Today on real life radio. When the scripture says Samuel judged them, it doesn't mean he stood up there and, you know. on a rock with a big mallet.
Alright! Who's next? He discerned Amongst them. helping them back into the presence of God. 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. The culture is shifting. Pressure is rising, faith is being tested.
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That's jackkibbs.com slash real radio. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his series now called 1 Samuel and a message titled Getting the Victory in Life, Part 2. Samuel of the Old Testament was, of course, the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So as we continue now in chapter seven. We'll learn how to live a victorious Christian life with hope and a renewed vision to start doing what we should be doing. You see, we often take the baggage of our old life and what we've gone through and project the trouble we've had onto God. Instead, we just need to keep the good and acknowledge that God is good, not just sometimes, but always.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that just as God desired Israel to do great things, He wants the same thing for our lives. He longs for us to understand his ways and to take a proactive position against pride, against discontentment, and against selfish thinking.
Now with his message called Getting the Victory in Life, Part 2. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Father, we come before you, and Lord, we ask in Jesus' name that. We would glean out of your word tonight your truth. Father, as we complete this.
Portion of scripture, we pray, Lord God, that. Having spent time with you in the word, Lord, just as it would be that as how we put clothes on and they go with us as we walk around town or sit in the car, we're clothed with what we're wearing.
So, Lord, tonight, when we leave this place, may we be clothed with your truth. May we be a people challenged and strengthened and encouraged. To follow you and to be victorious in our Christian lives.
So, Father, we ask now for your blessings. In Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen. Why don't you grab your Bible and we will turn to 1 Samuel chapter 7. And I've got to tell you right up front, right now, I had chapter eight all prepared tonight. I thought we completed chapter seven.
We didn't, huh? I completed it so many times then in my mind during the week. I think also, I was so determined last time to get it done. I thought, you know what? What a great thing this could be if we could do a chapter.
In one Bible study, I will have arrived. And be like all the greats that have gone before me. But the Lord humbled me. And I don't think we got past the third verse or so.
So We'll do our best tonight. The title of the message is: Getting the Victory in Life. Getting the victory in life, and it's 1 Samuel 7. Verses 1 through 12, and by way of introduction to what we were talking about, we realize this: that tragically, victorious Christian living escapes many Christians today. Many Christians are living in a sequestered Christian life.
They're often uh held bound by the Fear of maybe stepping out. A lot of Christians, listen, a lot of us are tempted to bring the baggage of our world that we've once lived in. The things that we've gone through, listen to this. Many of us take how we related maybe to our parents. Maybe even our fathers, and project that kind of relationship onto our Heavenly Father now.
And we somehow equate our new Father, the Lord. In the light of our old father that is from the flesh or in this world.
Now you might say, Well, Jack, what are you talking about? I had an awesome relationship with my dad. Hey, I did too, but that's not my point. My point is, it's wrong for us to take what we had in this world and project it onto God. And make him that way.
What we should do or could do is take the good from our earthly family. And Benefit from that, but at the same time look to all of God's blessings and all of God's nature and receive that as well. That maybe in our lives, and oh man. Moms and dads, don't you want to bring your kids up? In a way, That as they grow They can say, you know what, I see this attribute of God.
I see this working out and lived out in my parents' life too. That's our goal, isn't it? That's what we want to do. That when our kids hear us talking about God, that what they hear from our lips is in direct concept. Connection with how God really is.
That breeds a successful Christian life. But listen. Do you know, and you might raise your hand and say, man, that's me. But do you know anybody who's come from a horrible life? And they came into the knowledge of God, and now their life is so awesome, they're so pumped for God that they don't even look back at the past.
I'm telling you, there's people here in this church who, when they've shared their life with me, I can't believe it. You wouldn't believe it. That this person, this man, or this gal or whoever, whatever, when they tell me I came from this kind of a life, I mean, I was talking to a woman before who was basically sold by her father into sex rings. and sexual things. He would take his daughter and sell her to his friends.
you And record this stuff and pictures and all this stuff, and all this. I'm frying, hearing it, I can't believe it. And the amazing thing is you never would have said, well, you know what? Person, even though I don't know them, they kind of look like they were sold into a sex ring when they were young. You would never suspect.
