Today on real life radio, the prophet delivers the message. He cannot take it. personal. Every time Jeremiah took the call, Personal, he got in trouble. He got defeated.
He got depressed. God says, Jeremiah, you just speak what I tell you to say.
Sometimes the call will sound like an alarm. 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. Have you ever ignored a warning, only to regret it later?
What if the warnings we so easily brush aside are exactly what we need to live a life full of purpose and protection? What if instead of seeing warnings as obstacles or interruptions, what if we embrace them as the love and wisdom of a God who wants to protect us from destruction? How often do we dismiss the warnings in our lives because they challenge our comfort, our convenience, or our pride? In this month's featured resource called Words of Warning, Charles Spurgeon calls us to wake up to the seriousness of the spiritual battles we face every day. Words of warning, listen to the subtitle everyone, for those wavering between belief and unbelief.
You need this book. Everyone needs this book. If you're struggling with belief and unbelief, Get it. Get words of warning by Charles Spurgeon for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com slash real radio.
On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack now continues his series called First Samuel. and a message titled, Hearing the Call of God for Your Life, Part 2.
Now, Samuel of the Old Testament was a man dedicated to God as Israel's last judge. and the first of the prophets who heard and understood the call of God upon his life. You see, as we learned in part one, in desperate times there are desperate needs, and the call from God will come to the proper person.
So just as Samuel was ready for the call, God has called us to be ready as well.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that God's calling on our lives can be overwhelming and challenging. But it can also be compelling as we walk in faith, joy, and in harmony with Scripture.
Now with his message called, Hearing the Call of God for Your Life, Part 2. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. God's calling can be so strong upon your life, you can even pull a Jonah and God will pursue you. Isn't that amazing? I mean the stuff God went through to get Jonah into the ministry.
The Bible says that God prepared a great fish. It's not a whale. You know that? Oh no, Alan. It's gotta be a whale.
They didn't say whale, it's a fish. Great fish. Did God make that fish for that moment? Could have. Was it a great fish that was born for many years and it grew up and it swallowed Jonah that way?
Could have been. Could have been like a whale shark. They could have said, that's a fish. You could certainly get in its mouth. It's a wild.
He was so unwilling to follow God in the call that what did he do? He basically committed suicide. He said listen throw me over the boat Throw me over, you guys. Remember the storm and they're going crazy and Jonah, he's hiding out. He's down on the bottom.
And the ship, the captain, the ship of... Uh the ship's captain goes downstairs, wakes him up. And he says, hey, arise, oh sleeper. Get up! We're going to seek the gods.
And Jonah goes, oh, I know what's going on. It's all because of me. Listen, throw me overboard and everything will be fine. They're trying to save his life. They're throwing all the gear and everything over the ship.
Jonah goes, throw me over, everything will be fine with you guys. He wants to kill he wants to die. Overboard he goes. And this great fish swallows him. That happened, by the way, in a real historic event in the 1800s.
Where a great fish swallowed a man. Actually, it was a, in that case, it was a whale. And this man went on, by the way. circus, he was a freak. He was swallowed by a whale.
And he was later vomited out. And all of his hair was completely bleached off. He had turned a lime-white color from the bile. And he was actually paraded around in a circus for years. As the modern-day Jonah, it's a real story.
Can you imagine what Jonah looked like when that fish spit him out on the shore? He said, and he goes out, and he's got seaweed, and he's probably. yellowish white bile bleached body. Bile bleached body. And then he Works.
Over the desert and through the woods to Nineveh, he goes, and he shows up and he says, 40 days and you burn. That was his message. God says, Jonah, go preach to them. days and you burn And then he sits down and he's waiting 40 days. All right.
It's gonna be great. But the people began to pray. The heathens began to pray, and God began to listen. And God says, Joanna, listen, I'm going to back off on my judgment because they've all repented. And he goes, That's just like you.
Okay. And he scolds God for being merciful and forgiving. God persisted. In Jonah's life, and God used him tremendously. By the way, in Jonah's life, in his ministry, it was the greatest evangelistic outreach in human history.
It is estimated That somewhere between 100,000 plus people came to Christ by Jonah's message that he preached. Nineveh was converted. And the evangelists didn't even want people saved. What kind of a deal is that? Can you imagine?
