Today on Real Life Radio. God creates us, but He has ordained us to be ministers of the gospel, each and every one of us. And we have this incredible, eternal good news in these earthen vessels. And therein lies the problem. Why would God use us to minister the gospel to other people?
This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. You know, when it comes to social media, we can either use it for our benefit or allow ungodly philosophies, opinions, and worldviews to bog us down with content that really doesn't come from a place of love and hope. We often fail to realize the influence social media has upon our lives.
So, if you're looking for a social media source that promotes biblical truth, simply head over to our website, jackhibbs.com.
Now, once you're there, you'll find Pastor Jack's podcasts, YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, real-life radio programs, and a whole lot more. Again, our website is jackhibbs.com, and it's there you'll find easy access to all that Pastor Jack has to offer, including our real-life mobile app for your smartphone or tablet. That's at jackhibbs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack begins his new series now called First Samuel and a message titled, It's Time to Trust God Because.
Samuel was a man who was dedicated to God from birth. Israel's last judge and the first of the prophets. He was often referred to as the kingmaker, anointing both Saul and David to the throne of Israel.
Now, this book is full of action and compelling characters. It takes us deep into the personal relationships between kings and queens, soldiers and generals, shepherds and prophets. For 350 years, judges had governed Israel, but now, beginning with the childhood of Samuel, will discover his remarkable story.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that, like Samuel, we're all created by God to stand in the gap, to serve, to pray, and to trust.
Now with his message called, it's time to trust God because... Here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hughes. Take this wonderful and awesome book. Of 1 Samuel, and Lord, that you would just make it life unto us. Father, that you would cause it to be.
The very learning of our soul that through Lord our study As we look to the characters and of the situations, That from your word the truth We would receive out of it great and wonderful things by which, Lord, we might live a life. In this world, that will make a difference.
So, Father, we ask you, Lord, now to Cause us, Lord, to consume your truth and Lord, may we not just be hearers of your word, but Doers of it.
So Lord, bless now, we pray in Jesus' name and all God's people said. Amen. You grab your Bibles now and then turn to 1 Samuel this evening, 1 Samuel chapter 1. And we embark upon a fantastic book. This book is a book full of.
Well-known characters and tremendous exploits and actions. to the glory of God. A book that takes us deep into the inner relationships of kings and queens. queens and of soldiers and of generals. and of shepherds and prophets.
A great book. A book that begins to Introduce to us the kingships of Israel. Prior to this, in fact, Samuel himself being the last of the judges And by the way, he also occupied the first of the prophets, as many Jewish scholars teach. Samuel the Last of the judges, the period. of Israel where the judges ruled.
Prior to the kings, But Samuel also being One of a prophet. And so he has a very unique place and position in the scriptures. The Bible tells us, in fact this book tells us that from Conception. Samuel was a man destined to the work of God ordained. by the will of God, to come forth from his mother Hannah.
And to be one who Would be used mightily by God. And I just want to suggest to you that your life has been ordained by God. There's no doubt in my mind about that regarding my life. There's no doubt. in my heart regarding your life regarding that truth.
But sometimes you can doubt that.
Sometimes, in the mundane things of life, don't you sometimes wonder, Lord. Why am I thus and so, and why am I here or there? It's common for us to think this way. Lord, what is my life equating anyway? What will it add up to?
For what reason you might Be one like Mordecai comes to Esther and says, Listen, girl. You better think straight because it may be for s The very fact that you've come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Personally, I believe that you and I are alive right now because it has been ordained by God. Samuel's life was ordained by God. Your life has been ordained by God.
And you might say, well, Jack, if you knew how insignificant my life is, you wouldn't be saying that. And listen, I'm going to argue with you. Praise God. That you and I are not what we once were. Amen?
Praise God that what we shall be in Christ is not what we are now. We're going somewhere. Remember the old hippie days? I mean, I don't remember that because I'm way too young for that, but... But remember that that sticker and decal and poster and t-shirt and everything where that hippie there is kind of leaning back.
And it says just trucking through. Just passing through was a Another statement.
Well, the believer is just passing through, but God has ordained it in our lives that we pass through this world with an effect. No matter who or what you might be or what you're doing in life. You might say, well, I'm just a mom. Just the mom. It's been said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
Well, I'm just this or I'm just that. Have you been dedicated to God?
So I don't know. I mean I don't think my parents dedicated me to God.
Well, what about you dedicating yourself to God? What about you right now saying, Lord, I dedicate my life to you? Hey, the way things are going on in the Middle East, now's a good time for dedication.
Now's a good time to say, Lord, I'm ready to do whatever. Remember, any dead fish can go downriver. It takes a live one to go up the river. And every day, everywhere, people are just striving to be different, especially young people. Man, I want to be different.
Brett Williams Sings the song, I want to be different like everybody else.
Okay. You know, you see some kid with a Whatever. earring in his nose or a Tattoo on his face, or wherever they're putting things these days. They want to be different. And they're all cool about it until they see somebody else with the same thing.
