Turn in your Bibles, if you would, this morning to 1 Samuel 2. I hope that you'll forgive me if I'm not able to preach my message in three minutes this morning. Those opportunities like that are very good for us as preachers, though. They force us to get right to the heart of the matter without any peripheral conversation, just go for the throat right away. And so I am amazed that that much of the life of Christ can be put into three minutes. First Samuel, chapter number two, I would like to preach to you a message this morning entitled very simply, Vision is Voluntary. Vision is voluntary. Begin reading with me in chapter 2, verse number 12. We'll read our text passage and begin our message this morning. Scripture says, Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord and the priest's custom with the people was that when that any man offered sacrifice, the priest servant came while the flesh was in the seething with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up, the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither." Now let me tell you, God had specifically in the book of Leviticus designated two parts of the sacrifice that belonged to the priests. And so this innovation of which we just read here in verse number 13 and 14 is an unbiblical innovation. These men were taking things that did not belong to them. They were abusing the sacrifice of the Lord. Verse number 15, also before they burnt the fat, the priest-servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw. And if any man said unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat presently and then take as much as thy soul desireth. In other words, if any man said to the servant of the priest, but wait a minute, preacher, the Bible says something differently. Then the servant of the priest would forcibly take it. in spite of what God had commanded in His Word. The second half, verse 16, "...then He would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt give it Me now. And if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord." Verse 22, "...Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Chapter 3, verse 1, The child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. Father, I ask that You would guide our hearts as we sit before Your Word this morning. I ask that Your Spirit would have free reign in each of our hearts and that there would be no choices made here this morning as we listen to the preaching that would cause us to have no open vision in our hearts and lives. We ask for your guidance, that the spirit of God would empower, that nothing other than those words that you would have to be said be spoken this morning. In the name of your son, we ask it. Amen. I have to tell you, I would have a very difficult time leaving my five year old son at Shiloh knowing the condition that it was in. Undoubtedly, Elkanah and Hannah had heard of the gross sins of Hophni and Phineas and likely wrestled with Eli's toleration of the whole mess. Yet, I have to tell you, probably Hannah, and especially Hannah and Elkanah as well, must have been sure that their little boy's feet were firmly planted. Eli even understood the wickedness of the situation. In chapter 2 and verse 23, He asks His sons, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. That Shiloh had become a cesspool of immorality seems to have been common knowledge among all Israel. In chapter 3 and verse 1, we read that there was no open vision in those days. And because there was no open vision, Shiloh was in the disgusting condition that it was in. But the fact that there was no open vision was Eli's fault. We can cringe at the corruption of Hophni and Phinehas, but we must not overlook the compromise of Eli. You see, in his day and in Old Testament times, as the judge and the high priest of Israel, he was the designated agent through which God spoke to His people. I praise the Lord that in New Testament times, all of us, because the veil has been rent entwined, we have access to the Holy of Holies as believer priests. And we need not, John said, that a man teach us, because we all have the anointing. We have the Spirit of God indwelling us, and as long as He is not grieved and quenched in our hearts and lives, we can have open vision. We call it illumination. when the Spirit of God enlightens our minds to the truths of Scripture. Israel, though, was in the state that it was in because there was no open vision. Eli had step after step after step turned down not only his ability, but in the end, the understanding of God's Word for an entire nation. I'm interested in a few words in chapter 3, verse 1. The Word of the Lord was precious. The word precious here has the idea it was precious because of its rarity. Because Eli had settled into compromise and his boys had brought great wickedness into the worship of the Lord, the Word of the Lord was precious. God had, because of wickedness in the lives of His people, had just shut down His Word. There was no open vision. It was precious because it was rare. The word open has the idea of dispersing abroad of it. It was limited. And let us not forget that the psalmist tells us in Psalm 78 that there are things that God's people can do that will limit the Holy One of Israel. This is exactly what had happened in Shiloh. There was no dispersing abroad of the vision. The idea of the word vision here is one of perception or contemplation or understanding of God's Word. We could even say this, because of Eli's wickedness and the wickedness of his son, there was no urging upon people to do and obey the Word of God. I personally believe that In