1 Samuel 4:12–22 — When the Glory’s Gone

Posted on September 8, 2026September 8, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

1 Samuel 4:12–22

INTRODUCTION

Vanuatu’s motto — Long God yumi stanap — is found on its bills and coins. On USA currency — bills and coins — we find a similar motto: “In God we trust.” Some store owners wanting to discourage people who want to buy on credit have put up a sign: “In God we trust. All others pay cash.”

“In God we trust” and “Long God yumi stanap” are wonderful mottos. But some people live by a similar but different motto: In the dollar we trust. In money we trust. Long vatu yumi stanap.

There were people in Israel who trusted in God. People like Elkanah and Hannah and Samuel. Their motto was “In God we trust.” “In Yahweh we trust.” “Long God yumi stanap.” Others, like Hophni and Phinehas, had a similar but different motto: “In the ark we trust.” “Long Bokis we i Saen blong Promes yumi stanap.” “Long Bokis yumi stanap.”

When we put our trust in the symbols of God’s presence rather than God himself, the God of glory is gone (cf. Psalm 29:3; Acts 7:2).

That’s what happened on the battlefield in Aphek. When Israel lost 4,000 men in a battle against the Philistines, they called for the ark of the covenant:

1 Samuel 4:3 (ESV) — And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

Their motto that day was, “Long Bokis yumi stanap.” But things did not turn out as Israel expected:

1 Samuel 4:10–11 (ESV) — So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

The Glory Is Gone

There are already indications in First Samuel that the glory was gone. This is the period of the judges when “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are introduced as priests in chapter one (1:3), but we are quickly told…

1 Samuel 2:12 (ESV) — Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:17 (ESV) — Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.

1 Samuel 3:1 (ESV) — …And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

When God’s people assume that God will bless them while they reject His word,
they should not be surprised when they experience His judgment.

When the word of the LORD did come, it was a word of judgment. A man of God came to Eli and rebuked him for honoring his sons above the LORD “by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel” (2:29).

1 Samuel 2:34 (ESV) — And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.

The word of the LORD to young Samuel confirmed the same message:

1 Samuel 3:11–14 (ESV) — Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

The judgment of God would come upon Eli’s house.

When God’s people assume that God will bless them while they reject His word, they should not be surprised when they experience His judgment.

1. Sin brings judgment upon a people (4:12–13)

The news reaches the city — vv. 12–13

A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh the same day. He had run some 20 miles to Shiloh where the ark of the covenant had been kept before the battle. He arrived exhausted, wet from sweat, his clothes torn, and dirt on his head. From all appearances, he was not a bearer of good news. Torn clothes and dirt on the head were the marks of someone stricken with grief. Anyone seeing him would have been shocked at the sight.

1 Samuel 4:13 (ESV) — When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out.

Eli, the high priest, is sitting on his seat by the road watching, but the man goes right past him into the city and announces the news. The whole city is thrown into confusion and mourning.

The sin of a people eventually brings consequences upon the people.

Israel’s sin was not merely a collection of individual sins. The corruption of Israel’s leadership had infected the nation, and the nation itself had presumptuously treated the ark as a means of securing victory.

Eternal principle: The sin of a people eventually brings consequences upon the people.

This doesn’t mean every national calamity can be traced to one particular sin. But Scripture repeatedly teaches that corporate rebellion against God has corporate consequences.

There is an important connection with 2:12: “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.”

The spiritual condition of the leaders had become the spiritual condition of the nation.

Israel wanted God’s power without God’s holiness.

2. Sin brings judgment upon its leaders (4:14–18).

The news reaches Eli — vv. 14–18

Eli heard the sound of the outcry, but did not yet know what had happened. He calls out, “What is the uproar?” “?Wanem samting ya?”

The man of Benjamin hurries to Eli. The ninety-eight year old blind man sitting at the gate cannot see the man standing before him. He cannot see that the man has torn his clothes and covered his head with dirt. The exhausted man has to explain everything, one line at a time. With each detail, the story unfolds the devastation:

“I am the one who just came from the battle lines. I fled from the battle today.”

“I fled” — that should have indicated that things did not go well. But Eli asks him, “How did it go, my son?” “?Olsem wanem?”

The narrator is slowly telling the story:

1 Samuel 4:17 (ESV) — He who brought the news answered and said,
“Israel has fled before the Philistines, — disastrous enough…
and there has also been a great defeat among the people. — a slaughter of 30,000 people
Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead,

Man ya i talem se, ”Mifala evriwan i ronronwe long ol man Filistia. !Naoia yumi lus olgeta! Mo antap long samting ya, tufala pikinini ya blong yu, tufala i ded, mo Bokis ya we i Saen blong Promes blong Hae God, ol man Filistia oli karem finis.“[1]

John Woodhouse reminds us:

It is very important to take great care with an incident in the Bible like this. Like Hannah and her childlessness in chapter 1 and the gift of a son in answer to her prayer, the uniqueness of the particular circumstance must be appreciated. Hannah’s experience had a place in God’s purposes that was not the same as every childless woman in Israel then or in our world today who may have been blessed with a child in answer to prayer. Just so, the deaths of Hophni and Phinehas in the terrible battle of Aphek were not the same as the tragic deaths of many other sons that day or the many family tragedies that occur today.

Eli’s tragedy was different. He had the specific word of the Lord concerning his sons and concerning his house. It was a terrible word. And the deaths of Hophni and Phinehas were the sign to Eli (1 Samuel 2:34). The word of the Lord had come to pass and would come to pass.[2]

Let us be careful not to judge the situation of those who face various tragedies. Jesus’ disciples were quick to ask the wrong question in John 9 when they saw the man blind from birth:

John 9:2–3 (ESV) — And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, ”It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The Scripture tells us that the judgment of God fell upon Eli and his two sons for their sin. The capture of the ark of the covenant was a judgment of God upon the nation as a whole, but not of every individual in the nation.

The man of Benjamin had one last thing to say: “… and the ark of God has been captured” (v. 17d).[3]

and the ark of God has been captured.”

Eli had been right to tremble. The word of the LORD had been fulfilled. Samuel’s words had not fallen to the ground. But Eli would soon fall from his seat.

Those entrusted with spiritual leadership bear particular responsibility for the condition of those they lead.

Eli does not react to the news of Israel’s defeat by the Philistines. Even the death of his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, does not seem to faze him. He may have already given up on them as hopeless.[4] But the shock of hearing that the ark of God had been captured by the Philistines was too much for him. If God was gone, no hope remained.

1 Samuel 4:18 (ESV) — As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

Here we read Eli’s obituary. Only here do we read that he served as judge, in other words, as a leader like Gideon and Samson. Verse 18 also tells us, almost as an aside, that “he had led Israel forty years” — forty years of leadership ending in a fall off a chair.

Eli was not as wicked as his sons, but he let things slide.

Israel’s defeat was a defeat by God himself. After the first battle, the elders of Israel had asked the right question: “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?” They presumed that the presence of the ark of the covenant would guarantee victory against the Philistines. Instead, God brought judgment on His own people. We must never presume that outward religious symbols — attending church,

We must never assume that our obedience in one area allows us to be disobedient in another area. We must not assume that our good works give us permission to sin. We must not assume that prayer or fasting or church attendance or sacrifices and offerings or ministry or holy communion will protect us from God’s judgment when we willfully disobey God in another area of four lives. “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

Eternal principle: Those entrusted with spiritual leadership bear particular responsibility for the condition of those they lead.

Eli had failed to restrain his sons even though he knew what they were doing. His sons’ wickedness was not merely their personal problem; it became a leadership crisis for Israel.

And there is an important contrast with 3:18. When Samuel tells Eli God’s message, Eli responds, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” Here, when Eli hears the final news, he falls and dies.

God’s word had been spoken. God’s word had been fulfilled.

3. Sin brings suffering to those caught in its consequences (4:19–20).

The news reaches Phinehas’s wife — vv. 19–20

Phinehas’s wife did not initiate the sins of Hophni and Phinehas. She was not responsible for Israel’s presumption. Yet she suffers the consequences:

her husband dies,
her father-in-law dies,
the ark is captured,
and she herself dies in childbirth.

The wife of Phinehas gave birth to a boy she named Ichabod. On the day Ichabod was born, his father died, his mother died. Thirty-four thousand Israelites died that day.

Eternal principle: Sin never affects only the person who commits it; its consequences often fall upon others.

This is the collateral damage of sin.

There is something especially tragic here because a new life is being born while a family is dying. The child is born, but the mother cannot rejoice. The future generation is marked from its first moments by the consequences of the previous generation’s sin.

And she names him Ichabod.

4. Sin ultimately results in the loss of God’s blessing and presence (4:21–22).

The news is named — vv. 21–22

The climax isn’t really: “The ark was captured.”

It is: “The glory has departed from Israel.”

But the glory had not actually departed that morning.

The greatest tragedy is not losing God’s blessings; it is losing the blessing of God’s presence.

The departure of God’s glory was already demonstrated by everything that had happened:

Israel had rebelled.
Hophni and Phinehas had corrupted the priesthood.
Eli had failed to restrain them.
Israel had presumed upon God.
Israel had treated the ark as a magic box.
God had already pronounced judgment.

The capture of the ark was the visible evidence of an invisible spiritual reality.

So Ichabod is not primarily saying, “God’s glory left because the Philistines took the ark.”

Rather: The Philistines could take the ark because Israel had already lost God’s favor through its rebellion.

The greatest consequence of sin is not what sin takes from us, but what sin does to our relationship with God.

The greatest tragedy is not losing God’s blessings; it is losing the blessing of God’s presence.

The Gospel Turn: From Ichabod to Immanuel

But Ichabod is not the last word. The wife of Phinehas gave birth to a boy named Ichabod. Ichabod says: “The glory has departed.” Centuries later, another woman would give birth to a son who would be called Immanuel. Immanuel says: “God with us.”

Matthew deliberately quotes Isaiah 7:14:

Matthew 1:23 (ESV) — “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

And John takes us even further:

John 1:14 (ESV) — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The gospel brings us from Ichabod to Immanuel—from the departure of God’s glory to the revelation of God’s glory in Jesus Christ.

That is the glorious reversal.

At Shiloh: The ark was present, but God’s people had rebelled. The glory departed.

In Christ: God Himself comes to dwell among His people. The glory is revealed.

John 1:14 is particularly powerful because John says:

“We have seen his glory.”

The glory that Israel lost in 1 Samuel is ultimately revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 4	The Gospel
Ichabod	Immanuel
The glory departed	God came to dwell among us
The ark was captured	Christ came in the flesh
Israel lost God’s favor	Christ brings us to God
God’s presence was symbolized	God’s presence was embodied
“The glory has departed”	“We have seen his glory”

Sin brings devastating consequences, but the gospel brings us from Ichabod to Immanuel—from the departure of God’s glory to the revelation of God’s glory in Jesus Christ.

Sin brings Ichabod; Christ brings Immanuel.

The longing for God’s presence finds its fulfillment in Christ.

Bislama Bible, n.d., 1 Sa 4:17. ↩
John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 99. ↩
John Woodhouse, 99. ↩
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 Samuel–2 Kings (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 75. ↩

1 Samuel 4:1–11 — The God You Cannot Control

Posted on September 1, 2026September 8, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

1 Samuel 4:1–11

INTRODUCTION

Turn with me to 1 Samuel 4. We want to consider “The God You Cannot Control.”

Proposition: God’s power cannot be manipulated; it belongs to God and is exercised according to his will.

Prayer

God is, by definition, all powerful. He is omnipotent. God is the Almighty. Over 300 times the Bislama Bible says that God, hem i gat olgeta paoa.

We often pray that God would manifest his power. We might pray that God would use his power to…

Meet financial needs
Heal the sick
Protect people in danger
Help us overcome temptation and sin
Help us to witness and serve him

Religion might be defined as man’s attempt to access God’s power. Some want to access God’s power to

Control the weather
Make crops grow
Make money

We sing about God’s power.

God blong mi I gat paoa
There is power in the blood of the Lamb.

But the question that we want to know is, what must we do to access the power of God? The religions of the world are guesses as to how to access God’s power.

Staring into crystals?
Fasting?
Sacrements?
Meditation?
Pilgrimages?

Then there are those religions, such as liberalism, which have no interest in the power of God, believing that God is on vacation.

No creation,
no plagues in Egypt,
no crossing of the Red Sea,
no manna in the wilderness,
no miracles for Elijah and Elisha,
no healings or deliverances in the ministry of Jesus,
no resurrection,
no future life after death.
That’s a strange religion that knows nothing of the power of God.

Do you know the power of God? In your own life have you experienced the power of God? Do you experience God’s power daily?

