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Generation Next?
1 Samuel 2
Skip Heitzig

1 Samuel 2 (NKJV™)
1 And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
2 "No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
3 "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.
4 "The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble.
6 "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He has set the world upon them.
9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail.
10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed."
11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.
12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.
13 And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw."
16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod.
19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD." Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
24 "No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD'S people transgress.
25 "If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them.
26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.
27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
28 'Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
29 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'
30 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
31 'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
32 'And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
33 'But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.
34 'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.
35 'Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
36 'And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, "Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread."'"

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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09 1 Samuel - 2002

As detailed by Pastor Skip Heitzig, First Samuel tells the stories of a prophet, a politician, and a poet--Samuel, Saul, and David--and how God used them to form the nation of Israel.

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Transcript

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You know, we have a palm tree up here, because the Bible says the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. That's in the Bible. I just wanted to share that with you. It's not because it's a California thing.

Before I introduce our guests, here's some statistics that I was given this afternoon that I think you'll find interesting. In one poll, 82% of teenagers in America said that they're Christians. That's a large amount. 60% say they are committed Christians.

Here's another stat. Half of all pastors, 49%, reveal that their family life has suffered significantly from the pressures and demands of their ministry. I didn't know that. I quit then.

[LAUGHTER]

No, just kidding.

Here's some stats on Christian teens. These are stats from teens professing to be born-again believers. Two out of every three, 66% of these young people ages 11 to 18 have lied to a parent or a teacher or another adult. 6 in 10, 59%, lied to their peers. Neither half, 45%, watch MTV at least once a week. One in three, 36%, cheat on exams. Nearly one in four, 23%, smoke cigarettes or use another "ta-back-ie" product. One in nine, 12%, have gotten drunk. One in five, 20%, have tried to physically hurt someone. And nearly one in 10, 8%, have used illegal drugs.

Well that's what we're up against in our country. That's what we're up against in many churches. But at the same time, God is raising up a new generation. And I want to introduce you to a new generation. Guys, come on out.

[APPLAUSE]

All right. Well to my immediate right we have Nathan Heitzig. He's my son, my one and only, my only begotten. And then next to him is Levi Lusko. And Levi is a pastor's kid as well. In fact when he was growing up I told his dad Chip Lusko, I said, "There's only one of your kids you're really going to have to watch and I'm really worried about, and it's Levi. We have to really pray for him." Well, those prayers seem to pay off because he's not only a strong believer but he's on staff here.

OK, I'm going to ask you guys some questions. First, Nathan, since you're here, the first question is, why is it so hard to get you up in the morning? That's what I want to know.

[LAUGHTER]

No, I'm just kidding. That doesn't count. We'll erase that.

But being raised in a Christian home offers some challenges, privileges. But what are some of those challenges? Do you guys ever feel like you've been deprived? Or what challenges-- what's the hard part growing up in particularly a pastor's home?

I think you feel a pressure to act better than everyone else. And it's hard because I'm not perfect and Levi's not perfect. And when everyone's watching you and you mess up, it's more accentuated than something else, if someone else does something. So that's hard.

So you have a lot of people looking at you. You feel like you're in a fishbowl. And people expect you to be perfect.

Now let's just set the record straight. Am I perfect?

No.

[LAUGHTER]

Yeah, OK, I wanted that to get out. Good. The pressure's off now, you see?

I remember when I was 18 years old, I told my parents that I had become a Christian. And they weren't really excited about the way I was expressing it. You're raised in Christian homes, in pastors' homes, and you have parents who are excited when you bring a Bible home or talk about the Lord. I didn't have that. For a long, long time there was just a lot of pressure. So there are certain advantages, certain privileges to it.

What would you think is the hardest part about being raised in a Christian home in general Levi? You've seen a lot of kids.

Well I can tell you in my life what I think really makes it difficult is the fact that you grow up with the truth everywhere. And it's not a lack of information but having all that truth, knowing all about God, it can be so easy to play the game, to let church become little more than a ritual like brushing your teeth, because you do it all the time, but it doesn't really mean too much to you.

Like familiarity breeds contempt kind of a thing?

Totally.

What would you say is the best part?

[LAUGHTER]

They like that, totally. Say totally one more time.

Totally.

There you go, see? This is an easy group. They're great guys.

What would you say is the best part? What's the best part of growing up in a home that you grew up in? Make it good Nate. You're on the spot here.

[LAUGHTER]

Thank you. That helps. Well I think you have people supporting you in a relationship with God. And there's someone not always saying, well, don't do that. You can't be a Christian. It's not good for you. You have parents who are saying, do this, do that. And it makes it easier to stand up for God in a world that doesn't.

Because you have a support structure.

Yeah.

Levi?

I would say totally that--

What was that?

[LAUGHTER]

Well Nathan told me that if I got real nervous I could just play possum and pretend I'm dead. But I just started shaking.

I think fully that knowing that the perspective is right and not off, I mean as far as what's important and what's not, what's real and what's not, you grow up knowing the truth. That's probably the best part.