order for people to like hearing preaching that tickles their ears, there have to be preachers that like to tickle ears. You know, one of the reasons I believe the people who like to have their ears tickled will find preachers who will tickle their ears is because we preachers understand that if we hold a high standard from the pulpit, we have to live it in our lives. And when I fall into the temptation of preaching ear-tickling messages, I am in the same sense and in the same right lowering the standard for myself. Vision is voluntary. And I would like for us to simply see five things in the life of Eli that switch by switch turned off, not only his ability, and His understanding of God's Word, so that there was no open vision and the Word of the Lord was precious. But may I submit to you this morning that if these same things are true in our lives, we will limit our ability to understand the Word of God. Begin with me in chapter 1 and verse 9. We'll look at the first quality are characteristic in Eli's life. Verse 9, So Hannah, chapter 1, rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon the seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she, that is, Hannah, was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, If thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now, Hannah, she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought that she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. I want you to understand, first of all, this morning, the first characteristic in the life of Eli that caused there to be no open vision is that he had become critical of God's people. He had become critical of God's people. Eli thought that he had correctly discerned Hannah was drunk, but he was dead wrong. How often do we tolerate a critical, judgmental spirit in our own lives in the name of discernment? Our attitude voices our discernment with such phrases as, well, I'll tell you what I think so-and-so's problem is, or I bet I know what the issue in their life is, or the reason for all the trouble they're having is, We can be so sure that our so-called discernment is dead on that we think we have the truth on a person. And we may even be concerned enough with our great measure of discernment to share it with others as a prayer request. However, I want you to notice Eli was so sure of his discernment, he didn't share it with other people. He went directly to Hannah. Now, many people who tolerate a critical judgmental spirit would never think of going directly to the person of whom they're critical. They'll gladly go and spread that criticism around. Here we find Eli was so sure and yet he was so off. He was so sure of his discernment that he even went to Hannah herself. How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine from you. I think there's a simple difference between discernment and a critical spirit. A critical spirit is when I enthrone myself in the place of God to pass judgment on another person. They're guilty as I perceive it, and even before I've known the whole story, I have come to a conclusion. Discernment, though, biblical discernment is different. Biblical discernment takes the situations as they come. The word discern literally has the idea of dividing what is in your hand. As it comes to you, you deal with it and you deal with it scripturally. Psalm 15, 3, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? And one of the marks of a truly godly man in verse number three is that he backbiteth not with his tongue. The literal word picture of backbiting with the tongue is to follow the trail of a person just to find what we can chomp down on. Looking for the goods as we follow along behind that person, but that is not biblical discernment. Biblical discernment takes the situations as they come, deals with them according to God's Word, and then this thought as well. It operates in accord with biblical love. 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 7, charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Biblical love that accompanies biblical discernment is willing to believe the best. When I hear information on someone, Eli turned down the dimmer switch on his vision. when he became critical of God's people. The longer I'm in the ministry, the more I'm grateful for the Lord to make it very clear to me on a regular basis that I have enough problems with the guy I look at in the mirror every morning without having to go around following the trail of other people. Chapter 2, verse 22. Now, Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto Israel, how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people." Basically, what Eli here is saying is, the bad things that everybody's saying about you. You really don't get the impression that Eli fully believed the report that was coming back to him about the evil of his sons. In our modern vernacular, it would be something like this. Now, boys, I really don't believe you would do this kind of thing. Boys, this is what people are saying about you. This isn't true, is it? Or in our even more modern vernacular, it's this. My son would never do that. My dad will tell you that every time he ever stood in the pulpit and said his kid would never do that, we always did it. We sin natured children of preachers always have an ability to cause consistency in the lives of our parents. Number two, I want us to see. Eli became careless of God's purity. When you and I become careless of God's purity as did Eli, we will be shutting down. A little bit more at a time, our ability to understand God's Word. As we grieve the Spirit, He will cease to