NBBC SS: 1 Samuel 3

Introduction: As we reflect on this particular passage today, I do not want to overlook the fact that this may indeed be a very familiar passage to us.

Truthfully, this is something that I began to get familiar with when I was a kid.

When I was growing up, my grandmother would share this particular story with us on a regular basis that we just ate up. Primarily 'cause it was my grandmother and we loved my grandma. But, instead of making up a story, she would go to the scripture and share something with us, that was true. And truthfully, that picture of faithfulness is something that we're going to see here in this passage today.

So again, I don't want to overlook the fact that many of us in here may have a great familiarity with this passage, a history of familiarity with this passage. 
And so with that, let's use that to really encourage our discussion this morning so that we can soak up as much of this passage to encourage us to faithfulness

Now, let's go ahead and let's get started by reflecting on verse one. His kind of our introduction here to 1st Samuel chapter 3. It's really gonna set the tone for us in giving us the expectations for the things that we're gonna see in 1st Samuel chapter 3 today. 
So let's read 1st one together.

1 Samuel 3:1 “1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.”

What do we notice initially here about this particular verse and setting up for us the context?

So what we notice here is, this passage is gonna be primarily about Samuel, isn't it?

And with that, we're given some indications about Samuel.

He's obviously no longer an infant because his mom has brought him to the tabernacle after he was weaned.

But he's described here in terms of his development so far.

He's a boy.

And some of you may have a note in your Bible that suggests how old he might be at this time.

Does anybody have that note?

Yeah, 12 years old.

Do you have a note as to where that may have come from?

It comes from an ancient Jewish historian by the name of Josephus.

He was writing during the time of the Roman Empire, really just after the Jewish revolt in AD70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.

So Josephus suggests he might have been 12 years old.

However, the passage does not give us that particular information as to how old he is.

What we do know is that Samuel is old enough to be able to minister or serve in the Tabernacle, serving the Lord.

What's interesting here is the way that this is phrased.

Samuel is serving the Lord but before Eli.

Essentially under his supervision or his administration.

Or, even as we're going to see here, as his assistant.

And, I hope to be able to show you that from God's word, as to how we get that idea, that he may even be an assistant here.

You know, it's really fascinating about this term ministering.

It is a unique term.

While it's used a number of times across the Old Testament, here in 1st Samuel, it's only used three times.

And it's all used here in this passage.

And it's all used concerning Samuel.

While the term can be used elsewhere to refer to servants, serving their master.

Not necessarily in a slave master relationship.

But, say, where there's a king who has a servant who has an attendant to them.

It's used by my count around 45 times to refer to sacred priestly service.

Brothers and sisters, what Samuel is doing here is of great significance.

And let's think, how did Samuel get to this point?

His mama.

She set a legacy of faithfulness for this boy.

Early on, in dedicating him to the Lord.

Now, in terms of dedicating, there may be temptation to invest significance into just that one act.

Really brothers and sisters, this is the culmination of a woman who was, who sought to be faithful to the Lord. And that faithfulness was not just in dedicating her son. 
It was demonstrated in the first chapter of someone who earnestly sought the Lord. It was demonstrated in the 2nd chapter of someone who demonstrated her knowledge of the Lord's faithfulness by singing a faithful song to him. And it was someone who completed, That particular act of faithfulness, with integrity, by following through on the vow that she had made. 
The point that I want to draw out from this in terms of application, brothers and sisters. is you notice here, after chapter 2, Hannah is no longer mentioned. That doesn't mean that she didn't have continued interactions with Samuel, but certainly not to the degree that she had... when he was under her primary care. Brothers and sisters, Samuel Samuel's faithfulness, even at a young age. 
Is a testimony to the faithfulness that was instilled in him from his mama. And I believe that Pastor Doug brought this out last week. But here, in particular, there is a laser focus on the fact that Samuel is young, and he's serving the Lord. 
He's faithfully serving the Lord. In the way that I want to encourage you as parents today, and as grandparents, Or even as future grandparents, or future parents, Is that no act of faithfulness is too small. To encourage your children to be faithful. 
And I'll tell you, there are... as a parent, when you have the opportunity to be able to see God's grace at work in your child's life. It is incredible. Just on account of time, I'm not gonna go into some things that I've I've seen in my own son, but if you'd like to talk about that sometime, boy, I'd love to share that with you. 
And if there are things that you're seeing, and your children, those of you who are parents or grandparents, that you're like, that can only be, that can only be God's faithfulness at work, and then, man, I would love to hear that. There's no way there's no way that Hannah could have anticipated that her son would function in the way that he would ultimately come to function and be used as the Lord by. However, though, This woman, through her earnest, seeking, earnestly seeking the Lord, through her knowledge of scripture, as demonstrated in her song. 
And through the application of it all in being a woman of integrity. She set a legacy of faithfulness for Samuel that we're seeing be the culmination here. In 1st Samuel chapter 3 and verse one. 
Parents, faithfully. And I don't mean always, I mean trusting the Lord. Faithfully parent your children. 
Grandparents, faithfully grandparent your children, as I mentioned to you before, I am the beneficiary of a legacy of faithfulness in my grandmother. What I shared with you earlier on about her sharing with us different accounts from the scripture before we went to bed, where she just rattled it off from memory. Those were things that were the norm. when interacting with my grandmother. 
And there are other ways in which my grandmother set for me an example of faithfulness, that I am still the beneficiary of today, that I'm still growing from today.

