How Will We React to God's Correction?
1 Samuel 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
1 Samuel 3:11 - 21 11And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
12
In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.13
For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.14
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.15
And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.16
Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.17
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 any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.18
And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.19
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.20
And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.21
And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.1 Samuel 4:11 - 18 11And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12
And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.13
And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.14
And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.15
Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.16
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?17
And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.18
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
2 Samuel 12:1 - 23
1
And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.2
The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:3
But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.4
And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.5
And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:6
And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.7
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;8
And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.9
Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.10
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.11
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.12
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.13
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.14
Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.15
And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.16
David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.17
And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.18
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?19
But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.20
Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.21
Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.22
And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?23
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.How do we react to the correction of God when He sends it our way? Do we (as Eli) just ignore it? Do we (as David) repent and make corrections in our life? Just how do we approach the corrections of God when He sends them our way? Hearing the correction is not enough, reacting to it is important as how we react!
Although it is not something for us to gauge our salvation upon, we can see…
God will not set idly by and not give us warnings and corrections.
He uses the Holy Spirit to speak to us.
He uses His Word to guide us.
He uses God's man to speak to us. Man of God, Samuel, and Nathan.
How we react affects our future. Romans 6:13
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
How well we serve God. - We can't serve well with sin in our lives!
How well our loved ones serve God is affected by us!
Eli chose to down play the warnings of God
To the point he did not remove his sons.
To the point that it cost him their lives and his.
David accepted the judgment of God in his life
To the point that he was spared.
To the point that he was really sorry.
He still paid a penalty - lost the unborn child.
The real question:
How will we accept the correction of God in our life?
Will we hate the messenger?
Will we ignore the warnings?
Will we acknowledge our sin?
Will we repent and be removed form the sin?
Will we set the example before our loved ones?
Paul is another example of receiving God's correction properly
Acts 26:9 - 19 9I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10
Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.11
And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.12
Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,13
At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.14
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.15
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.16
But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;17
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,18
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.19
Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
Before I close, let me say…
Forgiveness is a blessed event in our lives
Colossians 1:12 - 14 12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:Gary Marcum - New Beginnings Church- 062407pm - first used - 111796am