That's a good start, isn't it, a good foundation.

You've got parents watching you right here in this auditorium, on the internet, eventually on television. And there's questions in a lot of our minds. And that is, what do you say to parents who are worried about their kids being attracted by the things of this world? Give them some advice?

I'd say of course they're going to be attracted because the world is attractive. And it is. They're going to be attracted by the world. But the most important thing for them to realize is something that, in some cases, they'll have to realize by their own mistakes and experience. It's that it doesn't please, it doesn't last, and it doesn't fulfill. It'll be attractive. It looks terrific.

So what would you say to parents whose kids are being attracted to that right now?

Pray for them.

Good answer.

[APPLAUSE]

And be there for them. Just be real.

Do you think that sometimes-- not all the time, but sometimes Christian parents can cloister their children and kind of keep them away from the world to the extent that when they're out in the world on their own, they don't really know how to stand on their own two feet? Have you seen that?

Totally. No--

[LAUGHTER]

Especially I work with the high school ministry here and seeing kids who, their whole lives are kept away-- we don't want them to go to Wal-Mart and they might see sin. Then they hit college and they go buck wild because they're going to confront it, and not to try and hide them from it but prepare them for it.

All right. Well listen, we have a question right here. It says an internet question, but I know for a fact it's really not an internet question. It was given by somebody here at church in our audience who has a question pertaining to tonight. It says, what advice can you give a Christian who comes from a broken home where the parents don't even speak to each other in hopes of raising a good Christian family?

Just to have hope and pray for them and keep coming to church and just develop friends that will stick for you and pray for you. And that's all you can do. You can just pray for them and hope that something better will come out of that And just don't stray from God.

Don't stray from God. So you tell that to the guy with the Christian-- it's a broken home. Levi, you've seen broken homes as well. And what would you say?

I'd say make Christianity smell good.

Make it attractive.

We're told to be an aroma and salt and light and all that. But really, to have what comes out of your lips and what comes out of your life match up. Because in my life knowing that I grew up in the church and for a long time was a full on hypocrite, speaking one thing but living another, to people outside, that makes Christianity completely unattractive.

Right. I want to jump in on this question too because I think that here you have a home, it's a broken home. You have family members, i.e. parents, not talking to each other. And number one, learn from your mistakes. What you have seen role modeled doesn't mean you have to be that way. You can learn, just like we all grew up and we saw certain things in our parents that we said, I'm not going to be like that. Well that's one thing not to be like. Don't perpetuate the cycle of the broken home.

Number two, I would say that God has called us to a higher level, to a new standard. So I remember when I became a believer how difficult it was. And my Father and I had such a difficult time relating. And he could say things and I could say things right back to him. And one evening the Lord told me, said, "You're Mr. born again Christian now. You humble yourself to your father. And you ask for his forgiveness and you show him the love of Christ, because I expect that of you."

And so I did that. I put my arms around him. And even though I know that he was wrong and I was right, one of those kind of things, I hugged him and I said, "I'm sorry and I love you." And I started praying for him. And he started breaking down crying. And he said, "That was beautiful." And that began a healing relationship. And that kind of love, it's hard to go against. So keep loving and raise that bar to a higher standard.

Well you guys, you did a good job. Any parting words like totally?

Fully.

[LAUGHTER]

I don't give a rip.

I don't give a rip. He's saying a Levi thing. That's a Levi thing that he says in youth group, several times, right?

Never.

He's denying it. OK, God loves you and forgives liars too. God bless you guys.

[APPLAUSE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We're living-- we're living-- we're living in extreme days-- days.

These are extreme days to be a young person. Teens today in and out of the church are under powerful pressure.

I am what they call a PK, a pastor's kid. We had planned this outing together. And we were supposed to go to the movies, just my father and I. It was our special father-daughter night. And then this guy called up and his mother just died. And we hardly knew this guy, but my dad had to rush off to the hospital and go and comfort this family. And I just remember being so frustrated and devastated. I just felt like I wasn't as important as all those other people in the church. And I felt like they kind of stole my dad away from me. I remember a few times like that.

Parents have always faced this challenge. As we will see in Samuel chapter 2, even faithful men like Eli can lose their children.

All my involvements were in the church. So that's where I found my identity. I had a few friends that fell away.

But as we will learn tonight on Line Online, there are steps of prevention that can be taken to reach generation next.

You can't rely on anybody's faith except your own.

Remember that Line Online notebooks are available for your Wednesday night study notes. And you can let a friend know Line Online is live on the web at lineonline.net.

All right, well open your bibles now to 1 Samuel chapter 2. We'll pick up where we left off in our Bible study last time. We've been looking at a-- you might call it a tale of two families. We have the family of Elkanah-- that's the guy's name-- his wife, Hannah, his other wife, Peninnah. Therein lay a great problem. And then we have their son Samuel, all in contrast to the high priest whose name was Eli and his two sons that we only mentioned last time, Hophni and Phinehas, who we're going to look at more tonight.