illuminate our minds. As we become critical of God's people, as we become careless of God's purity, look at verse number 24. He says, Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear ye make the Lord's people to transgress. Now, I want you to understand what Eli said to his son sounded very good. It sounded very good, but Eli contented himself with simply asking his sons a few anemic questions. But based on what God would tell Samuel in chapter 3 and verse 13, look over there if you would. God comes to Samuel in the night and He says to him, for I have told him, that is Eli, that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, notice the words, and he restrained them not. The word restrained is related to the Hebrew word for frown. So we understand that even when Eli said to his sons, what is it that I'm hearing? Why do ye such things? God didn't even classify it as a frown on the sins of his sons. And Eli became careless of God's purity in the lives of his children. His rebuke of his boys was so anemic. He honored his sons. Chapter 2, verse 29, he honored his sons above the Lord. And with his words in chapter 2, verse 22-25, he simply humored God. The man of God who would come in the latter part of chapter 2 and warn Eli of his coming judgment showed that Eli was vicariously enjoying the fruits of his sons' simony and embezzlement. The picture would be something like this. Now, boys, what I'm hearing isn't very good. You know, you're causing God's people to sin. By the way, would you bring me another piece of filet mignon? And boys, listen, maybe be a little more inconspicuous and careful. If you're going to sow a few wild oats, and by the way, would you please bring me another piece of lamb chop? He'd become careless of God's purity. And there was no open vision. in those days. Separation in the lives of God's people above everything else, listen, above everything else is loyalty to the holiness of God. Above everything else. It is not even primarily so that we can be different, so that we can be distinct. That is a byproduct of holiness. It is not so that I can appear more spiritual. That's hypocrisy. That's Pharisaism. But above everything else, separation is loyalty to the holiness of our God. And Eli had become careless. with the purity of God and the lives of His children. This side note before we move on. There is a common lie that goes throughout our fundamental Baptist churches in this day and age that says, I don't want to turn my kids' hearts away from God, so I'm going to be a lenient parent. I heard a man one time say this. He said, I've decided that if it is not bad for my kids, I will not say no. as a dangerous philosophy of parenting. And here's what parents are led to believe by the world. If I clamp down and I establish habits and I have standards and restrictions and structure and habits in my home, it will turn my kids' hearts away from the Lord. I don't want to make my kids read their Bible on a daily basis because it might cause them to rebel. All you need is to look at the story of Eli and Hannah and understand that leniency in the lives of children causes rebellion. This is a biblical comparison. Look at chapter 1 and verse 11 again. Chapter 1 and verse 11, listen to the prayer of Hannah. She vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou will indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid and remember me and not forget Thine handmaid, but will give unto Thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. Wait a minute, Samuel's not even born yet. And there shall no razor come upon his head. His mother established the vow of Nazarite for him and he wasn't even born yet. Yet, all you have to do is look at the results. Hannah, a mother who established standards and restrictions in the life of her son before he was ever even born. And Eli, lenient in the lives of his children. And look at the result. Eli shut down the vision in his life when he became critical of God's people, when he became careless of God's purity. Chapter 2, verse 27-29, And there came a man of God unto Eli and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord. Did I plainly appear into the house of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?" We're talking about something God did centuries before this man of God is bringing up to Eli. Verse 28, "...Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore..." Understood answer of all of that is yes. Wherefore, kick ye at My sacrifices and Mine offering, which I have commanded in My habitation, and honor thy sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel My people. Wherefore, the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before Me forever, but now the Lord saith, Be it far from Me, for them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Number three, Eli turned down the dimmer switch on his ability to understand God's Word and to have illumination when he became complacent with God's provision. When he became complacent with God's provision, the preacher comes to him and says, Eli, look at where you came from. Look at the origin, centuries old origin. When God chose your father, Aaron, specifically to do the work of the ministry in the tabernacle in the temple, look at this holy heritage that you have. What has He done with it? May I remind us that it is always deadly for us as children of God to forget where we came from. Here is the blessing of God, centuries old on a man's life, but Eli had forgotten the blessing of his origin. He had also forgotten the blessings of the offerings. Not only had God called Levi to be the