any men to serve. We just can't get them. It's like pulling teeth to get men to serve. So what do we do? We got all these women who will serve. And so what began to happen? As there was no leadership, the dominies ran wild didn't they the pastors ran wild and no one could stop the pastors whatever the pastors wanted to do when there wasn't leadership they did and if you ran across pastors that weren't committed to the word of god watch out what they did to those churches and what few seemed willing to say in that whole debate was isn't this an indication of God's divine displeasure? That there are no men to lead? Isn't this an indication that God is displeased because He has said He desires that men be raised up to lead in the church? That elders would be set apart and devoted to the ministry of the Word and prayer? we've lived for samuel 3 we've lived for samuel 3 i know that's the dark part of the sermon and the lord doesn't let it stay that way did he did he it's an amazing moment in israel because in the midst of this darkness that we have to listen to in the middle of the darkness behind the scenes whole time god has weaved into this narrative somebody hasn't who's being prepared a true servant indeed and if you were to look at the last chapter you would see in verse 18 but samuel in contrast to all of this darkness of the leaders but samuel ministered before the lord even as a child wearing a linen ephod there was one there was one and here was this young child in israel ministering constantly before it says in the hebrew the face of yahweh and after a description of the the horrors of the sons of belial that's what the sons of eli are called the sons of belial this child we regrew in stature and in favor both with the lord and with men sound familiar it will and in the midst of such darkness we have god raising up a true prophet this is a glorious moment that god had not abandoned his people and first samuel 3 is showing us something so beautiful you always knew a few a true prophet in contrast to the false guys by a few different ways the lord would always tell us he had to stand in the presence of the lord he had to speak remember he had to be called by god stand in the presence of the lord and speak only what God commanded him to speak. And that's what you got in 1 Samuel 3. That's what 1 Samuel 3 is showing you. God is acting, and this is an amazing moment in Israel's history. Here the Lord is summoning, and that's the word. This is not God calling Samuel for a chat. God is calling this young boy. God is laying the call on this man and summoning him to be his prophet in Israel. And so you have three things happen. You'll notice three calls here. In verse 4, the Lord called Samuel and he answered, Here I am. And he ran to Eli. Here I am for you called me. And Eli says, Well, I didn't call you. Go lie down again. And he went to lay down. And in verse 6, the Lord called again. And God here calls powerfully again. And the second time he runs back to Eli and the whole thing is repeated. But then you come to verse 7, which says something that gives us a really good indicator that this is God's prophet. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him. The Lord is drawing a purposeful contrast for you between Eli's sons, which said in the previous chapter, they didn't know the Lord, and Samuel, who didn't know the Lord. Here, he's being called as a prophet, but the word of the Lord had to be revealed to this prophet. You realize that this word today, open as it is, is closed? Do you realize that? This is completely closed until the Lord powerfully opens it to your minds and hearts. It's a closed book. The Lord has to do that. And here the Lord is revealing, He's opening the heart and the mind of Samuel to the Word of God. You know what they said about Martin Lloyd-Jones when he wanted to go in the ministry. He told his wife, I think I want to be a preacher. She says, why do you want to go do that? Because I can preach to myself. And that was an indicator that the Word of God had gotten into his heart and mind and he had been changed. And you see this happening here with Samuel. This is God's call. The word of God is being revealed. And the opening of the word, the revealing of that word, that Samuel would have a right knowledge of God and know God according to that word. And not how Israel had tried to fancy itself with knowing God, itself. So the third time it happens. And Eli perceives that the Lord is calling the young boy. And so he says, listen, if it happens again, you say, speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Now the Lord came and stood, as at other times. And see, now Samuel's in the presence. And Samuel said, speak, Lord, for your servant hears. The Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do something in Israel at both which the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice and offering forever. What a moment. Samuel's first prophetic message to deliver is the destruction of Eli's house. This is his teacher. Samuel had to go bear that news. He can't handle it. Did you notice this? He goes back and he lies down on his bed and he is trembling until morning and he opens the doors and Eli demands you give every single word that the Lord spoke. This is the point. It's not always an easy word, is it? And that's why this office is so hard. Because I have to declare and I have to be firm. And I have to be serious, which is hard today. That those who do not believe and those who do not repent and those who do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, your sins will not ever be atoned for. And that hell is the final result. And I know we've all but abandoned that message, but the true servant of the Lord, the testimony that he is God's servant, is his willingness and the burden to bear that message because he cares. It's not a care to tell people when you see them about ready to fall