Early in the pages of First Samuel, Hannah called upon the “LORD of hosts” — that phrase is translated “Hae God, yu yu gat olgeta paoa” — and God gave her a son. She prayed again in thanksgiving to the One who gives strength to the weak (2:4).

These chapters (4–6) are about the power of God.

BACKGROUND

The Israelites needed the power of God. When we come to chapter 4, they have been under Philistine domination for some 20 years. But maybe things are about to change.

For many years there had been no word from the LORD:

1 Samuel 3:1 (ESV) — …And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

But then God called young Samuel. Chapter 3 seems to be a turning point in the history of Israel:

1 Samuel 3:19–21 (ESV) — 19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

1. God’s Power May Be Displayed in Judgment (4:1–3)

Chapter 4:1 lays the foundation for the next chapters:

1 Samuel 4:1 (ESV) — And the word of Samuel came to all Israel…

What word was that? Perhaps it was…

1 Samuel 3:11 (ESV) — Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.”

This must have stirred great hope in Israel. Life under the Philistines had been very difficult. They controlled the tools Israelites used, the weapons they lacked, and the roads they traveled.

But now Israel had a prophet. Once again, God was on their side. Or so they thought.

1 Samuel 4:1 (ESV) — 1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines…

But where is Samuel? From this point on, Samuel is absent. He is not mentioned again in chapters 4, 5, or 6. Not until chapter 7 do we find Samuel again.

“Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines.” There is no mention of divine guidance. No mention of prayer.

Israel had received a prophet, but they did not seek the word of God.

The word of God had returned to Israel, but Israel still preferred its own wisdom.

This is Israel without a godly leader. This is Israel being Israel.

1 Samuel 4:1–2 (ESV) — …Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

What could go wrong? God was on their side.

2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.

This was a shock! The Philistines killed four thousand Israelites! Israel had not expected to be defeated. God had delivered Israel from Egypt, provided for them in the wilderness, given them victory as they made conquest of the Promised Land. Yet for some 200 years, again and again, Israel fights for its very existence in the Promised Land.

WHY?

Once again the existence of Israel is under threat. Why? That is the question:

1 Samuel 4:3 (ESV) — 3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?…

Notice the question. They did not ask, “Why did the Philistines defeat us?” They asked, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?” They asked the right question. They understood that their defeat was an act of God. God had defeated them. But why?

This is not the first time that Israel had been defeated by its enemies. Throughout the period of the judges, Israel had been defeated time and again. And this was not the first time the people had asked why.

After the battle of Jericho, Israel was defeated by the small city of Ai.

Joshua 7:7 (ESV) — 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O LORD God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!

Joshua 7:10–11 (ESV) — 10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.

God answers the question “Why?” in the Book of Judges:

Judges 2:20 (ESV) — So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant … have not obeyed my voice.”

Now the elders of Israel are asking, “Why?” But they are not asking, “What have we done?”

Israel was still given to idolatry. When we find Samuel once again in chapter 7, he admonishes the Israelites to “put away the foreign gods [the Baals] and the Ashtaroth from among you” (7:3–4).

The elders of Israel had assumed that the presence of a righteous prophet in Israel would guarantee their success against their enemies, but they were seriously defeated in battle. Four thousand Israelites were killed.

2. God’s Power Cannot Be Manipulated by Religious Means (4:3–9)

WHAT TO DO?

What to do? Time and again in the Book of Judges, “the people of Israel cried out the the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer” (Judges 3:9, 15; 4:3; 6:6, 7; 10:10, 12).

But not this time. The elders know exactly what to do.

1 Samuel 4:3 (ESV) —…Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

They could have said: “Let us inquire of the LORD.” Instead they said, “Let us bring the ark! Bring us the ark, and the ark will save us!”

They did not ask what God required of them. They asked what they could use to make God work for them.

They wanted God’s power, but not God’s rule.
They wanted God’s presence without God’s holiness.
They wanted the blessings of the covenant while disregarding the demands of the covenant.

They had the ark, but they did not have God’s favor.

This is the ark of the covenant. God had made a covenant with Israel. This would remind God of his promises and obligations. God is supposed to smite the enemy, not Israel!

The narrator describes the ark. This is “the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim.”

Remember the prayer of Hannah:

1 Samuel 2:2–3 (ESV) — 2 “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. 3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

Our LORD is a holy God. There is none holy like the LORD. He is a God of knowledge. He knows the intents of the heart.

Who is carrying “the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim”? Hophni and Phinehas. What were the elders thinking?

We first met Hophni and Phinehas in 1 Samuel 1:3.

1 Samuel 1:3 (ESV) — the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:12 (ESV) — 12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:17 (ESV) — 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.

1 Samuel 2:22–25 (ESV) — 22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting… 25 …But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.

1 Samuel 2:27–34 (ESV) — 27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him… 29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings … and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 31 Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house…34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.

And the ark of the covenant is being brought by these two?! “Can Israel really appeal to the promises of God represented by the ark when that ark is being carried by reprobates who have despised God?[1]”

But that is not how the elders and people of Israel saw things.

THE MIGHTY SHOUT!

1 Samuel 4:5 (ESV) — 5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.

A loud shout will cover a multitude of sin! Sing louder! Turn up the volume! Drown out the still small voice!

They shouted so loud that the earth shook and so did the enemy.

1 Samuel 4:6 (ESV) — 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”…

It is not normal to give a victory shout when you have just buried 4,000 men. This is a time for mourning. But no, the ark has come. “Bring on the ark!”

1 Samuel 4:6b–8 — …And when they [the Philistines] learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck [מַכָּה (makkâ)] the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

The Philistines are shaking! What a surprise! They had just defeated the Israelites. Why were they afraid?

They were afraid because “they had heard the gospel of the exodus.”[2] They had learned what the LORD had done for the Israelites in delivering them from the most powerful nation in the world. This was not a God to be trifled with. If the God (or gods) of the Israelites had joined them in the camp, what would be the smart thing to do?

Israel expects to win.
The Philistines expect to lose.
Israel has heard God’s word.
The Philistines remember God’s mighty acts.

Yet: The people who should have known God best misunderstood him most profoundly.

The Philistines feared God’s power. Israel presumed upon it.

The Philistines had a greater fear of the power of God than Israel had a reverence for the holiness of God.

They had the ark, but they did not have God’s favor.

What’s going to happen?

3. God’s Power Accomplishes God’s Purposes (4:10–11).

If God Almighty is on the side of your enemy, maybe it’s time to make a peace treaty.

But no, that’s not what the Philistines do. The show must go on.

1 Samuel 4:9–10 (ESV) — 9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter [מַכָּה (makkâ)], for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

Thirty thousand Israelites are slaughtered! “What God had done to the Egyptians, he had now done to the Israelites![3]”

But that’s not all.

1 Samuel 4:11 (ESV) — 11 And the ark of God was captured,

Israel had tried to bring God under their control, but the ark of God was captured . The Philistines would now make the same mistake.

No need for the fancy title: “the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim.” That hardly seems appropriate when it has been captured by the Philistines. It seems that their gamble paid off. They psyched themselves up to fight against the God or gods of Israel and were able to capture him.

and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Now we understand what this was all about. The LORD has done what he said he would do.

1 Samuel 2:25 (ESV) —…it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.

1 Samuel 2:34 (ESV) — 34 And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day.

REFLECTIONS

God’s power is God’s power. God cannot be manipulated by anything you or I—or anyone else—can do. The elders of Israel foolishly thought that by bringing the ark into their camp, they could bring God’s power to their side.

We must be careful not to make the same mistake. We can possess a Bible without obeying its message, attend church without truly worshiping God, sing about God’s power without submitting to his will, and practice Christian ordinances without living in repentance and faith.

We must not be like the Israelites, who shouted with joy over the promises represented by the ark while ignoring God’s demand for holiness.

Paul gives a similar warning in 1 Corinthians 10. Israel experienced the mighty acts of God, yet “with most of them God was not pleased.” We cannot place our confidence in religious privileges while refusing to submit ourselves to the Word of God.

So, how do we experience the power of God?

Not by manipulating him, demanding from him, trusting in religious techniques or rituals, or attempting to make God serve our purposes.

Rather, we come to God in repentance, faith, and submission, trusting him to exercise his power according to his perfect will.

The question is not, “How can I get God to use his power for me?” The greater question is, “Have I submitted myself to the God whose power I seek?”

God is not a power that we can use. He is the sovereign LORD to whom we must submit.

THE GOD YOU CANNOT CONTROL

God’s power may be displayed in judgment (4:1–3).
God’s power cannot be manipulated by religious means (4:3–9).
God’s power accomplishes God’s purposes (4:10–11).

And when we submit ourselves to him, we can trust the God of all power to accomplish his perfect will in and through our lives.

John Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 91. ↩
Woodhouse, 92. ↩
Woodhouse, 92. ↩

1 Samuel 3:1–21 — When God Speaks

Posted on August 25, 2026September 8, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

In Geneva, Switzerland, there is a famous monument to the four leaders of the Protestant Reformation: John Calvin, William Farel, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. Behind these four reformers is the motto of Geneva, written in Latin: Post tenebras lux—“After darkness, light.”

That motto captures the conviction of the Reformers. For generations, spiritual darkness had covered much of Europe. But the Reformers believed that the light of God’s truth shines through the faithful preaching of God’s Word. And so, in Geneva, preaching the Scriptures became central to the life of the church. The people were taught the Bible, the catechism, and the doctrines of the Christian faith throughout the week.

The Reformation reminds us of a fundamental truth: the spiritual health of God’s people is inseparably connected to the Word of God. When the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, the light shines. When the Word of God is neglected, spiritual darkness follows.

That was true in the days of the Reformation. It was true in the days of the Old Testament. And it is still true today.

Consider what was happening in Israel in the days of Samuel:

1 Samuel 3:1 (ESV) — “The word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”

The problem in Samuel’s day was not that God had ceased to exist. God was still there. The problem was that God’s Word was rarely heard. And when God’s Word is absent, spiritual darkness and moral confusion inevitably follow.

We see the same principle in Proverbs 29:18:

Proverbs 29:18 (ESV) — “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

When God’s revealed truth is neglected, people cast off restraint. We see that dramatically in Exodus 32. When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God’s Word, Israel turned to the golden calf. Without the Word of God governing them, they quickly descended into idolatry and immorality.

Only the Word of God can bring light into spiritual darkness. Only God’s truth can save our families, transform our churches, reform our communities, and turn people from sin to righteousness.

But how does God bring that light? He does it through His Word.

That is the message of 1 Samuel 3. In a time when the Word of the LORD was rare, God began speaking again. And as His Word was received and proclaimed through His servant Samuel, God established His Word and His servant before all Israel.

So let’s consider the characteristics of God’s Word as revealed in this chapter.

The Word of God is rare—and therefore we must treasure it.
The Word of God is revealed—and therefore we must receive it.
The Word of God is imperative—and therefore we must obey it and declare it.
The Word of God is confirmed—and therefore we can trust it.

1. The Word of God Is Rare (3:1)

1 Samuel 3:1 (ESV) — Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

The Lord gives his Word, but he can also retain it. The Word of God had been given: Genesis – Deuteronomy. God had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, protected them for 40 years in the wilderness, given them victory in the conquest of the Promised Land, but the next generation forgot the miracles and blessing of the Lord. They started living like all the unbelievers around them.

Judges 2:10–11 (ESV) — …And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

How often is this repeated in the history of the church? God raises up a movement and does great things in the first generation, but the next generation has the name but not the relationship. The tragedy occurs when the structure remains but there is no conversion.

The Law had established the tabernacle along with the sacrificial system. People like Hophni and Phineas could perform the functions of the priesthood. They could offer the sacrifices. They could work the system. But…

1 Samuel 2:12 (ESV) — Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.

What happens when people grow up in a church such as the Assemblies of God and can sing with the worship team and play the guitar, but never have a life-changing encounter with God?

The Word of God was rare in those days.

Who was there to proclaim the Word? Hophni and Phineas? The priests who served at the altars? They did not know the LORD. Their father, Eli — the high priest — was compromised along with his sons. He did not hear from God.

Amos 8:11–12 (ESV) — “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

We look for substitutes, methods, activities. What can we do to get people to come to church? We do everything but what God has told us to do:

1 Timothy 4:13 (ESV) — …devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

Why are so many churches half empty? What can we do to get people to come? Churches are raising money by unbiblical methods to building projects that they don’t even need because the church is empty.

It used to be that a pastor would preach the Word of God three times each week. Sunday morning, Sunday evening, midweek. Now, what pastor even preaches once a week? Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Today pastors delegate that responsibility to people who are unqualified to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

1 Timothy 5:17 (ESV) — Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Why don’t they come? Why are some of our churches half empty? Simple answer: people are not being fed. Feed them and they will come. There is no substitute for the Word of God:

Deuteronomy 8:3 (ESV) — And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

“Second only to the gift of God’s Son is the gift of his Word.”

