Peter Barnes | 1 Samuel 3:1-21
SERMON NOTES
THE CALL OF SAMUEL
1 Samuel 3:1-21; Acts 22:1-21
1. God speaks through His Word
– 3:1; like Amos 8:11-12
– 3:19-21; see Deut.18:21-22
2. An obedient heart.
– God speaks three times before Eli or Samuel understand
O give me Samuel’s ear,
The open ear, O Lord!
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy word:
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.
3. A hard message and a soft heart.
– 3:11-14 is the message; 3:15 is the heart; this is not physical fear of Eli, for he is 98 and blind (4:15)
– see Dan.4:19; Phil.3:18-19; Luke 19:41-44
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw renewal by God’s word but: ‘Till then the Christian cause will be a silent and hidden affair, but there will be those who pray and do right and wait for God’s own time.’