If you will, brothers and sisters, 1st Samuel 31, and its context concerning Samuel. It is, if you will, further illustrated in the relationship that Timothy had, Paul's protégé, the pastor, the Ephesian, Ephesian Church. 
The example of faithfulness that Timothy had from his grandmother and his mother. as Paul reflects on in 2nd Timothy. So brothers and sisters? No matter how difficult it might be. 
Even if the Lord leads your children to leave home, maybe not necessarily as early as Samuel, but he'll leave home in service to the Lord. Faithfully parent your children, grandparents, faithfully grandparent your children. Be an example of faithfulness that young people can follow.

Do you realize this really is incredible here? I've been talking to parents but... Any faithful adult can be an example of faithfulness to children. 
That they would trust the Lord. They would seek him. They would, they would know him through his word and be able to share that with others. 
And they would live faithful lives, even of integrity.

And what's really fascinating here... is when you think about Samuel's context, so far, we've reflected only on the positives. But as you may recall, if you were here last week, when Pastor Doug was sharing God's word, While Samuel had a legacy of faithfulness, it doesn't mean that he lived in a culture of faithfulness.

That's where the last part of verse one comes in. And word from the Lord was rare in those days. visions were infrequent. When we consider, number one, the term that's translated rare here.

Some of your translations have precious. And what's really fascinating is precious, is actually the dominant meaning of this term. Across other parts of the Old Testament. 
If you were to look in Job 28:16 it’s used in conjunction with stones of great worth and value. 
So, there is, there is something of a nature, of value here.

And that combined with the latter phrase, visions were infrequent. What we have here is both of these lines, they're saying the same thing, but they're giving us some vivid information. 
The precious value of God's revelation here. It was infrequent. God was not speaking like he had to his people. 
And when you think about it, so far in verse in chapters one and 2, We do only have one prophet that has come to Eli and his family to give him a warning at the conclusion of chapter 2. But that's it. Within the short space of this book, and when you think about it, When we take it in the context, Of Genesis through Ruth. 
God's voice. Is more predominant early on. When you conclude with judges, We don't have a record of God speaking. 
Ruth. What we have there is a record of, of women who are faithfully seeking the Lord, but again, we don't have a record of God speaking. It doesn't mean that he's not active. 
That is something very important for his brothers and sisters. But what this does, is it points us to the question, why? Why would God not be speaking? 
And this is mentioned here really in the negative.

So what's going on in the circumstances that God would not be speaking? Immediately, what we have in chapter 2. 
Is the reflection on the wickedness of Eli’s sons. And apparently, though Eli attempted an intervention, it was an insufficient one. So that Eli and his house would be characterized as having sinned against the Lord. 
Because we're still in the time of the judges. A dark period. Whose darkness is at all levels of Israelite culture. Even wickedness within their priests. God has chosen to be silent.

And truthfully, brothers and sisters, this is not too far off from Romans chapter one. Where God says, okay? You're gonna worship the creature rather than the creator, even though you know what is true. 
I'm just gonna let you have your own way. I want you to think about this. Brothers and sisters. 
This dark time that is characterized as a dearth of revelation.