It is a judgment of God against the land when there are no preachers or teachers of the Word of God. When the Word of God is not loved and studied and preached and taught, God becomes silent. And darkness settles on the land.

2. The Word of God Is Revealed (3:2–14).

When the Word of God is rare, God is looking for a way to reveal his Word.

1 Samuel 3:1–3 (ESV) — Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

Samuel is lying down in the temple. “The lamp of God had not yet gone out.” There was still a flickering hope.

There were still some faint signs of spiritual life. Some people like Elkanah were still coming to worship. Hannah was still praying. God had answered her prayer.

There were signs that the light had not yet gone out. Some people were going to the tabernacle. They still have the external forms.

Today we still have church. We have the forms. We still have a Sunday sermon. There is a flicker of light. The lamp of God has not yet gone out. But the Word of God is rare.

When the Word of God is rare, God is looking for a way to reveal his Word.

God is looking for a man. God called Abraham and Joseph and Moses, men of God. But now worthless men are serving as priests. Eli was blind physically and spiritually. God is looking for replacements.

Ezekiel 22:30 (ESV) — And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

It is tragic when God cannot find someone to make the difference. Someone to stand in the gap. Someone to speak for God. But Isaiah heard the call:

Isaiah 6:8 (ESV) — And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

The LORD called Samuel. He does not recognize God’s voice. He thinks Eli has called. But he is quick to respond.

God called Samuel four times before he heard the call.

1 Samuel 3:4–5 (ESV) — Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

God called Samuel again.

1 Samuel 3:6 (ESV) — And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

How many times has the Lord called you and you did not recognize his voice?

1 Samuel 3:7 (ESV) — Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

“Samuel did not yet know the Lord.” How is it that he grew up in the tabernacle under the training of the high priest Eli and did not know the Lord? This reveals something of the spiritual state of Israel at this time.

How can people grow up in the church and not come to know God? How is it that another generation can arise and fill the functions of the church, do the business of the church, lead the worship, take up the offerings, pray prayers, and yet not know God? Perhaps the life-giving Word of God has not been preached so that we are stuck in period of the Judges:

Judges 21:25 (ESV) — In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out. It was still flickering. Some of you are that flickering hope, like young Samuel.

Why does God call? He is looking for someone to carry his Word.

When the Word of God is rare, God is looking for someone to whom reveal his Word.

1 Samuel 3:8 (ESV) — And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.

It even took Eli three times to recognize that God had passed him by to speak to young Samuel.

1 Samuel 3:9–10 (ESV) — Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ’Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

The Lord came and stood. He calls again and again. He comes near and stands close. How long had young Samuel ministered to the Lord without ever hearing his voice? Yet now, the Lord comes and calls: “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

Are you listening?

God has been looking for someone to reveal his Word.

God has found his man. A young boy. A young man who is quick to respond. Quick to hear. Quick to listen and obey.

The message that this young man has to deliver is shocking. The Lord entrusts this heavy responsibility to young Samuel. It will not be an easy message. And he will be afraid to tell it, but tell it he must.

We live in a soft generation. We like sugar in our coffee and icing on our cake.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 (ESV) — For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

We live in an age of itching ears. We want preachers to whisper sweet nothings in our ears. God’s message through Samuel would make ears tingle.

1 Samuel 3:11 (ESV) — Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

Eli knew about the sin of his sons, but had failed to act.

Then an unnamed man of God warned Eli himself of coming judgment because he had scorned the Lord’s sacrifices and offerings, and honored his sons above the Lord. God would cut off his house — his line would cease and the priesthood would be transferred to another, the house of Zadock. This would be a sign: both of his sons Hophni and Phineas would die the same day. God’s judgment would be swift and final (2:27–36). With all that, Eli had not repented.

Now a third time, God speaks to young Samuel. The judgment is clearly against Eli:

1 Samuel 3:12–13 (ESV) — On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.

He should have removed them from their function. If you are the pastor, you have the responsibility to remove sin from the leadership of the church. If you are a father, you have the responsibility to manage your household.

1 Samuel 3:14 (ESV) — Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Eli’s line would be cut off. No sacrifice or offering would ever atone for his sin!

3. The Word of God Is Imperative: It Must Be Declared (3:15–18).

1 Samuel 3:15 (ESV) — Samuel lay until morning;

Did he sleep? Could he have slept? Would you have slept? He has just had an encounter with God. God entrusted him with a message. A terrible message. A message of judgment.

I wonder if all this made sense to young Samuel. Was he aware of their sexual abuse of the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle? How often had he seen the abuse of the offerings by Hophni and Phineas? Had he seen Eli’s compromise? In this message he learned that our God is a holy God and that he requires that we walk in holiness: “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:45; 1 Peter 1:15–16).

then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.

Samuel goes about his chores and duties as required.

And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

How does a young boy share such a message with his elder? With a man who has been his adoptive father? Perhaps he hoped that Eli wouldn’t ask him. “Maybe he won’t ask me. Maybe he’ll forget. Maybe he’ll think it was a dream.”

1 Samuel 3:16 (ESV) — But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”

1 Samuel 3:17 (ESV) — And Eli said, “What was it that he told you?

Samuel is afraid. He doesn’t want to say. He hesitates.

Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.”

We do not get to pick and choose the parts of God’s Word that we will share. Listen the the Apostle Paul as he summarizes his ministry to the Ephesians:

Acts 20:20–21 (ESV) — 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:26–31 (ESV) — 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) — 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Ezekiel 3:17–19 (ESV) — 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

1 Samuel 3:18 (ESV) — So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

God will do what he will do. While Eli’s response sounds spiritual — and they have reached the point of no return — he never seemed to have the energy to restrain his sons. He had failed as a leader and he would face the judgment of God for his failure.

4. The Word of God Is Confirmed (3:19–21).

1 Samuel 3:19 (ESV) — And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

Samuel said nothing but what God had told him to say. And he said all that God had told him to say. When we faithfully proclaim the Word of God, we can trust God to accomplish his purpose through his Word. He will not allow his Word to return empty.

Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV) — “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Everyone knew that Samuel’s work and word were established by the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:20 (ESV) — And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.

Everyone knew that Samuel’s work and message were accredited by God. What was it that established Samuel as a servant of the Lord? Was it packed gatherings? Was it a bigger building? Was it generous offerings? No. Samuel was established because he faithfully received and faithfully proclaimed the Word of God.

What establishes us as servants of the Lord? Faithfulness to the Word of God.

Our ministries are not established by popularity, possessions, numbers, or human recognition. They are established when we faithfully preach the Word of God and God uses that Word to transform lives and bring people to live for his glory.

1 Samuel 3:21 (ESV) — And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Notice how the chapter ends: “by the word of the LORD.” God reveals himself through his Word. Samuel’s ministry was not built around Samuel. It was built around the Word of the Lord.

Conclusion

In Samuel’s day, the Word of the LORD was rare. Darkness covered the land. But then God spoke. And when God spoke, the light began to shine again.

The answer to spiritual darkness has not changed. We don’t need to invent a new message. We need to return to the Word of God.

After darkness, light. When the Word of God is proclaimed, God brings light.

It is time to return to the Word.

When the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, God himself is at work.

We have to get back to basics. We don’t need a new message. We need to faithfully proclaim the message God has already given us.

The Word of God is rare—and therefore we must treasure it.
The Word of God is revealed—and therefore we must receive it.
The Word of God is imperative—and therefore we must obey it and declare it.
The Word of God is confirmed—and therefore we can trust it.

As we preach the whole counsel of God, he will show himself powerful through his Word to convict sinners, transform lives, build his church, establish his servants, and bring glory to his name.

So let us return to the Word. Let us read it. Let us study it. Let us believe it. Let us obey it. And, above all, let us faithfully proclaim it.

Because when the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, God himself is at work.

1 Samuel 1:1–20 — One Prayer, One Son, One Nation

Posted on August 18, 2026September 8, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

1 Samuel 1:1–20

Proposition: When a generation turns from God, God can use the prayers and faithfulness of one person to begin turning a nation back to Himself.

1. A Godless Generation Can Drift Farther Than We Imagine.

The nation of Israel at this period of time is best described by the last words of the Book of Judges:

Judges 21:25 (ESV) — 25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

It was a period of lawlessness, when instead of obedience to the Law, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That is exactly what God had told them not to do:

Deuteronomy 12:8 (ESV) — 8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,

God has given us both His Word and His Spirit that we may know what is right in His eyes. But our tendency is to drift away from the way that He has shown us to follow our own ways. The Bible calls it “the mystery of lawlessness” (1 Thessalonians 2:7), doing what is right in our own eyes.

The nation of Israel had lost its identity as the people of God. It had been delivered from slavery in Egypt. It had received the Law on Mount Sinai. It had seen God’s miraculous provision during 40 years in the wilderness. It had crossed the Jordan River and conquered much of the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.

But the nation of Israel soon became just like all the other nations around it.

How did that happen?

Israel forgot its Redeemer. It forgot his Law. It forgot its unique identity and calling.

This is how the Book of Judges describes the nation after Joshua’s death

Judges 2:7 (ESV) — 7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel.

Judges 2:10 (ESV) — 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

Judges 2:11–12 (ESV) — 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Idolatry had become commonplace.
The priesthood was corrupt.
The sons of Eli are introduced in the third verse of First Samuel:

1 Samuel 1:3 (ESV) — 3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.

We are not yet even told who Eli is, but we learn that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD.

We next meet them in chapter 2:

1 Samuel 2:12 (ESV) — 12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

They “were priests of the LORD” (1:3). But they “were worthless men.” How could that be?

I mentioned the other day that we should never say that someone was “good for nothing,” but the text says that these two sons were “worthless men.” They were worse than good for nothing. They were only good for doing evil. These men were “in the ministry.” And they were “in the ministry” for what they could get out of it. They were not “in the ministry” to serve; they were “in the ministry” to serve themselves and to be served.

Hophni and Phinehas were exploiting the worship of God.
They ignored the prescriptions of the Word of God. They ignored the rights of the worshippers. They took what they wanted for themselves.

1 Samuel 2:16–17 (ESV) — 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.

But that’s not all. These sons of Eli “lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting” (2:22). They committed adultery with the women.

Eli knew about their sin but failed to restrain them.

The LORD rebukes Eli himself for honoring his sons more than he honored the LORD. He allowed these worthless adulterous men to function as ministering priests in the LORD’s tabernacle. Furthermore, he had joined his sons in “fattening themselves on the choicest parts of every offering” (2:29).

The corruption of the culture had reached the house of God. Israel was spiritually barren because it had abandoned God’s ways.

2. God Can Begin His Work Through Someone Who Seems Insignificant.

Israel has:

corrupt priests,
spiritual compromise,
moral decline,
no apparent national solution.

And what does God introduce?

The restoration to spiritual health would begin with a barren woman who is crying and praying..

The Book of Samuel begins, “There was a certain man… whose name was Elkanah.” But the story is not really about Elkanah. It is about one of his wives. This man had two wives. His number one wife was Hannah, but Hannah had no children. So like Abraham, Elkanah took a second wife, Peninnah, in the hopes of having children. Peninnah had children, sons and daughters.

God never ordained polygamy. God defined marriage as one man and one woman for life.

Genesis 2:24 (ESV) — 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Every time we find polygamy in the Old Testament, we find trouble. Trouble between Sarah and Hagar, Rachel and Leah and Zilpah and Bilhah, and others.

Polygamy is just another example of people doing what is right in their own eyes instead of doing what is right in God’s eyes.

Yet this man Elkanah would faithfully “go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh” where the tabernacle was located. In spite of the corruption of the priesthood, he went to worship the LORD. Part of the sacrifice was a special meal for the worshipper and his family. Elkanah would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.

“The LORD had closed her womb.”

1 Samuel 1:5 (ESV) — 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.

Elkanah loved Hannah and expressed his love by giving her a double portion of the sacrificial meal. But we read that the LORD had closed her womb. Again in the next verse we read that the LORD had closed her womb:

1 Samuel 1:6 (ESV) — 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.

The LORD had closed her womb and Peninnah her rival number two wife used Hannah’s barrenness to provoke Hannah. You can almost hear her taunting Hannah:

“Hannah, did you notice, Elkanah gave portions of the sacrifice to all my sons and daughters. I didn’t see any of your children at the table. Hannah, I noticed that my husband visited you last night. Still not pregnant? Oh, you poor girl! Don’t you see? The LORD has closed your womb. You’ll never have any children.”