There was a legend about the first parent raising his two kids. This is God raising Adam and Eve after he created them. And the legend goes like this. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said to them was, don't. "Don't what," Adam replied. "Don't eat that forbidden fruit," God said. "Forbidden fruit? We've got forbidden fruit? Hey Eve, we've got forbidden fruit." "No way." "Yes way." "Don't eat that fruit," God said. "Why?" "Because I'm your creator and I said so," God said, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making elephants.

Just a few minutes later God saw the kids taking an apple break. And he was angry. "Didn't I tell you not to eat that fruit," the first parent asked. "Uh huh," Adam replied. "Then why'd you do it?" "I don't know," Eve answered. "She started it," Adam said. "Did not." "Did so." "Did not." Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own.

[LAUGHTER]

Well listen, kids aren't punishment. They're a blessing and they're a great opportunity. In fact somebody once said that children is God's demonstration or affirmation that the world should go on. After all, he said be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

And by the way, this world needs the kind of children you can produce. The world needs these kids here, needs these lights shining in the darkness, needs this salt of the earth.

[APPLAUSE]

But the world also needs godly parents who can help train and raise these children in the right way.

As we open up the Book of Samuel, which is a bridge with even the Book of Judges, there is a prevailing mentality going on that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There really were no rules. People made up the rules, very similar to our country. We have lots of laws on the books. And the law books get thicker every year. In fact lawyers call things about this thick, they call them briefs, just to show you where we're at in our legal system. And we add complicated laws. But at the same time, we're feeling like whatever I make up as I go along is OK. We do what is right in our own eyes.

Listen to this. It's from the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators that gauged life in this country from the 1960s to the 1990s. Now that we're in the new millennium, we look back and we start looking at how our world is going. Well this is what has happened during that time. The increase in violent crime is up 560%. The illegitimate births in our country are up 400%. Suicide is up 200%. That's the world we live in.

Now you might feel like that grandfather that went to visit his grandkids and their parents one sunny Sunday afternoon. As he walked in the house, he decided to take a Sunday nap and he was sleeping on the couch. And his grandson played a trick on him, took Limburger cheese and smeared it on Grandpa's mustache. After a while Grandpa woke up, stood up in the living room and said, "This room stinks." Walked into the next room and said, "This room stinks." Went into the dining room, "This whole house stinks." Walked outside and said, "The whole world stinks." We can feel that way.

As you watch television and read newspapers, you may have just sort of summed up your world and said, boy, this place really stinks. I'm tired of it. I want to get out.

Well not Samuel. Samuel lived in a very darkened spiritual environment. Leadership was corrupt. The nation was corrupt. The religious community was corrupt. But here's a young man who brought revival to a nation because he had a heart after God. God used him to be the first prophet in Israel. In fact, Samuel will see himself as being strategically placed there by God for an opportunity.

Let's look then at verse 11. That's where we left off after that prayer of Hannah. It says then Elkanah-- that's Sam's dad. We can call him Sam now. We know him after last week. "Elkanah went to his house at Rama. But the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest."

Now notice he's a child and he's a child minister. In fact you may want to skip ahead and look at chapter 3, verse 1, "the boy Samuel." What he is doing is performing Levitical functions. He's dressed up in a little priest outfit, because his mom's going to bring him a robe once a year. He has a little ephod on. And he's going to minister to the Lord. But he's just a young boy. Josephus, the historian, thinks that he was about 12 years old. Others place him maybe 13, 14, but he was a young teenager or even younger.

Now this is what's interesting, and it happens in every generation. Older folks-- and I can place myself in this category, so I'm not offending anyone-- tend to look almost down at younger people, like, what do they have to offer me? How could they possibly share or minister to me? Well all you've got to do is look at the lives of Jeremiah, a prophet God called when he was young. In fact he said, "Lord, how can I be a prophet? I'm so young." You know what God told him? "Quit saying you're young."

Daniel was a young man served in Babylon. Timothy was a young man in the New Testament. In fact, Paul said, "Don't let anybody look down on you because you're young." Or as the new King James says, "Don't let anyone despise your youth."

I remember when I was like 20 years old, I felt like God passed me by. I'm 20 thinking, God, I should have a ministry by now. I just wanted God to use me in any kind of capacity. I was just hungering for something new. Samuel had that at a way younger age. He was thirsting after the Lord, ministering to the Lord before Eli the priest.

Now I also want to take the other side of that. Moses was 80 when he started. Caleb was 85 when he said, let's go for it. And I guess my point is, the call of God could come at any age. God is looking for people to say, Lord, use me. I want to be involved in your plan for this world.

But it is true that often at the time of youth is at the time where people are searching for answers. We're asking the big questions. What's the meaning of life? What's going to happen to me when I die? Those are the kind of questions that people deal with at a younger age. We get a little more calloused as we get older.