There are other portions of scripture, where. This is actually a judgment from the Lord. 
Lamentations chapter 2. There's a reference to how sad the times are because. Because the word of the Lord was rare in those days, it was infrequent. 
Ezekiel chapter 13 there's no peace. There's extreme sadness. Because the word of the Lord was infrequent. 
This is God's judgment on the people.

And the truth is, brothers and sisters, Is it possible with God's Word before us today? That one could read it, but not understand it. 
And understand its truth. The answer is yes. 1st Corinthians chapter 2, what is needed in order for us to be able to understand God's word, the spirit is needed for us to understand God's word. Without God's Spirit giving us understanding. 
We're not going to receive God's word for the truth that it is. It would just merely be words on a page. That's how brothers and sisters, there are folks out there who can treat God's word as just a piece of literature and nothing else. 
Not the word of God that it is.

What does all of this point us to? Brothers and sisters? 
We have this glimmer of faithfulness in this young man, who is the recipient of a legacy of faithfulness from his mama. Who is serving the Lord even during a dark time. And truthfully, and you may even be thinking this already. 
You may be thinking, you know, I can't help but think of Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael, and Azariah or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. 
How these boys, when they went to Babylon, they purposed to trust the Lord, no matter what. That they would obey him. Brothers and sisters. 
We can invest in the faithfulness of our children. To encourage them that no matter how dark the time, They too can trust the Lord. And be faithful lights where they are.

But also brothers and sisters. We need to search our own heart. Are we contributing to the darkness of the time? 
Through unconfessed sin, that would keep us from understanding God's word. We desperately need God's spirit to give us that understanding of God's word. Even today. 
I'm not suggesting that we're acting like Hoffney and Phineas. or Eli. I'm not suggesting that at all. But the truth is, brothers and sisters, we want our hearts to be in a place through the working of God's Spirit, through the sanctifying work of God's Spirit. to be able to understand God's word when it is shared with us so that we would continue to grow in faithfulness. 
Now, lest you think that I believe that Samuel's faithfulness was all personally initiated, we're gonna come back to that. We're gonna come back to that idea before we conclude the passage today. But. 
For the moment. If God's silence is a response to sin, then we have to ask, what is going to break that silence? And since both of these lines go together in some way, shape, or form, Samuel's faithfulness, and God's response to sin. 
Then we have to ask, okay? We know that Samuel was influenced by the faithfulness of his mama. But why was he faithful? 
What will break the silence, and why was Samuel faithful? And what's interesting is that both of those questions have the same answer. I'm sure that we're already thinking along the lines of what that answer is, but let's wait to see how the passage answers those questions. 
Specifically here.

1 Samuel 3:2–4 “2 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), 3 and 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, 4 that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.””

So let's read together verses 2 through 4.

So, now, we are moving from this general description of Samuel and his times. To a specific instance. The the timing here, it's a time of rest, both Eli and Samuel were lying down. 
And then in verse 3, the reference to the lamp of God had not yet gone out. is actually another, more specific reference to the time. This is actually probably sometime a few, several hours before daybreak. You see, the lamp of God, was the lamp that was the menorah. 
The with 7 candlesticks. That was set opposite to the table of showbread in the tabernacle. just outside of the holy of holies, of the veil, of the tabernacle. And it was always lit. 
And it required constant maintenance. So that when the oil, olive oil, had run out, then it would be replaced so that it could be consistently lit. So. 
Given how the candlelight burning takes place. It had yet to go out and to be replenished with additional oil. And so, this helps us to understand that within the timing of everything, this is some time before daybreak. 
So, they had already been resting maybe for a while. However, though, notice where we are, are told that, that Samuel is. in terms of his relation to to Eli, to the temple, the ark of God. And by the way, temple here, that's actually used quite frequently to be able to refer, not specifically to the whole tabernacle structure itself, but to the the inner court that was close to the holy of holies. 
Where Samuel is, is he's close to the Ark. of the covenant. In fact, given the reference to the lamp of God, where Samuel is, Samuel likely was the one who was responsible for getting up to make sure that this lamp of God had not gone out. When? 
When Samuel, hears God's voice and says, here am I. What is pictured there? What do we... What the impression that we get? 
From Samuel's response? What's fascinating is that the Lord calls once, and Samuel responds. Right? 
And he uses a phrase that is actually characteristically used to cross the scripture to demonstrate one's readiness to do what is going to be asked of them. Abraham uses it in Genesis chapter 22, when the Lord calls him and says, you are going to offer your son Isaac. Jacob uses it when the Lord revelatorily speaks to him on his journey to Egypt, to see his son, Joseph, after years of thinking that he was dead. 
Isaiah uses it in the famous chapter 6 passage where he presents himself. ready to serve the Lord, after the Lord's purifying work that he's done. What does this suggest for us about Samuel? There's a readiness to serve. 
But this is something that he's used to doing. He's used to getting up. in the middle of the night. to be able to do what is necessary. Truthfully, brothers and sisters, especially for... for me... in having parents that are being cared for in assisted living in long term nursing. 
I just can't help but think of the folks who, throughout the night, work to be able to, to care for others in that particular industry. And and the diligence that has demonstrated there. So here's Samuel. 
He is near to that physical representation of God's presence. And at a moment's call, He's ready to serve. And we actually see that in the next several verses. 


