Two Lessons from 1st Samuel
 
 Intro:
   (1) There are a number of important lessons in 1st Samuel
   -- you discussed many of them this morning
   -- several are listed in your handout
  (2) Tonight I want to touch on a couple more
  (3) Basically tonight there are two short sermons
 
 I. Poor Fathers
   (1) Isn't it sad that both Eli and Samuel were poor 
       parents?
   (2) The sons of Eli (priest at Shiloh)
       -- had no regard for the Lord, 1 Sam 2:12
       -- had contempt for Lord's offering, 1 Sam 2:13-17
       -- fornicators, I Sam 2:22
       -- refused to listen to Eli's warnings, 1 Sam 2:25
   (3) Eli was partly responsible before God for their
       actions, I Sam 3:11-14
   (4) The sons died at the hands of the Philistines, 1 Sam
       4:10,11,18
   (5) ironically, Samuel failed to learn from Eli's 
       mistakes
    -- his sons were greedy and accepted bribes
    -- I Sam 8:1-3
    -- the reason people cried out for a king, 1 Sam 8:4-5
   (6) Was Samuel too busy to be a father?  I Sam 7:15-17
   (7) Did he try to force his sons to follow his steps,
       I Sam 8:1
   (8) Parenting is the most serious business I know
    -- beliefs, values, character cannot be passed auto-
       matically
    -- weak parents are sinning against their children and
       God.
   (9) Continuous training is required to build character
  (10) Teach then what Eli and Samuel failed
       -- to love the Lord
       -- respect worship
       -- sexual purity
       -- not to be greedy and take bribes
          Eli=lack of discipline
         Samuel=lack of time
 
 II. God Cannot Be Manipulated
    (1) The ark narratives, I Sam 4-7
      -- Israel being defeated by Philistines
      -- thought presence of ark would help, 1 Sam 4:3
      -- it did bring fear to Philistines, 1 Sam 4:6b-8
      -- yet Israel was defeated again and ark captured,
            4:10,11
     -- this news caused Eli's death and daughter-in-law
        to give birth 
         (1) 4:18,19,21
 (2) The ark in Philistia
    -- temple of Dagon, 1 Sam 5:1,2
    -- twice Dagon fell, the last breaking off his head
       and hands, 5:3,4
    -- God proved to be greater than Dagon
    -- God punished Philistia for having the ark in their
       land
      (1) 5:6 (tumors thought to be bubonic plague)
      (2) same thing happened when moved to Gath, 5:9
      (3) Ekron refused to accept the ark and sent it
          back to Israel
 (3) They thought the presence of ark would mean God's favor
 (4) Are we any different?
   -- often call for a preacher or elder in crisis
   -- put statues on dash of car
   -- wear gold/silver cross
   -- use prayer for emergency only
   -- make vows to God for His help
 (5) God cannot be manipulated, no matter how cleverly we
     try to disguise it.
 
 Conclusion:
 (1) Don't abuse God by trying to manipulate Him
 (2) Don't abuse your children by neglecting proper training
       (discipline and time)
 
 ==END==