In fact, most conversions happen at a very young age. Show of hands, how many of you were saved, came to Christ after age 30? Now you guys can't raise your hands because you're not even close to that. You came to Christ after 30? If you came to Christ before 30, raise your hands. It's like double or more.

According to one organization, the odds diminish with age. Start out when you're young and you're open to the gospel-- for instance, most conversions happen before 25. And before that age up to 25, it's like 1 in 5,000 chance that a person will come to know Christ. But if you're 35 years of age, it's 1 in 25,000. Age 45, 1 in 60,000. Age 55, the odds are 1 in 125,000.

So it diminishes as one gets older because we get set in our ways. We're not open like we were when we were younger in fact, they say if you're like 75 and you come to Christ. It's like a bona fide miracle. Of course it's a miracle any time, a changed life is.

And what's great is we see God do those miracles, several in the last few weeks. We've had people in their 70s come forward and receive Jesus Christ for the first time in their life. So God can blow doors on statistics.

But now look at verse 12. "Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord." You see the word corrupt? Literally it is they were sons of Belial. That's like saying they worked at God's house but they were really the devil's kids. They were the devil's kids, unsaved, but they worked at church. They worked in the Tabernacle. Some people think, well, if you hang around church, it's just this automatic thing's going to happen, this transformation. And some even act like that, by the way.

I've often said the church parking lot is miraculous. It has a transforming property to it. People can be yelling and swearing and belittling each other out on Osuna. But they pull into the church parking lot and the halo comes out of the glove box, gets put on top. And then they walk into the church and [HUMS]. What happens? Reality kind of gets put to the side.

In all reality, Christian hangouts, like churches, can be the most dangerous places to be. Church can be a dangerous place to come. Did you know that? The upper room in Jerusalem when there was Passover and Jesus was with his disciples, that was the most dangerous place to be in Jerusalem that night because the devil was in that room. He entered Judas Iscariot in that room. There was that whole betrayal thing happening. And this is a place where there's a lot of spiritual warfare that happens, things that want to distract you, take your attention away. And as much as God is here to minister to you or bring you to him, oftentimes the devil is also at work.

Now here's the problem. Notice they didn't know the Lord. They weren't saved. They didn't have a personal, experiential relationship or knowledge. And that's the key issue, isn't it?

Let these words weigh on you for just a few moments. Jesus said, "Many will come to me in that day, the last day, and say, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we do miracles in your name and cast out demons in your name and do wonderful works in your name?'" And Jesus said, "And I will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who work iniquity." What you said with their lips and how you lived with their life were miles apart, outta here. That's my translation of it. I never knew you.

Hear the story about the goat who wanted to be a lion? The goat said, "All I have to do is learn to talk like a goat talks, walk like a-- or a lion, talk like a lion talks, walk as a lion would walk, and go where lions go. And surely I'll be one."

So this little goat convinced himself that he could do it. And he got up one morning and he started trying to perform that majestic swagger through the jungle-- you know, little goat. And he wasn't very good at it. But he tried to push that little stubby tail and act majestic.

And then the next day he convinced himself that he could take that pathetic little pleat, or bleat, and make it a big roar. So he tried and he wasn't very good at it. But he thought he was.

The next day he thought, Now all I have to do is go where lions go and I'll be one." So he went at lunchtime where lions go. End of story, end of goat.

And a lot of people think, all I have to do is go where Christians go and talk like Christians talk and walk like Christians walk. I'll get a Bible and I'll be one. Oh no, it has to be a personal knowledge from the heart, especially when it comes to serving the Lord.

Verse 13, "In the priest's custom--" just to show you how bad these kids were-- "the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priests' servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was boiling. And he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself all that the flesh hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Also before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, 'Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you but raw.'" I know that sounds gross, like beef sushi or something, raw meat. But I'll explain why in a moment.

"And if the man said to him, 'They really should burn the fat first,' then you may take as much as your heart desires. He would say to them, or he would answer him, 'No, but you must give it now. And if not, I will take it by force.'"

This is how it worked. According to Deuteronomy, back in the law when priests had their little book laid out of how they were to be priests, they had specific portions of offerings that they could take for themselves. If it was a wave offering, for instance, they could take the breast of the animal. If it was a heave offering, another different kind of offering, they could take the thigh of the animal.

But these guys didn't want that. Neither did they want to burn the fat, which was prescribed by the law, on the altar. They didn't want the boiled meat. They wanted to take it home raw as much as they want whenever they want and probably barbecue it, cook it themselves, not have it boiled first. So rather than obeying God's law and having no accountability in their life whatsoever, they just did what they wanted to and they took it by force.

Now once again here's the problem. When you don't have a relationship with God, you don't have the fear of God. And that's a huge issue by the way. We often wonder, why do people who say they are Christians do those kinds of things? I suggest we've lost, in a lot of cases, the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, Solomon says. That doesn't mean we're supposed to shake like they did in The Wizard of Oz, oh God. It just simply means I have a respect and an honor for God and I want to obey him because I love him supremely.