Do you want a follow-up program? There won't be any follow-up program. You want to get Bibles? They won't need Bibles. They're gonna burn.
God saves them. It's amazing. What a guy. I heard a message one time by Dave Hunt that reminded me of that. What an awesome man of God he is, a prophet of God, Dave Hunt.
and tremendous. Tremendous voice to the church today. Jonah was a tremendous voice. God persisted after him. Thirdly, we saw in verse 7 under this point that the call comes.
When it comes, it's very personal. It says, now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. A very personal call.
In 1 Corinthians 9, 16, I love this passage. Paul preaches concerning the personal call. He says, for if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about. For of necessity is laid upon me to preach it. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
He was under a mandate from God. For if I do not this willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge or without cost, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.
A heart to preach the word. Paul says, listen, if I'm willingly doing it, Great, but I'm going to do it even if I'm not willing to preach it. I'm going to preach it anyway. Why? He was a man called.
I believe every Christian should have a desire, a mandate from God to do that thing, whatever it is. Is it prayer in your life? Then pray up a storm. Is it serving the homeless? Then serve them the best.
Whatever it is, is it the gift of helps? I love the body of Christ. It's a miracle. If somebody was to come running down the aisle right now and they'd fall and skin themselves on the carpet. You would see the body of Christ jump into action.
Did you know that? It's very amazing. What do I mean by that? If somebody fell down, there would be immediately someone with the gift of mercy. They would scoop that little guy up or that person up and say, Are you okay?
The person with the gift of helps, you know what they would do? They wouldn't ask him if the guy was okay. They get up and they run to the first aid kit to get band-aids and bacterium. Then there are those that have the gift to intercede. They don't even go over to the scene, nor do they stop anybody on their way with the gift of helps.
They start praying for the person. It's amazing how the body of Christ comes together. Every one of us have got a calling upon our lives to fulfill. And it's personal. Thirdly, we saw Regarding hearing God's voice and God's call for our life, we ask this question: what will his call sound like in our lives?
And we saw in verses 9 and 10 that we'll know his words, will know the word when he speaks. Therefore, Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be. If when he calls you, that you must say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Very important truth. In verse 11, we saw that the call would sound wonderfully strange.
When God calls us, it's a strange thing. It's not something common. Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. Strange things. God does strange things in our lives.
I love when God calls somebody and it's starting to cook on their heart, and they'll ask someone, or they'll come and ask me, you know, I think the Lord might be calling me to do thus and so. What do you think? And it sounds fine to me. But it sounds corny to them. And I love that because the more corny it is, the more dependent they have to be upon God to do it.
I've already digressed enough. I might as well keep digressing here. And then Ezekiel. God tells Ezekiel, I want you to lay on your side for something like 132 days or something like that. Lay on your side.
for 132 days and I want you to cook your meal And I want you to use human waste as fuel to cook your food with. Because I'm sending the children of Israel a message. And Ezekiel goes, I'll lay on my side. And I'll prophesy to them, but I will not cook with human dung. And God says, okay, go ahead and use cattle dung then.
Oh, great. Great. compromise there. And he did it. And then when he was done, God said, Okay, now lay on your left side for 130-some odd days.
And preach to them again. And then God says, then get up and I want you to make little soldiers. And I want you to play in the dirt with the little army men. And I want you to have the nation of Israel be completely defeated as you play with these toys. You're sending them a message.
Strange things. God can call you to a strange thing. Strange to you. And God is honored in it. Also, in verses 12 to 14, we saw last time.
that his call might very well sound like an alarm. The call of God might sound like an alarm. The message comes and it's a brutal message that God gives. to Samuel about Eli and his family that God would judge that home. and that his descendants would be cut off from Israel.
A very strong and very tremendous thing. By the way, some Christians often say, Oh, I have a burden from the Lord.
Well, certainly Samuel could have said, Eli, I've got a burden from the Lord, but he didn't. Christians, and I only have jurisdiction over this church. I want to encourage all of you: don't say, I've got a burden from the Lord. God says, and look up the word burden. God doesn't want you and I to use the word burden.