Why? Because God's done such a great work in their life. That you just got to go, man, and you have to agree with the Apostle Paul: hey, from this time on, we don't know anybody after the flesh. We know people only after Christ. Isn't that awesome?
That you and I know one another only in Christ from now on. Isn't that great?
So, people want to talk about my past. Wait, wait, wait, wait. God has forgotten it. He's forgiven you of it. Just exactly for what reason are we going to talk about the past?
You know? Because God has given you great victory. Awesome victory. Tremendous. We saw in verses one and two that getting the victory means our lives are being prepared by God.
God is doing a very special work in our lives. He desires to do a great thing with you. A wonderful thing. And we saw how God was doing that in the lives of Israel.
Now the ark was coming back and his people were being prepared. And God was going to be doing a great thing. We saw in verse 1 that His desire is that we would understand His ways. That we would understand his ways. And so we saw there where the scripture says that they took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house.
Of this man here, and he lived there on that hill, and they consecrated. One of the men there of the house to keep the ark of the Lord. And the Bible tells us here that they kept the ark for some 20 years. But God was working to bring that ark back into the realm of the nation and of worship. But what God was doing was preparing them that Israel might understand the way of the Lord.
Very, very important. We saw, too, that there are some things that keep us from understanding God. And one of those things was pride. And we remembered that 1 Peter tells us there that God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Which led us to verse 2, and that is, God wants to have our hearts prepared in a way that we have a humble heart.
Now, you guys understand something that having a humble heart is not having a wimpy heart. Do you know that? Jesus was humble. There was nothing wimpy about him. We're to have a humble heart.
It is my prayer, it's my desire that God would do a work in your life and in my life so radical, so grand. That we would be almost shy about it. We'd almost have to kick our Heal, you know, and then say, Oh, shucks, you know, you're embarrassing me. That when somebody says, man, the Lord is doing such a thing, that we would have to just stop and say, really? That's what I want God to do in your life, in my life.
Here's the thing, he wants to do it. But will we live a victorious life in Christ and allow him to do it? Will we go to the edge and say, Lord, do whatever you want with me? Can you pray that prayer? You won't be disappointed if you do.
You might say, Well, I'm kind of scared to pray that prayer. Oh, my friend, understand the nature of God. He loves you, He's got an awesome plan for your life. Get this: You're designed in such a way that you won't be fully happy and content until you're doing that thing. And I know how our flesh is, and how the world is, and how the enemy is that lies to us and says, man, if you're sold out for God, you're really going to be in deep trouble.
A lot of people are held back from a victorious Christian life. When they hear those things, but God wants our hearts to be humble. But we read here in the scripture where Israel Look with me in verse 2. It says, Down at the end, it says, And all of the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. They wept and cried out unto him.
God was doing a great work. Verse 2 tells us to help us to see. Really, our lives are being prepared that God would help us to see. When it says that all of the house of Israel. thought about What God was going to be doing in their lives.
They all wept under the Lord. But look, We come to our second point that we touched on last time, verse 3, and that is living the walk. Of life. The scripture says here in verse 3 that Samuel spoke to the entire or all of the house. The entire nation saying, If you return to the Lord with all of your heart, not a half a heart, all of your heart, then put away the foreign gods from you.
Remember they were worshiping the Asteroths and the Baals or the Baals? These pagan, weird gods. Samuel says, put away these foreign gods and seek God with all of your heart. Living the walk of life, following God, not the walk of death, because those pagan gods, it was amazing that these nations, foreign nations, worship these pagan gods, because often this worship led to death. Premature death, even.
And the death of Young children. Sacrifices. I love what the scripture says, that God is. The God of the living, our God, he wants you to be living. Think about it.
What good is a dead sacrifice? God doesn't want you dead. He wants a living sacrifice. Why? Because that's how the world has changed.
They're living people. That's what he wants to do. In verse 3, We touched on this: that we need to be careful that we stop going where we're going. We learned something from Israel, they were going the wrong way. And so God had to judge them.