And then, rather than be, oh, there's somebody just like me, they wind up just forming a little club, and then that club gets huge. Hey, you want to be different? Realize God's call upon your life and stand on it. Make a difference. What are you waiting for?
Samuel was brought into the kingdom at a very, very difficult time, a very dangerous time, a very perverse time. And God had ordained through him to be a man who stood in the gap. And God may have determined for you to be one who stands in the gap. To pray or to Minister, to serve, or to be. But it's going to take us trusting God.
Can I put it this way, but I don't mean to make it sound Flipping or light. All it takes is for us to trust in God. Has he ever let you down? When it's all said and done, has God ever failed us? Not once.
Never has he ever failed us. Samuel is both, as we said, the last of the judges, but the first of the prophets. The author of the book, listen, interestingly enough, of course, is Samuel, but not always. For the book continues on after Samuel's death. And there are some Oh, partnership.
Authors to the book. You might want to jot this down by way of introduction. In 1 Chronicles 29:29. The scriptures there say, now the acts of the king of David From first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer or Samuel the prophet. And in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, you see.
And in the chronicles of Gad, The Prophet.
So we know that there's The author of the book Samuel, but also Nathan and Gad. toward the latter end of the book. Samuel, if you're taking notes, his name's Samuel. means Heard of God. This is kind of cool.
Now, listen, heard of God. Or God heard. It's been understood that his name either means God listens to Samuel. Or Samuel cries out to God. You win either way.
Great name. Samuel's position with God is extremely powerful. Very unique in all of Scripture. Samuel, it mentions him in Jeremiah 15 verse 1. Then the Lord said to me, Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my mind would not be favorable toward this people.
Cast them out of my sight. Remember how Moses stood and interceded? For Israel, Israel had so sinned against God that God says to Jeremiah, even if Moses and Samuel appeared and Negotiated before me. I wouldn't listen.
Now, I don't know about you, but if you have a Jewish mindset, Moses is a big hitter. Samuel in Jeremiah is put right on an equal plane of having God's ear. to cry for his people. In Psalm 99, verse 6, the Bible says, Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
So Samuel's a very, very Popular man with God. Acts 3:24 tells us yes, and all of the prophets from Samuel. And those who follow. See how the beginning is with Samuel and the prophets? As many as have spoken have also foretold of these days.
Acts 13, 19 tells us that after he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel came, Samuel the prophet, and afterward they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul.
So Samuel's in that very unique place of The judges, or the period of the judges coming to a conclusion, And the prophet being, so to speak, born to establish the kingdom through kingship. And it's amazing that through Samuel he ordains two kings, Saul and David. The principal theme of the book? Is threefold. You might want to jot this down.
It's very applicable to our lives today. Number one, the calling of God upon the life of a believer. Samuel's life, the calling of God upon the life of the believer. And number two, the effects of sin and righteousness upon God's people. The effect of sin and righteousness upon God's people.
And the third principal theme of the book is the damages of a corrupt priesthood. The damages of a corrupt Priesthood. 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse 2 and 3 says, This man, Eli, or we say Eli, it's Eli. In Hebrew, Eli's fine, went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli Hafni and Finas, the priest of the Lord, were there.
Now, these two guys, these two boys, His sons were not good guys. They were bad boys. And God will deal with them, and you'll see it. But Hafni. And Finn has.
God had ordained these men to the ministry, but they had prostituted the ministry of God, the work of God. They had prostituted it. They had given. The ministry of black eye. They didn't live.
Exceptional before the people. They did horrible things. You'll hear all about it. That's one thing about 1 and 2 Samuel. The laundry is put out to dry.
but it's washed first in front of the world. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching.
Once again, here's Pastor Jack. Corrupt leaders. There's nothing worse in ministry than corrupt leaders. First Samuel. Chapter 4 of verse 19 tells us And Finhas' wife, was with child.
near to be delivered and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of the Covenant was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were now dead, she bowed herself and travailed. For her pains came upon her, she's pregnant. And about the time of her death, the woman that stood by her said to her, Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. But she answered nothing. Neither did she regard it.
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory has departed from Israel.
So Finhas' wife, at hearing of his death, because he was a corrupt man, God judged him. The woman, the wife, goes into labor, gives birth to a son. She dies in the delivery, but before she dies, she names the child Ichabod. God or the glory of God has departed. All because these two boys under Eli Grew up in Disgrace the priesthood, the ministry.
that God has called people to. It's tragic. In 2 Corinthians 4, 7, the Bible says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. The treasure is the gospel, this word of God given to us. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
That's our body. That the excellency and power may be of God and not of us. Isn't it wild and radical that God would call Samuel to do his ministry, and people like David, and people like Saul, and people like you fill in the blank, people like you, people like me, God would call us. Earthen vessels. Made out of dirt.
We're made out of the same What, thirteen, fourteen elements that the earth is made out of? God creates us, but He has ordained us to be ministers of the gospel, each and every one of us. And we have this incredible, eternal good news in these earthen vessels. And therein lies the problem. Why would God use us to minister the gospel to other people?
Why not perfect people? Answer? Anybody know? Yeah, there are no perfect people. Why doesn't he use angels?