1 Samuel 3:5–9 “5 Then he 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. 6 The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8 So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Look at verse 5.

So Samuel, he thinks that it's Eli. Eli says, No, I didn't call you. But given Samuel's response in service, in, in, in a readiness to serve. 
This could very well be an indication that this is something that Samuel does regularly. Eli is losing his eyesight. He can no longer be the one who keeps the lamps burning. 
There may be things that Eli needs during the night because his eyesight is so dim that he calls on Samuel to be able to do. And Samuel, seemingly without complaint, at least no complaints are preserved for us here, and with a readiness to serve, jumps up. And goes to to Eli, seemingly as he was accustomed to do, ready to serve Eli in whatever, whatever was necessary. 
Brothers and sisters, this not only points us to something that we've considered before, and that is Samuel's faithfulness, but also his diligent endurance in being faithful. What is it that Paul reminds us in Galatians? Do not grow weary in doing good. 
He's really talking about endurance, brothers and sisters. The impression that we get is that this is something that single was accustomed to. And so brothers and sisters, I want to encourage us. 
Lord has called us to faithfully endure... through even what seems, what may seem like mundane, everyday tasks. But those are still opportunities. to demonstrate faithfulness to the Lord in what it is that he's given us to do. Do not grow weary in doing good. 
Seek the Lord for his endurance, to continue to be faithful.

So Samuel goes back, he lays down verse 6 …

And then we have this interesting note in verse 7.

What's really fascinating is that 1st line of verse 7, it sounds similar to what was shared in chapter 2 about Hoffney and Phineas and not knowing the Lord. But that latter line of chapter 7 gives us the clarification. What is it specifically that Samuel did not know of the Lord, and it is, he did not know the prophetic voice of the Lord, if you will. 
This is not saying that Samuel blanketly did not know the Lord. It's he did not know the Lord in this particular kind of experience. in this way. This is something that is new for Samuel. 
The truth is, brothers and sisters, while... we're not hearing God's audible voice. Like what Samuel did here. Whenever God's word is shared, we are hearing God's voice audibly in that way, right? 
We have God's word. What I couldn't help but think about is. Are we encouraging those around us? 
To discern God's voice, In his word. From all of the other voices that would try to speak truth into their life. And that's a really big one, brothers and sisters. 
We are coming into a time in which truth is becoming even more difficult to be able to discern. It really is. I mean, there are times where. 
I see something that's on the internet, and I'm like, I'm not even really sure that's that's real or true. And the capacity for that to be used as the enemy... to... To lead us astray. 
Is unimaginable. However, though, what we know is that the enemy is really good at telling lies that are believable. But also, the spirit, the spirit of truth, is more capable of leading us to believe what is true according to God's word. 
Then the enemy is in his lying. And so brothers and sisters, you have got to know God's word. You have got to know God's word and be led by God's Spirit in order to discern what is true from what is false. 
Samuel here, because this was a new experience. He had yet to discern that this was the Lord speaking to him. And what I'm suggesting here, brothers and sisters in terms of a parallel is. 
We need to be able to discern from God's Word what is truth in the midst. of a culture that is just piling lies on top of one another in. In in ways that are very, very sneaky.