priests of Israel for all the history of the nation, but God had designated for the children of Levi that out of those offerings, they would be provided for. And Eli was taking advantage of God's provision in that right as well. I have been young and I'm still young, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor a seed-begging bread. I have to tell you, in the years that I was in a pastor's home, my whole life, and now that I've been in the ministry, God has never forsaken. And I don't have to look in the lives of my fathers and others to see the blessing and the provision of God and how He's cared for my needs far above and beyond my needs, but according to His riches in glory. But I can look into my own life and have a track record of seeing how one after another God has provided. And it is a dangerous thing when we come to a point of taking that for granted. Eli. had also taken for granted the blessing of the opportunity that he had. Verse number 30, God, through the preacher, says to Eli, I would have established your house in the priesthood forever, but in 21st century English, Eli, you've blown it. You've blown it. Eli forsook the blessing of opportunity. A little couplet poem. Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these. It might have been. There is nothing that should strike the holy fear of God in our hearts more than thinking about someday from the future looking back into the past and seeing missed opportunities which we will never be able to reclaim. Eli had become complacent with the provision of God. He'd seen God provide for centuries. He was part of a noble heritage. But he became complacent with it. And he effectively shut down his ability to understand God's words. Number four. Chapter 1 and verse 9. I want to string three passages of Scripture to here for this thought. Verse 9, So Hannah rose up of chapter 1 after they had eaten in Shiloh, after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord. Look at chapter 3 and verse 2. And it came to pass at the time when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see in error, or before the lamp of God went out." In other words, Eli was going to bed when the lights were still on and there was work to still be done. Go to chapter 4 and verse 18. And it came to pass when he that is the messenger coming from the battle made mention of the ark of God that he fell from off the seat backwards. Isn't it interesting that every time we come across Eli, he's either sitting down or laying down? Number four, Eli had become comfortable with God's presence. When God laid out the floor plan of the tabernacle, none of the furniture, save the mercy seat where God dwelled, was an instrument of sitting. But every time we find Eli, he's either sitting down or laying down. He had become comfortable with God's presence. He had become comfortable with the routine of it all. I also want you to see this chapter number one again, he had become comfortable with the respect of it all, the respect of being known as the high priest of God, the judge of Israel. Notice verse number 15 of chapter one. Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord. Now, wait a minute. She referred to him with a term of respect. No, my Lord. Knowing what we know now, I would have had a hard time calling a man like Eli, my Lord. Maybe something like, you scoundrel, you hypocrite, you lazy, worthless couch potato. But my Lord, Hannah's not finished. No, my Lord. Verse number 16, count not thine handmaid. She submits herself to Him. Verse number 18, she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. Verse number 26, and she said, O my Lord. And in the back of our minds, we're thinking, how in the world? But you know what, Eli had become comfortable with the presence of God. He was comfortable with the routine of it all. Just doing every day what he's been doing for 40 years now. He'd been comfortable with the respect of it all, preacher, pastor, my Lord. Every day, once you think about this, he lived within a few feet of the one place on the entire planet where the God of heaven, who actually the heaven of heavens cannot contain, Eli lived every day of his life within a few feet of the place on the entire planet where God had chosen to associate Himself with a physical location. And I tell you that every time you and I step foot in the doors of a New Testament local church, according to the Apostle Paul and his words to Timothy, it is the house of the living God. And I tell you that you and I are the temple of the living God. And it is a dangerous thing when we become comfortable with the presence of God. Every day, can you imagine every day for 40 years, Eli? within just a few feet of the ark. It seems very evident that there had been a time in Eli's past when he had been more sensitive to the person and the presence of God. Chapter 1 and verse 17. Chapter 2, verse 20. Let's look at a few of these. Chapter 1, verse 17. He tells Anna, then answered Eli and said, Go in peace. and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him." Verse number 20 of chapter 2, Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife and said, the Lord, give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the Lord. And they went unto their home. Chapter number 2, verse number 24 and 25, he rebukes his sons, uses very nice sounding words. Chapter 3, verse 8 and 9, he even knows how to advise Samuel to respond to the Lord. He knew all the right things to say. But there had been a time in his past where it's very evident he had been closer to the Lord than he was at this time. He had a right