Because angels aren't people. It would be no effect if an angel came down and said, Hi, let me tell you what Jesus has done in my life. How can we relate to an angel? We can't. But if somebody Says, you know what?
I used to be just like you are now, and you don't have to stay in that position. You don't have to live like that. I can tell you from personal experience that In the midst of what you're going through, I did the same thing and called out and said, Jesus, forgive me and change my life. And all of a sudden, there's a connection. And we can minister to people.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, but it's the earthen vessel that has been designed by God. To bring God glory. It's like Gideon's pots. Remember that story? When Gideon and his boys got together, they took the torches of fire and they put them in the clay pots and they snuck up on the enemy and they took stones and they whacked those pots in the middle of the night and the pots broke open to reveal the flame, the torch that was burning on the inside.
And when the enemy saw that torch burning, they began to scream and cry and they said, the sword of the Lord. is upon us and Gideon And they fled. The treasure, so to speak, the light. The glory was in the earthen vessel. But until the earthen vessel was broken, there was no glory or light.
Emanating out. Every one of us, as believers, must have in our lives. A deaf experience, not a near-death experience.
Well, you know, I saw a bright light. When I was on the operating table, My friends later told me that the line was flat and people began to weep and everything and the doctors came in and they began to shock me with the things you see on TV. And I, you know, and I came back. But before I did, I saw this light and It was getting brighter and brighter, and it was getting warmer and warmer, and it was just a beautiful thing, and I could see the glow. And then I came around, and you hear people talk like this, and they say, and now I'm not afraid to die.
And you ask them about God, and they go, oh, I don't really care because I've already been there. I'm not afraid to die. What cracks me up, somebody please finish the story. I saw a bright light. I was traveling toward it.
It was getting warmer. It's called hell. I don't get it. And now it's cool. I'm back to tell everybody there's nothing to fear after death.
Well, what about Jesus? Oh, I've already been there. It's cool. You don't have to worry about it. Finish the story.
I mean, it's amazing to me. I'm not talking about near-death experience. A believer in Jesus Christ must come to that place of a death experience. Galatians 2:20 tells us that Paul said, I am crucified with Christ.
Now, no one's ever gotten away from a crucifixion. No one's ever escaped. There he goes. No, you don't run from across. Paul says, I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet it's no longer I who live. Ribs. He says it's Christ that lives in me. And the life that I now live.
I live by faith. And the Son of God. Who loved me? and gave himself for me. Oh, no near-death experience.
That's kind of... Kind of like being kind of born again, like you're kind of pregnant. How are you doing? Are you pregnant or not?
Well, we're kind of pregnant. Look, you're the pregnant or you're not pregnant.
Well, I'm kind of born kind of born again. I mean, I'm kinda getting kinda getting into the church thing. Kind of easing on into it. Listen, you're either born again or you're not born again. You're either pregnant or you're not pregnant.
You're either dead or alive. And for us to be walking with Christ Jesus, we have to come in what is supposed to be life, which is death, living in this world. We come to Him and we yield ourselves to Him and we die with Christ the moment we come to the cross. We die. And then he begins to live through us.
The cool thing is, you'll never experience true life until you first die. Say, man, you've got me all whacked out on this. I don't get it. You laugh because you do get it. But there are people perhaps listening that don't get it because they don't know what I'm talking about.
Jesus said: if you want to save your life, Give it away. Give it up. He says, if you want to become something, become nothing. His is the inverted kingdom. The book of Samuel.
The servant of God. The glory departs when ministers begin to see themselves as something more. Then an earthen vessel. And Samuel, God is going to use powerfully. to speak To his leaders.
When the glory departs, when the glory departs is when men begin to lay hold. of God's glory for themselves.
So let's look at this together. We'll look at verses 1 through 11. The title of the message Is that it's time to trust God? Because and because There are difficulties in life. Verses 1 through 11: difficulties are ordained by God.
Say, okay, now I know why I've come. Yeah, difficulties are ordained by God. Cheer up. Um If you're not having any problems, God will see to it. You have some.
He's ordained some specifically for you so that His glory might shine through you. But be of good cheer. That's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called It's Time to Trust God Because. Thanks for joining us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's brand new series called 1 Samuel, a series highlighting the life of the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages.
To help turn the nation's heart back to true worship, and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. What do you say when a friend says their marriage might end? Or how do you help a co-worker dealing with depression? Do you have the right words when your child opens up about school stress or family issues or something else? The Biblical Counseling Reference Guide by June Hunt.
It's your go-to resource when real-life problems demand some real answers.
Now it's an easy to read book and it's simple to find answers that are from the Bible for every situation. With more than 580 topics and over 11,000 scripture references, you'll find what God's Word says about pretty much anything from anxiety and anger to loneliness, death, and a whole lot more.
Now this isn't a book that you're going to pick up and read cover to cover, but it is one that you'll reach for in a moment of need. And it's our thank you gift for your donation of any size to Real Life this month. And if you'd like to order your copy, and we hope you will, just visit jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. Order your copy right away.
This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
