Introduction:

in this passage of Scripture, we will see a boy, hear God’s voice who then responds to his call from God.  We will also see a man whom God no longer speaks to & this my friend is a place none of us would ever want to be in. 

A.     God reveals Himself to Samuel.

1.       The Boy Ministered to the Lord (v.1a).

This is the third time that this is emphasized that the boy ministered to the Lord (1Sam.2:11, 18).  You being youth, you need to understand that you have the capacity to:

§           Do what is right in the sight of the Lord (2Chron.34:1-7)—

§           Believe   (Matt. 18:6)

§           Come to Christ (Mark 10:13–16)

§           Glorify God (Matt. 21:15, 16)

§           Understand Scripture (2 Tim. 3:15)

§           Receive the promises (Acts 2:39)

§           Receive training (Eph. 6:4)

§           Worship in God’s House (1Sam.1:24,28)

§           Therefore do not let anyone despise your youth (1Tim.4:12)

We see also in Acts 13 that Paul and Barnabas ministered to the Lord before being sent out as missionaries.  When something is emphasized over & over we need to pay attention.   

       Ministering originally meant, “to discharge a public office.” However, leitourgeoµ means more than public service; it describes priestly service & we all have been made a holy, & royal priesthood (1Pet.2:5,9). 

a)        Your Service Is To God, Not To Man—Yes we serve the people (Mark 10:45) but we are not the people’s servants, we are servants of the Lord God.

1)        Don’t Be A Man Pleaser (Galatians 1:10): If my goal is to minister to the people I will be tempted to compromise.  Making the lord the object of my ministry will prevent me from compromising.      

2)        Our First Response Is To Please God (2Cor.5:9-11)

q         Give ourselves to the Lord and then to other believers (2Cor.8:5)  

q         Be diligent to present [ourselves] approved to God,” not to men (2 Tim. 2:15)

q         Work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,” because “it is the Lord Christ whom [he serves]” (Col. 3:23–24).

q         Obey Him rather than man (Acts 5:29)

q         He is the audience for all spiritual ministry (Acts 20:19-20) 

3)        Serving Is Also An Act Of Worship To God (Heb.13:15-16; 1Peter 2:5)

q         This also consists of offering spiritual sacrifices to Him (cf. Heb. 13:15–16; 1Pet.2:5), including prayer (Acts 6:4), oversight of the flock (Acts 20:28), studying, and preaching and teaching the Word.

2.       The Word of the Lord was Rare in Those Days (v.1b)

Why was the word of the LORD rare in those days?  Probably, because of the hardness of heart among the people of Israel and the corruption of the priesthood. God will speak, and guide, when His people seek Him, and when His ministers seek to serve Him diligently.

a)        Where There Is No Vision, The People Perish (Proverbs 29:18)—This refers to the prophetic vision, revelation which comes as the word of God.

1)        God Sent A Famine On the Earth (Amos 8:11-14).  Israel endured times when the prophetic word was silent. When Samuel was a young boy, “in those days the word of the Lord was rare” (1 Sam 3:1).

q         For All The Times Israel Rejected The Word, God sent a famine on the earth; not a famine of food and water, but an even more damaging famine: a famine of the word of God.

q         Without The Announcement Of The Word Of God, people will become unrestrained, disorderly and grossly obscene in their manner of life.

q         The Best Picture Of How This Takes Place Can Be Found In Exodus 32:25. While Moses was absent for a mere forty days on Mount Sinai receiving the law of God, the people began to fear that he would never return. Without the input of the prophetic word, the people began to get out of control. They cast off all restraint and began to dance about a newly made golden calf. They ate and drank and indulged in open immorality, apparently recalling what they had seen in Egypt.

b)        We Must Teach Our Children (Mark 10:13-16)—Children: children respond to Jesus. They have nothing to give but themselves, and they are ready to give themselves. Their little hearts are tender and responsive to authority. They look to others to provide, teach, protect, and care for them. They are ready to respond; all they need is for someone to present the warmth and tenderness and love of Jesus.

1)        The Result of the Word of God Being Neglected (Judges 2:1-19)

§           Everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25)

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12 cf. Proverbs 3:5)

1.         If you fail to fear God, the devil will teach you to hate God.

2.         If you fail to guard you minds, the devil will teach you how to have a corrupt mind.

3.         If you fail to obey your parents, the devil will teach you to rebel.

4.         If you fail to select carefully your companions, the devil will choose companions for you.

5.         If you fail to control your lusts, the devil will teach you how to fulfill them.

6.         If you fail to watch your words, the devil will fill your mouths with filth.

7.         If you fail to pursue work, the devil will make your laziness a tool of hell.

8.         If you fail to love your enemies, the devil will teach you to love only yourselves. 

B.     Samuel is Unable to Recognize God’s Voice (v.2-4)

1.       God’s First Words to Samuel

a)        His eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see—This was true spiritually of Samuel, as much as it was physically.  His old age had made him less able to effectively lead the nation.

b)        Before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD—As a figure of speech, this simply means “before dawn.” But it is also suggestive of the dark spiritual times of Israel: it is dark, and will probably get darker.

q        Exodus 27:21—refers to the responsibility of the priests to tend the lamps until sunrise, or just before dawn.

c)         While Samuel was laying down to sleep, that the LORD called Samuel—How old was Samuel at this time?  We don’t know for certain; the ancient Jewish historian Josephus says Samuel was 12 years old at the time. However old he was, God spoke to Samuel.