theology. He was familiar with the nature of God. And yet, he had become comfortable with the routine of it all. The whole time. He's turning down the dimmer switch. A little more. Finally, this morning, chapter 3, verses 16-18. I want you to understand, when we come to this context, this passage, the end of chapter 3, Eli has already heard one message of judgment. He's already heard one message. And he didn't do anything about it. Matter of fact, after the man of God comes to him in chapter number 2 and preached a very specific, very blunt message, Eli, we see no response except for when we come to chapter number 3 and verse number 1 and we read, there was no open vision in Israel. Because Eli, as the man of God, had heard the Word of God and hadn't done a thing about it. Chapter number 3, verse number 2, we find him laying down when there was work still to be done. Chapter number 3, verse number 16 through 18, God comes to Samuel in a night vision and He speaks to Samuel and He repeats, listen, He repeats the message of judgment that Eli had just ignored a short time before. Verse number 16, after the message has been given, Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son, and he answered, here am I. And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every wit and hid nothing from him. And he, that is Eli, said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Number five. Eli turned down the dimmer switch on his ability to understand God's Word when he became callous to God's preaching. He became comfortable with God's presence, complacent with God's provision. And he became callous to God's preaching. The message of the man of God in chapter 2, verse 27 and following should have been taken as a warning. This is the warning at which Eli should have repented, but he was callous to God's preaching. Whenever God confirms His warning through Samuel and seals the judgment of Eli's house forever, Eli's indifferent response is one of the most tragic in the Bible. It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. It would be the same as our saying, yep, that's right, amen. That's Bible preaching. I've heard this one before. I wonder how I can say it better when I get a chance to preach. You know, we might have maintained a little respect for Eli if he would have responded to the first message. But when we see his response at the end of God's repetition, God's merciful repetition, Vision is voluntary. We can go ahead and allow ourselves to become critical of God's people, careless of God's purity, complacent with God's provision, comfortable with God's presence or callous to God's preaching. We will essentially kill our ability to understand the Word of God because you are quenching the indwelling Spirit of God who is necessary to illuminate your mind. We can go ahead and become these things and think that it's part of our mature discernment. But in the end, I remind you of Psalm chapter number 119, the entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple. No matter how long we've been saved, it should be our prayer. God, keep us simple to the words of Scripture. Receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls. We can be critical and tolerate it, careless and complacent, comfortable. But all the while, I want you to notice and remember, all the while in the wings, God is preparing a little boy. You know what I find interesting is the contrast between Samuel and Eli. You find Eli critical of God's people, careless of God's purity, complacent with God's provision, comfortable with God's presence, and callous to God's preaching, but every time you find Samuel, these are the words that come from his lips, five times, look at it in chapter 3. Here am I. Here am I. Here am I. Here am I. Here am I. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Here am I. Here am I. Listen, we have a choice today. I want you to understand, the most dangerous thing and the most interesting thing about the life of Eli is that remembering that there had likely been a time in his life when he had been closer to the Lord and more sensitive to the Word of God and more righteous as a leader Everything came home to roost and crashing down around His ears. At the end, at the end, it is scary the things that God will allow us to accomplish in the power of the flesh. Only to someday stand at the judgment seat of Christ and see it incinerated. At the end of His life, at the end, But we see a little boy who over and over and over again, here am I. Here am I. Speak, Lord. My servant heareth. Here am I. Here am I. This thought bears repeating. Several years ago, I visited a man in the hospital who had just had a triple bypass. He told us after the surgery was over and he was recuperating that the heart surgeon who did the surgery had performed over 6,000 open heart operations. And just before he took Tom into surgery to repair the condition in his heart, he told Tom, the reason I'm having to do this surgery on you is a 70-year-old man who on the outside, listen, was the picture of health. Seventy years old. Fit and trim. Very active. Ate decently. But he had to have an open heart surgery and the doctor said, and I want you to catch this, the reason I'm having to do this surgery on you now is because of the way you lived as a young man. And I want us to understand spiritually. It is far better for us to live with the attitude of Samuel as a young man, so that someday major open-heart surgery doesn't have to be performed on us in the end. It is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good. Or, here am I. Here am I. Here am I. Every time.