1 Samuel 1:7 (ESV) — 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

Hannah does not respond to Peninnah or to Elkanah. When finally she does speak, it is to God.[1]

Why had God closed her womb? We are not told why. Perhaps so she would pray for a son whom God would use to change the nation.

Hannah joins a line of leading ladies whose wombs were initially closed only to be opened miraculously by the LORD:

Sarai (Genesis 11:30)… gave birth to Isaac.
Rebekah (Genesis 25:21)—Isaac prayed to the LORD on her behalf, and she conceived… she gave birth to Esau and Jacob.
Rachel (Genesis 29:31)—described as barren while her sister Leah bore children… gave birth to Joseph.
Manoah’s wife (Judges 13:2–3)—an angel appeared to her announcing she would bear a son… gave birth to Samson.
The Shunnamite woman (2 Kings 4:14–17)—had no son, but Elisha promised she would conceive and bear a son
Elizabeth (Luke 1:7)—was barren and advanced in years… gave birth to John the Baptist.

Finally, the most miraculous of all: the Virgin Mary.

Hannah was barren. Hannah was persecuted by Peninnah. Hannah wept and would not eat. Elkanah did not know what to do or what to say:

1 Samuel 1:8 (ESV) — 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

What’s a husband to say? Probably not, “Why would you want children when you’ve got me? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

A better twist would have been, “You are more to me than ten sons.” But words cannot fill the emptiness of a barren life, whether a woman’s or a man’s. No husband or wife can fill the empty spot that God has reserved for Himself.

Hannah was distressed and heartbroken.

Proverbs 13:12 (ESV) — 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick…

The LORD alone knows how to heal the brokenhearted.

Psalm 34:18 (ESV) — 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

God would use a barren woman who is crying and praying to change the direction of the nation.

Hannah absents herself from the family meal. How long could she endure the bullying of Peninnah?

She goes to the temple of the LORD. Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. Sitting is his favorite position.

1 Samuel 1:10 (ESV) — 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.

Hannah is a woman of faith and prayer.

“When things are hopeless, the God of all hope is already at work.”

Hannah is portrayed as the most pious woman in the Old Testament. Here she is shown going up to the LORD’s house; no other woman in the Old Testament is mentioned doing this. In addition, Hannah is the only woman shown making and fulfilling a vow to the LORD;[2]

In fact, in her prayer in chapter 2 is among the longest prayers of the Old Testament. “[H]er prayer includes the most recorded utterances of Yahweh’s name by a woman (eighteen).[3]”

That is a wonderful biblical irony.

Hannah has no political influence. She is not a priest. She is not a military leader. She cannot change Israel’s government. She cannot reform the priesthood.

But she can pray. In fact, she is not even praying about the nation. But God will use her prayer to change the direction of the nation.

3. God Uses Surrendered Prayer, Not Merely Desperate Prayer

She makes a vow to the LORD:

1 Samuel 1:11 (ESV) — 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

She vows to give her son wholly to the LORD. He will be a Nazirite.

Hannah doesn’t merely say, “God, give me a son because I want a son.”

She says, in effect: “If You give me this son, he will belong to You.”

Her prayer moves from “LORD, give me” to “LORD, I give him to You.”

1 Samuel 1:12–13 (ESV) — 12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.

Hannah continued praying before the LORD. Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Eli, the high priest watched. Had he never seen anyone praying before?

1 Samuel 1:14 (ESV) — 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”

She enters the house of God. And the one who is supposed to be the man of God does not recognize a praying woman when he sees one. Let us be slow to judge.

1 Samuel 1:15–16 (ESV) — 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”

She was not like the sons of Eli, worthless men. She was not a worthless woman. She was a woman of prayer, “pouring out my soul before the LORD.”

Notice three characteristics of Hannah’s prayer:

1. She poured out her soul.

She brought her anguish honestly before God.

Psalm 142:2 (ESV) — 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.

Hannah is not saying words that she has heard others say. She is not praying memorized prayers. She is pouring out her soul. This is real prayer. This comes from the depths of her heart.

2. She surrendered her desire to God.

She wanted a son, but she was willing to give that son back to God.

O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life…

This is a “your will be done” prayer. This is a surrendered prayer. “Not my will, but yours be done.”

3. She trusted God before the answer came.

1 Samuel 1:17–18 (ESV) — 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

The evidence is striking: after Eli speaks to her, she goes away, eats, and her face is no longer sad.

The circumstances had not changed yet.

Her faith had changed.

Like Abraham, she believed God.

4. A Surrendered Prayer Can Have Consequences Far Beyond the Person Who Prayed It.

1 Samuel 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”

The LORD answered Hannah’s prayer. Young Samuel became A Light Shining in the Darkness

The boy Samuel in the tabernacle reminds me of what we are to be in this dark world:

Philippians 2:15 (ESV) — 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

I am struck by the way the narrator contrasts the sons of Eli with little Samuel:

1 Samuel 2:11–12 (ESV) — 11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:17–18 (ESV) — 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. 18 Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod.

1 Samuel 2:21–22 (ESV) — 21 …And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD. 22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

1 Samuel 2:25–26 (ESV) — 25 …But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death. 26 Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.

Hannah prayed for a son.
God gave her Samuel.
Hannah gave Samuel to God.
Samuel grew up serving the LORD.
Samuel became a prophet and leader.
Samuel anointed Saul.
Samuel anointed David.
David became the king through whose line the Messiah would come.

And Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:10 points beyond Samuel:

“He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

So the answer to the opening question is:

Yes. God used the prayer of a barren woman to help change the direction of a nation.

Hannah herself did not “change the nation.” God did. He answered her prayer and used the son she surrendered to Him.

CONCLUSION

Could the prayers of a barren woman change the direction of a nation?

Then:

What can God do through the prayers of His people today?

We cannot control the direction of our culture.
We cannot force people to abandon their rebellion.
We cannot reform everyone around us.
But we can be like Hannah.

We can pray.

We can remain faithful.

We can surrender what God gives us back to Him.

We can raise and train another generation to serve the LORD.

We live “in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,” but we are called to “shine as lights in the world.”

When a generation turns away from God, He can use the prayers, faithfulness, and surrendered lives of His people to raise up a new generation that knows Him and points others back to Him.

You are the Hannahs and the Samuels that God will use if you surrender your lives fully to Him.

Robert Alter, The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel, W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, p. 4. ↩
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 67. ↩
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 67. Eighteen includes her references to Yahweh in chapter 1. ↩

It’s Your Choice: A Study on Covenant Commitment in Joshua 24

Posted on June 18, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

It’s Your Choice

A Study on Covenant Commitment in Joshua 24

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” — Joshua 24:14–15 (ESV)

Introduction

Joshua 24 records the final public address of Joshua’s life, delivered at Shechem to the assembled elders, heads, judges, and officers of Israel, who “presented themselves before God” (Joshua 24:1). Unlike the farewell speech of chapter 23, which is Joshua’s own exhortation, this chapter records a divine speech: the LORD himself recounts his dealings with Israel before issuing a covenant challenge. The structure of the chapter falls naturally into three movements: what God has done, what Israel must decide, and what that decision costs.

I. God Has Chosen You

The opening section (Joshua 24:2–13) is a sweeping review of redemptive history told entirely in the first person. The LORD reminds the people that their ancestors, beginning with Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, once lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. From that point forward, however, the narrative belongs to God alone:

He took Abraham from beyond the River and led him through the land of Canaan, giving him a son, Isaac.
He gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and sent Jacob down into Egypt.
He sent Moses and Aaron and brought the people out of Egypt.
He led their fathers to the Red Sea, and when the Egyptians pursued, he answered their cry by bringing darkness and closing the sea over their enemies.
He brought them into the land of the Amorites and gave that land into their hand.
He delivered them from the schemes of Balak and Balaam.
He brought them across the Jordan, gave the kings of Jericho and the surrounding nations into their hand, and sent hornets ahead of them to clear the way.
He gave them a land, cities, vineyards, and olive orchards they had not built or planted.

Across this section the LORD says, in effect, “I did this,” some eighteen times, with a handful of additional acts described in the third person. This repetition is not incidental; it is the foundation for everything that follows. When Joshua later asks the people to choose whom they will serve, he is not offering a neutral, open-ended decision. He is asking whether, in light of everything God has already done, it would really be a hardship to serve him.

This pattern also reveals something important about the nature of the relationship: God took the initiative from the very beginning. He called Abraham; Abraham did not seek him out. The principle echoes later in John 15:16, where Jesus tells his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” The same is true in providence more broadly. Every person has received sun and rain, life and breath, before ever turning to consider God at all — which is part of what Paul has in mind in Romans 2:4 when he says that it is the kindness of God that leads a person to repentance.

II. You Must Choose God

Having reviewed the record, Joshua turns the history into a decision. The choice cannot be made by proxy; each person must decide for themselves. Three options are set before the people:

The gods their fathers had served beyond the Euphrates.
The gods of the Amorites, the nations now living around them in Canaan.
The LORD, the God who had done all of the things just recounted.

Joshua makes clear that the LORD is “a jealous God” (Joshua 24:19) who will not share his place with rivals; serving him and serving other gods at the same time is not a real option. The pull back toward “the gods of your fathers” is the temptation to root one’s identity in heritage rather than in the God who called Abraham out of that very heritage in the first place. The pull toward “the gods of the Amorites” is the temptation to assimilate — to blend into the surrounding culture, to take on its values and its intermarriages, and in doing so to quietly set the LORD aside.

The call is also urgent: “choose this day.” There is no way to defer the decision indefinitely, because postponing the choice is itself a choice. To put off serving God today is, functionally, to decide not to serve him today.

III. As for Me and My House

The people’s response in verses 16–18 is immediate: they will not forsake the LORD to serve other gods, because he is the one who brought them and their fathers out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; he did the great signs they witnessed; he preserved them in the wilderness and protected them from hostile peoples; he drove out the nations before them. On that basis, they conclude, “we will serve the LORD, for he is our God” (Joshua 24:18).

Joshua, however, will not let the commitment remain easy or casual. He presses them with a sobering reality: in their own strength, they are not able to serve the LORD faithfully, because of who he is.

He is a holy God. He will not overlook or excuse covenant unfaithfulness (Joshua 24:19).
He is a jealous God. If, after doing good, the people were to forsake him for other gods, he would turn and bring judgment upon them rather than blessing (Joshua 24:20).

This warning is not meant to talk the people out of their commitment but to make sure they understand its weight before they make it.

The chapter then moves from declaration to concrete action. Genuine covenant commitment, as Joshua frames it, involves at least six things:

Renunciation — putting away the foreign gods that remained among them (Joshua 24:23).
Inclination — turning the heart toward the LORD, the God of Israel (Joshua 24:23).
Service — pledging to serve the LORD their God (Joshua 24:24).
Obedience — pledging to obey his voice (Joshua 24:24).
Covenant — Joshua formalizing the commitment by making a covenant with the people and establishing statutes and rules for them (Joshua 24:25).
Memorial — setting up a stone as a lasting witness against them, a reminder of every word the LORD had spoken (Joshua 24:27).

For believers today, these final two steps find an echo in baptism and the Lord’s Supper — visible, communal acts that mark and memorialize a commitment that has already been made in the heart.

Conclusion

Joshua 24 places a single question before every generation that reads it: in light of everything God has done, whom will you serve? The text does not allow for a tidy middle ground — no quiet return to old allegiances, no easy blending in with the surrounding culture. It asks for a decision made today, backed by an understanding of the cost, and followed by concrete acts of renunciation, devotion, obedience, and remembrance. The only fitting response, then as now, is the one the people of Israel gave: “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

How to Know the Will of God, Part Three — Problems Associated With Doing the Will of God

Posted on May 31, 2026May 30, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

International Christian Church, Port Vila • Sunday, 31 May 2026

1 Thessalonians 5:11–18 (ESV) — Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

INTRODUCTION

Résumé

We have been considering that all-important question, “What does God want from me?” The bigger question is, “What is God up to? What is his master plan? His missio dei?” And then how does each of us fit into his plan?

What is God’s will for me?

We generally define God’s will in terms of the choices we must make concerning people, places, and professions. Where should I go to school? What career path should I take? Should I get married? Whom should I marry? Where should I live? What car should I buy? Etc. Choices.

But the Scriptures define the will of God not in terms of choices, but in terms of character. God’s primary concern for us has to do with the kind of people we are. Most of the passages in the Bible referring to the will of God emphasize our character.

The Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount call for us to be meek, merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers. The fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — is about our character. God’s purpose is that we be conformed to the image of his Son. That’s all about character.

If our character is right, our choices will be right.

Choices

But we do have to make choices.

We looked at five steps that should help us discover the will of God concerning our choices:

Principles of Scripture: What does the Bible say about the choice?
Prayers of the Saints: Our prayer and others with us.
Providence of Situations
Patient in Spirit
Peace in Your Soul

If you have followed these steps in order, you can be assured that God is leading you.