But when you don't know the Lord, you don't have a fear of God. When you don't have a fear of God, worship becomes sort of going through the motions. In fact what happens to you when you don't have a fear of God? You start critiquing other people's worship rather than entering in humbly to worship God.

There was corruption in the land of Israel. And these priests were tantamount to even political leaders. And I think in many cases in our country we have leaders who make laws and go through the motions of those laws but they're not really keeping them. You don't forget that not too long ago we had a president who said unequivocally, (BILL CLINTON ACCENT) "I did not have relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," when in fact he did. And then he ought to know what is really is.

[LAUGHTER]

And that can be trickled-down immorality. It happened here. It happens over and over again in the nation. Therefore verse 17, "The sin of the young man was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred," or hated, loathed-- "the offering of the Lord."

Folks, there is the power of a bad example. People who are worshippers started hating worship because of these guys' example. People follow your footsteps quicker than they follow your advice. They said they priests. They were known as leaders. But because of what they did, men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

Remember, David had this problem. He had wandering-eye disease. He liked to check out the chicks at night from his balcony. And there was a chick named Bathsheba. And he thought, [GROWLS]. My wife's inside. Her husband's gone. And I'm the king. And he lusted after her and took her into his house thinking nobody sees it. God saw it.

The Bible says your sin will find you out. Boy it found him out. He just sort of sat on it and played like he was really cool for a long time till Nathan the prophet came in one day, told him their little story about somebody who lost their sheep. And David got all upset. "Look, I'm going to play hero." And Nathan said, "You are that guy."

And then David got all emotional. "I'm sorry. I've sinned." And Nathan said to him, "By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." The power of a bad example is that other people are watching-- not only listening but watching. And in their watching you can set a bad example and not live a godly life.

I remember when I was first a Christian and I was saved in a good environment, but I started checking out all sorts of different places to hang out. And I went to one revival meeting and it was out in a dirt lot. It was just a dirt empty lot in San Bernardino, California and they had a big tent on a dirt lot just outside. It was dirty. So I came with flip-flops, shorts, and a T-shirt. I mean, that's standard California fare.

So I walk up and they stop me at the door. It was just a flap. And they said, "You can't come in." I said, "Why not?" "Because this is God's house." I go, "OK, well why can I come in?" "You don't have proper attire on." Now he had a three-piece suit and nice shoes. "Well, I just want to worship the Lord." "Well, you can't come in. You have to dress appropriately to be--" I said, "Look, this is a tent. This is dirt on the floor. I think I'm dressed appropriately. Maybe you ought to--" No, I didn't say that, but he should have changed. But I was turned away that night. And I thought, you know what, I just got a bad taste right off the bat for organized religion.

People are watching us. People are watching you. They see you carry a Bible to work. You say you're a believer, but they watch your lifestyle, how you act, how you treat people. /

A little boy wrote this note to his grandmother. "Dear Grandma, thanks for the tape recorder you sent for Christmas. I've already made quite a bit of money selling dad tapes that I made around the house of him on Sunday mornings. Now I'm saving up to buy a video camera. Thanks again. Love, Elden." Got him.

Well the people of Israel were watching this. Now contrast that. Look at verse 18. "But Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a child wearing a linen ephod." Now an ephod is a tight, fitted, sleeveless garment that went from the shoulders down past the waist. It's what priest would wear. It's like official priest clothing when they would do ministerial duties in the Tabernacle. And so here's this little guy wearing his little ephod and his robe thinking, "This is really fun. I get to act like a priest." And he was in the lineage of Aaron, a Levite. He was grooming himself or being groomed for the priesthood.

Moreover, verse 19, this is cool. "His mother used to make him a little robe and bring it him--" yeah, aw-- "and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice." So the kid would get bigger every year. Oh, I just made him a little priest robe and I hope this fits. Of course what if he grows like a mile and you haven't seen him for a year?

And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "The Lord give you descendants--" plural-- "from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord. Then they would go to their own home. And the Lord visited Hannah--" it was like a prophecy-- "so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the child Samuel grew before the Lord."

There's a phrase that I keep reading about with Samuel's mom and dad and Samuel-- before the Lord, before the Lord, before the Lord. They're living their lives before the Lord. Let me tell you something. There is hope for the next generation when the Lord is concerned and if they're living before the Lord.

And I will also say this. No matter how bad it gets in any society, God always has blessed exceptions to that society. He always has people that just get it. They get his heart. They're on fire. And God looks for those kind of people and God will raise them up and use them.

Now what's the key here? In looking at Samuel's parents' lives and Samuel, what's the key to the next generation? I'm going to give you two simple things. Number one, the second generation must become the first generation. The second generation needs to become the first generation. See, they don't need to just hear us talk about when God once moved in our lives, it was really good back then. They need their own experience with the Lord. They need to have their own relationship with the Lord.

Sometimes we speak nostalgically. The Jesus movement-- man, I remember when hippies came to Christ. And remember the songs we sang? Well that's good. That's cool and it was really wonderful. But you know what? That's then. This is now. I want to see a Jesus moment now.

