Those Who Honor God

When people respect someone, their attitude changes first. Around someone they respect, they naturally take on polite speech and a humble manner, whatever that person’s sex, age, or standing. If someone says they respect a person but their attitude does not change at all, they are lying. In the same way, by looking at how believers treat God, we can judge what kind of faith they have.

A pastor’s standard for judging a believer’s faith is likewise words and actions. Faith shows itself in the end through action, so how believers act makes it easy to see what stage their faith has reached. In mature believers, everything is in good order, from their attitude in worship to the way they live their lives in the world. They work to express their love to God, work because they want to know God more, and work to be approved by God. This effort becomes the measure of their faith. Believers throw away the world’s yardstick and live as the God of order wants, so they will act with goodness, humble and overflowing with love. So when a believer belittles, criticizes, or judges others, we can see it as coming from the foolishness of not honoring God.

Satan, who drives people to commit wicked sins, makes them handle everything with disorder, violence, and hot temper, so wherever there is someone under Satan’s control, the surroundings are always in uproar. Satan creates problems, damages every relationship, and stirs people up and deceives them with lies so that God’s word falls to the ground. Satan does this for one reason only: to cover God’s glory and keep souls from going the way of salvation. Many people living today are deceived by this Satan and are losing their judgment. The proof is that for many people the standard is themselves, and that they insist their own thinking is right. Because Satan keeps these people from grasping God’s will, they grow darker and darker spiritually.

The same is true of preaching God’s word. However deeply someone preaches God’s word, if the preacher’s words and actions are not sound, they turn even that word into a lie. God’s word does the holy work of giving life whatever vessel it is carried in, but if the vessel of the heart is dirty, it cannot fully deliver the holy life it holds. That is why, before preparing the Word that will give life, it is important to clean the vessel of the heart that will hold that precious Word.

There are people in the world, too, who live rightly, with mature character and a gentle nature. And there are people who, even without knowing God, are patient and handle things wisely. Such people are respected and served by the world. But we must keep in mind that there is no eternal life in them. Right character matters greatly for living in the world, but it is a life confined to this world, and that is why you must work all the harder at evangelism. Be careful, though, because people in the world also live patiently, with good character. If your words and actions are not right as you share the Word, that in itself hinders the gospel.

If you honor and love God’s word, show your faith through right words and actions, as befits God’s children. The Word you now know and understand is precious truth. Because you are believers who have the truth, you must resemble the character of Jesus Christ and hold high the lamp that lights the way of Christ. If those holding the lamps lose their way and lead people to a cliff, everyone will lose their lives. That is why our mission as believers is important. God will exalt, love, and embrace those who grasp his deep will and rightly lead the people of the world, slaves of darkness, onto the way of Christ.

Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, did not honor and exalt God, so they ended up committing the sin of despising Yahweh’s sacrifices. But young Samuel, wearing a linen ephod, always served holy Yahweh. Hophni and Phinehas spoke and acted wickedly because they despised the sacrifices, while Samuel treasured the sacrifices offered to God, and so he could always faithfully carry out the office of priest before Yahweh. Their actions differed greatly according to their faith and character in serving God. People put into action what is in their hearts, so though the heart cannot be seen, it cannot be hidden.

Leviticus 10:9-10

9“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10You are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.

You must be able to discern good and evil in the spirit. If you cannot tell the holy from the unclean spiritually, your life will swerve to the left or to the right, and it will be hard to walk the whole way of truth. So God forbade the priests to drink the world’s wine or strong drink, so that they would have spiritual discernment. Just as the priests did not drink the world’s wine or strong drink, you must not drink the wine and strong drink of lust, and you must not drink the wine and strong drink of the false gospel that Satan makes from wormwood. Only then will the eyes of your spirit open to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and only then will you be able to rightly distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

Check whether what you are drinking now is the wine of life or the world’s wine made from wormwood. If you are deceived by a false gospel, which is like the wine and strong drink God forbade, you can never discern the spirits. When eyes and ears are covered and people cannot fully discern the Word, a false spirit keeps them from serving Christ and leads them to believe in and exalt people. Look at people caught up in heresy. They seem full of faith, but you can see that the ones they believe in are all people. They are drinking the wine the world gives and the strong drink Satan gives, yet they do not even know they have drunk it, so they have no ability to discern.

Those gripped by the spirit of Satan cannot lead souls onto the way of truth, so they exalt themselves, exploit people for their money, and block people’s salvation. Just as Hophni and Phinehas used their office as priests to seize the offerings the people brought to God, heretics use the office of pastor to seize their followers’ property. If those followers knew even a little of God’s love, they would never be deceived. But because their eyes and ears are covered, they live as slaves to people. We cannot blame this false faith only on the pastors who taught it wrongly, because it was the ignorance of people who received the Word and still became spiritually blind that led them to choose the wrong path of faith.