And so we make note: He says, if you return, With all of your heart. And that word means to do 180. The path that you're heading on.
Now, listen, if God is speaking to you, In the quietness of your heart, he's been saying, you're going down the wrong path. I'm not approving of where you're going. This last week, uh I had a lady upset with me, and I said, Well, why are you upset? She said, Because. You said this in a message.
And I didn't understand what she was talking about. And I said to him, yeah, I remember saying that. I'll say it again. What's the deal? I don't understand.
Well, that's what's going on in my life. And I said, okay.
Well, and the issue was she didn't want to change the course that she was on. And she got upset with me because I said it.
Well, I don't know her. Never met her before in my life. But the Holy Spirit knows her. And you knew what was going on in her private life. Unbeknownst to me, while I'm up here teaching, he just drops this thing in.
And by the way, it didn't happen, or I didn't say that thing in any of their, any of any. of the other Sunday morning services. It was that service. She happened to be an attending that service. This thing comes out.
And kaboom, and it affected her in that moment. She was upset because you know what's going on? The Holy Spirit was going, gotcha. I'm right on ya. I wouldn't have known anything.
But she comes up to me really confessing. Though she was upset But ma'am, no one told me. I don't even know you. It's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. That such a thing would be said, you would be doing that specific thing, and that you would have.
the chutzbah to come and say after a service, why did you say this?
Okay, okay. Uh I think the Lord is trying to talk to you. And you see, with that, it's like, oh my. Hey, If we're going in a direction we ought not to be going, we should turn. Why?
Because he loves us, he wants us to live. A victorious Christian life. 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 Jeff. Scripture tells us in Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6, and we touched on it last time. It says, Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not to your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. He's so good.
Start doing. what we should be doing. And we learned also in verse 3 that we're to go forward after God. This is where I think we left off: that we need to be going forward with the Lord and after him. We need to pursue him.
Verse 3 says, And prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. Or you can put right into your margin, he will deliver you from the hand of the flesh. The flesh that you and I struggle with. Hey, later on, before you go to bed tonight, jot it down for homework. Read Romans chapter 7.
Talk about the flesh that's active in your life, in my life. Read Romans 7, but don't go to sleep reading Romans 7. You'll wake up depressed. Make sure you read Romans chapter 8, verse 1. Don't stop in chapter 7.
Stop in chapter 8, verse 1. Because Paul talks about the struggle that the Christian goes through. But then In his heart and his mind. in his walk with God. He's brought to a place of victory because the announcement is made: there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ.
And you're liberated, set free.
So you prepare your heart to serve Him. Why? Because you can now, you get to. Isn't that funny? Sunday, listen, Sunday.
I'm going to prophesy right now. On Sunday, not all of you are going to feel like coming. Just the way it is. You know what's really hard on Sundays when I don't feel like coming? Yeah.
You've heard this story before. I'm going to tell you, I'll tell you anyway if you already heard it. Johnny's laying in bed and he says Ma, I don't want to go to church today.
Well, you got to go. Johnny pulls the covers up over his head. I don't want to go to church today, Ma. You've got to go. Why today?
You've got to go. Now come on, we've always gone. We're going to go. He pulls the covers up higher over his head. I don't want to go to church today.
She said, listen to me. There's going to be a lot of people coming. We need to go, and besides, you're the pastor. But listen, the truth is, you may wake up on Sunday, you don't want to go. You don't want to come.
You ever had the flesh do that to you? That's the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. The spirit says, Come on, let's go worship. I want to worship. And the flesh says, man, I don't want to get out of this bed.
And the spirit says, come on, let's go meet some friends. Let's go! And the flesh says, I'm hungry. And the Spirit says, You know what? I want to learn about what God wants to say to my life now, this week, right now.
I need to go. Come on, let's go. And the flesh is screaming and moaning, looking for reasons. And I tell you. It is good that we come.
And we worship the Lord.
Well, I don't I don't feel like it. You know what? I know. but prepare your hearts, and serve him only. When you come this coming Sunday, you're going to be coming, did you know, to serve him.
So really? I'm not signed up in any ministry. No, no, you're coming to serve him. When you come and you lift your hands or you sing the songs, when you study the word, did you know studying? Is a form of worship also?