And you know what? Jesus is moving now. It's not like, oh yeah, he moved back then. Remember the bell bottoms and the tie dye? That was Jesus stuff-- oh please. We have a group here at Lifeline Missions that sent out a couple of thousand kids the last several years all over the world. That's a Jesus movement. He's moving all over the world with your kids. A lot of them are getting it and a lot of them are being transformed. That second generation is becoming their own first generation, their own experience with the Lord.

Second, the first generation-- parents, us-- we need to live it. We need to live it. Not just, well now that you are a child and you're old enough to make a decision, but we've never been to church ever before in our lives or really could care less about God, is obvious in our lives. We're going to start going to church now, because you need it son. You need it honey.

No, we need to start living that life before them. Train up a child in the way that he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now we love to quote that. And some of us though I think believe it means all that is required of us is every now and then give a pep talk to our kids. Sit down son. See that book? It's called a Bible. Read it. That's all. Live it. No, we need to live it.

You know the word train in Hebrew, train? That means the Hebrew word [HEBREW], which means to put something into the mouth or to create a taste for. It was used by the ancient Arab Bedouins who would take honey from dates and stick it into the nursing child's mouth to create a sucking reflex so that the baby would learn to suck then from the mother. It was to create a thirst or to create a reflex based upon an action.

So I think the word here means train up a child, stimulate a godly taste for something. And you know how you stimulate a godly taste? Have one yourself. Abraham Lincoln, quoting this verse, said, "For a man to train up a child in the way that he should go has to walk that way himself." And that's what Samuel's parents did.

I found an interesting statistic. A research group shows that if two parents in a family, both parents, just attend church faithfully, that there is a 72% chance that the children they have will be faithful in spiritual things later on. If both parents attend church faithfully, there's a 72% chance that the kids will remain faithful. Now if only dad goes to church regularly but not mom, there is a 55% chance that the children remain faithful. But get this. If only the mother does it and not the dad, just to show you the example of especially a father-- if dad doesn't but mom does, 15% chance. Oh the influence of two godly parents together serving the Lord.

Now verse 22. "Eli was very old and he heard every thing his sons did to all Israel and how they"-- get this, here's something else revealed now-- "they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting." Not only did they steal with impunity-- without it-- they're committing sexual immorality with women who were at the Tabernacle.

Back in the Book of Exodus, chapter 38, there is the mention of women who served at the Tabernacle, probably cleaning up the doorway, probably some kind of a task to make worship more approachable and easier. Well Hophni and Phinehas were taking advantage of their leadership position and these women being at the Tabernacle, and they would have sexual relations with them. Now in the Canaanite world, the world they invaded, this was not uncommon for sexual prostitution to be a part of ancient Canaanite worship services. Now these guys are doing it.

You know what's worse than immorality-- leaders doing it, spiritual leaders especially, and then allowing it to continue. Listen to this quote. Quote, "To allow a preacher of the gospel when he is caught beyond the shadow of a doubt committing an immoral act to remain in his position as a pastor or whatever would be the most gross stupidity." That was spoken by Jimmy Swaggart in the late 1980s before he was caught with a prostitute. And yet when the Assemblies came to him and said, "We think you should get out of the ministry for a while," he wouldn't do it.

See, that sets a tone. It gives a message. It says, let's wink at sin. It doesn't really matter. It does really matter. The people abhorred the sacrifices of the Lord.

"And so he said to them"-- this is dad speaking-- "'Why do you do such things, for I hear of your evil dealings from all the people? No my sons, it's not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people transgress. If one sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?' Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father because the Lord desired to kill them."

Whoa. It would seem that they persisted in their evil to the point where God had already determined to judge them. And their behavior was bent on not changing.

Now we see something. We see, on one hand, the callousness of these kids. Don't do that. [GROANS] But we see the cowardliness of dad. He could have stopped this, but it's just like a slap on the wrist. Don't do that, not [INAUDIBLE] lay with women at the Tabernacle and steal flesh. That's not a good thing.

I think he could have been a little firmer than that. I think he's a little wishy-washy here. He's not a strong leader. He should have said, "You guys are not even doing this any longer." But he just let it slide.

It could be that Eli lost his own fire for God. After all, when he saw Hannah praying, what did he think she was involved in? She's drunk. Like what, people get drunk here every day? I guess so. So he just winked at it.

Our carnal nation needs spiritual leaders, people who will make a stand. And let me just make this really clear. We need spiritual men who will be leaders. And I'm not saying women shouldn't be, but you know what? Traditionally in the church women have been the ones who do the volunteer work. When there's something that needs to be done, women have that vision and drive and desire. And I thank God for them.

But you know what? Where are the guys getting involved in being leaders? Our nation needs spiritual leaders, dads, men who will stand up and live and walk the truth. Let's revive that. Let men be men. Let's get some leadership going, some initiative going, and be afraid to take some of the criticism that would even come your way. Make a stand. And when a church will shut its eyes and leaders will shut their eyes, like this guy did, to sin, either in the pulpit or in the pew, it's going to drive people away.