Jesus, too, rebuked the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites and called them wicked people who shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, who do not enter in themselves and do not allow those who are entering in to enter. Even now, who knows how many pastors and church members sell God’s name, seat themselves in high places, and are served. They preach the Word without understanding it themselves, and they use the Word to live in the world as if feasting every day. We must know clearly that even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.

In 1 John 4:1 we read, “Don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” The Spirit of God helps us confess that Jesus Christ has come into the world in the flesh. So if a spirit does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that spirit is not of God but belongs to the spirit of the Antichrist. Today there are many in the world who have received the wicked spirit of Satan; they claim to be Jesus, and some people are deceived by them. We must not be deceived. However much they speak the language of angels and quote God’s word as they preach, that spirit is the spirit of the Antichrist, which in the end leads souls to destruction.

There are ways to discern the spirits. First, we must see whether the person speaks and acts within a good faith. Second, even with someone who seems born again, we must judge by the Word whether they truly live for Jesus Christ. If you have been born again through the Word, you have the ability to do and judge both of these at once, so you need not worry much. However wicked the world may be, as God’s children you must, like Samuel, wear the linen ephod, act according to Yahweh’s word, and obey the truth.

Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. Seen in that light, the fact that Satan is at work in the world we live in now is nothing new at all. Cunning Satan will still do his utmost if only he can lead believers down the road to death. Satan always approaches people with a close imitation of God. But if we keep the Word at the center, we can easily tell whether something is the reality or an illusion that only imitates it convincingly. If we know the reality clearly, we will never be deceived by the illusion.

Satan, too, has the power to make fire come down out of the sky and appears like an angel of light, so human, fleshly judgment can never discern him. Even if we believe in God, our hearts can waver when many people around us chase after miracles and exalt those who work them. But if our hearts are made new by God’s word, we will be able to discern what pleases God and whom God approves.

Look at the world now. Satan is very cleverly raising the level of evil. He changes the environment little by little, shifting situations so as not to stir up resistance in people. With homosexuality, with song lyrics and videos, with performances that use the body, the beginning was very cautious. But because Satan raises the level so gradually that people do not notice it, people now accept everything without resistance.

You must be able to see Satan’s movements keenly within the Word. Satan never hurries but works steadily, and as a result acts of worshiping Satan are put on stage under the name of artistic performance and are shaking many souls. Ways of thinking and behaving that God called evil have already worked their way deep into people’s daily lives, yet people accept all of this without any sense of alarm. Satan targets young children through movies, clothes and accessories, toys, animation, and the like, and even those of us who believe accept it without resistance. Keep in mind that if you are not awake, you too can very well end up in that seat, just as Hophni and Phinehas fell.

1 Samuel 2:22

22Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they slept with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Eli’s sons were so wicked in what they did that they provoked God’s wrath. Because they had a heart that despised God, they not only took the offerings the people brought but even committed the sin of sleeping with the women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting. All these sins came from a heart that did not love God. Had they believed that God is alive and at work, they could never have done such things. Priests who offered sacrifices in God’s sanctuary slept with women who served at the door of the Tent of Meeting. That is a stark example of how corrupt they had become. But what does the church that claims to believe in God look like today? Is it not proclaiming the Word with its mouth and confessing faith in God, while in its heart it loves and longs for the greed of the world? It is time to look back seriously and ask whether it is sexually loose and greedy for wealth, like the world.

For priests to sleep with the women who served was a lewd ritual custom of the pagan nations. That custom had now worked its way deep even into the sacrifices of God, which ought to be thoroughly separate from the world. When human beings fall into sexual corruption, the forces of darkness are at their strongest. If the priests were this corrupt, the corruption of the people must have been great, needless to say. They had received the special favor of going up to the altar, burning incense to God, and wearing the ephod, yet they forgot to be thankful and defiled the sacrifices and offerings brought to God, in the same way people serve foreign gods. The priests chosen to serve God had betrayed him.

Looking at fallen Israel, the prophet Jeremiah lamented, “You who bow yourselves, playing the prostitute on every high hill and under every green tree, were planted for God as a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed; how then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine?” Once Israel came to live comfortably under God’s protection, they forgot that grace. Instead of walking the right path as God’s people, they followed the ways of the Gentiles, who had more wealth than they did and were sexually corrupt.

Eli the priest should have rebuked his sons’ sin, not only as their father but as a priest. But because he valued his sons more than God, far from rebuking them, he abandoned God instead. The father’s foolish judgment drove his sons to death. If we look closely at the problems happening in the church now, they are hardly different from what Eli the priest, who overlooked his children’s sin, and Hophni and Phinehas, who could not turn back from the way of sin, did. You, too, will sense that our words and actions as believers today are not much different from Israel’s betrayal of God.