1)        How Does God Speak? How Did He Speak To Samuel?  Some people wait for God to speak in a audible voice, and others (some of them mentally disturbed) believe they hear God speaking in an audible voice.  But most people believe God speaks to them by an “inner voice”; by the thoughts and feelings which may come into our hearts and our heads, which one believes are prompted by God.

(a)      But This Hearing From God Is An Uncertain Business.

1.         God is not the only source of thoughts and feelings coming into our hearts and heads. Thoughts or feelings (good or bad) can come from ourselves, or they can also come from Satan.  Peter, in (Matthew 16:13-23), was at one moment speaking from God, and at the next moment speaking directly from the Devil.

(b)      Because It Is Uncertain, There Are Three Things To Keep In Mind.

1.         We must always judge what we think God may be telling us by what He has certainly told us in His Word, the Bible. God will never contradict His eternal Word. 

2.         We should always be humble when it comes to the idea of God speaking to us. We can never completely trust our ability to hear from God by this “inner voice” accurately.  It is easy for us to add something to what God has said, or to stop listening, or to misapply what He has said, or to think that it was God when it was ourselves or something else. It is far better to say and think, “I think the LORD told me . . .” than to talk and think as if you hear God perfectly.

3.         No one should feel “unspiritual” because they think God does not speak to them the way He seems to others. If you really want God to speak to you, and to speak to you the best way, get into God’s Word, the Bible! We know He has spoken there!

d)        The Calling Of God On Our Lives (Galatians 1:16)

1)        Men’s Coming To God Has Always Been On The Basis Of His Sovereign Will And Grace.

As Moses Explained To Israel In The Wilderness, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers” (Deut. 7:7–8).

Samuel Confronted The People With The Same Message: “The Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself” (1 Sam. 12:22). God chose the Jews for no other reason than His own holy pleasure and purpose.

David Knew He Was Chosen And Anointed King By God’s Sovereign Election. “The Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever,” he said. “For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king overall Israel. And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel” (1 Chron. 28:4–5).

From The Choosing Of The Nation Of Israel, the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, and of Jesse’s son David and grandson Solomon, the process was entirely divine and sovereign. God’s election is based on nothing but His own good pleasure.

Paul Was Chosen To Be An Apostle Before He Was Born, just as Jacob was chosen over his twin brother Esau before their births (Rom. 9:11–13), as Isaiah and Jeremiah were called and consecrated to their prophetic work while still in their mothers’ wombs (Isa. 49:1; Jer. 1:5), and as John the Baptist was called even before his conception to be the forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1:13–17)

e)         And he answered, “Here I am!”—This leads us to believe God spoke to Samuel in an audible voice, instead of in an “inner voice,” though this is not certain. But Samuel was so impressed by what he heard, he responded by saying, Here I am! 

1)        What A Beautiful Way To Respond To God’s Word! It isn’t that God does not know where we are before we tell Him, but it tells God and it reminds us we are simply before Him as servants, asking what He wants us to do.

2.       Samuel Does not recognize God’s Voice (v.5-9).

a)        Samuel’s Obedience—upon hearing this voice, Samuel runs to Eli.  Although he was wrong in thinking Eli was speaking to him, he was right in what he did!  If Eli was calling him he needed to go to him.   

b)        And the LORD called yet again—When speaking to us, God almost always confirms His word again and again. It is generally wrong to do something dramatic in response to a single “inner voice” from the LORD. If God is speaking, He will confirm, and often in a variety of ways. 

c)         Samuel did not yet know the LORD—What a contrast!  Here is Samuel, a godly, obedient boy, serving God wonderfully. Yet, he has not yet given his heart to the LORD, but Eli’s two sons did not know the Lord, but they were corrupt & evil with an unrepentant heart.  Even children raised in the most godly home must be converted by the Spirit of God, and Samuel now is hearing God speak to his heart.  What is he going to do?

d)        Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears—Eli gives wise counsel Samuel. Eli tells Samuel to make himself available for God to speak (Go, lie down); he tells Samuel to not be presumptuous about God speaking (if He calls you); he tells Samuel to respond to the word of God (Speak, LORD); and he tells Samuel to humble himself before God and His word (Your servant hears). 

e)         Speak, LORD—We must hear from God. The preacher may speak, our parents may speak, our friends may speak, our teachers may speak, and people on the radio or television may speak. That is all fine, but their voices mean nothing for eternity unless God speaks through them. 

3.       How are you going to respond to God’s Calling?

a)        Isaiah’s Response (Isaiah 6:1-8); Paul’s Response (Acts 9:1-6)

1)        Rejection leads to withdraw of the means of grace (Acts 13:46)

2)        Judgment (Hebrews 2:1-3); (Proverbs 29:1; Matthew 22:3-7)