In fact, he says Jeremiah Go tell those false prophets that name Or that are named in my name, who say, Thus saith the Lord, the burden of the Lord, the burden of the Lord. God says, I didn't say that, nor do I say the burden. You know some is over burden from the Lord. God says, don't say that. You have a message from God?
You have a call from God? But listen. God doesn't burden you. He'll fill your heart. He'll concern your heart.
He'll give your heart discernment. He'll give your heart insights. But listen, His yoke and his burden, it is easy and it is light. Even though his message be like Samuel's, a brutal message at first. Eli, your family's going to be destroyed, judged by God, consumed.
The prophet delivers the message. He cannot take it. Personal. Every time Jeremiah took the call, personal, he got in trouble. He got defeated.
He got depressed. God says, Jeremiah, you just speak what I tell you to say.
Sometimes the call will sound like an alarm. Our fourth point was in 15, verses 15 to 18. And we asked this question, what will a call be like? In Jeremiah 15 verse 16, it confirms, I think, what we just mentioned. Jeremiah says, your words were found and I ate them.
And your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. I think the call of God will very much be like this. I think it will be a joy and a pleasure. A joy and a pleasure.
I believe it will be compelling. Verse 15 says, So Samuel lay down until morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. That was his ministry. And I believe as you read this chapter, he continued on in serving God because he was placed in the position to seek after the Lord. It was compelling to him.
It was beautiful. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, Go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message.
Once again, here's Pastor Jack. By the way, it's compelling to Paul in Acts chapter 20. I'll just paraphrase it for you. Paul is there getting ready to say goodbye to many that had ministered with him. And Uh there's a Prophecies going on about Paul's life that he's going to be bound and and beaten and arrested if he goes.
Uh up and and serve and and to preach. Jerusalem there and The warning had gone out and The people are weeping and crying and stuff, and Paul says, Oh, what is this that you attempt to break my heart? I am both ready and willing to preach Christ and to die for Him. How could He say that? Because He was compelled and committed.
to what God had called them to do. And we saw too that the call is a supernatural call. And we talked and touched. On that, that what God calls us to do. Supernatural.
And then we saw in verses 17 and 18 that it will be of God. It says there in 17 and 18. Yeah. Eli responds and says, it is the Lord's. And he recognizes even though It was a It was a call.
that brought his home to destruction. This is where we pick up, where we left off last time. Jot this down if you would. It will be of God. The master, that is the Lord, and the message that he gives, that's our Christian vocation.
You and I, so to speak, punch in and punch out at our jobs. And at the end of the week or at the end of the month, we get a check. That's our vocation in the world. But every Christian has a vocation in the Lord, and that is to do what the Master has told us, and that is the message that He gives us. And every one of us, if we're verbal or not, If we have one person that's in our sphere of influence, or maybe hundreds or thousands.
The fact is that we've been called by God, and it will be of God. The call will be. of God. The call, the very ministry. And the execution of it will always be in harmony with the Bible.
What you believe God is calling you to do, you ought to be able to point to Scripture and say, This is what God's calling me to do. I like and appreciate That more often than not, you can find a ministry here at this church, and after the description of that ministry, there'll be a verse. that you can go look up that corresponds to the ministry that that particular group of people or this church is offering. I think that's a good thing. You know how some people say, well, this is my life's verse.
Maybe you have a life's chapter. It's the chapter for your life. That's a great thing. Maybe you have a life verse.
Well, that's a neat thing because you can take that verse. And Lord willing, apply it to the passion or to the desire of your life. The same is true for the ministry that God's called you. Into.
Now listen. When the call that God has placed upon our life is viewed in the flesh, Every one of us who are believers and serve the Lord, we struggle with this from time to time. If you're called by God to be doing a thing and you're doing that thing, If you begin to view it in the flesh, and I wrote down a few things. We begin to err greatly, even though the call it's from God. The call be from God, this can happen.
Internally, we can be serving the Lord like Robots, you know? Very faithful. But internally We can take his call, and it can become a hard thing to us. That's not good. Is what you're doing for the Lord, is it a hard thing?
Is it something that you have to do? You started out great. You loved it and you got people excited about it. But now it's a hard thing.