Psalm 37:23 (ESV) — 23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

Problems!

Sooner or later we understand that sometimes there are problems associated with the will of God. Let us consider a few.

1. THINGS DON’T TURN OUT AS WE EXPECTED.

You have followed the five biblical principles that we considered, yet things do not happen as you expected. Are you in the will of God or not? Does this happen to you? You buy a car before arriving at home, the fenders fall off the car. Did you miss the will of God?

Problems that happen to us or failures we experience do not indicate that we missed God’s will. How do I know? We have already considered the battles of Judges 20. The Israelites mounted three times against the Benjamites while obeying the voice of God. The first time, they lost 22,000 men. The second time: 18,000. The third time, about 30 men, but they finally won. But every time they obeyed the voice of God.

Joseph was faithful to God, but he was sold by his brothers into slavery and unjustly accused by the wife of his owner and put in prison for years. But it was God’s will for him to be trained to become the Prime Minister of Egypt.

Moses went to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from bondage, and Pharaoh increased their work load so that the people complained against Moses (Exodus 5:6–23).

In Mark 6:45–48 Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat. Before they got to the other side, they found themselves in the midst of a terrible storm. We may experience thunderstorms while we do the will of God.

The Apostle Paul had prayed that “somehow by God’s will” he would make it to Rome. His voyage included riots, imprisonments, shipwreck, being bitten by a viper and house arrest for at least two years in Rome.

Things don’t always turn out as we expect, hope, or pray for.

What is the main purpose of God for us? His main purpose is that we develop the character of Christ. And that character is often in contact with the pressure.

Romans 5:3–4 (ESV) — Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

1 Peter 4:12–13 (ESV) — Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

God’s will is not limited by our cultural definitions of success. His intention for us is not our success, but His success in developing our character, transforming us into the image of His Son. We are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). So when things do not happen like we want, it is not an indication that we missed the will of God. This is God’s will for us. God has guaranteed that we will be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). God uses problems to build character in our lives. He teaches us to be joyful in spite of our circumstances. He teaches us to be humble. He teaches us to be gentle. He teaches us to be like Christ. This is the will of God.

So we come to a second problem:

2. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO

What do you do, when you need to make a decision and you have no idea what to do? If you are not pressed to give an answer, wait. Apply the five steps.

Principles of the Scriptures
Prayers of the Saints
Providence of the Situation
Patient in Your Spirit
Peace in Your Soul

But it is not always possible to wait to give a decision. Sometimes you will pressed for a decision, but you do not know what to do. Your intention—your motivation—is extremely important. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

James 1:5–8 teaches us to ask God for the wisdom we need.

James 1:5–8 NLT If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Ask the spiritual counsel of others. But you must make your decision based on the information available, using the common sense that God gave you, and believing that God gives you the wisdom. Make your decision.

Now we come to a third problem:

3. YOU MADE THE WRONG DECISION

Say you’ve already made a decision, you are committed to someone, and then you receive more information, and you see that you made a bad decision. What should you do? Is it possible to rectify the decision? If you are committed to do something for someone, ask their permission to change (compare Proverbs 6:1–5).

But what if people depend on your decision? In Psalm 15 the question is asked:

Psalm 15:1 (ESV) — 1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

The answer is in verse four,

Psalm 15:4 (ESV) — 4 …[the one] who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

But what if you did something quite contrary to the will of God? For example, a believer marries an unbeliever (God never leads us against His Word and 2 Corinthians 6:14–18 is very clear on this question.) So a believer marries an unbeliever and after years, the believer (whether a man or a woman) understands that they did not marry according to the will of God. How does the believer get back into God’s will?

Here is the surprising answer: That situation—that marriage with an unbeliever—is now God’s will for the believer. It is God’s will for the believer to live with the unbeliever spouse as a Christian:

1 Corinthians 7:12–16 (ESV) — To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Four times in four verses in this chapter, the Word of God tells us that divorce is not an option for the believer. He or she is to remain faithful to the unbelieving spouse. Will it be difficult? Perhaps, but God will use the trials of marriage to transform believers into the image of Christ! And that believer should be the best husband or the best wife possible to the unbelieving spouse, loving him or her as if the spouse were also a believer. Does that surprise you? Marriage is not just for Christians. Marriage between a man and a woman is God’s gift to believers and to unbelievers alike. If you married an unbeliever, your marriage is now God’s will for you. Be the best husband or wife that you can be.

Here’s another example: In Joshua 9 the Israelites were invading the land that God had promised to them. God had told them not to make any agreements with the people of the land. But the Gibeonites pretended to be from a faraway country. They came wearing worn out clothes and carrying stale bread. They tricked the Israelites into making a covenant with them although it was not God’s will. A few days later the Israelites realized their mistake, but it was too late! Once the Israelites entered into that covenant, God expected them to keep it. They were not allowed to attack the Gibeonites.

But 400 years later, that is exactly what King Saul did. In 2 Samuel 21 Saul broke the agreement, and God judged the nation of Israel by sending a famine of three years.

God wants us to be true to our word. This is Christian character.

That brings us to a fourth problem.

4. THE DECISION WILL HURT THOSE YOU LOVE

Sometimes doing God’s will hurts the ones we love. This is often the case for those who are called into the ministry. Parents often have wonderful plans for the education and the careers of their children. And then God intervenes and says, “This one belongs to me. I bought him and I will send in my harvest.” What should you do?

Seek the Lord to be sure that He is leading you against the advice of those who love you. Pray that He will give you the favor of those who are wounded so they understand what you are doing and what God is doing in your life. Use the situation as an opportunity to explain what God is doing in your life.

In Conclusion: Some Principles

Let’s conclude this study on God’s will with some general principles:

1. GOD’S WILL IS BETTER FOR YOU.

There are problems, but do not be afraid of God’s will. His will is always best for you. When I do not want to do the will of God, the flesh is at work.

Romans 8:7 (ESV) — 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Let us say,

Psalm 40:8 (ESV) — 8 I delight to do your will, O my God…

Some believe that God’s will is incompatible with our abilities and our talents. But the truth is, God created us as we are, with our heritage, our background, our talents, and our abilities so that we can fulfill His will for us.

In Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 Paul talks about the different gifts that God has given us to enable us to do His will. We were destined to do his will. Any life lived apart from God’s will, ends up broken. God’s will is best for us.

2. GOD’S WILL IS JUST (RIGHTEOUS) FOR YOU.

We talk quite often about the center of God’s will, but biblically speaking, this language is imprecise. You cannot be 70 percent in the will of God. Either you are in the will of God, or you are not. When we use this phrase we mean that we want all the things in our lives to be in harmony with God’s will for us.

God’s will is always right for us. This means that:

God never leads us against His Word.
If the final result is unrighteous, it is not the will of God.
God’s will is not stained with the blood of others. It is not God’s will, for example, that we destroy the reputation of others to climb the so-called ladder of success.

3. GOD’S WILL IS SAFE FOR YOU.

Whatever the Lord asks you to do, He will be with you. Wherever He sends you, He will go before you. And if you are deprived of your life in doing the will of God, He will still be glorified, even in your death. And you will be in the presence of Christ. What could be better than that?

What do you want most in life? Is character development most important in your life? Are you looking to do the will of God? Nothing can replace the joy of doing His will. “I delight to do thy will, O my God!” (Psalm 40:8). And nothing is as tragic as a life lived apart from God’s will.

Seek to understand God’s will, and more importantly, do it for the glory of God.

Let’s work on developing godly character:

2 Peter 1:5–7 (ESV) — 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

What efforts are you doing to develop your Christian character? What practices have you implemented in your life that will help you grow in Christ?

Reading and studying the Bible.
Memorization and meditation on the Word of God.
Prayer and fasting.
Time of silence and contemplation.
We must also pursue the will of God concerning our choices:
Our education, employment, and whether God calls us to a marriage or to serve in celibacy. There are many Christians who have never asked the Lord what he wanted them to do with their lives. I have no doubt that there are people who should be in full-time ministry. Can you ask the Lord: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

Let this be our prayer: “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 ESV).

A Simple Meditation on Psalm 103

Posted on May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

1. Bless the LORD for His Personal Benefits

To bless the LORD is to praise Him. Why should we bless the LORD? Because the LORD is the one

who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:3–5 (ESV)

“Forget not…” we have a tendency to forget and are so often unaware of all that the Lord has done for us.

2. Marvel at the Greatness of the LORD’s Love

How great is the LORD’s love for those who fear him? It is immeasurable.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him (Psalm 103:11, ESV).

How far does he remove our transgressions from us? He removes them completely.

as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12, ESV).

How does the LORD show his compassion to those who fear him?

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him (Psalm 103:13, ESV).

How long is the steadfast love of the LORD on those who fear him? His love is eternal.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children (Psalm 103:17, ESV).

3. Join the Universal Call to Bless the LORD

Who should bless the LORD?

His angels and mighty heavenly hosts should bless the LORD:

Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!

His works should bless the LORD:

Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.

I should bless the LORD:

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Psalm 103:20–22 (ESV)

How to Know God’s Will: Part Two, Discovering the Will of God

Posted on May 17, 2026May 30, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

International Christian Church, Port Vila • Sunday, 17 May 2026

Introduction

Imagine you are standing at a crossroads in your village.

One path leads toward further studies in Port Vila or overseas.
Another path leads toward marriage and starting a family.
Another path leads toward a job or business opportunity.

You want to do what is right. You want to please God. But the question keeps ringing in your heart: “Lord, what is Your will for me in this decision?”

This is not just a question for young people.

Whether you are choosing a school, a spouse, a job, or even whether to stay in your village or move to town — every one of us faces important decisions.

And here is the good news: God does have a will for your life.

He is not hiding it from you. He wants you to know it.

Last week in Session 1, we learned the important difference between:

God’s General Will — His will for our character (what kind of person we should be)
God’s Particular Will — His specific guidance for our choices (where to go, whom to marry, what work to do)

We also learned the foundational truth:

“If your character is correct, your choices will usually be correct.”

Today in Session 2, we are going to move from theory to practice.

We are going to look at how we can discover God’s will for the big decisions of life.

Please open your Bible with me to Ephesians 5:8–17.

Ephesians 5:8–17 (ESV) — for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Review from Session 1

God’s General Will = Character (for all people, all times)
God’s Particular Will = Specific choices
Core Definition: The will of God is that divinely revealed quality of life (attitudes, aspirations, and actions) that the believer produces daily with the Holy Spirit.
Fundamental Thesis: If your character is correct, your choices will be correct.

WE DO HAVE TO MAKE CHOICES. For example, you have to decide whether you will continue your studies in school. If so, where? You have to decide whether or not to get married. If so, who will you marry? The person you would like to marry may or may not share your opinion! When should you get married? You can’t really answer this question until you have found out whom you are to marry. What will be your profession?

Once we have developed character and obey the word, we can talk about places, people, and professions.

FOUR CATEGORIES:

A. W. Tozer has listed four areas;

Those to which God has said an emphatic “NO”. Most of the 10 commandments contain the word “not”. “You shall not…” No murder, no adultery, no stealing, no false testimony, no coveting. Let’s get closer to home. Is it the will of God for a believer to marry an unbeliever? Absolutely not! God has already clearly revealed his will concerning this question:

2 Corinthians 6:14–15 (ESV) — Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

It is not spiritual to pray about this. Those who pray about choices where God has already said, “No”, only show their resistance and disobedience to the revealed will of God.

The second category is that of the emphatic “YES”. Pray, share your faith, study the Word, honor your parents, love your enemies, rejoice always, be thankful, be kind to one another, forgive one another, make disciples, be filled with the Spirit, etc.

There is the area of sanctified preferences. In many areas, God gives us the freedom to express our preferences or our taste. In the realm of modesty, God allows us to choose our clothing. We can decide what we want to eat. There are Christians who actually ask God what they should wear. They need to be less self-centered in their praying. Don’t waste your time praying about the color of shirt you’re going to wear. Pray for the lost. Pray for the church. But don’t pray about things that don’t matter.

Finally, there is the area where we need more information from the Lord. If we are obedient to his Word and if we have a character that is pleasing to God, we can talk about places where we should go, people that we should be associated with or marry and the profession that we will choose.

How do we know the will of God in these areas? We will consider the steps later, but right now we are laying the foundation.

John Stott said,

“God’s promises of guidance are not given to save us the bother of thinking. Some Christians imagine that it is super-spiritual to receive directions from God by irrational impulses. It is not super-spiritual; it is not even spiritual; it is carnal. Worse, it is animal. It is asking God to treat us like an irrational beast, like a horse waiting for a tug at bit and bridal, a crack of the whip, or a kick with the spurs. But we are not horses and mules without understanding.”

