by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. There are many things to admire about the man Eli<\/p>\n
A. He judged Israel for 40 years; during which time he was God’s spokesman.<\/p>\n
B. We find no record of any outward evil or sin in his life.<\/p>\n C. When Eli learns that Samuel will take his place, Eli does not rebel, grow bitter,\nbecome envious, or spiteful. Instead, Eli teaches Samuel\n
D. Yet listen to God’s message to Eli through the young Samuel – I Samuel 3:11-14<\/p>\nII. In spite of all the good things we can say about Eli, God pronounced a serious judgment\nagainst Eli.\n
A. Not for what Eli did, but for what he neglected to do.<\/p>\n
B. Eli was not guilty of any great sin, but his sons were.<\/p>\n
1. These were not secret sins; Eli was aware of them. – I Samuel 2:22-25<\/p>\n
C. Eli’s sin was a failure to restrain his sons – I Samuel 2:29<\/p>\n 1. Eli did not fail to restrain his sons, because he did take time to deliver a\nmild rebuke.\n
2. However, Eli did not follow through when they did not heed him.<\/p>\n
a. His sons should have been thrown out of the priesthood.<\/p>\n
b. Their sins were worthy of death by stoning under the Law.<\/p>\n c. If nothing else, their rebelliousness earned them the punishment for\ndisobedience to parents – Deut. 21:18-21\n
d. How Eli was too soft, too easy toward his children.<\/p>\n 3. No doubt Eli loved his sons, but he did not love them enough to restrain\nthem.\n
D. As a result God punished Hophni, Phinehas, and Eli.<\/p>\n
III. Pious softness is not the way of God<\/p>\n
A. Jesus threw out the money changers from the temple – John 2:13-17<\/p>\n
B. He harshly rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 15 and Matthew 23<\/p>\n
C. Pious softness fails in the home<\/p>\n
1. Eph 6:4 – Bring your children up in the Lord<\/p>\n
2. This includes proper instruction – Deuteronomy 6:7, 32:46<\/p>\n
3. Proper instruction includes restraining them from evil<\/p>\n
a. Proverbs 3:12<\/p>\n
b. Proverbs 13:24<\/p>\n
c. Proverbs 29:15-17<\/p>\n 4. Children are growing up today without seeing any boundaries to their\nactions.\n
a. Some parents just cannot seem to say “No!” to their little mutchkin.<\/p>\n b. Many say “No” when irritated, but they never follow through with a\npunishment if the child disobeys.\n
D. Pious softness fails in society<\/p>\n 1. Over the years, we have become very soft on crime. If you don’t believe\nme, they why was the nation upset that a young hoodlum was caned for\nspraying graffiti?\n
2. Governments are suppose to punish evil-doers – I Peter 2:13-14<\/p>\n a. This includes carrying out a death penalty – Romans 13:3-4,\nGenesis 9:4.\n b. Oh, some states have reinstated the death penalty, but the\npunishment comes 15-20 years (at best) after the crime –\nEcclesiastes 8:11\n
E. Pious softness fails in the church<\/p>\n 1. When a Christian refuses to live in accordance with God’s Law and will not\nrepent of his sins, we are commanded to withdraw from him\n
a. I Cor 5:1-5, 11-13<\/p>\n
b. Eph 5:11<\/p>\n
c. II Thess 3:6, 14-15<\/p>\n
2. Yet, so many object. <\/p>\n 3. Or they demand more time to encourage a person to repent to the point\nwhere withdrawal comes months or years after the event. (Remember\nEccl. 8:11?)\n a. How have we come to believe that withdraw is the end of\nencouragement to live right?\n
4. Take for instance the sin of false teaching<\/p>\n
a. Romans 16:17<\/p>\n
b. I Timothy 6:3-5<\/p>\n
c. Titus 3:10-11<\/p>\n d. There is no delay when the sin is recognized. There is no endless\none more chances.\n
IV. These days, there seems to be much pious softness toward denominations<\/p>\n A. I have seen churches advertise meetings which are held jointly with the Christian\nChurch, the Disciples of Christ, and Baptists\n B. I have seen preachers repeat the doctrines of men, saying there is no harm in using\ninstruments to worship our God, or that baptism is not really essential for\nsalvation.\n
1. You find that hard to believe? I have quotes in my files.<\/p>\n
V. Man may change his beliefs, but God remains the same – Heb 13:8<\/p>\n
A. His words will not pass away – Matthew 24:35<\/p>\n
B. Jesus came to give us life – John 10:10<\/p>\n
C. Jesus’s way gives us peace – John 14:27, Phil 4:6-7<\/p>\n
D. But it must be Jesus’ way – John 14:6<\/p>\n
E. John 5:39-40 – Will you not come to Jesus this day?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. There are many things to admire about the man Eli A. He judged Israel for 40 years; during which time he was God’s spokesman. B. We find no record of any outward evil or sin in his life. C. When Eli learns that Samuel will take his place, Eli does not rebel, grow bitter,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1028,32],"tags":[665,106,1648,29,107,1598,255],"class_list":["post-62300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","category-sermon","tag-child-rearing","tag-discipline","tag-eli","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children","tag-rebukes","tag-tolerance"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-restrained-them-not-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":0},"title":"He Restrained Them Not (Sanders)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by James Sanders The life of the Old Testament figure, Eli, is remarkable. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar, the fourth son of Aaron, and therefore was of the tribe of Levi. Combined in this man of God were the offices of both High Priest and Judge. It was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-restrained-them-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":1},"title":"He Restrained Them Not (Iverson)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by John Iverson Do you think juvenile delinquency is an evil that is peculiar to our day? If so, then you would do well to read your Bible, particularly such passages as are found in the book of First Samuel. Eli was a judge in Israel and a priest of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/First_Book_of_Samuel_Chapter_2-1_Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media-300x216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-hophni-and-phinehas-believe-in-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":2},"title":"Did Hophni and Phinehas believe in God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Hophni and Phinehas believe in God? Answer: Hophni and Phinehas were two sons of Eli, the high priest of God (I Samuel 1:3). They served as priests at the tabernacle. But despite their position, they were wicked. \"Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21213,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-daughter-said-she-would-marry-when-she-moved-back-in-with-us-but-she-and-her-boyfriend-are-still-unmarried-what-do-we-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":3},"title":"My daughter said she would marry when she moved back in with us, but she and her boyfriend are still unmarried. What do we do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My daughter and her fianc\u00e9 moved in with us over two months ago because he lost his job. Part of their plan was to move a great distance to where his dad lives. I told my daughter that they had to get married immediately upon their arrival and she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/those-who-will-give-an-account\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":4},"title":"Those Who Will Give an Account","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you\" (Hebrews 13:17). Most recognize the quote from Hebrews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-jump-to-conclusions\/","url_meta":{"origin":62300,"position":5},"title":"Don’t Jump to Conclusions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Allen Dvorak via Gospel Power Vol. 15, No. 14, April 6, 2008. Elkanah, the father of the Old Testament prophet Samuel, had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah (I Samuel 1). Peninnah had children, but Hannah was barren. In a mean-spirited way, Peninnah \"provoked\" Hannah because of her infertility. When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}