Pastors are people specially called and set apart for the mission of preaching God’s word. Pastors who have received so weighty a mission must, above all, first prepare a clean vessel that can hold the holy Word. They must always approach it with fear, asking whether they are treating the pastoral calling as little more than a job, selling God’s name to earn a living in the world. For such conduct is a filthy faith, like Hophni and Phinehas, who were priests, sleeping with the women who served at the Tent of Meeting. If a pastor chose the pastoral path as a means of earning a living, they will surely face a day of settling accounts with God. For they have made worthless the word of the cross, by which God gave the astonishing love that gave itself up for souls, and so gave eternal life.

Eli’s two sons despised God, yet their hearts were so branded, as with a hot iron, that they did not even feel the pangs of conscience, and in that state they carried out the office of offering sacrifices. In the same way, if someone disguises a false faith and stands in the place of preaching the Word as though holy, they are playing the prostitute with Satan, and their end, like that of Hophni and Phinehas, will be eternal death. Quarrels and crimes between people leave plenty of opportunity to repent. But sin against God, like that of Hophni, Phinehas, and Eli, binds a person to Satan unless they repent right away, and so they do not get the chance to be forgiven.

Verse 32 of the passage says, “You will see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which I will give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.” This means that those who belonged to that house would not live long. Just as these words of curse said, Eli’s children died young on the battlefield, his daughter-in-law died giving birth, and they went through terrible things. The answer that God was angry came to pass through Eli’s two sons and his descendants. God’s word comes to pass exactly as it comes from his mouth. That is because the Word is God.

Just as Eli did not turn back even until he received the word of curse, the world today does not know how fearsome God is and is walking the road of corruption. And now, while the world is falling into such frightening corruption, where are you, God’s children? If you are beside Eli, who did not turn back even until the moment God raised the rod of his wrath, keep in mind that you cannot help but be judged along with him.

The Word said that the death of Eli’s sons would itself be the answer, and that is a truly fearsome word. God rebukes in order to give one more chance to repent before the words of rebuke come true. So we can live only if we turn back and ask forgiveness before the words of curse fall on us just as spoken. Living by God’s word is honoring God, and God, too, honors and blesses those who honor his word. I hope you will be precious children whom God honors and lifts up.

Hophni and Phinehas were killed on the same day in the battle with the Philistines. In this way, the things of the world move and come to pass within God’s word. Just as the curse fell on Eli as God had told him, blessing will come, as promised, on children who live by the Word. If you believe that God works just as his word says, I hope you will honor and exalt God.

1 Samuel 2:35

35I will raise me up a faithful priest, that will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; and he will walk before my anointed forever.

God said he would build a sure house for the one who did according to what is in his heart and in his mind. This word is a promise that he would help Samuel, who did his best for God, to the very end. Having received grace, Samuel bore the fruit God wanted, like a true vine rooted in good soil. God gave grace and help to Eli’s house, too, so that they could carry out the priestly office. But Eli, along with Hophni and Phinehas, was like a wild vine rooted in rocky ground and did not bear whole fruit.

It is certainly true that Samuel could become a faithful priest because God held on to him. But before that, we should be able to see that God chose him because Samuel’s heart had become good soil through the prayers and training in faith of his mother, Hannah. In the same way, if you do your best to make your heart good soil, God will call and choose you and help you bear spiritual fruit.

For you to know God’s heart and act according to his will, it is very important first that the Word take root in a heart that has become good soil. If you plant the seed of God’s word without preparing the ground of your heart, you will act by human thinking, like Hophni and Phinehas. This is failing to honor God, and it gives birth to the wickedness of despising God’s sacrifices, worship, and offerings.

God said that Samuel would walk before his anointed forever. He blessed Samuel to become one who forever serves Jesus Christ, the eternal King whom God anointed. This astonishing blessing Samuel received had originally been given to Eli and his sons. But because of his sons’ sin, and Eli’s sin in not rebuking their wickedness, his whole house came under the curse of dying young.

It is a blessing for parents to be able to make wise judgments. Children whose parents obey God’s word and pray have received God’s blessing. When parents believe only that God is alive and train their children in faith, that is a blessing for the descendants who will be born into that family. To raise children as people of God, we must raise them wisely, so that they hold the Word in their hearts, and with understanding, so that they use that wisdom well in the world. If we do not rebuke our children but rush to cover up their sins, as Eli did, there will be no escaping God’s judgment, as with Hophni and Phinehas. But if we pray for our children, as Hannah prayed for Samuel, God will raise those children to be sensible and wise priests of God.

Whether we raise our children into precious fruit named Samuel, as Hannah did, or into wicked fruit named Hophni and Phinehas, as Eli did, depends on each one’s faith. That choice of faith will bear its fruit on the last day, as God’s blessing or his curse.

May you receive great blessing from God through a wise and discerning faith. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 3:1-9

1The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. Yahweh’s word was precious in those days. There were not many visions, then. 2At that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), 3and God’s lamp hadn’t yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in Yahweh’s temple, where God’s ark was; 4Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” 5He ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call. Lie down again.” He went and lay down. 6Yahweh called yet again, “Samuel!” Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.” 7Now Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, neither was Yahweh’s word yet revealed to him. 8Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the child. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.