This is taken from Psalm 32:8–9

Psalm 32:8–9 (ESV) — I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.

Someone said that the reason God put a skull around your brain to protect it, is so that you would use it.

God’s will is linked with what we are. Our character determines our choices and our choices determine our character.

There are five biblical principles, based on the thesis, which will enable us to know with “reasonable certainty”.

What do I mean by “reasonable certainty?” There was a young married couple that saved enough money to buy a used car. Finally, the wife gave a word of wisdom: “Maybe a car without doors is the will of God for us.”

The will of God cannot always be judged by the results. “Reasonable certainty” means that whether or not something turns out the way we expected, it’s the will of God for us.

In Judges 20, God commanded the Israelites three times to go up against the Benjamites. In the first battle, they lost 22,000 men. In the second battle they lost 18,000 men. In the third battle, they lost 30 men but won the battle.

Whether or not something turns out the way we expected, it’s the will of God for us.

In spite of the apparent failures, God was leading his people.

Three words of caution:

This is not the only way to discover the will of God for our choices.
The steps may seem very simplistic (in light of complex decisions) but consider the thought processes.
We must take the steps in order. God does have a will, therefore, we may expect him to show us his will.

There are three requirements. We must be:

We need to ask ourselves three questions:

Am I saved? If we are not saved, the will of God for us is that we be saved.

Am I submitted? Are we neutral? If not, we will interpret everything, every circumstance, in the direction we want.

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV) — Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Can we say, “Lord I want your will”, even if your child is lying on the death bed? “Thy will be done.”

Am I spiritual? Can we approach this subject of the will of God with maturity to discern what God is saying?

The Five Steps

1. PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURE

First we must evaluate every decision by the Word of God. This is foundational. God’s Word is practical. It is the Word of God that makes us wise! It relates to all areas of life. The wise man built his house on the Rock: hearing and doing God’s Word.

For example: you are considering a move. What is involved? Finances, job, children’s education. What does the Bible say about these areas? Your mind and heart must be saturated with God’s Word. Sensitivity to God’s direction begins with the Scriptures.

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV) — I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is a strong word which tells us that we must present ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Someone said that the problem with living sacrifices is that too often they crawl off the altar!

We are to be living sacrifices because we are to be alive to God. Our worship and service to God is to live 24 hours a day as living sacrifices.

Paul also said that we are not to be conformed to this present world. But we are already conformed to this world. “We are the world!”

Paul said that this conformity to the world must stop. But how? How can I stop being what I am? I can stop being what I am by becoming something that I am not. I can be transformed. I need a transformation of my mind, my perspective, my personal culture and of my values. The term is Greek is metamorphosis, that changing of a caterpillar into a butterfly. We need a metamorphosis, a transformation.

This transformation takes place not in a cocoon, but in the Word of God. It takes place by the renewing of our minds. Our manner of thinking must be radically changed. Peter said that our non-Christian friends will find it strange that we no longer do the same things we used to do with them.

1 Peter 4:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;

It is because we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds.

The change in behavior follows the change of our minds and this change of our minds is called repentance. Just like meta-morphosis means a transformation, the Greek word for repentance, meta-noia, means a change of our minds. The change in our minds produces a change in the way we live. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

So Christianity is not a list of rules that you must observe; it is a transformation. But how does this transformation take place? It takes place by the renewing of our minds. And how are our minds renewed? They are renewed by thinking the thoughts of God after him!

Isaiah 55:7–11 (ESV) — let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

God says that we must abandon our way of thinking and adopt his manner of thinking. How can we adopt his manner of thinking? By listening to the Word that comes from His mouth and by thinking the thoughts of God after him.

David said in Psalm 1:

Psalm 1:1–2 (ESV) — Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

When we meditate on the Word of God, our minds are renewed. That’s why we need to meditate and memorize the Word of God: because his Word transforms the structure of our thinking. “That’s brainwashing!” you say. Certainly! Our minds need to be washed in the best sense. Our minds need to be restructured.

Notice David’s testimony concerning the effect of meditation upon his mind:

Psalm 119:97–104 (ESV) — Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

The Word of God makes us wiser than our enemies. It gives us more understanding than our teachers. It gives us more understanding than the wise elders. By the reading, the memorization and meditation of the Word of God, our minds are renewed so that we can discern the Word of God.

Cosigning a loan?

Consider another example. A friend wants to buy a new truck but the bank won’t loan him the money. He knows that you have some money saved in the bank and asks you to cosign with him at the bank so that the bank will loan him the money and he can buy his truck. What should you do? Should you help your friend who needs your help? How do you know God’s will?

You apply the Word of God that you have studied and meditated every day and you will know God’s will.

Proverbs 11:15 (ESV) — Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

Proverbs 17:18 (ESV) — One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

Proverbs 22:26–27 (ESV) — Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

What if you are already committed? The Bible speaks to this issue as well:

Proverbs 6:1–5 (ESV) — My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

My friends, we are not bankers. The bank has well studied the financial situation of your friend. If the bank does not want to commit itself to him, do you really have more money and more financial savvy than the bank? Who is going to provide for your family while your friend drives around in the new truck that you have bought him?

What can you do for your friend who is in need? You can loan him money without interest and without hoping that he will repay you! Jesus said this:

Luke 6:35 (ESV) — But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Or you can give him the money if you have an abundance:

Proverbs 3:27–28 (ESV) — Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

If we are to discern God’s will, we have to think the thoughts of God. That’s the reason for the daily study of God’s Word. It is not to impress God or to influence him. It is to be influenced and transformed by his Word. That’s how we understand the principles of life laid down in the Scriptures. A sensitivity to God’s direction begins with the Scriptures.

2. THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS (WE WHO ARE ALIVE!)

James 1:5–8 (ESV) — If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

His word must abide in us when we pray. We must first know the Scriptures to know how to pray intelligently.

John 15:7 (ESV) — If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish…

We need the prayers of others to help us find God’s direction.

Acts 13:2–3 (ESV) — While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Paul and Barnabas didn’t just take off as missionaries; the Lord directed them through the local church.

God’s will is dynamic so we need his direction. In 2 Samuel 5, the Philistines came spread out in the Valley of Rephaim to battle newly anointed King David. David inquired of the LORD who told him to go up against them and he would certainly give the Philistines into his hand. David defeated them. But the Philistines came up again in the same place. The same enemy, the same place. But this time the LORD said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear and attack.”

2 Samuel 5:17–23 (ESV) — When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.

3. THE PROVIDENCE OF SITUATIONS

Our sensitivity to the will of God is sharpened through prayer. Sensitivity is essential. God’s will is not static. Up to now we’ve dealt with spiritual exercises that affect our judgment. But we must also understand the situation. God’s will is not always the same, even in the same circumstances:

Consider Acts 16:6–7.

Acts 16:6–7 (ESV) — And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

We can imagine Paul with Timothy and Silas. They tried to preach the Word of God in the province of Asia. They had intended to go to Ephesus, the major city of Asia, but they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia”. So they went across Phrygia and Galatia and attempted to go into Bithynia, “but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”.

This was a cross-country trek of some 1,000 kilometers. If they walked 40 km a day across this difficult terrain, they would have walked for more than three weeks without knowing where God was leading them!

But notice the amazing freedom to pursue different possibilities.

God’s will also means that we have the freedom to pursue what we know he wants us to do.

Paul felt free to plan. He did not wait for a revelation. However God led, when one door of ministry was closed, Paul tried another door of ministry.

I want to assure you that God does lead us and he does speak to us, but he never spares us the necessity of approaching him personally or of thinking about what he has said. The direction of God does not spare us the element of faith in our walk with the Lord. We walk by faith, not by sight.

James 4:13–15 (ESV) — Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

We should make our plans and say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

But in this case with Paul, God wants to do something extraordinary. Paul wanted to go to Ephesus. That would have to wait, but at this strategic point, God had another plan. So God hindered Paul from going into the province of Asia or into Bithynia.

After several weeks of walking, seemingly without any precise direction, nothing but hindrances, they arrive at Troas on the coast of the sea. They are hemmed in. They don’t know where to go.

Acts 16:8–10 (ESV) — So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Time after time, we see this approach in the book of Acts. Peter had the vision of the sheet filled with all kinds of animals, but he has to ponder its meaning (Acts 10:17, 19). He is freed from prison by an angelic intervention, but after thinking about it realizes that it was not a vision and decides to go the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (12:9–12). When Paul and Barnabas learned that the people of Iconium were planning to stone them, they fled to other cities to preach the gospel (14:4–7). No divine revelation. Just common sense.

Sometimes God gives us a strong word, but that usually only happens at major turning points of our lives. The more difficult the way may be, the strong the word that God may give. Let us not be among those who cheapen God’s specific direction.

How did God say NO? Sometimes God closes doors: you apply to go to a school and they don’t accept you. You apply for a job and don’t get it. You ask a girl to marry you and she says no! It happens! What’s our reaction?

Daniel was about 18 years old when his country invaded by Babylon. He was suddenly torn away from his country and his family. Did he say, “God, why?… What does it pay to serve God?” No, he determined to serve the Lord in his new circumstances.

Daniel 1:8–9 (ESV) — But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank… And God gave Daniel favor…

Look at Romans 1. Paul had made several plans to go to Rome but had been hindered from going.

Romans 1:9–11 (ESV) — For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—

Romans 1:13 (ESV) — I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

Romans 1:15 (ESV) — So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

In Romans 15, Paul again speaks of his desire to go to Rome, and why he has been hindered: he’s been busy in the service of the Lord.

Romans 15:22–25 (ESV) — This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

Romans 15:28 (ESV) — When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

Romans 15:32 (ESV) — so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

Nonetheless, he still intends to make the voyage, if it’s the will of God. At the time of this writing, it had not been the will of God. Situations had prevented it. But Paul continued to do and to desire to do something for God.

The Holy Spirit knows what is happening in our lives, the disappointments, the closed doors. All the time, he is interceding through us according to the will of God:

Romans 8:26–27 (ESV) — Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

In these verses Paul clearly says that we don’t always know the mind of the Lord, but the Spirit who intercedes through us knows the will of God and he prays that it would be accomplished. In this passage through verse 29, we see the intimate relation between pray, the events that transpire in our lives, and the development of character which is God’s primary concern.

Romans 8:28–29 (ESV) — And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

We come back, then, to God’s primary will for us: being transformed into the image of his Son.

Psalm 143:8 (ESV) — Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

4. PATIENT IN SPIRIT

We must be Patient in Spirit. The farmer works the soil, plants the seed, pulls the weeds, and fertilizes the crop, but he has to be patient and wait for the harvest. The Old Testament prophets had to wait patiently for the coming of the Messiah. We must wait patiently for His return. We must develop the character of patience because God is so patient. 2 Peter 3:9 says,

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) — The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God frequently calls us to do something, but we must wait for it to be accomplished. The prophet Habakkuk struggled with the idea that God would use the ungodly Babylonians to judge the sinful Israelites. “Why do the evil seem to go unpunished?” he asked. God replied that He would see to it that all the wicked would be punished, but the righteous ones must live by faith.

Habakkuk 2:1–3 (ESV) — I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

God’s purpose awaits its appointed time: if it seems slow, wait for it!

Psalm 37:3–7 (ESV) — Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

God is in no hurry. He is patient and he wants us to develop patience. This is one of the reasons why we often have to wait. Much damage is done in the lives of Christians who are in a hurry and make rash decisions. Moses was born to lead God’s people from Egypt to Canaan. But at the age of 40 he killed an Egyptian because of his impatience. Consequently, he was banished to the desert for 40 years so that he could learn patience, God’s timing, and God’s method. King Saul was not useful to God because he refused to trust God and to wait for God’s time. Sometimes pastors leave too soon because they are not patient enough to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise.

Be patient in spirit.

5. PEACE IN YOUR SOUL

The fifth step is peace in our souls. We need to feel at peace about the decisions that we make.

Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) — You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV) — do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We can say that if we do not have the peace of God, and the assurance that we are doing His will, we must repeat the five steps. Submission to the will of God leads us to the peace of God which passes all understanding.

We see the five biblical steps that will help us to discover the will of God:

The Principles of Scripture
The Prayers of the Saints (we who are alive)
Providence Situations
Patience in Spirit
Peace in our Soul

CONCLUSION

So how can we discover God’s particular will for the big decisions of life — where to study, whom to marry, what work to do?