Listen, frankly, let's be honest about it. If you put a dollar in the offering, that's worship. Did you know that? Read your Bible, it's worship. It's worship in giving.
There's worship in singing. There's worship in study. You know what? Your life is just nothing but a big worship thing. We're Christians now.
Prepare your heart, serve the Lord. Point number three tonight: getting the victory in life is living a dedicated life, to live a dedicated life.
So the children of Israel, verse 4, put away the Baals and the Astroths, and they serve the Lord only. And Samuel said, Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord there for you.
So they gathered together at Mizpah. And listen, they, number one, drew water. Number two, they poured it out before the Lord. Number three, and they fasted that day. Number four, they said.
We have sinned against the Lord, and Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. Doesn't this sound scary, first of all, if you read it backwards? At Mizpah, Samuel judged them. They confessed their sins, having. Spoken of what they've erred in before God.
He says, Oh, you must have been terrible. The exact opposite: confession is a release. Confession's freedom. When the scripture says Samuel judged them, that doesn't mean he stood up there and, you know, on a rock with a big mallet. All right!
Who's next? Confess! I stole that guy's rock. Shame on you, you know. And, oh, that's not what happened.
It's not like some line, you know, to get Swatted? He discerned Amongst them helping them back into the presence of God. That's what his job was. Hey, that's my job. I love it.
See the cool thing is Samuel is anointed to be the judge in Israel. See, your mind and my mind sees him putting on a long black robe. Because he's going to execute judgments. No. He discerned their hearts.
God gave him insights into them. And as they came, They confess their sins to the Lord. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio. and his message called Getting the Victory in Life Part 2.
So glad you took the time to be with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel. It's a series that highlights the prophet Samuel, who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages, to bring the people back to. a true heart of worship. and we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
In a world growing darker by the day, will you stand firm or be swept away? Pastor Jack Hibbs' new book, Called to Take a Bold Stand, is a wake-up call for every believer. With biblical clarity and real-life conviction, Jack Hibbs shows you how to overcome fear, hold fast to truth, make every moment count. That's called to take a bold stand by Pastor Jack Higgs. Get your copy for a gift of any amount at jackkids.com slash real radio.
Pastor Jack, let me read you this letter real quick. It comes from Noelle. She says, Hi, Pastor Jack. I'm Noelle, and I go to high school in Minnesota.
Now, as you probably know, being a high schooler in the 21st century is rough. And she put rough in capital letters. Especially when you're a Christian. She says, I've struggled for a while connecting in my church, just not growing in the word. I'm very grateful to have found your talks.
is since they've challenged me to live out my faith at school. Thank you for letting the Lord work through you and for not shying away from controversial topics that need to be brought into the light. Wow. Noel says, God bless. Wow.
Isn't that great?
This is coming from a high schooler. Listen, I'd like to get that kind of letter from a full-blown adult. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, God bless her. Noelle, listen, if if you're listening right now.
Uh yes, I agree. And Life is, first of all, tough in this world. And so that's why, from an early age, and for you at the age that you're at. To say the things that you said in your question and in your comment. already tells me you're light years ahead of the game.
Because you identify, you see, wait, this is tough, this is hard. I'm trying to live my life out for Christ. Noel, I'm doing the exact same thing you are. I'm literally doing the exact same thing you are right now. I'm 67 years old, and I couldn't agree with you more.
We'll do it together with Jesus, right? In the Word of God. I'm coming with you. Yeah. And you're not alone.
Every one of God's kids. Say exactly what you're saying and feel what you're feeling. But by God's goodness through His Word, We get to power through that. He'll take you through. He won't stop.
So you can be very confident, Noel, that God's going to finish what he started. And if we don't get to see each other in California or Minnesota, we'll see you in heaven. Hey, you know, if you'd like to drop a note of encouragement to Pastor Jack, that'd be awesome. He'd really love to see what you have to say about him and how his ministry has affected your life.
So please do that. Go to the Connect tab at jackhibbs.com. That's the tab labeled Connect. at jackhibbs.com. 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.