off the cliff, it's okay. I can't imagine how hard it was for Samuel to go tell his teacher, God's not going to atone for your house forever. Every pastor has some kind of inward torment. I've gone through this. Of saying what you have to say. But the sincerity and the truthfulness of God's messenger will be seen in his willingness to say it because the goal is what? Repentance. The goal is repentance and change that people would come to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from the wrath to come. That's why we're doing what we do. That people would believe. That they would know the Savior. And you see, before us here, Eli humbles himself, doesn't he? And he says, listen, if it's the Lord, let him do what he seems. Whatever he pleases. Isn't it merciful? that the Lord raised up a prophet in the midst of this darkness. Verse 19 ends with telling us that Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let, I love that verse, none of his words fall to the ground. And all of Israel knew from Dan to Beersheba that Samuel had been established as a prophet from the Lord. And notice how this ends. It ends by saying, so Samuel was in Shiloh and the Lord again revealed himself by the word of the Lord and the word of Samuel came to Israel. Notice that connection? The word of the Lord came to Samuel and the word of Samuel came to Israel. It was God's word. Here's where it comes together this morning. The prophet here foreshadowed somebody else. Who did it foreshadow? One day a lowly couple from the very same region as Hannah and Elkanah for a son. And where did they find him? Always before the Lord in the temple. And what did he do? This child grew, it says, same verse, and became strong in the Spirit and increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor. And when his public ministry began, you know what he was doing? He said in Mark, you know what reason I've come forth? I have come forth to preach, to preach the gospel. And he would declare, whoever hears my word and believes has everlasting life all over the place he was saying this come to me and then he rose from the dead laid down his life rose from the dead and he tells his disciples he looks at his disciples and he says you see what i've done you go do this to the ends of the earth you go preach you go teach so the heart of your prophet the prophet desire is that the word of god would be absolutely central in this church here's what overwhelms me and i'll close with this does god still speak today boys and girls are you going to hear a voice on your bed tonight god still speaks today how does he speak hebrews tells us he's not doing it in these last days through dreams and visions and tongues. He's not doing that. In these last days, he has spoken to us through his son. And the New Testament asks the question, if he's spoken to us through his son, the word of the Lord came to Samuel and Samuel's word came to Israel. What does the Lord tell us in the New Testament about how his word comes? How shall they preach unless they're sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You want to be saved? This is how. Hear God's Word. Listen to this Word. God takes the Word of His Son, preaches it to you. You know what an unhealthy church looks like? That has its threatened by the Lord to remove the lampstand? The light's going out? There are no men stepping up to lead. And all the priorities are wrong in that ministry. They're worried about this and that and they can't figure out why their church is shrinking and there's no power in it. You don't save with that other stuff. Paul warned that a time would come when they won't endure sound doctrine. They just want the stories, the short stories, the cute stories. And the ministers wouldn't preach the word. In contrast, you know what a healthy church looks like? Whose lamp is burning bright. It's full of men who desire to serve. And before you today, I see rows of men who want to serve you. And who are burdened for the church, who are burdened for the church and the young people here to see this word proclaimed. That's the central thing we do in the church. And that's what the Lord wants all of our attention and focus where it needs to be. That's the reason these offices exist. The elders exist to oversee me so that I don't become a ruthless domine, okay? And the deacons provide relief so that the elders and the pastor can tend to this word and give ourselves to this in the word and prayer. We're not administrators. We don't ever want to cultivate a cold spirit in this place. We are set apart to shepherd you because you're God's sheep whom he loves. And the Lord has placed here a lampstand that's burning bright. And I don't want to ever see that go out. So I challenge the men here today, give yourselves to this. To love God's word, to show to the congregation a sincerity in the word a love for that word and to pray when the word is not getting into the hearts and lives of the people and they don't have any desire to come to worship if that happens that we would be on our knees praying because something's going wrong your word oh lord is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path and i pray that all of us today together would remember that none of samuel's words fell to the ground would you pray that that none of the words that come from this pulpit would fall to the ground that was my single verse for ministry i wanted that but ultimately it's the lord jesus christ's word and we are called to tend to that for the salvation of you his people amen let's pray oh lord our god we are grateful for your living and powerful word thank you that you call us today to give ourselves to that word we believe that word is living and powerful and shatters into hearts and saves bless these men who serve give them your wisdom and may your word of this place be upheld and be a light to all of those in darkness in jesus name we pray amen