We have seen five biblical principles that help us walk wisely:

The Principles of Scripture — God’s Word must be the foundation. Renew your mind daily so you can test and approve what is the will of God (Romans 12:2).
The Prayers of the Saints — Ask God for wisdom. Pray persistently, and ask others to pray with you.
The Providence of Situations — Pay attention to the doors God opens and closes. When one way is blocked, look for the next.
Patience in Spirit — Wait for God’s timing. Many mistakes come from impatience. God is rarely in a hurry.
Peace in our Soul — When the first four are in place, God usually gives a deep, settled peace about the right decision.

Brothers and sisters, God does have a will for your life. He is not trying to hide it from you. But He reveals it most clearly to those who are already walking in His general will — a life that is holy, thankful, and pleasing to Him.

Start today. Make a simple plan:

Read at least one chapter of the Bible every day.
Spend time in prayer every morning.
Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind and guide your steps.

As you do these things faithfully, you will be able to “understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

Final Challenge

This week, choose one area where you need to know God’s will. Commit it to Him in prayer. Open His Word. Wait patiently. And watch how the God who loves you begins to lead you step by step.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You that You have a good and perfect will for each of us. Forgive us for the times we have run ahead of You or leaned on our own understanding. Renew our minds by Your Word. Give us patience to wait on You and peace when we walk in Your ways. May we live as children of light, always seeking to please You. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

How to Know God’s Will: Part One

Posted on May 10, 2026May 30, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

International Christian Church, Port Vila, Vanuatu • Sunday, 10 May 2026

INTRODUCTION

Colossians 1:3–9 (ESV) — 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Let’s suppose for a moment that the Lord were to give you the chance to ask him any question that you wanted to ask. What question would you ask him? I imagine that your question would have to do with the will of God. Paul prayed for the Colossians and asked that they would “be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).

Soon after coming to Christ, we begin to understand the importance of the will of God. In Matthew 7:21–23, Jesus tells us that heaven is reserved for those who do God’s will:

Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV) — 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Doing God’s will is of the greatest importance. But for many Christians, the subject is not clear. Many pastors have noted that most of the questions that people ask them have to do with doing God’s will.

We are going to study four aspects that overlap:

Debating the will of God: Many Christians dread God’s will. They debate with God. They insist that he explain everything.
Defining the will of God: We will see that there are several aspects of God’s will.
Discovering the will of God: We will deal with specific questions such as education, marriage, and careers.
Doing the will of God: It is not enough to know God’s will; the will of God must be done.

1. Debating the Will of God

Christians manifest two different attitudes concerning the will of God: (1) First, there are those Christians who desire to know and do God’s will. They seek His will. With the Apostle Paul, they have made it their aim to please God (2 Corinthians 5:9).

(2) There are other Christians who are not serious about doing God’s will. They do not seek to know what God expects from them. They do not want to know God’s will. They are afraid of being sent to Somalia, or Iraq, or Pakistan, or Outer Mongolia. Others live in disobedience and use the will of God to justify their experiences and to avoid their responsibilities.

Some people debate God’s will because they simply don’t want to do it.

Such was the case of a young lady in the church where I was a teenager. She had been employed by a firm that required that she work on Sundays. We encouraged her to trust God for another job, but she responded that had it not been God’s will for her to work on Sunday, she wouldn’t have been hired by that company. After several weeks, she completely lost out with God, backslid and lost her salvation.

Was that God’s will for her? Of course not, but many Christians justify their actions and their unbiblical decisions by saying that they are only doing the will of God. Even pastors have fallen terribly into sin only to justify their sin in saying that it was the will of God!

In Matthew 6:10, Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Heaven is the place where God’s will is always done. We read in Psalms 103:21 (ESV) “Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!” The angels serve God and do his will. Long ago, there was a revolt in heaven and a third of the angels were expelled. The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 2:4 (ESV) that “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.” Heaven is the place where God’s will is always done.

In contrast, God’s will is not always done on earth. Again we read in Luke 7:30 (ESV) that “the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by” John the Baptist. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” It is not the will of God that people perish. However, Jesus said very clearly that most people are on the road that leads to destruction:

1 Timothy 2:4 (ESV) — 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV) — 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

God’s will is not always done here on earth.

Many resist his will. They refuse to do it. We always resist God’s will at our own spiritual loss.

Debating God’s will is often the result of confusion.

Some people thinking about entering full-time Christian ministry do not know how to discern God’s will. It’s like the Bible school student who was seeking to know God’s direction in his life. He didn’t know how God wanted to use him. One morning before going into town he prayed, “Lord, today I want you to show me your will.” As he was walking into town, a truck went rolling by and a big ball of cheese came tumbling out of it. When he picked it up and read the words, “Fabriqué en France”, he decided that it was the will of God for him to become a missionary to France!

I like the story of the young ni-Vanuatu who was trying to decide what to do with his life. Looking up into the sky, he was able to make out the letters “P B” in the clouds. He thought that it was a message from heaven that he was to Preach the Bible. After several months, he decided that he had misread the sign: God wanted him to Plant Bananas!

Some have tried to figure out God’s will by reading haphazardly verses from the Bible. Did you hear about the young Christian who tried this method? First, he turned to Matthew 27:5 which says that Judas “went and hanged himself.” Not understanding the meaning for his life, he turned to another passage and read in Luke 10:37 “You go, and do likewise.” By now, quite disturbed, he tried another verse and fell on John 13:27 where Jesus said, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

A Christian girl marries an unbeliever and asks, “If it wasn’t the will of God, why did God allow it?”

There is much confusion in the church about the will of God. Many Christians dread it. They think that God’s will would be to marry someone who is disagreeable, or to go somewhere they don’t want to go, or to do something they don’t want to do. There is a lot of fear, frustration, discouragement and depression because many Christians do not know how to discover God’s will.

Put away your fears! The Bible speaks very clearly about this subject that is astonishing in its impact and very useful in our every day lives.

2. Defining the Will of God

Most Christians believe that the will of God only has to do with places we should go, people we should be associated with or marry, and our jobs, what we do with the life that God has entrusted to us. And that is way we are so WRONG in our understanding.

The Bible shows that there are two aspects of the will of God. This is foundational. First there is the general will of God. Then there is the particular will of God. Most Christians begin with the particular will of God, but the Bible begins with the general will of God. Let’s define the terms.

THE GENERAL WILL OF GOD is that aspect of the will of God which is true and applicable for all peoples in all places at all points of history and is relative to the development of character.

THE PARTICULAR WILL OF GOD is true for some people at some time at some point in history and is relative to choices.

We can affirm four things concerning the will of God:

God wants you to know his will. In Acts 22:10–15, when Paul gives his defense in Jerusalem he tells how Ananias declares to him, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will” (verse 14). God wants us to know his will.
The unsaved person cannot know the will of God for him. The will of God for his is to become a Christian. God does not wish “wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
In Mark 3:31–35, the will of God is seen in a spiritual relationship between Jesus and those who do God’s will: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
In 1 John 2:15–17, those who do the will of God have a distinct relationship with God (the love of the Father is in them) and they abide forever.

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV) — 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Dr. Paul Reese made three statements concerning the will of God:

To undertake the will of God is the believer’s privilege and the believer’s only.

To undercut the will of God is the believer’s peril.

To understand the will of God is the believer’s problem.”

When you speak of the will of God do you speak of it in terms of character or choices? Most think of God’s will in terms of choices, but that is not the way it is set forth in the scriptures.

Let me give you another definition of the will of God that will help us to understand it:

THE WILL OF GOD is that divinely revealed quality of life including attitudes, aspirations, and actions that the believer is responsible to produce daily.

There is not a word about cities, people, or businesses, yet it satisfies the data of scripture. It is primarily concerned with character. Most of us are primarily concerned with our choices, but not God. The will of God is that divinely revealed quality of life including attitudes, aspirations, and actions that the believer is responsible to produce daily. God is concerned with who you are much more than with what you do.

OUR THESIS then is: If your character is what it ought to be, then your choices will be what they ought to be.

Character and Choices Relationship Diagram@2x.

This is the reason why we have problems with our choices: we’re deficient in character. But God is in the business of building Christians. Romans 8:29 tells us that he has predestinated us to become conformed to the image of his Son. Our problem is that we are not living up to the light that we have.

How does Proverbs 3:5–6 work?

Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

How do I know that will of God when a loved-one is dying? When someone is facing a tragic emotional experience? When a couple is facing deep marital difficulties? There is so much confusion, but there need not be!

Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind in order to know God’s will which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) — 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The prerequisites for knowing the will of God are salvation and submission.

Hebrews 10:5–9 (ESV) — 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ’Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

In this recorded conversation between God and Christ before his coming into the world, Jesus said that he delighted to do the will of God.
In John 4:34, at the beginning of his ministry Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.”
In the garden, at the end of his earthly ministry, he prayed, “Oh my Father, not my will, but yours be done.”

We see then that before his incarnation, at the beginning of his ministry, and at the conclusion of his ministry, Jesus was totally yielded, submitted to the will of God.

According to 1 Peter 2:21 we are to walk in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21 (ESV) — 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Submission is the prerequisite to knowing and doing the will of God. Are you willing to do the will of God?

Let’s Consider the Scriptures

We want to consider some passages that speak clearly about the will of God to see what we can discover about God’s will for each one of us.

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 (ESV) — 1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

It is the will of God for each believer to first yield himself to God in submission before giving tithe and offering to the Lord. Tithing was taught in Old Testament and New Testament, ratified and reinforced in the ministry of Jesus, expounded by the New Testament epistles. But it is easy to substitute tangible giving for ourselves.

Ephesians 5 and 6 speak about interpersonal relationships: husbands-wives; parents-children; employers-employees. Ephesians 6:5–6 (ESV) speaks of the relation between employers and employees:

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

It is the will of God for the Christian to render obedient and selfless service in his place of employment. This has to do with a quality and attitude of life, with the development of character, with the actions, attitudes, aspirations that the believer is responsible to produce in his everyday life with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 4 that God’s will for us is our sanctification and our sexual purity.

1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 (ESV) — 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

In this present age with many people in the world around us give themselves over to uncontrolled passions, God wants us to be different. He wants us to abstain from sexual impurity: all sexual experiences outside of marriage. This has to do with our character and the kind of people that we are.

There are three statements in First Peter that have to do with the will of God.

It is the will of God that we be submissive to those in civil authority:

1 Peter 2:13–15 (ESV) — 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

It is the will of God that believers be willing to suffer if need be:

1 Peter 3:15–17 (ESV) — 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

It is the will of God that we rid ourselves of the lusts of the flesh and cease from sin.

1 Peter 4:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

In 1 John, we read that it is the will of God that we not love the world but that we love God.

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV) — 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

In these passages from the Bible which speak specifically of the will of God, we have not found one word about places where we are to go, people that we are to associate with or professions that we should have. Furthermore, the will of God is not limited to those passages which specifically mention his will; all that God tells us through the Scriptures to do or to be, that is his will!

DEFINITION: The will of God is that divinely revealed quality of life including attitudes, aspirations, and actions that the believer is responsible to produce daily with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Does this seem simple? It is profound! The will of God has to do with the kind of people that we are.

In Romans 8:29, we read, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is God’s guarantee that the believer will be conformed to the image of his Son.

FUNDAMENTAL THESIS: If our character is correct, our choices will be correct.

Our problem is that we are preoccupied with choices rather than character. If I’m not living up to the light of the Word, why should God be obligated to give more light? If I’m giving to the Lord begrudgingly without first giving myself, why should God be obligated to talk about my choices? God is more concerned with our character than with our choices.

How’s your character? God’s primary concern is that Jesus Christ be formed in you and that he live through you.

This is PROFOUND! It is far more difficult to BE than to DO. It is easier to talk of choices than character. But God is in the character-building-business.

My CHARACTER DETERMINES:

way I look at the Bible.
way I look at life.
my values.
my priorities.
my culture.
my life-style.

It makes sense: if my character is deficient, I will have trouble with choices. Then I take my choices and call them the will of God. That’s why we have trouble with choices. We lack assurance. We’re in the fog about the will of God.

Are you living up to the light you already have?

Next Week (Session 2):
Discovering God’s Will — Practical steps for specific decisions (marriage, education, career, ministry, etc.)

Prerequisites: Salvation and Submission.

1. Saved

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) — 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2. Submitted (Jesus’ example)

Jesus delighted to do the Father’s will before coming, at the beginning, and at the end of His ministry. We are called to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).

When Christ came into the world, he said, “…a body you prepared for me… Behold, I have come to do your will, O God…”
In John 4:34, at the beginning of his ministry Jesus said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.”
In the garden, at the end of his earthly ministry, he prayed, “Oh my Father, not my will, but yours be done.”

We see then that before his incarnation, at the beginning of his ministry, and at the conclusion of his ministry, Jesus was totally yielded, submitted to the will of God.

Personal Application Questions

Am I living up to the light I already have from God’s Word?
Is my character (attitudes, desires, actions) pleasing to God?
Am I fully submitted to God — even if His will costs me something?