Verse 8-9 …

You know, it's very interesting that that Eli directed Samuel in that way. 
Because that, that particular phrasing, what it suggests for us, is a readiness to be able to hear what God has to say. Speak - eagerness. 
Lord, it's acknowledging who is the one that should be doing the speaking, his authority. Servant that's humility. And listening is more than just letting words come into your into your ears and out the other, but actually, it's, I'm ready to do what it is that you have to say to me.

And so Samuel, with this information, ready to do what Eli has told him to do. Goes back, he lays down.

1 Samuel 3:10–14 “10 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 “In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. 14 “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.””

Verse 10 …

And then in verses 11 through 14 the Lord shares with Samuel, what it is that he is about to do.

In fact, in verse 11, he describes it.

In other words, there's an amazement about what it is that the Lord is going to do.

Let's just read through, and then let's come back and talk about it.

Brothers and sisters, this is significant.

This is terrifying. 
But. With... with these verses. If you had to summarize in one phrase what God is doing here, how would you do it? 
God is judging sin. This is God's response to sin. And he's going to use this as a, if you will, as a warning to his people, this is what I do with sin. 
That is why the Lord describes us as when others hear it, their ears are going to tingle. are going to be amazed. This is to make such an impression on them. This is how awful sin is. 
This is how awful sin is in the life of my people. We are to take warning against sin. From this example.

And the truth is, brothers and sisters, we have to account for verse 14. where he says neither offering or sacrifice will atone for the sin. And looking at this, our initial question might be, you know, Well, wait a moment. What about if they were to repent? 
Okay? Would God, would God forgive them if they repented? I do believe that's a valid question. 
But... consider how the context and and even this verse. Gives us a window... into their state of repentance. Maybe let me ask you this way. 
Where does First Samuel 2, or even here in First Samuel 3, or subsequent passages before the demise of Eli and his sons mention their repentance? It doesn't, brothers and sisters. What we have here is unrepentance. 
Brothers and sisters. These men have chosen not to repent. And God has chosen not to forgive it, to forgive. 
That is what we have to remember here. There is no evidence that these men chose to repent. There's no evidence that these men, that they... that they saw, that their actions were wrong. 
And therefore, in the hardness of their unrepentance, God has prophetically warned here that these men, on account of their sin, are going to serve as an example of warning against sin. The truth is, brothers and sisters, the sin does not have to be what Hoffney and Phineas, and Eli committed. That the Lord goes on to elaborate in verse 13. 
The iniquity that Eli knew, that his sons had committed and did not rebuke them. What we're meant to walk away from this passage with is that sin is awful. And God rightly must judge sin. 
We are meant to look at this and say, I don't want anything to do with sin. That's what the Lord is pointing us to here.

1 Samuel 3:15–18 “15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” 18 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.””

What's really interesting is that... that the spirit preserved for us versus 15 through 18. 
I say it's interesting because there's a rather personal nature to... to what it is that we're going to see here. We actually get... We get a glimpse into seeing those heart things thinking.

Verses 15 through 18, the insight that we're given, it pertains to what's going on in seeing those hard. He was afraid. to be able to to share with Eli what it was that the Lord had told him, had shared with him. Why would he have been afraid? 
There was a relationship that he had with Eli. Eli was, if you will, his supervisor. And it is very likely that, on account of the kind of relationship that they had developed since Samuel had been with him since he was very young, it's very likely that Samuel loves Eli, and that Samuel was sad for Eli.

The phrase in verse 17, may God do so to you, and more also if you hide anything from me, is really interesting. You know, essentially, Eli's doing there, right? Eli recognizes that there is something difficult and hard about what Samuel has to share, what Samuel was told from the Lord. 
In fact, Eli expects that Samuel learns something from the Lord. And he wants to hear it too. This is just further demonstration of just how widespread the dearth of God speaking was during this time. 
But what Eli is doing here is he's saying, Look, Samuel, if you don't tell me what the Lord said, then I'm calling a curse on you that the Lord would do what he said in his revelation to you, to you. That's, that's pretty rough. But that also demonstrates the seriousness with which Eli wanted to know what did the Lord say?

The reality is, brothers and sisters, are there times on account of the hardness of sin? That we may need to tell someone something. Are there times where? 
We, we have something that from God's word, from the Bible. that we need to share with someone else. who has been hardened by sin. There are. And we have a relationship with them. 
And that relationship, because we evaluate, we treasure it. We're afraid of how the other person might respond to it. The truth is, brothers and sisters... 
That while... their relationship does not make it easier to be able to share a difficult truth. We have a faithful God. Who can still work through his truth? 
In the way that he sees fit.