Here's an engraving that was found in a cathedral in Germany, Lubeck, Germany. It's engraved up there in the lintels. It said, "Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us. 'You call Me Master and obey Me not. You call Me light but you see Me not. You call Me the way and yet you walk Me not. You call Me the life and yet you live Me not. You call Me wise and yet you follow Me not. You call Me fair but you love Me not. You call Me rich yet you ask Me not. You call Me eternal and yet you seek Me not. If I condemn thee, then blame Me not.'" What a thing to see as you're coming to church every Sunday.

God was about to judge this house by bringing them out of the picture but raising up this young on-fire man of God. Verse 26, it gets good now. "The child Samuel grew in stature and in favor, both with the Lord and men." What a contrast to these two guys who are spiritually and socially sinning and inept to somebody who's growing in favor with God and with people. They're not abhorring anymore the sacrifices and the worship when they see this young on-fire Christian. Well he wasn't a Christian back then but a servant of the Lord.

Now I know this is going to sound strange, but this is how I think Samuel saw this situation. This spiritual darkness that the nation of Israel was in was the best time to turn on a spiritual light. Light shines in the darkest places. If you want to see stars, you don't go to downtown Los Angeles or New York City. "Check it out." You won't see anything. You want to go far out into the desert or out into the mountains where it's darker around you, and then the luminescence of the stars is even more dramatic.

And so I know we complain about the world and we wake up from the Limburger cheese. "This world stinks." How about saying, "Perfect time to turn on the light." If the world's this dark, if I live a godly life, people are going to notice it, being the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Maybe the light's going out in your country, your community, your workplace, and you're thinking, I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave. This world's bad. This community's bad. The crime rate's bad. Maybe the light's going out in your family relationship and you think, I am outta here. No, now is the time to stay and let that light spread. God will use your life, even that single candle burning brightly.

Verse 27-- "Then a man of God"-- what a great description, to be known as a man or a woman of God. "Then a man of God"-- undescript, unknown. We don't know who he is. He's anonymous, but anonymous doesn't mean unimportant-- "came to Eli and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your Father when they were in Egypt in pharaoh's house? God chose Aaron and then the tribe of Levi. Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon my altar to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Did I not give to the house of your Father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? Why do you kick at my sacrifice and my offering, which I have commanded in my dwelling place, and honor your sons more than me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel, my people?'"

There has been a trend among some believers in the last several years. I would call it child-centered parenting. It's all about my child. I can't come to church because my child has this. And I really can't get involved spiritually because my children. I'm all for getting your children integrated in culture and sports and society. But you know the world is not to revolve around your child. Your child's world is to revolve around your Lord. "Because you honor your sons more than me," he said.

Now this guy, this man of God, whoever he was, was pretty bold. "Why do you kick against God's sacrifices?" He's got guts, but he has gracious guts. He's sweet and sincere in his approach. I think he's empathetic toward him.

Somebody once said that courage is just fear that has said its prayers. I think he walked in with a lump in his throat going, [INAUDIBLE] this guy is like a heavyweight priest, but I'm going to tell him because I think this is the word of the Lord. And he told him the word of the Lord.

Now you might think, why I'd never confront another person like this. If you were their friend you would. In fact if you were their friend and they're doing something that's blatantly unbiblical and sinful, if you're their friend, you better talk to them.

It says in Proverbs 27, verses 5 and 6, "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. A true friend is willing to express the Lord's heart with tactful criticism in order to warn."

Billy Sunday was a preacher long time ago who was known for his cutting way of preaching. People didn't like him at that time for that. Of course everybody likes people once they're dead. "Oh, he was great." They don't like him when they were alive. Billy Sunday was one of those preachers. They accused him of being harsh.

And so one time he said, "They tell me I rub the fur the wrong way. I do not let the cat turn around." It's called repentance. And sometimes you feel uncomfortable because God's telling you, turn around. Go my direction, a new way to live.

By the way, before we move on and close tonight, you might be one of those people that somebody lovingly, gingerly, prayerfully has been trying to confront, and you haven't been open. And God is trying to open up a part of your life and give you victory and power in that part of your life, and you haven't been listening. Be open.

"Therefore," he continues, "the Lord, God of Israel says, 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your Father would walk before Me forever.' But now the Lord says, 'Far be it from Me for those who honor Me I will honor. Those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm"-- that is your power, your strength-- "and the arm of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. And you will see an enemy in my dwelling place despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever."

He's probably referring to the time when the Tabernacle at Shiloh would be destroyed by the Philistines, when the ark would be captured when it was superstitiously brought into battle. And both sons of Eli were killed that day. And Eli heard about it. And he died that day. And that was it. Their time was up.

"But any of your men whom I do not cut off from my altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. In one day they shall die, both of them. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in my heart, in my mind. I will build him a sure house and he will walk before my anointed forever."

Some say this refers to Samuel. Others say this refers to Zadok, which you'll read about later on. Ultimately this refers to Christ, the faithful high priest, the faithful representative.

"It shall come to pass that every one who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread and say, 'Please put me in one of the priestly positions that I may eat a piece of bread.'" That's how bad it would get one day in Israel.

Now we're done with the chapter. Let's close on this note. The world is dark. The world is corrupt. Leadership is corrupt-- in many cases, not in all cases. Thank God that God still raises up godly leaders, godly men. Pray for your leaders. Pray for your president. But don't look at your world so blindly and naively that you think all of the leaders are perfect. It's going to be a perfect world. Now we have a Christian president. Everything's going to go great. Don't think that way.

In the early 1900s, humanism was so blindly optimistic. They believed in this social evolution. The world's getting better and better and we're just evolving socially. Really? You know what happened to that thinking-- World War I, World War II, Vietnam, the Korean War, AIDS, September 11. All of that has shattered relativism. That says, well, what's good for you isn't good for me. After September 11, whoa! We're seeing that there is good and there is evil.

And you might think, this world stinks. Ah, but it's a perfect time to be the light. Now is the time to pray for, to foster leadership now in yourself and in the next generation. Let the first generation live it. Let the second generation become the first generation.

Jesus said He was the light of the world. But He also said, now you are the light of the world. I'm leaving. I'm out of here. It's your turn. You continue My work.

When Jesus lived here, it was like the sun and all of its brilliance. But you know when the sun sets, the moon comes up. And the moon reflects the brightness and the glory of the sun. That's our position. We shine, not by our own light, but we reflect his.

I found an interesting fact that in Chinese there is a word for crisis. That is the combination of two words. Two parts become one word. The word is [CHINESE]. You have to say it the right way, [CHINESE]. And the first part means danger. The second part means opportunity. They define a crisis as a dangerous opportunity.

We live in a world that stinks. Everywhere you turn on the TV or read an article, it's bad. It's getting worse. What an opportunity, opportunity to shine the light. Keep this in mind as we close.

The revival in Israel that we're about to read was a youth movement. It started with a young 12, 13, 14-year-old kid who said, I'm going to serve God. The Jesus movement that some of us remember from the '60s and et cetera was a youth movement. Jesus is still moving. Let Him move. Take up the baton. Go for it. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we pray that indeed the second generation would become the first generation. Rather than hearing their parents' stories of how you once moved in great ways, I pray that this generation would see you move in their own lives, in their own time, among themselves. Raise them up Lord as an army, speaking the language of this generation.

And I pray that we, as their parents, as older adults, would just give them that baton and encourage it and mentor them, harness that energy. And I pray, Lord, that we, the generation that had our relationship with you would continue to live it even now.

Lord, there is such hope. You have blessed exceptions in every culture. You have a plan to reach this world, this generation. There's new styles of music. There's new styles of media. The message remains the same. Fill with your Holy Spirit Lord this new generation.

And Father, I would pray tonight if somebody here has fallen away from you, walked away from you-- maybe they remember as a child making some kind of prayer or some overt commitment to you but then just let it slide. I pray that tonight would be a time of renewal, rededication, recommitment, repentance. I pray the cat would turn around Lord.

I pray for some who have come, maybe invited by a friend who have never personally yielded their lives to you before, though they may have been religious and interested in spiritual things. Their heart is aching and they want to find fulfillment. As we're praying right now, if that describes anyone here and you want to give your life to Christ tonight, come to him and let him love you and forgive you.

Additional Messages in this Series

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3/13/2002
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Why Me, Lord?
1 Samuel 1
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3/27/2002
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God, Is That You?
1 Samuel 3
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4/3/2002
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Spiritual Superstitions
1 Samuel 4
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4/10/2002
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The Battle Of The gods!
1 Samuel 5-6
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4/24/2002
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Revival: Repentance Versus Conviction
1 Samuel 7
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5/1/2002
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A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
1 Samuel 8
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5/8/2002
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Civic Duties Of A Christian
1 Samuel 9-10
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5/15/2002
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The Just War
1 Samuel 11-12
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5/22/2002
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The Downward Spiral Of A Leader
1 Samuel 13-15
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6/28/2002
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Telling A Book By Its Cover
1 Samuel 16
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7/3/2002
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Overcoming Giant Problems
1 Samuel 17
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7/17/2002
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The Green Eyed Monster Of Envy
1 Samuel 18-19
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7/24/2002
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The Four Faces Of Friendship
1 Samuel 20
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7/31/2002
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The Fugitive
1 Samuel 21-22
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8/7/2002
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Who Is My Enemy?
1 Samuel 23-24
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8/21/2002
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Suffering With And Submitting To A Crazy King
1 Samuel 25
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8/28/2002
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Sorrow Without Repentence
1 Samuel 26-28
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9/4/2002
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Saul's Ending, David's Beginning
1 Samuel 29-31
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There are 18 additional messages in this series.
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