Now it's something you gotta do. You're not excited about it anymore. It's almost a curse now, though you never use that word. It's almost a curse. And you have a sense of almost feeling alone at doing it.
Now listen, you may feel alone at it. There may be A lot of people around you serving. But you still feel alone at it. Or there could be no one there. And you're all alone.
But you feel alone. Regardless of either one, You've departed from fellowship with God. Even though it be from him. And this is a very common thing in Christian service. And pastors and evangelists and priests are not exempt.
You gotta keep fresh. If you don't, Well, what is going on internally manifests on the outside, externally. You begin to complain. You're doing the work of God, it's from God, you're called, but now you're complaining about it. You become critical about it.
And about others? You become cynical. Of those that are in the same work with you. And it's all because your attitudes become wrong, your spirit is backslidden in heart. And this is exactly what happened to the Ephesian church in Revelation chapter 2, when Jesus says, I know your works, I know all the things that you've done, but you've left your first love.
Repent, therefore. You've left your first love. Are you a Christian? Yeah. Are you going to heaven?
Yeah. But the joy's gone. Yeah, come on, we gotta go. We gotta go do it. We gotta go to church.
Come on, let's get in the car. Or you get there and You know, and I'm not picking on anybody. I'm just using this because it stands out so much. You know yeah. Look at these stupid parking lot cones.
The plastic on these things are starting to Crack. This cart that I take them out to the park and the wheel squeaking.
Sounds just like Me. Complain about, look at the windows. There's kids' fingerprints all over the windows. Yes, the sign says children's ministry. Enter here.
You know, the carpet. I just cleaned it or. For me, I just preach that message. This is what happens to me. I preach a message on the deity of Jesus.
The service is over. I'm standing out there greeting people, and someone walks up to me and they say, What are you? gonna do a message that declaring that Jesus is the Lord that he's God And I say, are you coming or going? Are you coming into the service? Are you going?
I gotta know. No, I'm leaving. Where were you for the last hour and a half? Why? We just talked on the deity of Jesus.
Listen, I can get so upset with that. That's flesh. That's wrong of me. That's sin in my life. I need to say I have a tape for you.
It's pretty, it's testing, it's trying. And this happens, you know, and you pour your life into something, and all of us are pouring our lives into something. And if we get our eyes off of Jesus, we're wondering, well, how come nobody's? noticing Well wait, got you, who's you who are you doing it for? God notices, he sees it.
Well yeah, you know, God sees that. Hey buddy, I got news for you. I got news for you. If people are seeing it, They're not really seeing it. You stop doing what you're doing?
And uh You may not get a phone call.
Somebody may not even miss you not doing it. Oh, you've been yeah. You know, greeting, I greet every person at every service, every week every year since this church started. And I got sick and nobody called me. I d I know how you feel.
But listen. Who are you doing it for? Are you doing it because God called you to do it? Are you preaching 'cause God called you to preach? Are you setting up the cones because God called you to set up the cones?
If He called you to set it up, If he called you to preach, what do you need? What do you need? Do you, as the movie Chariots of Fire, remember that movie? As Abrams ran, for the law and for Human achievement. What was the Christian's guy n's name?
I forget.
Well, whoever the Christian guy was. He ran for the Lord. And um When he gave the all-time greatest Statement. He said, I have to run. Because when I run, I sense his pleasure.
Oh yeah. That's ministry at its purest. I've got to do this. Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel, Paul said. When I preach, he said, I sense his pleasure.
That's how the call should be in your life. For what you do, for what you've been called to do.
Now on the flip side, his calling will be no doubt overwhelming and trying. God will see to it. But viewed in the spirit internally You'll be radically humbled by what God's doing. You're keenly aware of all of your inadequacies. Painfully.
So You'll feel like God has called the wrong person to do the work that you're doing. Ha ha ha. That's a good one. I wrote that myself. Yeah.
You'll be elated though to be used by God. In sleep, will often become an inconvenience because you love doing it. Yeah, you'll be overwhelmed. You'll be tried. But you wouldn't have it any other way.
Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio, and his message called Hearing the Call of God for Your Life, Part 2. Thanks for joining us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. It's a series highlighting the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages.
to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. and we'll continue. on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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