Now, you could be thinking, okay, so... Samuel knows this. 
He now shared it to Eli. What is God's intention with this? Again, it goes back to this is a warning against sin. 
And Eli's response here. My family is gonna be used as a warning against sin. There's nothing else for me to do. 
And Eli has again has no indication of repentance. In attitude of repentance, that would say, I was wrong. He just says... 
Well, let the Lord do what seems good to him. Brothers and sisters, Eli's response here is also a warning. to us. There could even be, like, a flippant nature to what Eli is saying here. 
Well, God's gonna do what he wants to. Brothers and sisters, what God does is good. When we see the terrible tragedy of sin in God's Word, and it also come, come to life before us and others who have chosen to disobey the Lord, We need to take warning and say, that is how awful sin is and encourage others. 
Look at this example. That is what God did with people who were in spiritual leadership, take warning against sin. And at this point, we're asked, we have to ask, okay, How can I take warning against sin if even someone like Eli, who was the high priest, who was the chief spiritual leader in Israel? 
If he looked at sin, and and he did not choose to repent. This is someone who had God's word. What hope is there for me? 
And that brings us, brothers and sisters, to our two questions. One of them, we've already implicitly answered. What will it take to break the silence of God's word? 
The answer? It takes the Lord. He's the one who broke this silence. 
We don't see Samuel here. So close to the Ark of the Lord, praying, Lord, would you speak to us again? Samuel does not do that. 
He was in the right place to hear from the Lord. But Samuel does not do that. Who is it that in the darkness speaks? 
It's the Lord. It takes an act of God to break the silence. But what about Samuel's faithfulness? 
Samuel's faithfulness to serve the Lord? Samuel's enduring faithfulness to be ready to serve. Samuel's faithfulness even to deliver God's word. 
How is that possible? voice of truth.

1 Samuel 3:19–21 “19 Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail. 20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”

Versus 19 through 21. The Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fail. 
Brothers and sisters, how was it possible? Because the Lord was with Samuel. You see brothers and sisters, Samuel was not only the beneficiary of a legacy of faithfulness in his mama. 
That faithfulness would be nothing without the Lord's application of it. In being with Samuel. And we know how it is, the Lord is with us today. 
Vote is with us through His Spirit that He gives to us. through Jesus. And believing on the Lord Jesus as our only Savior from our sins. You see, brothers and sisters, all that we have talked about so far is impossible. 
Without the Lord being with us. Because otherwise, we would be the warning against sin. We would go our own way. 
We would do our own thing. And, and, and we know, I'm sure, that probably, the phrase that has been brought, that's brought to our mind is what Paul said in Corinthians, I am what I am, by God's grace. The testimony of even this young man, faithfully serving the Lord, would be impossible without the Lord being with him.

And what's interesting, brothers and sisters, is the truth that verse 20 points us to, verse 20. Think about it, brothers and sisters. 
The emphasis there is on how widespread it was known that Samuel was a prophet. What does that point us to in conjunction with verse 19? Is that if the Lord is with you, it's gonna be evident. 
People are going to see the Lord at work in you. Truthfully, brothers, sisters, verse 20 points us to a truth of the New Testament that I believe is so incredibly significant, and that is Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 23, the fruit of the spirit. If God's spirit is in you at work in you, then what he is naturally going to do is make his presence known. 
Through fruit, through a product, through your life. Brothers and sisters, Israel knew that God was at work in Samuel. This, this actually is a theme throughout the scripture. 
Where people recognize that God is at work in someone. So if the Lord is in you, He is going to work through you, and others are going to recognize it.

Verse 21 in conclusion. 
What this suggests for us, brothers and sisters, is that not only has God spoken to Samuel here, but now he's going to continue to speak to Samuel. It gives us this hope that God's voice will be heard again, and more and importantly, why is God's voice gonna be heard again? Because there is a prophet who is listening. 
And you think about the significance of that in conjunction with Samuel's name. God hears. God hears. 
God hears the prayers of his people. And how is it? And that faithfulness that God demonstrates that God hears the prayers of his people, how did his people respond? 
They listen for him. They listen for his voice, they listen for his voice of truth.

Conclusion: