1 Timothy 4-13 Project Ep. 492 (1 Samuel 2:27-4:22 & Proverbs 12:1-2) - May 7, 2026

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:11]You are now listening to 1 Timothy 4:13 Project with the Undersheperds of the Cathedral of Praise Philippines, Pastor David E. Sumrell and Sister Beverly Sumil with Pastor Alicia Sumrell Lozano.

[00:00:23]>> Good evening. Welcome again to Project 1 Timothy chapter 4. I'm Pastor Summer, the pastor at the Cathedral of Praise, and thank you again so much for allowing us the privilege to be with you tonight, Sister Bev, and Pastor A and I to just sit down and read scripture with you.

[00:00:36]Now, Sister Bev's got a couple of books here coming up pretty quick, but tonight, let's get started with Pastor A in the book of Proverbs with some wisdom.

[00:00:47]Welcome everyone. I'm Pasora A and today we are stepping into the book of Proverbs where God's wisdom meets daily life. So, let's get started. Today, let's take a look at Proverbs 12's. Yes, starting a new chapter, verses 1 and two. It says, "To learn, you must love discipline. It is stupid to hate correction. The Lord approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness." Now, another word for the word approves is the word favor that God gives favor to. Now, there's so much you can unpack. And verse one is very self-explanatory. To learn, you have to love discipline because it takes trial, error, time correction to learn. And it's stupid to hate it. You're never going to advance. But let's take some time and unpack verse two. Have you ever sat down and asked yourself, do the good guys really win? Like, you know, in Marvel, are the good guys going to win?

[00:01:46]In Star Wars, do the Jedi win? In whatever movie, are the good guys going to win? You can take a look at life and ask, are the good guys really going to win? Solomon continues to teach us principles of success and prosperity.

[00:02:02]And one of the greatest truths throughout scripture is about the term favor. Now remember with me, the Lord approves is another way of saying the Lord gives favor to. So a person is never going to be successful without the favor or the approval of God or the favor or the approval of man flowing into their lives. We need that. Now this is just people being kind to them, helping them without there needing to be a reason. Not giving to get, just favor, kindness. Now Solomon now teaches his son here. What type of a person receives favor? What type of person receives approval from the Lord? Well, favor, approval is a gift of God that simply flows to a person who lives a good life.

[00:03:00]You want the favor and the approval of God to flow to you? Just live a good life. Live a life that he can bless.

[00:03:09]Live a life that he can pour favor onto.

[00:03:13]Craftiness is not going to bring you success. Shrewdness is not going to bring you success. Being a good person will bring you success simply because the favor of God is going to flow to your life and the favor of men. So you make a decision that how you're going to live, who you're going to be is going to determine if you receive favor or not.

[00:03:35]So let us be people who live a life that God can bless. Now let's go head over to Pastor Sol.

[00:03:46]Our Old Testament passage tonight picks up in 1st Samuel 27.

[00:03:52]One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord.

[00:03:57]Now, whenever you find no-name prophets showing up in the scripture, that tells you something about the spiritual condition of the people and the spiritual condition of the current spiritual leadership of the nation. So, God sends a no-name prophet and he brings a message. Now, this is a man who shows up with a word from God in a season where there is a famine for the word of God because of the corruption of Eli and his sons. So, he has this message from the Lord. Quote, I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest to offer sacrifices on my altar to burn incense and to wear the priestly vest as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. So he said, "All right, Eli, I chose your forefather. I chose your family among all the families even of the Levites to be the high priest to wear the priestly garments. I assigned the offerings. I assigned support for you. So there's no need to steal offerings. I assigned no need to take. I assigned no need to take the best. I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. He said I I made sure you were well taken care of. So, why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? All right. How do you tell when preachers are falling?

[00:05:21]We taught you yesterday. Disrespect of God. Disrespect of the offerings of God's people. Disrespect of their duties and ministries. And here is Eli scorning the gifts of God's people and the worship of God's people. He said, "Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me? For you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel. Now notice that first part. Why do you give others your sons more honor than you give me? You can always tell when a pastor is headed for trouble. Because in services the honor doesn't go to God. The honor goes to people. The honor goes to themselves.

[00:05:58]Now beloved, have you ever noticed in COP we don't have pastor's appreciation day? We don't talk a lot about honor the pastor, honor the pastor. You don't hear me talk like that. Now, maybe I'm deficient in teaching you about honor, but I'm not deficient in teaching you to honor God first.

[00:06:16]Where people put their honor is very, very important when it comes to, well, pastor, how are people going to treat you? Well, people treat me according to what they want to do. But it's my job to get very involved in how you treat God.

[00:06:28]In God's house, the honor goes to God.

[00:06:32]Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me? and they become fat on the best offerings of my people Israel.

[00:06:37]He said, "Listen, I assigned a portion for you and you would prosper." Numbers 18, you see the portion assigned to Aaron and his family. It's called Aaron's portion. Very prosperous. But you weren't happy with what I assigned.

[00:06:49]You had to take the best for yourself rather than what you were assigned.

[00:06:54]Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says, "I promise that your branch, the family of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me."

[00:07:08]Now, this is a God principle in relationships.

[00:07:12]Honor those who honor you. And despise here means to think little of, think little of those who think little of you.

[00:07:18]This is how God acts. Now, if you want God to honor you in life, honor God. I love walking up and talking to young people and the kids that after they sing, after they dance, after they minister for the Lord, I'll walk up and I'll say, "You did a really good job today." And then they always point their finger up and say, "Glory to God, B."

[00:07:36]The honor goes to the Lord. That speaks well of their future. Those that honor God, God will honor. Verse 31, the time is coming when I will put an end to your family so that it will no longer serve me as my priests. God said, "There's going to be an end to the ironic priesthood. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel, but no members of your family will ever live out their days."

[00:08:05]Now, I want you to notice God said, "Because you stole the offerings, because you stole the best part for yourself, you and your two sons," he said, "I want you to understand something. I'm going to prosper the people because the people were givers."

[00:08:18]Think of Hannah and her husband. They were givers. God says, "I'm going to prosper the people, but you spiritual leaders, you're going to live in poverty." There's a reason preachers are poor. Because they took the best part for themselves. The few not cut off from serving my altar will survive, but only so as their eyes can go blind and their hearts break and their children die a violent death. And to prove to you what I said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hopney and Panias, to die in the same day. Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. And all of your surviving family will bow before him begging for money and food. Please, thou say, give us jobs among the priests so that we have enough to eat. Chapter 3:1.

[00:09:06]Meanwhile, while all this corruption is going on, meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now, in those days, messages from the Lord were very rare and visions were quite uncommon. Now, I want you to see this.

[00:09:21]This is the quincentennial church kid.

[00:09:24]Samuel grew up in the tabernacle. He saw all the corruption of Hapney and Panias.

[00:09:32]He saw all the corruption of Eli and that he tolerated. He saw all of this.

[00:09:37]One night, Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle near the ark of God. What a place to sleep.

[00:09:49]How would you like to sleep next to the Ark of the Covenant? Oh my goodness. The place that symbolized the very presence of God. But there's a truth here I want you to see. Typical church kid, he grew up in the presence. He grew up in the presence. But proximity is not relationship. Now, we're going to keep coming back to this. Suddenly, the Lord called out, Samuel. Yes, Samuel replied.

[00:10:13]What is it? He got up and ran to Eli.

[00:10:15]Here I am. Did you call me? I didn't call you, Eli replied. Go back to bed.

[00:10:19]So, he did. Then the Lord called out a second time. Samuel. And again, Samuel got up and went to Eli. Here I am. Did you call me? I didn't call you, my son.

[00:10:28]Eli said, "Go back to bed." Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. Now, here is this guy growing up sleeping next to the Ark of the Covenant. They're watching all the sacrifices. They're watching all the offerings brought before the Lord.

[00:10:44]They're hearing all the teaching of Eli.

[00:10:47]They're seeing at the entrance of the tent. They're seeing all the sexual perversion and corruption of Eli Hopney.

[00:10:55]Bananias. And I say Eli because he was there. He accustomed to sit. The Bible says was there at the entrance. He saw his sons seducing the women there. He saw it all. But he didn't know the Lord.

[00:11:07]Now young people, maybe you've grown up in church all of your life. Forgive me, but you've seen all the goodness of God.

[00:11:16]You've seen the moving of the Holy Spirit. You've seen the presence of God moving and touching and healing people.

[00:11:24]But proximity does not mean you know the Lord. Somehow you have to press past all the corruption that you see in church.

[00:11:33]All the sin of God's people that you see in the church. And you have to press in and get to know the Lord for yourself.

[00:11:40]So the Lord called a third time. And once more Samuel got up and went to Eli.

[00:11:44]Here I am. Did you call me? Eli realized it was the Lord calling the boy. Now, I want you to notice, not only does proximity not equal relationship, but this was an audible voice of God speaking. So, he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again. And if someone calls you again, say, "Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening." So Samuel went back to bed. Now, this is interesting. Samuel is taught how to respond to God by a high priest who's tolerating the sexual immorality of his sons and the despising the offerings and sacrifices of God. But he still knows what to do. Sometimes we can learn truth from people who no longer walk in truth. Now notice I said no longer walk in truth, but they once did. The Lord came. There's a physical presence of theophony and called.

[00:12:36]There's that audible voice again. As before, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel replied, "Speak. Your servant is listening." Notice he did exactly what Eli taught him. Posture. I'm your servant. Response: I'm listening. These are important truths. If you want to have a relationship with God, you tell God, "I'm here as a servant, and I'm listening obediently to whatever you want." When you want God to speak, you posture yourself properly. The Lord said to Samuel, "I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. I'm going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family from beginning to end." Now, obviously Samuel knew about this because the prophet had come. And my guess is that Eli was there in the presence of Samuel as a young boy serving him when the prophecies were given. I'm going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family from beginning to end. I warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever because his sons are blaspheing God and he has not disciplined them. Now, several things I want you to notice there. He warned Eli, but Eli never repented. My friends, when God warns you, when God corrects you and warns you, he doesn't want to punish you. He wants you to repent. And Eli continued to put his sons before God and did not repent. Second thing I want you to see out of this verse, there are consequences for how you raise your family. Yes, your children make their own decisions, but there are consequences for how you raise your family. I've warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever because his sons are blaspheming God. Okay, the boys did this. And two, he has not disciplined them. The consequences for how he raised his children. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices and offerings. He said, "Eli, you've had your opportunity to repent and you didn't take it. Now judgment comes."

[00:14:34]This is no different than Jesus before Jezebel in Revelation 2 and 3. He said, 'I gave her time to repent, but she has not. So now I cast her on a bed of sickness. See, God will be very patient with you, beloved, giving you an opportunity to repent. But when God is done, God is done. Verse 15. So Samuel stayed in bed until morning. Then he got up and opened the doors of the tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him.

[00:14:57]But Eli called out to him, Samuel, my son. Here I am, Samuel replied. What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything and may that God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me.

[00:15:08]Wow. Now we begin to see that Eli may not be a really nice guy. So Samuel told Eli everything. He didn't hold anything back. It is the Lord's will. Eli replied, "Let him do what he thinks best." Now, I want you to notice Eli had a submissive heart before God, but not a repentant heart before God. There is a big difference, my friends. I've met many people in my life that had a submissive heart before God, but they were not repentant. This was Eli's problem. Let him do what he thinks best.

[00:15:37]He recognized God is God. As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. And everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. All right, here's a new prophet and he's reliable. And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Bersea in the south knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. How did they know Samuel was a prophet?

[00:15:56]because God was with him and everything he said was reliable. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the temple. All right.

[00:16:04]The famine for the word from chapter 3:1 is now broken. Why? Because we have a man of God who's living right. And even though he was a boy, he was living right. And now God begins to speak again. And Samuel's words went out to all the people of Israel. I love that God gave messages to Samuel and the words went out to all the people of Israel. This is our role as pastors. We are to fast and pray and be on our knees and our faces before God and receive messages from God and then speak those messages to the people. Chapter 4:1. At that time there was war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer and the Philistines were at Afc. So all right, all this time when there's backsliden preachers, Eli, Hapne, and Panas, Israel was at war.

[00:16:55]There was no peace. The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp. And the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?" Then they said, "Let's bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shilo. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies." is unnoticed.

[00:17:15]It will save us, not God. You don't put your faith in symbols. You put your faith in God. So they sent men to Shilo to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord's armies who was enthroned between the cherubam. Hapny and Panayas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the ark of the covenant of God. Now, here's a lesson you need to learn. The army gets defeated. Bad spiritual leadership in the middle of battles brings defeat.

[00:17:43]Bad spiritual leaderships in battles bring you defeat. When all the Israelites saw the ark of the covenant of the Lord coming to the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake. False hope. What's going on? The Philistines asked. What's all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?

[00:18:00]When it was told it was because of the ark of the Lord had arrived, they panicked. The gods have come into their camp, they cried. This is a disaster.

[00:18:08]We've never had to face anything like this before. Help. Who could save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. Notice God had a reputation in the world.

[00:18:22]Don't mess with me. Fight as never before, Philistines. If you don't, we will become the Hebrew slaves just as they have been ours. Stand up, men, and fight. So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great. 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. The ark of God was captured and Hapny and Phanias, the two sons of Eli, were killed. Verse 12, a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shilo later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief. Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the ark of the covenant. And notice, he wasn't concerned about the safety of his sons.

[00:19:06]He was concerned about the safety of the ark. When the messenger arrived and told him what had happened, an outcry was sounded throughout the town. What is all the noise about? Eli asked. The messenger rushed over to Eli who was 98 years old and blind. He said to Eli, "I have just come from the battlefield. I was there this very day." "What happened?" my son Eli demanded. "Israel has been defeated by the Philistines," the messenger replied. "The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hoppne and Panas, were also killed, and the ark of God has been captured." When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate, broke his neck, and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel's judge for 40 years. Now, notice, he fell backward and died, not because of what happened to his sons, but because of what happened to the ark of God. Verse 19, Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phanas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth. She died in childbirth. But before she passed away, the midwives tried to encourage her. Don't be afraid. They said, "You have a baby boy." But she did not answer or pay attention to them. She named the child, which means, "Where is the glory?" For she said, "Israel's glory is gone." She named him this because the ark of the god had been captured because her father-in-law and husband were dead.

[00:20:27]Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel. The ark of God has been captured." Beautiful, beautiful passage today. Probably the great takeaway should be the material on church kids.

[00:20:40]You grow up in the presence, but you don't know the Lord. But somehow you have to push past all the corruption and sin that you have seen and find God.

[00:20:53]Young people, I know the church isn't perfect. If it is, please don't attend because it'll become imperfect when we show up. I know there's no perfect church. I know that when you come to church, you're going to see things that are just not right. But you have to push past all of that and find God for yourself. Father, I lift to you the young people tonight. They've grown up in church. They've seen the good.

[00:21:19]They've seen the bad. They've seen the ugly. They've seen the beautiful.

[00:21:23]They've seen your miracles. They've seen your grace. They've seen your mercy. But Lord, let them experience you for themselves. Draw close to them, Lord, and let them have an encounter with you.

[00:21:36]Let them know you for themselves in Jesus' name. Good night. God bless you.

[00:21:42]We'll see you again tomorrow night.

[00:21:44]>> Thank you for joining us today on the 1 Timothy 4:13 project with the Undersheperds of the Cathedral of Praise Philippines, Pastor David E. Sumil and Sister Beverly Sumil with Pastor Alicia Sumrell Loausano. Catch their podcasts on all leading podcast platforms and listen through DCBR531 or tune in online at www.bible.radio.

[00:22:06]The Cathedral of Praise is a church fully committed to Jesus Christ and his word. Our main campus is located at 350 Taft Avenue Manila, Philippines. For a full list of COP campus locations and service schedules, visit us at cathedralofpracemanila.com.ph.

[00:22:24]Tune in again tomorrow for another inspiring reading from the Old Testament and Proverbs.