Can we say, “Lord, I want Your will — not mine.”

Disciples of Jesus: Being Transformed, Making Transformers

Posted on January 2, 2026 by J. Gary Ellison

SCR 20260102 mjad.

A sermon introducing a study on the Sermon on the Mount, preached March 18, 2025 at Joy Bible Institute.

INTRODUCTION

Are you a disciple? Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?

Does that mean believing certain things?

Doing certain things?

Does it involve commitment?

Does being a disciple change anything? Does it change the way we think? The way we live? Does it really matter? Is it important?

This morning I want to lay the foundation for a study of the Sermon on the Mount, but I want to start with the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16–20.

Matthew 28:16–20 (ESV) — Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

PRAYER

1. The Authority and Scope of the Great Commission

Here at the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, we have Jesus’ final marching orders:

Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV) — Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

These orders come from the one who has received all authority in heaven and on earth. That’s all authority, everywhere. His authority is not limited and there are no restrictions as to where he uses that unlimited authority.

This Jesus is the resurrected Christ. He has receive a name that is above every other name. This Jesus gives the final marching orders: We are to make disciples of all nations.

Is this for us, or was it only for the apostles?

2. Historical Context: Is the Great Commission for Us Today?

William Carey

The 18^th century was the age of exploration. Captain James Cook had been exploring the South Pacific: New Zealand, and Australia, and exotic places like Tahiti, New Caledonia, and New Hebrides in 1774. William Carey, a young Baptist minister in England. He had been reading Captain Cook’s published journals. William Carey read of these places, and more importantly of the peoples of these places. People as Ephesians 2:12 says, who were without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world.

In a pastors’ meeting England in 1786, William Carey stood asked an important question: Were they not under obligation to teach all the nations until the coming of Christ?

This was a shocking question because most Christians believed that the Great Commission was only for the apostles.

The moderator of the meeting, Dr. Ryland, immediately denounced the idea: “Sit down, young man! When God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine!”[1]

Carey was disappointed, but not discouraged. He determined to share what he had learned and wrote a book exposing the spiritual needs of people in faraway places with a study of the Great Commission. The name of that book was An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. Carey argued that if the Great Commission was only for the apostles, then the church had no authority to baptize people. It had no authority to teach people to obey all that Christ had commanded. And it did not have the promise that Christ was with them until the end of the age.

Carey formed a missions society and sailed with his wife to India in 1793. He never returned to England. He was very gifted in languages. As a young man, he had learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Dutch and French. He arrived in India at the age of 32 and spent the next 41 years until his death teaching and translating the Bible in whole are in part into 24 different languages of India. William Carey is called the “Father of Modern Missions.”

Today we understand that the Great Commission was not just for the apostles. We understand that the Great Commission is one of the commands that we are to obey today.

3. Grammatical Focus: The Central Imperative

As we look at the Great Commission, we see a number of verbs: go, make disciples, baptizing, teaching, obey, and commanded. But only one of these verbs is a command, an order, an imperative. It’s the verb μαθητεύσατε which means “make disciples.” All the other verbs tell us how we are to make disciples of all nations.

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV) — And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go: if we are to make disciples of all nations, we cannot stay where we are. We must go.

Baptizing them: This is a first step in following Christ, a change of allegiance (commitment), a dying to the past and a resurrection to the new life in Christ.

Teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded us.

4. The Core Question

How can we make disciples?

By having them repeat a prayer after us?

By baptizing them in water? That’s a start, a first step. The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized immediately. The Philippian jailer was baptized that night.

Water baptism is a promise of allegiance to the Lordship of Christ.

The first question is, are we ourselves disciples? Do we obey everything that Christ has commanded us to do?

Secondly, are we making disciples? Are we teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded us?

That is what it means to make disciples.

5. What Is a Disciple? Biblical Definition and Characteristics

Disciple: “Someone who follows another person or another way of life and who submits himself to the discipline (teaching) of that leader or way.”[2]

The word disciple is found 262 in the New Testament (the Gospels and Acts). It is found 73 times in Matthew. We read that

John the Baptist had disciples (Matthew 9:14; 11:2; 14:12).

The Pharisees had disciples (Matthew 22:16; Mk 2:8; Lk 5:33).

The Pharisees considered themselves to be disciples of Moses (John 9:28).

But 69 times in Matthew, “disciples” refers to the disciples of Jesus.

These are men…

Jesus had called them to be with him.
For three years they had walked with Jesus.
They had lived with Jesus.
They had grown close to Jesus.
They knew Jesus.
They knew his life, his work, his miracles, his teaching, his commandments.
They had been transformed by their relationship with Jesus and by his substitutionary work on the cross.
Through the training and teaching, they had become disciples.
They had become disciples and were to make others what they had become.
For three years Jesus had taught them, and trained them, and sent them out.
He had made disciples out of them.
Jesus commanded his disciples to make of others what they had become themselves.
They had become disciples and were to make disciples of all peoples everywhere.

Key Scriptures on the Nature of a Disciple

A few verses will help us understand the meaning of the word and what Jesus meant when he commanded us to make disciples of all peoples everywhere.

Luke 6:40 (ESV) — A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Matthew 10:24–25 (ESV) — "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Luke 14:26–27 (ESV) — "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33 (ESV) — So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

John 8:30–32 (ESV) — As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So disciples are like the Lord.

A disciple is someone who follows the Lord.

A disciple is a person who obeys the Lord.

Matthew 12:46–50 (ESV) — While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

6. Discipleship as Relationship and Counter-Cultural

When we look at the Gospels, we see that the call of the disciples was a call to a relationship: Follow me. Jesus called them to be with him (Mark 3:14).

God has always been looking for a people that he could call his own.

When God took the Israelites out of Egypt, he declared, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:7). Several times we read this promise of relationship: “I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4; 30:22; Ezekiel 36:28).

Leviticus 18:1–4 (ESV) — And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 26:12 (ESV) — And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

DIFFERENT

The Lord says that his people are to be different from everyone else. We are to follow his commandments, not to live by the standards of everyone else.

The Israelites forgot who they were. They mingled with the peoples and the cultures around them and lost their own identity as the people of God.

In the beginning, while still in the wilderness, we read that they did not count themselves as among the nations.

Numbers 23:9 (ESV) — For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!

Psalm 106:35 (ESV) — but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.

They wanted to be like the other nations:

1 Samuel 8:5 (ESV) — …Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations."

1 Samuel 8:19–20 (ESV) — But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

Ezekiel 20:32 (ESV) — …the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’

Jeremiah 10:1–2 (ESV) — Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,

Ezekiel 20:7 (ESV) — And I said to them, ‘Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’

“But God’s people would not listen to his voice.” The northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC because they had become like everyone else. Less than 150 years later, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians. Why?

2 Kings 17:7–8 (ESV) — And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.

2 Kings 17:19 (ESV) — Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced.

Ezekiel 11:12 (ESV) — and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you."

7. The Sermon on the Mount as the Disciple’s Counter-Cultural Lifestyle

John Stott:

"I believe [Jesus] meant his Sermon on the Mount to be obeyed. Indeed, if the church realistically accepted his standards and values as here set forth, and lived by them, it would be the alternative society he always intended it to be, and would offer to the world an authentic Christian counter-culture.[3]

Matthew 5:20 (ESV) — For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:21–22 (ESV) — "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:27–28 (ESV) — "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:31–32 (ESV) — "It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 5:33–34 (ESV) — "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

Matthew 5:38–39 (ESV) — "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5:43–44 (ESV) — "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

The Way We Practice Our Faith

Matthew 6:1 (ESV) — "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 6:2 (ESV) — "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:5 (ESV) — "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:16 (ESV) — "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:25 (ESV) — "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

The message of the Sermon on the Mount could be summed up in 6:8, “Do not be like them…”

Matthew 6:8 (NIV) — Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

When you give, do not be like them.
When you pray, do not be like them.
When you fast, do not be like them.

I wonder if there could be a Christian counter-culture here in Vanuatu. Culture is deep as the ocean that surrounds this nation. It tells you

who your can talk to,
who you can look at,
who you can be in the same room with.

How many days after giving birth a mother must stay inside: 5 days in Torba, 30 days in Tanna. I asked one student, “What would happen if your wife went outside before the time was up?” He responded, “I don’t know!”

We are locked into titles.

We know the rules and the rules rule us. We are ruled by the rules.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) — Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Titus 2:14 (ESV) — who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Leviticus 18:1–4 (ESV) — And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God.

8. The Context of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel

This Sermon is found toward the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

In the first chapters of Matthew, we learn that Jesus is of the royal line of King David. He is worshipped by the wise men, the Magi.

In chapter 3, his forerunner John the Baptist came preaching,

Matthew 3:2 (ESV) — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 3:11 (NIV) — "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

In chapter 4, Jesus defeated Satan in the temptation in the wilderness. He comes back in the power of the Holy Spirit and preaches the kingdom of heaven:

Matthew 4:17 (ESV) — From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He calls his disciples. We read of the calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John. Jesus continues to preach, drawing people and calling disciples:

Matthew 4:23 (ESV) — And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

We read that great crowds were following him:

Matthew 4:25 (ESV) — And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Matthew 5:1–2 (ESV) — Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

9. Conclusion: The Urgency and Non-Optional Nature of Discipleship

Luke 6:40 (NIV) — The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

Luke 6:46 (ESV) — “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

Matthew 7:21 (NIV) — "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

James 1:22 (NIV) — Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

This is not optional. Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount with this warning:

Matthew 7:24–27 (NIV) — “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Final personal question: Are you a disciple?

So I have to ask you, Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Are you obeying everything that he commanded us to do?

William Carey, Father of Modern Missions, by f. Deaville Walker, p. 54. ↩
Paul Helm, “Disciple,” in Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 629. ↩
John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 10. ↩

1. Sin brings judgment upon a people (4:12–13)

2. Sin brings judgment upon its leaders (4:14–18).

3. Sin brings suffering to those caught in its consequences (4:19–20).

4. Sin ultimately results in the loss of God’s blessing and presence (4:21–22).

The Gospel Turn: From Ichabod to Immanuel

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1. God’s Power May Be Displayed in Judgment (4:1–3)

2. God’s Power Cannot Be Manipulated by Religious Means (4:3–9)

3. God’s Power Accomplishes God’s Purposes (4:10–11).

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1. The Word of God Is Rare (3:1)

2. The Word of God Is Revealed (3:2–14).

3. The Word of God Is Imperative: It Must Be Declared (3:15–18).

4. The Word of God Is Confirmed (3:19–21).

Conclusion

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1. A Godless Generation Can Drift Farther Than We Imagine.

2. God Can Begin His Work Through Someone Who Seems Insignificant.

3. God Uses Surrendered Prayer, Not Merely Desperate Prayer

4. A Surrendered Prayer Can Have Consequences Far Beyond the Person Who Prayed It.

CONCLUSION

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It’s Your Choice

A Study on Covenant Commitment in Joshua 24

Introduction

I. God Has Chosen You

II. You Must Choose God

III. As for Me and My House

Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION

Choices

Problems!

1. THINGS DON’T TURN OUT AS WE EXPECTED.

2. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO

3. YOU MADE THE WRONG DECISION

4. THE DECISION WILL HURT THOSE YOU LOVE

In Conclusion: Some Principles

1. GOD’S WILL IS BETTER FOR YOU.

2. GOD’S WILL IS JUST (RIGHTEOUS) FOR YOU.

3. GOD’S WILL IS SAFE FOR YOU.

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1. Bless the LORD for His Personal Benefits

2. Marvel at the Greatness of the LORD’s Love

3. Join the Universal Call to Bless the LORD

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Introduction

FOUR CATEGORIES:

The Five Steps

1. PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURE

2. THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS (WE WHO ARE ALIVE!)

3. THE PROVIDENCE OF SITUATIONS

4. PATIENT IN SPIRIT

5. PEACE IN YOUR SOUL

CONCLUSION

Final Challenge

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1. Debating the Will of God

2. Defining the Will of God

Let’s Consider the Scriptures

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INTRODUCTION

1. The Authority and Scope of the Great Commission

2. Historical Context: Is the Great Commission for Us Today?

William Carey

3. Grammatical Focus: The Central Imperative

4. The Core Question

How can we make disciples?

5. What Is a Disciple? Biblical Definition and Characteristics

Key Scriptures on the Nature of a Disciple

6. Discipleship as Relationship and Counter-Cultural

7. The Sermon on the Mount as the Disciple’s Counter-Cultural Lifestyle

The Way We Practice Our Faith

8. The Context of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel

This Sermon is found toward the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

9. Conclusion: The Urgency and Non-Optional Nature of Discipleship

Final personal question: Are you a disciple?

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